Maker of Fire

Aylem, Is'syal, 7th rot., night of the 7th day, Foskos time

I woke to the sound of the great bell on top of the Fated Shrine tolling nonstop and saw the night outside my south-facing window eerily lit up with a claret-colored glow. I belted on my house coat and ran to the balcony, startling the sleeping Asgotl, who was sleeping just inside the balcony doors. The night was overcast, and the city streets were filled with fog.

"Hey! What?" He exclaimed as he picked up his sleepy head.

My balcony looked out over the western half of the city. On the hill to the northwest of the palace, the beam of the Shrine's Great Crystal penetrated the dome and made a column of light vanishing upward. It looked eldritch and eerie in the fog.

"Oh no," Asgotl looked at the light and then at me. "Something big is happening again, and Emily isn't even on this side of the planet."

"I think things like this will continue to occur, beak head," I replied, "until we receive the final revelation mentioned in the Prophesy of the Great Breaking."

Then, I gasped, and my stomach clenched as the glowing figure of Galt manifested on the balcony parapet. I fell to my knees, put my praying hands against my forehead, and bowed to the ground. Asgotl put his head between his talons and whimpered.

*Daughter, your sisters are suffering,* Galt said to me. *It is meet and right that the greatest healer should tend to them. Go now.* Then he was gone. Shaking, I got up and cast creation magic on my clothes, changing from a sleeping tunic and house coat to a functional yellow undertunic and purple kirtle, stockings, and ankle boots. I launched myself from the balcony and flew to the east door into the shrine, which was the one closest to Kamagishi's bedroom. I did not bother to ring the bell. I let myself in and immediately heard a woman screaming. I ran to the open door of Kamagishi's quarters and through the sitting room to her bedroom.

Two of her attendants and one of the shrine's duty healers, all in sleeping tunics and house coats, were trying to soothe Kamagishi as she clutched her head between her hands. Her grip was so tight that she was pulling out small clumps of hair. I moved the attendants and healer out of the way as gently as I could. I knew I couldn't cast a charm of peace on Kamagishi, so I dropped her into deep sleep instead. I then tried to read the last memory in her mind and saw an angry and weeping Emily with a wounded twenty-ish silverhair supine on a ship's deck. The rest of Kamagishi's immediate memory was pain and confusion.

Asgotl stuffed his wide self through the bedroom door, "Will Kami be alright, girlfriend?"

"Who let you in?" I gave him a reproachful look. Then I wondered when Asgotl started to call the avatar of Galt by her nickname of Kami, which only her family and close friends used.

"No doors can bar the Great Revelator of Sassoo," Asgotl said in a haughty voice. Then, he reverted to his original concern. "Seriously, I don't like it when my Cosm friends scream like that. Will Kami be okay, Aylem?"

"I think this might be one of those really nasty foretellings she sometimes gets. I've seen her scream from the pain of foretelling in the past. Whatever it is, it must be important. Otherwise, Galt would not have appeared to us on the balcony."

"Yeah, girlfriend," he frowned, "that's what I was thinking." He looked at the now sleeping high priestess of Galt. "Poor Kami."

"Could you move?" snapped a frazzled-sounding Impotuan accent from behind the griffin blocking the door.

"Oh, sorry." Asgotl stepped fully into the bedroom. The Holy Losnana's personal attendant, the halfhair Blinda, pushed herself past him. She knelt before me and bowed her head, "Great One, would you please come and help my Mistress, who was wakened at the same time as the Holy Kamagishi? She is in terrible pain."

"Can you take care of the bleeding on her scalp?" I asked the duty healer.

"Certainly, Great One," the youngster nodded. She must be good to have been assigned duty at the shrine.

"Meow," the cat House pawed at my leg.

"Hello, House," I looked down at the grey puffball. "Is there something you need?"

"Meow!"

"I'm sorry, House, I don't speak cat."

"Meow! Meow!"

"House says," Asgotl translated, "that Kamagishi hurts because Emily is upset that her friend is dying."

"That silverhair I saw in Kamagishi's memory is dying?"

"Meow!"

"House says yes," Asgotl said.

"Let me take care of the Holy Losnana first, little one," I told House. "Then I will try to find Emily and her friend in the crystal here. How's that?

"Meow."

"She says that is acceptable, but for her Mistess's sake, please be quick," Asgotl explained.

"You understand cat?" I gave Asgotl a look.

"No, I can hear House speak in my mind. I'm surprised you can't. It sounds like mind-casting to me," the griffin shrugged. "But time is wasting. Go see the lovely Losnana. Her suite is just around the corner. It doesn't have double doors, so I can't get inside."

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"Since when did you become so familiar with the insides of the Fated Shrine?" I bopped him on the beak as I turned to leave Kamagishi's bedroom.

Asgotl made that funny tilting head motion that signaled he was embarrassed, "I've been getting lessons on how to read while you've been so busy with the twins."

I said nothing but patted him on the beak as I walked out with the worried Blinda on my heels.

I found Losnana curled up on her side, whimpering, "Someone, please, make it stop. Is Blinda back? Why is no one here yet? Please, make it stop." A middle-aged healer in a working gown was watching her, looking frustrated and upset.

"Here," I tapped her shoulder, "let me."

"Oh, Great One," the healer got out of my way. "I'm so glad you're here. I've been trying every pain relief charm I know, and nothing works."

"Losnana? Can you hear me?" I put my hand on Losnana's head and cast a probe charm. Physically, there was nothing wrong with her.

"Sister Aylem?" she whispered. "All the timelines have collapsed and disappeared."

"What?"

