The Mantis Corruption - Book Three - 13. Chapter 13 - Tisa & Olona, Part Two

The two monsters from Gunge roared and flailed their weird limbs, as they charged up the incline of the land toward Tisa and Olona.

“No,” Olona whispered in terror, “the halo, it’s working. It is!”

Tisa put up her hands in a futile defensive position, but her otherworldly abilities responded by reflex, and something happened that startled both of the women.

Discs of shadow appeared in front of the monsters. They collided with them and the discs changed shape for a split second, and the two creatures fell to the earth. Their bodies were in pieces, and they were dead. Limbs lay on top of each other and both of their heads went rolling back down the hill into the trees. The monsters were hacked to pieces like butchered heifers, and their blood seeped into the soil.

“What,” whispered Olona, “just happened?” She turned to Tisa.

“They know I’m here,” Tisa said in a quavering voice. “They’re after my mantis gland.”

“No, they’re not,” Olona retorted. “At least, I don’t think they are. The halo is working. They thought we were both humans and were just coming after us.” Then she looked back at the dead monstrosities and commented, “With all their extra parts, it looks like there are a lot more than two bodies there.” Olona then concluded, “Let’s get out of here!”

They raced off along the coast and away from the mutilated mutants.

“How did you do that?” Olona eventually asked, as she lit herself a joint and took a puff.

“I don’t know,” Tisa replied. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what my shadows did to those things.”

After the terror of the morning, the rest of the day passed uneventfully, and the two continued walking long after sundown. They decided that getting farther away from Gunge was more important than sleep that night.

For the next 67 long days, Tisa and Olona encountered no other monsters. They also did not cross paths with a single other human or Shift. Their journey was slow and difficult along the eastern edge of the vast mountains north of Xin, and the coastline they followed was rugged; it made their journey drag, but the sea provided them with food for their entire trip.

Over two months after they set out from the area of Kestapoli, under a bright sunrise, the two women saw their first signs of human habitation. Several little fishing vessels floated on the waters far to the north.

“I’m afraid to believe that it’s true,” Tisa stated. “Have we really made it?”

“But where have we made it to?” Olona asked.

Not long before midday, the two women reached the southernmost village of the region they entered. An old weathered sign with metal letters declared the name of the small community.

“Have you ever heard of Hazel Cove?” Olona asked Tisa.

“No, I haven’t.”

Olona furrowed her brow. “Does no one make the journey that we just did? I mean, it wasn’t easy. Hazel Cove?”

“I suppose Gunge is a deterring factor for people in the south,” Tisa commented, “and I guess that’s why we’ve never heard of anyone coming down to Xin from up here.”

“Look, there’s an inn!”

They headed for it and pushed the door open. A young woman was standing behind a desk next to a set of stairs.

“G’morning, ladies,” she called. “Welcome to the Pebble Pub. What can I do for ye both?”

“We’re looking for a room for the night,” Olona chimed in a bright voice.

“Accommodations, we can provide. Just the two of you, is it, and just one night?”

Tisa and Olona looked at each other.

“We don’t rightly know yet. Can we have the room for tonight and let you know about tomorrow night in the morning?”

“That’ll be fine,” the young woman replied.

Olona handed her a coin.

“Hey, what’s this funny business?” she snapped. “Only real money is accepted here.”

The two travelers looked at each other again

“That’s a Xinitian gold half-dollar,” Olona stated. “That ought to cover…”

“Gold?” she interrupted.

Tisa and Olona looked at each other yet again.

“Yes, haven’t you ever seen a half-dollar before?”

The woman took the coin, scrutinized it, and she determined that it was sufficient payment. She handed Olona a key. “Right up the stairs, turn left, end of the hall.” She then asked, “Where are you two from?”

“Is there a map of the area that I could see?” Olona asked in response.

“Top of the stairs,” the woman replied with a smile.

Tisa and Olona left her curious about who they were.

Sure enough, a large hand-drawn map in a wooden frame was hung on the wall upstairs.

Tisa pointed at the tiny dot at the very bottom of the map with the words Hazel Cove next to it.

“We did,” Olona declared. “We did make it!”

“But where are we?” Tisa asked. “This map doesn’t have a region name. Only one city and a few towns are listed.”

Olona studied the image. “Maybe this part of the world isn’t set up the same way as Xin.”

“Hazel Cove just has a dot,” Tisa commented, “and so do these other towns along the coast and in the forests. So, I think we should make our way here,” and she brought her fingertip to the only star on the map. The words underneath it said Teshon City.

Olona nodded her head toward the end of the hall. “There’s our room.”

They entered it and closed the door behind them. After sliding their packs off their tired shoulders, the pair headed down the stairs and enjoyed a hot meal in the pub. Each of them then took the opportunity to enjoy their first bath in a very long time, and with the sun high in the sky, they drew the curtains and lay down.

Tisa and Olona slept very hard on very soft beds, and they did not wake again until late the following morning.

