“You should get going if you want to get a ride with the others,” Irwin said. “Let's head down.”

  The sun was high, sneaking through the overcast, still damp, it was a welcome sight.

  “I've been in carts and boats for the last month, I think I'm done being cargo.”

  “Let me come with you then, you'll need somewhere to sleep tonight and some food.”

  “I have an old friend who has a place close by. We could get there before nightfall if we leave now.”

  “If you'd like, that is.”

  I took count of everything I had going for me...

  He was it.

  Before I had an answer a man came up the ramp. He wore an embroidered tunic, long black hair with a thin sword at his hip. He looked over at us, went to say something, half smiled and moved towards The Veil. He was followed by a group of prisoners hauling chests of something. They put it on a rail I hadn't noticed before and rolled it past the barrier.

  I still had the cylinder in my hand.

  I slid it into my pocket and realized Irwin was still waiting for an answer.

  “Will he have a bed?”

  “And a basin,” he said smiling again. “Let's go.”

  We started for the ramp when we saw cargo making its way from the other side. Clothes, casks of wine and what sounded like dogs in a kennel. The man in the tunic was looking over everything when one of his workers slipped on some wet stone and sent a cask to the ground. The wine flowed free. That man in the tunic charged over and kicked the prisoner while he was trying to stand back up. Cursing and yelling.

  Irwin kept walking though I couldn't help but stare.

  The man calmed down almost as quickly as he erupted. He helped the prisoner to his feet and whispered something to him.

  “We should go, Amber, we need to get there before dark.”

  I looked longer than I should have. I felt the eyes of the man in the tunic follow me as we made our way down. It was treacherous at best, the wet, mossy wood slick underfoot.

  “Who was that prick?”

  “Ricardo, he's a drunk with too much power. He got charge of transfers after the other guy was pushed off a cliff.”

  We reached the bottom of the platform, with the walls towering above us it looked more like a cage.

  “We just need to follow the path down the creek, it's an easy walk.”

  Irwin was a bit shorter than most men. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Broad shoulders and strong hands.

  It was misty down here. The stream was flowing quickly, its bubbles soothing and rhythmic. There were large fish swimming upstream, to a sheer cliff. Rays cast down into the valley.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I was just out for a walk, ran into you, now we're going to the old man's place.”

  “How do you know him, how did you meet?”

  He thought about it for a while,

  “It's The Veil, you end up knowing everybody.”

  “Is there really no way to get out?”

  I stopped.

  “They say there isn't, but everyone has their ideas.”

  Trotting hooves approached from behind us. The cart, fully laden, was headed to Old Town. We stepped aside to let them pass and Ricardo was sitting in the front with a cask in the seat next to him. Davi sitting in the back, legs hanging off, I lifted a hand before letting it fall back down. I was too late, his attention was taken by a man next to him.

  “What do they do once they get to Old Town?”

  He gave a sigh and said, “Depends on them.”

  We got back on the road and made our way home for the night.

  The sun was almost behind the mountains when we arrived. Just on the other side of the creek, a makeshift bridge from river stones leading to a small cabin. Smoke rolling from the chimney, door wide open. A small man, a dwarf. Stout and grey, hauling firewood inside. In front of the cabin was a fire with something that smelled better the closer we got.

  We made our way over the stones and Irwin quickened his pace.

  “Wait here.” He lifted his hand with a finger raised.

  He sneaked over to the door and waited. Ready for something...

  As soon as the dwarf stepped outside, carrying a large pot, Irwin jumped out and screamed,

  “Baaaaahhhh!”

  The dwarf gave him no satisfaction and went to the fire.

  “How did you know?” Irwin asked the old man.

  “Who's your friend?” The dwarf wiped his hands on his pants and walked over with a wrinkled grin.

  “I'm Cavalo, Retired. Would you like to come in? You seem like you could use a wash. And a meal.”

  He looked as old as the hills, scrappy still though.

  I hadn't cleaned myself in weeks.

  “I think so.”

  “I'm surprised to see you back so soon, thought you were going to be gone a while. Did you remember to bring the Feyleaf? For being Loons they sure do know a good pipe filler when they find one. Let's get inside.”

