The Wizard's Terrarium

Chapter Nine

Damn, thought Nenth. Lost her.

She stood on the edge of the roof, looked out over the city. Onderberg was so different from Arcgate. There was a unity, a oneness, about its layout. The buildings were flat roofed and constructed of the same striped earthwork, making them easy for her to navigate. They were also squat and sturdy like their Melesi inhabitants, with few above two stories in height. But still, she'd lost track of her prey.

Or was she the prey? She sighed quietly through her nose. It didn't feel right, Nocturni hunting Nocturni. But here she was.

But this wasn't the first time things hadn't felt right, was it? Since birth she'd felt there was something either missing or broken. She wasn't sure if it was her or if it was the world around her that was flawed. Maybe both, she mused.

The way the other Nocturni had moved, she was sure it was her gen-sib Skyrt. Of course that's who the Mistress would send, thought Nenth. Of all the gen-sibs, it was Skyrt she was closest to, the one person that was her ally as much as her rival. Skyrt would know how to find her, would know best how to hurt her.

What are you looking for? Nenth remembered Skyrt asking her one night as she gazed up at the sky from the roof of the children's creche.

I don't know, she'd said. I just feel so empty.

Mistress says that's good, Skyrt had replied. She says the emptiness is where we draw our powers from.

Sylth doesn't know everything, Nenth had snapped, irritated that her sister had completely misunderstood her. Skyrt had been so startled she'd gasped aloud, both at the impertinence at using the Mistress' given name and the audacity to question her wisdom. Later that day the Mistress had summoned Nenth and beaten her within an inch of her life, and from that day forward, Nenth had learned to keep her errant thoughts to herself.

Until now. In the brief time she'd known Six Candy, she'd found parts of herself that were awakening that had laid dormant for years. All of the child-like wonder and questions she'd had beaten out of her were sprouting again, like the hardy flowers she saw growing on the mountainsides on the journey here. She found the sensation as tantalizing as it was terrifying.

She'd based her entire identity around her sense of honor. It was the one thing she could cling to in this dark and empty world. But since she'd lost it by failing her mission, she found herself adrift. Who was she if she had no honor?

Whoever you want to be, Six Candy had told her.

But who did she want to be?

She shook the thoughts from her head, leapt down from the roof, slowing her fall along the corner as usual, and found herself in a marketplace. The nearby Melesi all stared at her, and for a moment she could see what they saw: a pale figure in dark clothes, openly carrying a short sword. The fact that it was sheathed did little to mitigate the threat Nenth presented, and the badger people probably knew it.

Nenth froze, unsure of what to do. No training of hers had ever informed her of how to handle this situation. Should she fight? Not with her blade, surely, but with her words? Should she flee? Before she could make a choice a Melesi child, a girl who breathed heavily through a stuffy nose, ambled up to her. "Flowers for the pretty lady," she mumbled, pushing a small bouquet in Nenth's hand.

Nenth stared at the pink and yellow petals, dimly aware that they were the same mountain flowers she'd been thinking about a moment ago. But wait, had that child called her pretty? Was she trying to manipulate Nenth? And for what purpose? And why had she placed the flowers in her hand? Were they poisonous?