When Olona sat up, she pulled the curtain back just a crack and looked out the window. She groaned and mumbled, “It’s still light outside, we mustn’t have slept very long.”

Tisa pushed herself up and rubbed her eyes. Her life away from the conveniences of the city taught her the ability to read the time of day based on the type of light.

“No,” she said, “it’s morning.”

Olona tilted her head to one side. “So, we slept the entire night?! I guess we needed it.” She opened the curtains wider and let more light into the room. “I don’t think we want to stay here. There’s not much to this town. Look, you can see all of it from here.” Olona leaned to one side and pointed. “There’s a farm out that way; I can see the field. Oh, and there’s the path leading out of town over that way. There’s nothing else here,” Olona added. “I don’t think we need another night.”

“I agree,” Tisa said. “I’ve spent so many years away from people, out in the wilderness, but the time that I’ve spent with you has felt very…” she paused and settled on, “fresh.” She gave Olona a little smile. “I’m so used to Liovia and the way she would talk about things that weren’t happening, and how she was never present. I never realized that I was missing the…” she hesitated again, “companionship of other people. If you’re still interested in traveling with me, I’d like to go where you want to go.”

Olona looked surprised. “At this point, I can’t even imagine us not going together! I don’t know, you’re kind of like the big sister I never had. I guess I sort of see us,” she scrunched up her face and concluded, “as a team?”

“Yeah, I think we’re a good pair,” Tisa agreed.

“Why don’t we head down and have some breakfast, then be on our way?”

Tisa smiled in agreement and they descended to the first floor.

“Good morning,” Olona said to the young woman who was again behind the counter, “we would love some breakfast, and we’ve decided that we are heading back out and continuing our journey. So, we will not need a second night at your wonderful establishment.” She beamed at the woman.

Less than an hour later, they were fed and making their way north with the little village behind them.

The string of fishing hamlets along the coast was set up with each village positioned a day’s journey apart, and not long after sunset, Tisa and Olona arrived at Port Judy. There was no sign declaring that Port Judy was the name of the town, but a row of buildings that were already shut down for the evening each bore the name, Port Judy hardware, the Port Judy public library, and the Fish Market of Port Judy.

Tisa and Olona again found a tavern, and it was called the Inn at Port Judy.

“I guess we’re in Port Judy,” Olona said in a nonchalant way that made Tisa snort. It was the first time Olona heard her laugh.

“Welcome, travelers,” said a bearded man behind the bar. Many customers were already drinking and carrying on in the tavern. “Here for the night or just some entertainment?”

“We’d like a room please,” Olona said with a smile, and she decided that it was prudent to jump straight to the topic of money. “Do you take gold?”

The man’s eyes brightened and he looks surprised. “Normally I just take money,” he replied with a shrug.

“Unfortunately, we have not come across the means to exchange any of our gold coinage for the standard money accepted here,” Olona stated, “but at our last accommodations, they were happy to take a little gold in exchange for a room. If this doesn’t work for your establishment, we understand and we’ll find another place to stay.”

“No, no,” the man responded quickly, not wanting anyone else to receive the gold they offered him, “that’ll be just fine. Is it just for a single night?”

The two women looked at each other.

“Probably,” Olona replied to him. She handed the man a gold coin.

“Well, ain’t that an interestin’ little piece,” he commented, flipping it over in his palm, but he looked pleased. “Come this way, ladies, and I’ll get you your key.”

After dinner, Tisa and Olona were again quickly asleep.

They arose with the morning sun, and just like the day before, they left after breakfast. Another day of travel brought them to the third fishing village, Seven Rivers, and their gold was again good at the inn. Tisa and Olona ate a decent supper, and they were soon fast asleep.

However, later that night, the innkeeper’s greed overcame his hospitality. Using a skeleton key that opened any door in his building, the man crept into their room as they slept.

The two women awoke with a fright and Tisa’s eldritch abilities again reacted on reflex. Her black disks appeared in the air and she could feel them take form.

There was a brief scream and then it was silenced, replaced by sloppy wet sounds.

Olona flicked on the lights, and just like the two monsters of Gunge who attacked them, the man’s body was in pieces. A puddle of blood surrounded the chunks that used to be the innkeeper.

“I didn’t mean to do that,” Tisa whispered.

Olona was staring at the body, frightened and shocked.

“I didn’t mean to,” Tisa repeated.

Olona asked in a stunned voice, “Was he fucking robbing us?” She pointed at one of the bloody pieces. “He was! Look, he’s got my coin purse in that hand over there.” It was on the floor, not attached to the wrist where it used to belong.

“But I didn’t mean to,” Tisa said yet again.

“Hey,” Olona said, and she spoke her companion’s name to help her focus, “Tisa, he was in the act of robbing us. Who knows what he intended afterward? Once he had our money, what do you think he was going to do with us? Let’s just get the fuck out of here while we can.”

They grabbed their things, slunk out the door, and closed it behind them with the eviscerated body oozing on the carpet.

Tisa and Olona slipped outside under the glow of the moon and headed with haste to the path that led north out of town.