"Remember Planting Season a half year ago? When Tiki tested the Prophet? It feels just like that. I've been trying to see when this ends, but every time I look, I see Galt blocking my foresight."

"Surd save us," I muttered. "Losnana, dear heart, can I try a charm of peace?"

"Yes, but if it doesn't work, just put me under, please," she pleaded.

The charm of peace didn't work. I cast deep sleep, and as soon as I did, the shrine's bell stopped ringing. I'm sure the entire city would be relieved that the nighttime quiet had returned.

Asgotl, House, Garki, and Imstay were waiting in the hallway. Imstay was in his sleeping tunic, housecoat, and bare feet, while Garki was perfectly turned out in his trainee robes. I swallowed my amusement because I knew Imstay would not appreciate my humor at his state of undress.

"How are they?" Imstay asked with genuine concern. I guess one has to wake the old poser up in the middle of the night to see the real Imstay under all the bluster.

"They are both under deep sleep charms," I replied calmly. "Something is happening with the troublemaker Emily that has caused all the possible futures to vanish, just like what happened after the riots in Aybhas – only this time, it was Kamagishi who experienced the horrific pain from losing sight of the future and Losnana who managed to keep her wits . . . well, somewhat."

I looked at this odd quartet and then picked up House, so I didn't need to keep looking down at my feet to include her in the conversation. I found myself scratching her, and she started purring. "I promised House that I would attempt to find Emily and her dying friend on the other side of the world," I informed the three. "I might be able to cast a charm through a great crystal like I did for Spot. I will start here with the Fated Shrine's Great Crystal, but if that doesn't give me the range I need, I will depart immediately for the Crystal Shrine."

"Meow," House said.

"House says, 'What are you waiting for? Quit talking and start walking, lady,'" Asgotl translated, rolling his eyes at the cat. "You know, youngster, you could stand to work on your tact."

"Mreow!" she reached out and tried to bat at his beak."

"Just because you're a cat doesn't mean you can be cheeky to royalty," Asgotl scolded her. Garki stifled a laugh.

"It's probably a good thing that we can't hear her," I remarked in the most icy, regal voice I had.

"Mew?" House meeped, trembling a little bit. Garki and Imstay both looked nervous.

"Don't scare her, Aylem Queen," Asgotl snipped.

"Sorry," I immediately apologized and stroked the kitty, "I was trying to sound disapproving, not frightening."

"Well, Mother Aylem," Garki looked a little scared himself, "maybe you should work on that."

"Maybe I should . . ." I know I was scowling down at the boy and forced myself to stop. I could see the green tint of fear in Garki's aura. I closed my eyes and held my breath, then let it out and relaxed my shoulders. "Yes," I said as humbly as I could, "you are right, son. I should work on that." I scratched House under the chin, "I apologize, House. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Meow," the cat said and then purred. I guess I was forgiven. I handed House to Garki and made my way through the maze of hallways and then up the stairs to the level of the Well of Galt. Asgolt, House, and Imstay followed.

When we arrived, the light pulsing out the east side entrance was almost too bright to tolerate. As I approached the door, I found that I was physically pushed back from entering.

"I can't go in," I turned and told my companions. Priestesses in their housecoats and slips filled the hall behind us, awakened by the ringing of the shrine bell and by the intense light from the shrine's Great Crystal.

Imstay tried and also failed, "I can't get in, either."

House jumped out of Garki's arms and tried to enter. She couldn't. She backed up, batted at the light at the threshold of the door, and hissed at it.

Garki picked her back up, "There, there, fuzzball, it's alright. These things don't last very long when they happen. It's not the first time the crystal has lit up."

"I'm contacting the other shrines," I told my quartet and reached out to Foyuna. If the Great Crystal of Tiki was also lit up, then she would be awake. I quickly found her.

*Foyuna? It's Aylem. Is the Great Crystal lit up, Cousin?*

*Oh, yes. Brighter than I have ever seen it. And the crystal at the Healing Shrine is lit, as well as the Hospitable Shrine, the Bountiful Shrine, and even the Singing Shrine. I thought you'd be able to see at least the Bountiful Shrine's light since Ark'kos is just three wagondays from Is'syal.*

*It's really foggy here right now,* I replied. *If all the southern crystals are lit . . .*

*Yes, all of them are lit. But Aylem, Fassex has reached the Holy Drudelda at the Blue Shrine in Ashar. Drudelda says all the surviving crystals in Impotu are also lit up. I'm willing to bet that the crystals in Kora Kor are lit up, too. Do you know what is happening?*

*I have just put Kamagishi and Losnana into deep sleep. Kamagishi woke up screaming and didn't stop until I arrived. Losnana was in pain but conscious enough to tell me that the possible futures they can sense have vanished, just like the time Tiki sent you to test Emily after the riot in Aybhas.*

*So, you think this is because of Emily?* Foyuna asked.

*No, I know it has to do with Emily. I saw Emily with a dying silverhair in Kamigishi's most recent memories. House confirmed that whatever is happening is because Emily's silverhair friend is dying. So we know what is causing this, but we don't know why – at least, not yet.*

*House? You mean House, Kamagishi's cat?* Foyuna's disbelief was palpable.

*We need to put House on the agenda for the next Convocation meeting, dear heart,* I replied. *House is quite intelligent, even if she does have all the conceit of a cat and all the obnoxiousness of an adolescent. She can mind cast with Asgotl, though no one human seems to be able to hear her. I need to test if it's just Asgotl she can talk to or if it's any flying mount. But she can talk and be heard by my griffin bond. He's been translating for her.*

*Surd save us!*