One thing I considered that didn’t make sense was why mages, knights, and mageknights all had the same life expectancy. Given the same realm size, all three categories have different physiques, so our longevity doesn’t come from the virtues of our body, but from something else.

  — Excerpt from Notes For Newstar

  Day 1036, 11:20 AM

  They have air traffic control. It was a strange thought given the circumstances, but the notion that air traffic control existed in a world in which miniature ankylosaurus knockoffs pulled the peasants’ plows made for a strange dichotomy.

  “Good day,” a fifth-realm mage of the order greeted me before I left the landing platform. “What business do you have at the Explorer’s Gate?”

  “Good day.” I offered a slight bow to the man with a clipboard. “I’m looking for Newstar Salamandra, your order’s ward. I have only recently found out about the troubles you have faced, and I wanted to confirm he was alive in person.”

  Judging by the state of the airport, or whatever they called it, the order was doing fine. There wasn’t the slightest mark of the cultists’ attack.

  The mage’s eyes flickered as he took my entire countenance into consideration, then motioned me towards a building in the corner of the airport. “Please wait there; I need to discuss this with my superior.”

  Funny thing how bureaucracies work the same everywhere. I naturally obliged. The waiting house was nice, comfortable, with refreshments ranging from wines and spirits, through beers, all the way to juices and tea leaves, all in spell seals to keep fresh.

  “And what are you doing here again?” A plain, composed voice asked as I turned, about to sit.

  I’d like to think I didn’t jump out of my skin and scream like a little girl because of my experience with so many deadly encounters. In reality, it was probably composure and willpower doing their jobs.

  “Good day, champion,” I stood and bowed to the void in my spiritual perception. Considering I was starting to see vague hints of those at the sixth realm, I knew he was considerably beyond me. “I have just received news that my brother’s order had suffered an attack by the cultists, and came here as quickly as possible.”

  As I spoke, I wondered whether he was the person monitoring me the last time I visited. They certainly knew me.

  The mage didn’t get to talk to their superior. Is this person in charge of monitoring all incoming air traffic?

  It seemed like a reasonable assumption. Dead wrong, but reasonable.

  “Newstar is missing, as are a number of other students,” the man said. “I went looking for him, but didn’t have enough clues, and couldn’t search half the summer kingdoms to find them. I’m sorry I don’t have better news for you.”

  Since he was seated, I took a chair of my own, and poured myself a beer from the pitcher.

  “Would you like one, Lord?” The etiquette had gotten screwy in our situation. I was a guest, so I should take some refreshments. I was a junior, so it was my place to offer beverage to my seniors. But my senior was my host, who should’ve brought a servant to pour, since he was a senior, and seniors pouring drinks to juniors carried meaning.

  The man solved the conundrum with a shake of his head. “Your airship will have to leave in an hour, once the crew stretches their legs and freshens up. I suggest you take the ship back. A good book you’ve written, by the way. It was enlightening even for me.”

  “Thank you.” I stood and bowed again, not bothering with cheap false modesty. “I would prefer to stay and help you find Newstar. I guarantee that if we can’t find him in two moons, he can’t be found anywhere.”

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  “Bold words,” the man said, “and you believe them too. How do you plan to achieve something an entire order full of people much more capable than you failed to do?”

  “First, more powerful doesn’t mean more capable; you should know that, Lord. Next, I plan to use a methodical approach in examining the available evidence and eliminating false leads until we have found our answer.” A very fancy way to say we will keep redoing and scouring the countryside until we have succeeded or failed.

  “Again, truthful and confident,” the champion said. “The last time I left my order for two moons, my order was attacked by cultists and devastated. Why should I trust you?”

  I examined the man again. His plain clothes and youthful appearance deceived me. He was the Explorer’s Gate’s master, a tenth realm exalt. Getting up and bowing seemed foolish. I’ve been sitting without bowing since the conversation had started. Remaining seated, sipping beer next to him was impolite, and exalts rarely tolerated impoliteness.

  I stood and bowed once more, a full ninety-degree bow warranted by his status.

  “You know, I suspected you were in cahoots with the cultists, and had you investigated.” The exalt didn’t tell me to stand straight, so I kept my back bent. “You are certainly an oddity. Your life and personality changed completely after a failed assassination attempt, then you helped Newstar, abruptly arranging a tournament just for his realm, just a few days before he came into your town. You even had the guards instruct him to visit you. And now, here he is, the biggest talent I have ever seen.”

  An irresistible wind blew me into a normal standing stance. The exalt looked into my eyes.

  “One might call it prescience,” he said. “And, ignoring the unnatural speed with which you process words and move, just the book on spell seals you have compiled, while seemingly ordinary, has several groundbreaking ideas in it, subtly slipped in. One might even call them ahead of our time.”

  I tried and failed not to be nervous. The man had completely missed what my secret is, but his deduction was only slightly less dangerous for me.

  He seemed to like my fear; his serious expression eased, and he smiled.

  “Do you really believe you can find Newstar?”

  “If he is alive, and if we work together, we can find him in two moons.”

  He shook his head. “We need to find him in one.”

  I nodded, confused, but feigning understanding. “It will be difficult, but not impossible.”

  “So what do you need?”

  “Well, I first need to know what happened, how he escaped, and how things got out of control. Since he would be back here if things were in control.”

  The exalt produced a booklet and threw it into my hands.

  “Read. It’s faster than talking.”

  I did. A brief account of the fighting, how fourth and fifth realm staff charged into the battle, knowingly sacrificing their lives for the next generation of the order, then the escape of Newstar’s group written from the point of view of one of his comrades.

  They had taken airships, then fled. Two other airships were sabotaged, so it made sense Newstar’s was too. Also, we were quite conveniently at the air port, but no evidence of their escape existed.

  “Do you mind if I check these trees that were destroyed as the airships left the order?”

  “Feel free to do whatever you find necessary.”

  We went out, and I checked the jungle, then double-checked it. Not a clue was left. The members of Explorer’s Gate, probably someone with the wood element, had regrown the jungle. Some of the debris was still there and visible, despite the moons the jungle had spent trying to devour and integrate them into the natural surroundings.

  I nodded sagely, concluding what the report had already told me - Newstar and his ship went south-ish. The airship either wobbled on its path through the jungle, or threw broken trees in different directions and held course, but even the tiny remains of their passage hinted at a huge swath of land to search.

  “That more or less confirms my guess,” I said. “They are in the Summersweald.”

  “The airship had enough energy to fly for a week,” the exalt said. “I can fly roughly four times faster than it can, so I can reach the jungle’s edge in half a day.”

  He glanced at me. “A day with a passenger to protect. If you can divine their direction, I can find the ship in ten days. Hopefully, they stuck close to it.”

  So, he does think I’m a seer of some sort. Best play the role then.

  “The odds are slim. They lost control of the airship and crashed, making their way back on foot.” Had they not lost control over the airship, they would’ve landed in an imperial city or some other safe place. “I don’t guarantee I’ll find the airship on the first attempt, but I believe we’ll make it on the second.”

  I didn’t want to redo the conversation with the exalt. He would almost certainly smell something off in my behavior. Better to start redoing once our interactions could be summarised as “go there”. Not much room to give myself away in that scenario.

  The exalt kept his eyes trained on me. I wondered what he could see, but I kept my cool and returned the gaze. Eventually, he nodded.

  “I can tell you honestly want to help Newstar. Very well, I’ll trust you. If we find him, you can expect a reward from me.”

  “I don’t need a reward, Lord Exalt. My brother’s safety is enough for me.”