They did not speak for quite a while, but eventually, Olona lit a joint and asked, “Tisa, what exactly is your power? I know you talk about them being like shadows, and I’ve seen them several times over our journey, but what are they?” Olona exhaled a cloud of pale grey smoke.

Tisa looked at her with a curious expression. “I’m not entirely sure,” she replied, and she caused another void disc to appear right in front of her. As they walked, the shadow moved with them. It kept pace with the two women.

“I’ve been able to do it since my mantis gland activated,” Tisa continued. “I was around 13. Liovia was the only other person I knew with any sort of abilities, and hers just sort of made her weird. I liked her, and our life together in the forest was unique, but I’ve never had anyone who I could really talk to about my powers,” she looked into Olona’s eyes, “no one who could understand or relate.”

Olona blew another puff of smoke into the air above their heads, and she took Tisa’s hand.

This surprised Tisa. The two women did not hold hands at any point on their journey.

“Well, now that you’ve got that shadow in front of you,” Olona said, and she squeezed Tisa’s fingers, “what can you do with it?”

Tisa took a breath and furrowed her brow in concentration. “The disks can stay there by themselves,” she explained. She reached out her free hand and touched it. “But they can also become my friends.” From the shadow emerged an adorable little round figure of darkness with stumpy limbs and a hood over its head.

Olona could not help but smile at the entity.

“I don’t know,” Tisa continued. “I used to make them carry water, or chop up food, or gather kindling, or sweep the floor. They’ve always sort of been my little helpers. Only a few times has my power done something…” she hesitated, contemplated the right word, and settled for, “violent.” She gave Olona an uncertain look.

“Well, I’m glad they did,” Olona replied. “It was not okay for that man to come into our room while we were asleep last night. You may have stopped him while he was robbing us, but I will say it again, who knows what else he had planned for the two of us? Ugh, men!”

“But I didn’t mean to kill him.”

Olona came to a realization. “You know what?” she said. “If he did this to us, what’s he done to other people in the past? You’ve made it so he can’t hurt anyone ever again.”

The events of the night made the idea of sleep unappealing, and they continued to walk for several hours in darkness. They came to signs for Brokenpointe before they reached the village, and it was still before dawn when they arrived. A few of its inhabitants were starting to rise. Several fisherfolk were preparing their nets, and one little boat was already out on the water.

“Do we go to the inn or just continue on?” Tisa asked.

“Aren’t you exhausted?” Olona replied.

“Yes, but I don’t want to deal with any other dangerous people.”

Olona shrugged. “You’re liable to find dangerous people everywhere.”

When they entered the tavern, Olona informed the innkeeper that they had traveled through the night and were looking for a room to rest in during the day and that night. He was happy to accept their gold and set them up in a private suite with its own privy chamber. After wedging a chair against the door handle for added security, both women enjoyed baths again, then they closed the curtains and fell asleep.

Tisa and Olona woke late in the afternoon, ate a filling meal at the inn, and they each ordered an after-dinner pint of ale as the sun set over the western mountains. The two women sat watching a piano player clanging out a tune and several patrons were drunkenly attempting to sing along.

Olona was the first to realize the song was a dirty one with raunchy lyrics, and she snickered at what the man sang.

“Everybody loves a good stiff fisherman’s eel!”

Olona snorted.

“What’s so funny?” Tisa asked.

“He is,” Olona said with an embarrassed smile. “Listen.”

“Slap me right on the ass with your thick fisherman’s eel!”

“Oh my…” Tisa exclaimed.

“I think that I could take a few more fishermen’s eels!”

Tisa let out a single peal of nervous laughter, and Olona choked on her sip of ale, as everyone else in the bar suddenly joined in and sang the last line.

“Everybody loves a good stiff fiiiisherrrrmaaaan’s eeeeeeeel!”

Tisa and Olona finished their pints, listening to a few more tunes, none of which had as amusing lyrics, and soon the two were back in their room. Before long, they were asleep.

After their restful time in Brokenpointe, Tisa and Olona were refreshed, and they began the final leg of their journey with the sun rising over the sea. In the distance, they could see a small lighthouse, but a stone marker indicated that Teshon City was in the other direction. They turned their backs to the blinking light and walked along the edge of a wide cove that separated the mainland from the peninsula city.

Tisa stopped and stared over the placid waters at the grand metropolis. Vast tidal flats stretched the entire distance up to a rise in the land where the massive city gates stood. This was her first time seeing a city, and it stole her breath.

Olona paused beside Tisa. “It’s kind of like Ruburge.”

“There’re no trees,” Tisa stated.

“Oh, you’re right,” Olona replied with surprise. “That’s odd.”

Tisa and Olona continued and passed the threshold of Teshon City as the sun was starting to set. They made their way into the urban sprawl and were surprised at the vibrancy of the first neighborhood they reached. Entire sides of buildings were painted with bright murals. Music was coming from multiple taverns. Street food vendors fed the masses who bustled on their many ways home as night fell and enshrouded the city in darkness.

