Across the lake the great table-top mountain rose in tiers above the emerald meridian of cliffs. The blue sky framed its dark, angular features. Like the bow of a ship made of stone rising from the lake to dominate the horizon. It was from that angle, from the north looking south, which the original conquerors from Taisia must have seen the great table-top. There had been a tribe of people living on the isthmus between the lake and the ocean, and the remnants of their civilization could be found in the many museums in the city which supplanted them.

  Heyl, capital of the most powerful empire in the world.

  The steamboat, which was powered by Fire Elementals, chugged on along the choppy lake waters toward the ferry port. The city of Heyl was bisected by a thin canal, which served to connect the lake to the harbor and the shipyards which jutted out into the ocean. The ferry port itself was located on the north edge of this canal, just south of a lively and somewhat noisy pier. Up there on the pier there was a gondola wheel, a small roller coaster, and a water slide which was only open in the summer. Glenice remembered the pier fondly.

  She turned away from the windows at the bow of the steamboat and she returned to her seat. She plucked the propaganda posters out of her coat and she regarded them in turn. Two propaganda posters with opposing messages. The first read:

  WARNING: To all persons who remember past lives, heed not the summons of the military forces which occupy Heyl. Their goal is to enslave you and use your labors for their own benefit. Instead, come join the newly-founded Flying Machine Corporation, where you will be granted shares of the company in exchange for your knowledge of flying machines.

  While the second read:

  Captain Algot Gunn of the Imperial Marines hereby invites all persons with memories of past lives to join his team to help design flying machines for the military. Don't heed the invitations of any other person or organization, as they are funded by the banks. The banks intend to imprison you, or perhaps even kill you. The Imperial Marines want flying machines to aid in scouting with enemy positions. Fair compensation in real currency will be provided.

  Both posters featured a different address in Heyl. Glenice had already decided which address she was going to visit, though she suspected that both were occupied by marines.

  The steamboat arrived at the dock and the workers jumped across the gap and moored the ship in place. Not long after Glenice walked down the long wooden ramp to the seawall. The downtown tourist district was filled with soldiers. Imperial Regulars, clad in solid white uniforms with almost no ornamentation save for a patch on the breast which read: Obedience, Modesty, Sacrifice. The regulars marched in perfect lockstep, rifles at the ready, while children on the rooftops dumped handfuls of red, black, and white confetti down on their heads.

  As Glenice navigated the city this pattern repeated itself. A few blocks from the seawall she was stopped at a checkpoint operated by the marines. The marines, in contrast to the regulars, wore black jackets pinned with colorful service ribbons and other prominent forms of ornamentation.

  "Where are you headed young lady?" the sentry asked.

  "I'm looking for Captain Algot Gunn," she said.

  The man shuffled off and whispered something to a companion. Then they waved her through an alternate gate out of sight.

  "Are you carrying any knives or firearms?" the sentry asked.

  "I've got a revolver."

  "Is that all?"

  "That's all."

  "This soldier will escort you to the captain."

  And the soldier did indeed do so. Captain Algot Gunn sat on the second floor balcony of a cafe overlooking a huge crowd which had gathered at the foot of a large wooden platform. He sat facing away with a cup of steaming black coffee on his table. Other than the captain, the second floor of the cafe was empty.

  Without looking, the captain waved her forward. She went out on the balcony and sat in the seat opposite him, also looking out over the open square below. There was a Wind Elemental, glowing with turquoise light, squirreled away in an alcove on the balcony. The sounds of the crowd, which should have been deafening, were but a faint rumor.

  "What's your name?" the captain asked.

  "Glenice."

  "Do you remember a past life?"

  "Yes."

  "Do you remember flying machines?"

  "Yes."

  "Describe these flying machines."

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "They were called fighter jets," Glenice said. "I can draw one for you."

  "Please do," the captain said.

  He offered her a pencil. She took one of the propaganda posters and flipped it over and began to draw. She drew the shape of a fighter jet from various angles. Sleek and predatory with two engines and two tails, an oversized horizontal stabilizer, thin strakes on the nose, and square air intakes. She drew one image with the landing gear extended while the craft was on the ground. By the time she had finished some soldiers had occupied the wooden platform in the plaza below.

  Algot Gunn regarded the drawings. He took the pencil and he wrote "Glenice" at the bottom of the paper. Then he folded the paper and slipped it into his jacket.

  "Thanks," he said. "How old are you?"

  "I'm fourteen," Glenice said.

  "You seem somewhat young to be traveling around alone."

  "I have a lifetime of experience in the Imperial Marines," Glenice said. "And a revolver too."

  "What was your rank?" the captain asked.

  "Lieutenant Colonel," she said truthfully. "It had a different name back then but the rank is the same."

  "When was this?"

  "Thirteen hundred years ago."

  Algot Gunn nodded. "Glenice, I want you on my team."

  "That's great because I want to be on your team. Also I want to join the Marines and I want my old rank back."

