The Wizard's Terrarium

Chapter One

At a glance the city of Arcgate looked like a tapestry woven by some insane goddess. Neighborhoods of houses with intricate woodwork, timbered facades, and gabled roofs stood nestled between buildings with graceful arches, domes, and minarets on one side and flat-roofed adobe houses on the other. Even the streets fell victim to the same aesthetic, ranging anywhere from cobblestone to stone tile to packed dirt. The effect strengthened towards the center of the city, where the Grand Market stood in the shadow of Unity Hall, a sprawling building that seemed like an amalgamation of the city itself.

Within the Grand Market resided a weathered stone-fountain known as Discovery Spring. Above the wide stone-basin rose a single pillar carved with a blend of floral and animal motifs. Six Candy the Cat Burglar sat perched on the top, his gaze fixed on the sky.

"You have an inordinate amount of patience," remarked the white-furred Felinari who sat beside him. "How many days has it been?"

"Sixty-three," replied Six without looking at her.

"Two full cycles of the moon and more," said his companion, shaking her head. "Six, it can take years before we see a new arrival. There's no pattern to it."

Six said nothing. It was a conversation he and Falling Rain had had numerous times since his own arrival, and it held little interest for him.

The sun had just reached its highest point, and Six was thinking to himself how its very existence made little sense, when it finally happened, what he'd been waiting for. A swirling, blindingly bright vortex appeared almost directly overhead with the sound of thunder. Six slid his goggles down over his eyes and continued to watch, while Rain and the marketplace crowd below shielded their eyes. A few seconds later, a figure emerged from the vortex and plummeted down to earth, landing on their face with a distinctive lack of grace. Just as suddenly as it appeared, the vortex sizzled back into nothingness, leaving the sky clear blue again.

"Huh," said Six, removing his goggles.

He slipped down the side of the pillar, and the carvings made it easy for a skilled burglar such as himself to find handholds to safely descend. About a third of the way from the bottom, he kicked off, dropping to the edge of the basin before hopping down to go investigate the newcomer, pushing through the circle of market-goers who had crowded around to gawk at them.

The person was larger than Six had realized at first, a giant of a humanoid that probably stood close to seven feet, and more hairy than furry. With a groan, they pushed themselves up into a sitting position, revealing a distinctly bovine face that eventually resolved itself into a baffled expression. "Cat Burglar?"

"Maurice," said Six with a slight nod.

The Taurian lurched to his feet and Six could smell the reek of booze. "Is this one of your tricks?" he bellowed.

Six ignored the question and instead circled around Maurice, studying him. "You fell over fifty feet from the mouth of the portal to the ground there, and yet you appear to have no significant injuries." The Felinari wrinkled his nose. "Though with how inebriated you are, I doubt you could feel a thing anyway."

Maurice tried tracking Six with his eyes but apparently failed, instead swaying unsteadily on his feet. He shook his head as if that would clear it, but it only seemed to make it worse. With a groan he fell to his knees and heaved the contents of his stomach onto the packed dirt.

"You're a mess," remarked Six.

Maurice groaned, managed to sit up again, then shot Six a glare. "Do you know how long you've been gone?"

"Sixty-three days."

"That's right, six... sixty... sixty something." The Taurian gulped suddenly, made a face as if he had just swallowed an unpleasant substance. "You know how that's left me?"