“It looks like a lot of these little shacks,” Olona said under her breath to Tisa, “were just thrown together by people. Not like your hut back in the forest of Xin.”

“I’ll make us somewhere to live,” Tisa told her, “but that will take time.”

They headed into the middle of the city toward a giant stone Tower that loomed over all of the buildings. Beyond it was a region with many shops and cafes, most of them already closed for the evening.

It started to rain.

“Where are the taverns in this neighborhood?” Olona asked the city at large.

“Maybe we should have stopped back at the entrance, but there must be one around here somewhere,” Tisa replied.

The rain began to fall harder, as the women came to the end of the peninsula. They gazed out at the splashing surface of Teshon Harbor. The sea beyond roiled past the stretches of mainland that reached from the north and south and protected the harbor, and each blinked with its own lighthouse.

“There!” Tisa declared, and she pointed along the coast.

A few blocks away, they could see the words Teshon Harbor Inn.

They were both drenched when they arrived.

“Good evening, ladies,” said a mustachioed man behind the concierge desk. “Welcome to the Teshon Harbor Inn. Please, warm yourselves by our fire,” he offered with a gracious wave toward a roaring hearth. “Summer rains are a rarity,” he commented. “Now, how can I be of service?”

Olona ran through her spiel about not having money, but how several other establishments were willing to take gold in place of the local currency.

The man was more than happy to relieve the women of another gold coin in exchange for an entire week at the inn.

He handed Olona their room key, and she asked him, “Is there a place nearby where I can exchange my last few gold coins for the money you use here?”

The man looked unsure. “Don’t rightly know,” he replied. “Where are you two from?”

“Hazel Cove,” Olona answered immediately.

Tisa furrowed her brow, but the man replied, “Way down south, eh? Makes sense, makes sense. Sorry I couldn’t be more help. I reckon someone’ll be willing to trade you some money for your gold.”

Olona smiled at him.

A moment later, she and Tisa were upstairs in their room behind a locked door. It was a small chamber with no special amenities, but it was warm and dry.

Olona cracked the window and lit a joint. She blew the smoke out into the rain.

“Why did you tell him…” Tisa started, but then she looked past Olona and out the window in awe.

“That we were from Hazel Cove?” Olona finished for her.

Tisa stepped up beside Olona with her eyes wide.

“Wow,” she whispered at the view.

The inn may have possessed rooms overlooking the ocean, but their window faced inland. It provided them with an incredible view of Teshon City. The buildings were black under the moonlight, and the rain continued to fall. The city held a strange attractiveness for Tisa.

“It’s so beautiful,” she said.

Olona smiled. “Well, this city is our new home.” She put an arm around Tisa. “I figured that most people,” Olona continued, answering Tisa’s unfinished question from a moment earlier, “at least most folks who are actually from Teshon City probably have not been all the way down to the little hamlet of Hazel Cove, but at least they will have heard of it and might even think of it as some faraway place.”

“Oh, that’s clever,” Tisa replied. “You are clever, aren’t you?”

Olona blushed and let out an embarrassed laugh. “You say that like you’re surprised.” She coughed a little and took another puff from her joint.

“That smells nice,” Tisa commented. “Hey, I never asked you about why you smoke it. You said that you smoke muluflower differently than the other people you mentioned from the southern coast. What did you mean?”

Olona chuckled. “That’s kind of hard to explain. They smoke it for what they think of as a spiritual connection, and they use it for meditation.”

“What do you use it for?”

“It’s inspiring,” Olona replied. “There’s a plant compound in muluflower that, I believe, makes me more creative with my organic mechanic practice. It really focuses me.” She took another breath of smoke and exhaled it out the window, as she snubbed the end of her joint. “Hungry?” she asked Tisa.

A meal downstairs in the tavern made them both feel very sleepy, and they headed back to their room to fall into unconsciousness. Their journey was ended, and they needed a place to call home.

The next morning over breakfast, Olona recommended that they scour the city for a location. “I’m not skilled with carpentry or construction, but I’ll do my best to help you build our house.”

Tisa snorted a little laugh, and it made Olona smile. “It’s not really going to be a house,” Tisa replied, “although, I like that you called it ours. I will be able to build us a hut like the one I lived in, if we can find the lumber, of course.”

Tisa and Olona finished their meal and headed out into the neighborhood.

The rain had stopped during the night, and the city was blanketed in fog. It gave the quiet streets an ethereal feel.

“Where should we start?” Tisa asked.

“It will probably be easiest on us if we find a spot that’s not too far from where we’re staying at the inn.” Olona looked around. “Let’s check out around this neighborhood first, and then expand our search as needed.”

The two women checked down alleyways and each side street that they crossed, and they soon realized that miscellaneous debris was everywhere. Tisa pointed out a number of items that she thought might work.

“Okay, to start,” she recommended, “we should build a temporary makeshift dwelling that’s similar to the other shacks of the neighborhood.” She pointed at a row of them. “Once we have a simple place of our own, we won’t be so rushed to build something better. It’ll give us the opportunity to construct a hut that we can eventually move into.”

