Theurgy: The Journey's Dawn (Book One)

Chapter 40 Daggers in Smoke

Butterflies seemed to twirl within Lyse. He knew where it was coming from, but that did not comfort him. The euphoric feeling of discovery that he had visiting Torlak, or even visiting Pumavut in Koraki, vanished as soon as he stepped foot on the shaky wooden docks of the capital city of Hath. It didn't come from the people. Sure, everyone he saw looked a little rough. Everyone walked with hastened steps as if afraid of attracting attention. Everyone's down cast eyes made Lyse feel as though being watched in some awkward way. But he didn't sense any malice, and no one took notice of the four as they traversed the market area. The only people that seemed approachable were the merchants themselves, waving over to any passerby with practiced half-smiles and approachable appearances.

It didn't come from the buildings themselves. For the most part, the streets and accompaniments all looked rather splendid. Each building had a cluttered yet decorative look to them, adorned with all manner of detail that seemed excessive; even balcony windows would sometimes be adorned with iron embellishment that served no apparent function. He guessed at first that it was the atmosphere here, the way this place felt like any others. Unlike when he had traveled to Torlak, this place seemed uncomfortably disconnected from nature. The empire was meant to be a place where humans and nature have a bond. Much of the land was still untamed, and men respected nature as one would a mother. All material you could gain from the earth and its riches are to be respected. And the role of a Farmer was to be treated with respect, enough so that other men in the village looked to his father with a hint of reverence for how well his crops grew. In Hath, however, that connection wasn't explicitly shown. It took him a good ten minutes of searching before finding the first tree in a nice little park surrounded by statues of what appeared to be kings, queens, explorers, and mythically shrewd merchants. None of the others seemed particularly bothered. But then, he realized that this too was not the reason for his unease.

He concludes that this unease is the familiarity this place tried to force upon him. His mother had explained before that any memory he may have had as a child here was wiped and replaced with those from BrokenArrow. This went back till he was at least 5 years old, which meant that he would still have something to go off today if he still remembered. But, because he had no recollection, nothing but a gap in his mind, it felt as if something was being forced on him, something that should be there but isn't.

"You look like you about to roll over, Lyse," Edlund smiled at first but then noticed Lyse's grave expression. "What's wrong? Got memories of this place yet?"

"No," Lyse told him. "My mind tried to remind itself but cannot seem to grasp it. Come on, we're nearly approaching the road."

"There's no way you can remember all that just by seeing that once," Gray said.

"The man can make plants sprout just by thinking about it. Are you really surprised of anything at this point, Gray?" Elena asked him.

"That's an overstatement," Lyse consoled. "I'm not nearly as well-practiced as my mother. Besides, I didn't memorize the thing; I just . . . tried to get the best route as possible."

"The point still stands," she said. "Besides, memorizing a map isn't that hard if you practice, Gray."

"Lots of practice, I can assure you that," Edlund said. "Our mother would break our fingers if we failed on some literacy test, so we studied our arse off until we could remember. However, I think what Lyse can do is something you have to be born with."

"Right here," Lyse instructed them and pointed towards the road that splintered off the main road. It wasn't empty, but the traffic was lighter, and it was a bit too narrow for large carriages to come past. "Anyway, what was that about being born with something?"

Edlund snorted. "Anyway, sir map reader, how long till we make it to that fortress thing?"

"Before sundown, hopefully," Lyse said. "If I could take that map, I could. But Moxie doesn't want to hand over her only map of the city. said it's hard to find a good cartographer these days. We may need to ask for faster directions."