  "You'll need to talk to Prince Adrian about that."

  "Where is he?"

  "He just got back from a trip to Taisia and he is very busy. There is a bit of a crisis going on right now."

  "Where is the emperor?" Glenice asked.

  "On a submarine."

  Glenice shivered. "He kidnapped his own father?"

  "As I said," Algot Gunn said coolly, "there is a bit of a crisis going on right now. Prince Adrian is sufficient to the task at hand."

  "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

  "Just watch."

  With a ripple and a transparent shimmer the wind barrier faded. The roar of the crowd filled the balcony. Seven individuals, all gagged and blindfolded, were led up onto the wooden platform, where they were chained in place. Some of them squirmed but most of them had accepted their fate. One of the marines raised a loudspeaker cone and began to address the crowd.

  "These seven university professors have been tried and convicted of capital crimes," the marine bellowed.

  This brought more cheers from the crowd. The marine lifted a sheet of paper and urged their regard.

  "Listen and I will read the words written by these professors. First: We must stand in solidarity with the victims of the heinous massacre in the heritage lands of the Azacago people."

  This brought a loud BOO from the crowd. One of the marines drew his sidearm and he shoved it past the gag into the first professor's mouth. With an explosion of pink mist the back of the professor's head burst outward, away from the crowd. The crowd went wild with approval.

  "The arguments furnished by the banks are logical and without flaw," the marine continued. "The Taisians threaten the solidarity and peace of the entire world."

  Another gunshot. Another professor's head exploded.

  "This doesn't answer my question," Glenice observed.

  With a shimmer of turquoise light the wind barrier reappeared, deadening the sound of the executions below the balcony. Algot Gunn unlaced a leather sack and dumped the contents onto the cafe table between them. Three glowing crystals, like misshapen teardrops, clattered onto the table. They glowed with a silvery white light.

  "Are those contract crystals?" Glenice asked.

  "These are keystones," Algot Gunn replied.

  "I don't know what that means."

  "How did magic work when you were alive?"

  "It depends," Glenice said. "There were two different ways of using magic."

  "I'm not talking about the bloodline magic that Reyndell created," Algot Gunn said. "Ignore that. How did Elemental Bonds work?"

  "They were very different," Glenice admitted. "There weren't any contract crystals. You didn't need to lease Elementals from the bank. You just bonded one and in order to use her power you needed to give her spiritual energy. After using an Elemental for a long time you would get very tired and you would need to travel the Outer Dark in your dreams to get more spiritual energy from the Goddess of Wishes."

  "That's how it works now."

  "Really?"

  "Yes. Magic isn't free. When you lease a contract crystal from the banks, there is indeed someone out there that needs to sleep and recharge by visiting the Goddess of Wishes."

  "Well where the hell are they?" Glenice asked.

  Algot Gunn gathered the three crystals off the table. "Second High Daughter of the Queen of Metal," he said. "Open a portal to the Domain of Metal!"

  A burst of silvery-white light illuminated the empty cafe interior behind them. A portal to the Domain of Metal. It was a place that Glenice had read about, but never seen before. The sky beyond the portal matched the description. Not much of a sky, really. A huge cylinder-shaped space lined with rust-colored mountains streaked with pastel colors, rivers and lakes of mercurial silver liquid, and inverted pyramids floating in the void.

  "Follow me," the captain said.

  They went through the portal. Algot Gunn pointed up at a nearby inverted pyramid floating in silhouette against the rust-colored landscape of the far side of the cylinder.

  "There are people living on those pyramids," he said. "In the other Elemental Domains there are floating islands with people living on top. The story is the same for all of them. They are born and indoctrinated into a religion that teaches them they will go to paradise after they die if they spend their lives gathering spiritual energy from the Goddess of Wishes. They don't know the Physical Realm exists. To them, this is their world."

  "And they hold the bonds," Glenice guessed.

  "And they fulfill the contracts," Algot Gunn finished.

  "And if someone had a flying machine..."

  "They could land up there and tell everyone the truth. Since our currency is pegged to lease time with contract crystals, and since the bankers have invented all manner of clever and arcane financial instruments to make sure the economy is as efficient as possible, any disturbance to the fulfillment of the contracts will reveal deep fragilities that could take the entire economy down."

  "Wait," Glenice said. "Why don't people protest this? Why aren't people murdering bankers in the streets?"

  "Nobody knows about this," the captain replied. "I only just learned about this from Prince Adrian a few weeks ago. You are now one of perhaps only ten people in all of the Heylin Empire, outside of the banks, who knows the truth about our magic. About our economy."

  "Why are you telling me this?"

  "Because Prince Adrian wants to start over. He wants to make an economy that isn't quite as fragile and efficient as ours. The banks, of course, are filled with charlatans who are completely insulated from their metaphysical theories of economics. They decided to pick a fight with a barbarian they don't understand, and for that they are about to get their teeth kicked in."