Olona looked impressed with the idea. “That sounds like a smart course of action.”

The two made their way down many streets as the morning crept toward noon, but as they turned down a narrow alley that led back to the waterfront, they were suddenly face to face with a pair of old drunks.

“Tits!” one of them blurted out, and he grabbed Olona’s chest.

“What the fuck?!” she barked.

There was a brilliant flash, and the man jolted back from Olona. He slammed into the wall and fell to the ground. He groaned, pushed himself to his hands and knees, and then vomited booze all over the alleyway.

“Wha’djoo’do?” the other man slurred at her.

Olona grabbed Tisa’s hand and ran. She did not run too fast for Tisa with her mechanically-enhanced legs, but they rounded a corner and were gone. Olona did not know where she was leading Tisa, but getting away from the men was her goal.

They headed around several city blocks and eventually popped out at the water’s edge again.

“Fucking men,” Olona complained.

“What happened back there?” Tisa asked, slightly out of breath. “Why did he grab you like that?”

“Ugh!” Olona exclaimed. “So many men think women solely exist for their sake, like we’re possessions. I dealt with it a bit in the apprenticeship. Men can be so fucking gross. They want to sexualize you when you’re just a girl, when you’re still supposed to be innocent, but then when you’re old enough to own your sexuality, at that point they expect you to be all demure and coy. Fucking gross,” she repeated.

“But what did you do to him?” Tisa asked, repeating the drunkard’s mumbled question.

Olona made a sheepish expression. “I electrocuted him.”

“What? How on earth did you do that?”

“This finger,” Olona explained, holding up one hand, “has an organic machine of my own design that can function as a defensive weapon. It’s got a volt-generator in it that I can discharge at will. I can determine how much of a shock I can give, and since I figured he was a bit numb from the alcohol, I gave him a pretty good zap.” She did not sound apologetic at all. “Plus, he fucking grabbed me, and he fucking deserved what he got.”

Olona looked around and added, “Where have we ended up?”

They were standing on a bare patch of stone with the harbor before them.

“This actually seems like a really good spot to build,” Tisa declared, scrutinizing the area. There was a low wall nearby that was part of an old concrete structure. “We could build here. What do you think?”

Olona was already beaming. “You know construction, so I trust in you, determining the right place to build, and I’ll assist in any way that I can.”

A light rain began to fall again.

“Let’s find our way back to the inn,” Olona recommended. “We can grab lunch and then hunt down some wood and whatever we’ll need to start building our own little house. I think if we follow the water this way, it’ll lead us back to the inn.”

They did just that, making their way along the rocky coast of the peninsula, and before too long, the Teshon Harbor Inn’s sign came into view. The women were damp but not soaked, and they opted to remain in their clothes as they ate. Soon, they were back out in the drizzle.

“Let’s head to the spot we found,” Olona suggested, “and see if there are any usable materials close by that will work for building.”

It took them less time than they expected to find the open flat space on the rocks above the water, and the two women began to forage the surrounding area for supplies.

“What do we need?” Olona asked.

Tisa pointed at some old wood. “Grab that busted piece of decking that’s leaning up against the wall there. Oh, and look at this big piece of sheet metal; it’s got some vents in it. Maybe we can use it as a roof.”

There was only a single rusted bolt still holding the old piece of metal to one of the buildings. Tisa took a rock, struck the screw’s head several times, and the thing snapped. As she began to dislodge the metal sheet, it turned out to be much larger than she realized.

“Olona,” she called out, “leave that wood for now, and come give me a hand with this instead.”

The two women finagled it free and leaned it up against the wall of the alleyway. Underneath it was an old fan inside of a metal cage, and behind it was an access doorway. It was hidden from view where the pavement was uneven beneath the ledge of an upper building.

Olona gave the fan cage a kick and said, “I bet this old thing, hasn’t seen the sun in 200 years!”

“And now it’s exposed to the elements,” Tisa commented with a shrug.

Olona added, “Let’s try not to forget about that.” She pointed with her foot toward the hidden doorway. “We can check it out sometime later.”

They instantly forgot about the secret entrance behind the old fan cage.

The rain started to fall harder.

“Let’s bring this metal sheet out of the alley,” Tisa said. “Then we can find some more wood like that decking.”

“I think we’re gonna get soaked.”

They both laughed, and they felt hopeful.

A little while later, much more broken decking and abandoned lumber was now lying around the area, and Tisa started her construction.

“It just needs to shelter us for now, right?” Olona asked. “I recognize that it’s not going to be like your hut in the forest.”

“No,” Tisa agreed, “it won’t be anything like that, but you’re right, its purpose is temporary. We just need a place to stay while we make a proper little shack, and I like this spot,” she added, looking out over the water. “I think we should build our permanent home right here, too.”

The rain started to pound down on Teshon city.

“Let’s get out of here!” Olona suggested, and they ran back to the inn.

