I chose an inn near the North Gate, a place I'd seen several fighters heading, and then went downstairs to see if I could pick up anything further from conversations. I grabbed a drink from the counter and parked myself in a dark corner of the tavern's main room.

The tavern's walls were mostly cracked, chalky white adobe, with bits of pigment swirled in, here and there. The floor and tables were carved from dark wood that might well have been as old as me. A few players and a singer laid a sultry mood over the place with their song. Somewhere behind the counter, a stick of incense burned.

The match with the Tear-mancer initiate had worn me out more than I'd expected; she was formidable. If she had something that needed more guarding than even she could provide, it must've been impressive indeed.

A conversation at a nearby table caught my ear.

A red-haired, grizzled fighter with scars on his cheeks spoke up first. "Didja hear about that fight Ms Emerald River picked with one of the new guards? I hear they practically left scorch marks across the central square." His thick, drawling accent left no doubt that he had come from Kaji, the birthplace of Ka Te.

An androgynous fighter at the table sputtered and scoffed, and rolled their eyes toward the rafters. "Yeah right. No one gives Tasha a challenge. I hope it weren't too hard to clean up the guts of her opponent."

The four occupants of the table laughed, and someone punctuated it by pounding the table. The androgynous one caught sight of me and gaped for a moment before calling out.

"Hey! Ain't you her? The newbie she fought?"

Ah well. I guess I couldn't hold back and observe forever. I stood with my drink and headed toward their table, nodding.

"Yep. That's me."

Looking around the table, I saw faces half way between excitement and fear. The person who spoke looked away first.

"Mmmm... glad you're on our side," they said to more laughter, as they made a space for me.

"I'm Keia."

The Kajian grinned, a fearsome sight with gaps and metal stand-ins.

"Jeri, Hala, Moriko, and I'm Fen. Nice ta' meet ya."

After I sat, Fen continued, "So where'd you learn to fight like that?"

Ah, to the fun part of being a spy: making stuff up and keeping it consistent.

"Ohhh, here, there, everywhere, you pick it up, you know? I started out in a monastery you probably wouldn't have heard of... it's been gone for a while, now." Insert artfully mild sadness.

"Uh huh," Jeri replied, proffering a sly grin. "All right then, keep your secrets."

But the moment was quickly forgotten in a flurry of tears and laughter after a series of stories that must surely have been at least half fiction... except that one tale of "long ago" that I recognized from having been there in person.

I stood suddenly, feeling the room spin around me a bit.

"I, uh... gotta get some sleep 'for 'morrow..."

I saw concerned faces but shook my head, causing another wave of dizziness.

Argh, this body is a real lightweight!

It was hard to predict things like that at a micro level, when you were shifting. Past time to go pass out.

Tasha Emerald River had gathered quite a merry band of guards, more than I'd met at the tavern the night before. Tear Stones, the basis of many interesting Mana artifacts and quite priceless in this quantity, turned out to be her cargo. We were to accompany Tasha with a caravan across the empty, treacherous deserts of the Relian outback. Our destination was to be the city of Belio, a port town on the coast of the vast oceans of Casilan.

A rowdy assortment of characters of questionable-looking dependability, but unquestionable skill, had set forth with us at first light. Their raucous, laughing voices left some room for doubt, but their scars and the way they held themselves did not. Many were hired help like me, if I had to take a guess. A few regulars, maybe.

Tasha rode on her sand beast comfortably, between its two humps, near the front of the caravan; the strange silver-eyed girl from the square rode beside her, the two of them in subdued conversation. So they were together. I still hadn't pieced together how the girl fit in the puzzle, though.

Behind those two rode the precious cargo, and ringed around all of that, myself and my fellow guards.

"Not too bad of a day, huh?"

I looked over toward the voice and found one of my fellow guards. Behind him stretched the endless dunes of the Relian outback, and beyond that, so hazy in the distance as to be almost indistinguishable, a towering mountain range. Here and there a sand beast bawled for some water, gladly given since we had brought so much.

"I'm Nilo," he said, extending his hand. "I'm actually from Belio, which is probably why I got invited along on this trip," he continued with a smile. "How about you?"

"I'm Keia," I replied. "I was in Asterbré when the call for mercs came. As for me... I'm from here and there, all over. I just try to live in the present."

More artful wistfulness.

He nodded, not put off by my evasiveness.

"I see. Good philosophy, living in the present! Ever been to Belio before?"

"I haven't seen much of the oceans," I replied. I mean... technically it was true. No one has. "How is it?"

"How is it! Why, it's one of the most interesting places on Casilan," he said, smiling and gesturing at the air. "Did you know that this continent was originally a plateau in a huge mountain range?"

I shook my head truthfully. I'd never been much of a scholar.

"I've studied it extensively," he continued, lecturing to an invisible audience hall. "There are legends that the ocean levels used to be much lower. At one time, then, Belio was more of a 'gateway to the plateau' town than an ocean port. The Rengai Mountains are the tops of that range."

"Huh, interesting!" My reaction wasn't feigned this time, either. I'd heard these sorts of rumours over the years, but never a fully formed theory, before.

"Yeah!" he enthused, apparently flipping to the next slide. "It's why you see so much cold, inland architecture in Belio even though it's a temperate ocean port, now."

"Ah, professor!" I interjected with a raised hand. He looked very briefly abashed and then laughed, gesturing for me to continue. "I wonder what's down there. I mean if it was a gateway to the plateau, surely there were cities that are now underwater... or was it too long ago for that?"

Nilo shook his head vigorously.

"Oh, no, they are definitely there! Some day I hope I'll get to explore them."

With a grin on his face to outshine the sun, I thought. A scholar mercenary; how unexpected.