A few minutes later, they were in dry clothes and down in the tavern with warm bowls of stew in front of them.

“Mighty peculiar weather we’re havin’ this season,” the barkeep informed them.

“Quite,” Olona replied vaguely. She then asked, “Is there a store nearby that sells quality lumber and tools?”

The man scratched his stubbly chin and looked down the bar. “Oi!” he called out to another fellow who was cleaning goblets. “Where’s that there wood shop?”

“Corner of 16^th and Waters Way!” he hollered back.

“Corner of 16^th and Waters Way,” the barman repeated.

Olona chuckled. “Thanks, we’ll find it.”

He smiled and headed back to the kitchen.

The rain stopped that evening and did not return.

Tisa and Olona spent the next three and a half days constructing their temporary shack. They visited the wood shop several times and purchased some tools and a little lumber, but most of what they used, the pair of them found in the city. When the walls were complete and sturdy, they put the metal plate onto the top, and Tisa and Olona stepped back to admire their work.

It was an ugly shanty that looked like every other ugly shanty in Teshon City, and it was perfect.

Both of them slipped in through the door. It was large enough to stand upright or lay down stretched out, and it was theirs. This new rickety home may have only been an empty square box with a metal roof, but Tisa and Olona felt an excitement and invigoration at all the possibilities that their new life in the city held.

They stayed at the inn for the rest of the time that Olona’s gold got them, and during the days, they built a bed for their shack and made a mattress that they stuffed with straw.

On their sixth morning, Olona told Tisa, “I think it’s my birthday.”

“Oh, well, happy birthday,” Tisa replied. “You aren’t sure?”

“They don’t seem to track dates up here the same way that people do in Xin. The months are all different and theirs don’t have the same number of days.” Olona brought a hand to the back of her neck with an embarrassed smile. “Anyway, I think that my birthday is around today. Erm… do you want to share a bottle of wine with me tonight?”

“Like a celebration?” Tisa asked.

“Yeah,” Olona laughed nervously, “my mother used to let me drink wine spritzers on special days.”

“What’s that?”

Olona smiled as she reminisced. “It’s just wine and sparkling mineral water, not too exciting, but it made those special days feel special.”

That night, they spent an extra gold coin on a very large dinner and a fancy bottle of wine. The tavernmaster also plated up two wedges of chocolate cake that was not on the menu.

“I make this special for a few regulars,” he informed them, “but most folks don’t know about it.” He wore a beaming smile, as he set down their desserts and cleared their empty dinner plates.

After the busy initial week in the city, Tisa and Olona spent their first night together in their new home. It was not much, but it was theirs.

The next few days passed in a blur of activity as both women found their bearings in the neighborhood. The locals referred to it as the Spritehood.

Olona fit right in and made fast friends with little effort, but Tisa struggled with the difference in city life compared to everything she had experienced with Liovia in the forest. Making friends was difficult for her, and she spent much of her time alone in the little hut.

Tisa filled her days with woodworking, improving the interior of their home and, building pieces of furniture for their more permanent dwelling. She constructed a new bed that stood upright against the wall when they were not using it, so that it was not taking up space during the day. Tisa also built a small table and a chair for each of them. She even cut out windows from two of the walls that gave them a view out over the harbor.

Days became weeks, and weeks became a month, and Tisa told Olona that they could eventually move into their new home. Tisa was sure that she was finally going to thrive, now that she was done planning their permanent hut, but she continued to struggle with her life in the urbanscape.

Tisa made many attempts to fit in with the inhabitants of Teshon City. She even abandoned her clothes from the forest and took to dressing in the local style, hoping it would help her fit in and make friends. Over the next few weeks, Tisa spent much of her time alone. Eventually, her anxieties and disappointments began bubbling up in outbursts of frustration.

“I should never have come here!” Tisa declared one day.

Olona heard her say things like this from time to time, and for a while, she tried to share words of encouragement during Tisa’s darker moments. After some time, she took to staying quiet and allowing Tisa to vent.

“I hate this city. I hate the fact that I can’t seem to get off the ground here. I hate the way I feel around crowds, and I hate most of the people with whom I’ve interacted. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” Tisa dropped her head, and she cried out in exasperation. “Argh! I think I’m allergic to this city!” She let out a breath. “This was a mistake,” she added in a dejected tone, and then she repeated herself. “I should never have come here.”

Those initial impressions of awe that Tisa felt at her first sights of Teshon City were now far from her mind.

Whatever obligations may have required Tisa’s attention that day were going to be ignored. She said, “I’m headed out.”

This was a normal reaction in her more frustrated moments.

Tisa walked down several streets, turned a few corners, and she began to wander. In the weeks since they had arrived in Teshon City, Tisa had explored all of the Spritehood, and she now made her aimless way along streets she knew well, trying to work off her anxiety. She headed to where the edge of the neighborhood bordered the old Oselian base barracks, then she made her way in toward the center of the city. Tisa turned onto a street she did not recognize, and a moment later, she realized that she was at the edge of Gate Town.

The vibrant murals and exuberance of this very different neighborhood drew Tisa into it. After a few streets, she came to a narrow alley where she saw a pile of old lumber that she considered a jackpot. There was a large overhang protecting the space where the wood was piled. Only the bottom pieces were spoiled with a little damp from the concrete; most of it was in pristine condition.

Tisa knelt down to go through the pieces, and a voice behind her mumbled, “You’re one.”

A man was seated on a rickety stool a little farther into the alleyway. He was clutching a stoneware jug and took a swig from it. Several small shacks stood beyond him in the deeper shadows.

Tisa stood upright and turned to face him. “One what?” she asked.

“One of me!” the man declared with a goofy grin. There was a violin at his feet.

“Alright,” Tisa said, “have a nice day.” She picked up a few pieces of wood.

As she began to head out of Gate Town, the man said, “Not that way.”

Tisa turned back to him and asked, “What do you mean? Why not?”

“They don’t like me out there,” he said. “They barely like me in here.” He nodded toward the rest of Gate Town. He took another gulp from his jug.

“Look, friend,” Tisa started.

“Tilby,” he stated.

“What?”

The man repeated himself. “Tilby, I’m Tilby.”

“Tilby,” she obliged, “I need to go.”

“I shouldn’t go that way!” he cried out with more concern in his voice than Tisa expected. “I don’t belong out there!”

“I’m not asking you to come with me, Tilby,” she explained. The man was obviously inebriated, but living with Liovia was often like being around an inebriated person, and Tisa was patient. “I’m just going home,” she told him.

“Oh, no, no,” Tilby wailed, “I don’t live out there!”

“It’s okay,” Tisa comforted. “You don’t have to go anywhere. You can stay right where you are.”

“But I’m leaving!” Tilby implored.

Tisa put her wood back down. “What’s wrong?” she asked him. “What are you afraid of?”

He took another draught from his oversized bottle and gave Tisa a scrutinizing look. “You’re one of me,” he declared, and he took another drink.

“If I am you, are you me?” Tisa asked, and she continued. “Are you saying that you’re worried about me leaving and going that direction?” She pointed out of Gate Town.

Tilby’s face broke with concern again. “I can’t go that way!”

“Okay, okay,” Tisa said in a calm voice. “You don’t want me to go out there; I get it.”

Relief washed over his face, and he went to take another swig of his booze, but Tisa reached out and put her hand on his wrist. Tilby lowered his jug to the pavement and looked up at her with bleary eyes.

Tisa asked him, “What are you trying to protect me from?”

He leaned toward her and whispered, “You’re one.” Tilby squinted his eyes shut, and in Tisa’s mind, she suddenly heard the man’s voice reverberating his words.

You’re one! and his voice in her head sounded very powerful.

His brow relaxed, and he whispered with a smile, “You’re one.”

“How did you do that?!” Tisa asked in awe.

Tilby’s smile widened. “I’m one.” He looked at her expectantly and he picked up his violin.

“But I can’t do that,” she told him.

He closed his eyes again, and Tilby’s voice echoed I am one! in her head. He opened his eyes and repeated yet again, “You’re one.”

“Are you…” Tisa began, and she hesitated. “Are you asking what I can do?”

Tilby exclaimed, “You’re one! You’re one!”

“Okay, okay,” Tisa replied again. “I can make shadows,” she informed him.

Tilby told her, “It is my most unique,” and then he stopped speaking and gave her a toothy smile, but Tisa thought he did not finish whatever he was saying. “I am not afraid,” Tilby added, placing his palm on his heart. He then extended his other arm towards Tisa, as if to do the same to her, and he repeated himself. “I am not afraid.”

Tisa was used to trying to make sense of confusing words. “Are you saying that I shouldn’t be afraid of my shadows?”

Tilby’s face was drunkenly delighted, and he picked up his violin and its old frayed bow. He dragged it across the strings and played a single chord. It sounded scratchy.

Tisa raised her hand and opened a void in the atmosphere like a disc of shadow.

Tilby gasped aloud in amazement, and he whispered, “The radiation of the universe! Stars and time and distant galaxies!”

Tisa did not understand and was taken aback by the man’s sense of wonder. Her disc of darkness disappeared.

Tilby sighed, as if a lovely piece of music had just finished playing. Then he played his own, dancing his bow over the strings in a merry jig. He lowered his instrument, hiccupped, and took another swig from his jug.

“I’ve got to get out of here, but I’ll come back tomorrow,” Tisa told him. “Any chance you might sober up a little?”

Tilby suddenly looked defeated. “This is how I keep the other voices away,” he said in a downtrodden tone. “So loud,” he murmured. His eyes shut, and he rubbed his head as if in pain.

“It’s okay; it’s okay,” Tisa assured him. “Don’t worry, do what you need to do. I can’t stay any longer now,” she added, “but I’ll be back tomorrow.” She picked up the lumber and began to leave Gate Town, but Tilby cried out again.

“I can’t go that way!”

“I know,” Tisa said gently. “I get it that you don’t want me to go back to the Spritehood, but that’s where I live. That’s where my home is.”

“I can’t live there! I can’t live there!” Tilby started repeating. “I can’t live there!”

“Why not?!” Tisa said loudly to interrupt him, but then she continued in her calm voice. “Why can’t you go to the Spritehood?”

“Because they’re looking for me,” he said, reaching out to her again. “They’re looking for me!” and Tilby pointed at her.

“Someone’s looking for me in the Spritehood?” Tisa asked.

He looked relieved again.

“But there’s no one after me,” she continued. “I’ve lived there for weeks, almost two months.”

“I can’t live there anymore!” Tilby declared with a horrified expression on his face. “They were even hunting me here!”

“Look,” Tisa interrupted again, “I think I understand. You think someone is after me, and I shouldn’t live in the Spritehood, but I don’t understand who would be after me.”

“They’re after me,” he said again.

Tisa sighed. “You’re the first other person I’ve met who’s like me,” she informed him. “I need to get back to my home, but I’ll come here tomorrow. I know you don’t want me to go,” she added before he could argue about her leaving Gate Town, “but I’ll be back,” she reassured. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

That night in their tiny house, Tisa told Olona about her encounter.

“His name is Tilby, and I think he’s got some sort of ability like Liovia,” she stated. “It seemed like he really wanted me to move into Gate Town, which makes me wonder if he’s privy to something we don’t know.”

Olona thought for a moment and said, “Folks up here commonly call people like you Shifts,” she explained. “Down in Xin there are a few vulgar names for your kind, and I think mostly our people just don’t talk about Shifts, which is why I was worried that calling you Shift might be an insult.” Olona smiled and continued. “But that’s what you are, and I know you’ve made our house really amazing,” she added, waving her arms at their home, “but for the past few days, I’ve been thinking that we might need to leave it behind.”

Olona went on, “I’ve made acquaintance with quite a few people, including several alchemists and mystics and Demifae, and I’ve recently learned that it’s common practice here for people to hunt your kind. They kill Shifts and use their mantis glands for any number of things. I didn’t know that was how Demifae did their magic, and I think we do indeed need to move,” and Olona added, “for your safety more than anything.”

The next day, Tisa returned to the alleyway and found Tilby outside his shack.

“Well, I think I figured out what you were talking about yesterday,” she told him. “My friend and I are going to move to this part of town where it’s safer. I can’t stay and chat right now, because she’s already packing some of our things, and I need to get back to help her. We’ll be moving somewhere in the area, and I’ll come chat with you more later when I know where we are going to stay.”

Tilby could not have looked more pleased, and he exclaimed, “I’m moving out of the Spritehood! I’m moving out of the Spritehood!”

Tisa laughed. “Yes, yes, I’m moving out of the Spritehood.”

He joined her laughter and extended his jug toward her. The contents sloshed around inside.

Tisa held up her hand. “Thank you,” she said with a smile, “but I’ve got a lot of moving to get through today, maybe another time.” She nodded to him and headed back out of Gate Town.

She met up with Olona, and for the rest of the day, they scouted locations in Gate Town. To their surprise, they found an old Oselian building that was empty. It stood right on the border of Shifton. They spend the next few days making trips back and forth with the things Tisa built for their shack by the water, and soon, they were settled in a new home.

Time continued its steady flow, and life felt a little more bearable for Tisa in an area surrounded by her fellow Shifts. She still struggled to make friends, but there was a new peace in her heart.

During the following six months, Olona was constantly engaged in many different activities, and Tisa spent a lot of her time in the alleyway with her confusing new friend. Tilby reminded Tisa of Liovia, and she enjoyed being with her peculiar new friend.

Tilby would say things like, “I wonder what I can do,” and, “How many can I make at once?” He also told Tisa things like, “My shadows are so amazing,” and, “I love them so much!”

His words were encouraging to Tisa, and it did not take long for her to start experimenting with her discs of darkness and testing her abilities. Tilby laughed at her little chubby hooded figures. He was amazed by the entities’ ability to manipulate physical objects, while themselves being nothing more than shadow.

“I hear the radiation of the universe! I taste the stars! I see time and distant galaxies!” Tilby often said different variations of those confusing lines, and Tisa liked it when he did.

Their pleasant experiences together were countered by the villainy that eventually became apparent. Living in Gate Town was in some ways safer, and in other ways more dangerous.

Gate Town was the primary hunting ground for those who desired Shift photonova glands. The people who lived in that region were more sympathetic to the plight of the hunted, and they were accepting of the existence of Shifts. In the daytime, there was usually safety around other people.

The city nights were different.

Over their first six months in Gate Town, Tisa and Olona were told about Shifts who were hunted down. They overheard rumors about isolated cults outside the city, and Olona even once stumbled upon the headless corpse of a young woman in an alleyway. The Shift owner of a cafe that she and Tisa often visited went missing one day, and he was never found. During that half-year, nine different neighbors of theirs turned up dead and decapitated, or disappeared altogether.★