  Through a sturdy door, rough-hewn lumber beams and some storage atop them. Worked stone for the walls and floors. Adorning the walls were paintings of landscapes. I didn't recognize any of the places in them, though a few of them had The Veil in the background. The one that stood out the most was of a ruined lighthouse at night.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Irwin was already digging through a chest at the foot of a bed. There were sacks, cloths, a dangerous looking hammer and a cloak.

  “Here, it's chilly come nightfall this time of year.”

  He handed me a woolen cloak, lined with hemp. It was brown, with a silver clasp. And pockets.

  “It was a bit too small for me, but I couldn't just get rid of it. It should fit you just fine.”

  “Thank you, I-”

  “Waters ready, food should be done in an hour.” Cavalo belted from outside.

  I smiled at Irwin.

  Outside there was a large wooden tub, filled to the brim with steaming water – My clothes needed a wash themselves. I pulled the cylinder from my pocket and put it in the folds of my new cloak, I set it down and removed my boots. A step up a wooden stool and just before my foot touched the pool, a branch snapped nearby. I stood still for a moment, listening. Nothing.

  I needed this.

  I sank down into the water, It was almost too hot. I could hear the other two talking inside, laughing. I sank lower, until all I heard was that ocean sound from a conch. Eyes barely above the line. It was just after dark, no stars in the sky yet and a tangerine color mixed with the barriers blue to create even stranger colors than before.

  It was in this moment I realized I was trapped here.

  I sat up and started scrubbing my clothes, trying to get them somewhat cleaner than they were. I scrubbed my head and face with my sleeves and just laid back.

  I wonder what happened to Davi.

  “Supper!” came bellowing from the doorway. Snapping me back to The Veil.

  I stepped out of the tub dripping wet and a bit chilly. I wrapped the cloak around me and walked inside. It smelled like a bakery. Lying on a small table was a pile of clothes, dry clothes.

  “You can have these as well, they were gathering dust in the rafters. Now, go put those on and have a seat, we've got roasted Elephant Bird and boiled potatoes with leeks.” he said, pulling what looked like a fresh loaf from his hearth.

  I went outside to change by the tub. The stars were out now. I started to unclasp my cloak when something just on the other side of the creek – I would have sworn I saw someone. I peered deeper into the blackness that had blanketed The Veil. I held my breath staring into the dark.

  Must have been a rabbit or something.

  I quickly put on the fresh clothes and laid my wet ones atop a pile of wood.

  Making my way back in I couldn't help but glance back over my shoulder.

  “Amber!” Irwin had a chair pulled out for me as Cavalo was already halfway done with his first plate when I walked in.

  “They fit!”

  They fit surprisingly well, a burnt orange pair of harem pants with a golden herringbone weave. A loose sleeved sea green tunic, with drawstrings sewn in. Both fairly faded by the sun.

  For someone not expecting company he had quite a lot of food. That elephant bird was massive, juicy and crispy at the same time, it managed to fill the entire room with the smell of meat, rich and savory. An entire pot of potatoes with a bowl of gravy. To my surprise it wasn't a loaf of bread it was stuffed with meats and cheeses. There was a silver pitcher, chilled, brimming with what smelled like a spiced cider.

  I took my seat and started filling my plate with potatoes, then took a chunk of the bird and put it in the middle of my pile, then the best part... a wave of gravy to top it off.

  “Where are you from?” Cavalo managed to form the words through a mouthful of bird.

  “A small hamlet named Burfoot , on the western tip of Starfall Bay. It's known for its lighthouse. Have you heard of it?”

  “Aye. My wife and I bred horses, we would go to the stables in nearby Dar, the Al-Badwin were master handlers. They knew-”

  He was cut off by Irwin, “Don't get him started on horses, please”.

  “They knew the BEST way-”

  “For the love of Terra!” Irwin cut him off again.

  “Gods be damned boy! They knew the best way to coax a stallion into-”

  “My! These potatoes are a bit on the dry side...” Irwin noted, spoon in hand. Potatoes drowning in gravy.

  “Adequate potatoes aside... What brought you so far away, it's not like the king's reach makes it that far south. I have to assume you came north for a reason?” Cavalo had run through the cider by now and was getting up to get some more from a small cask.

  “It's kind of a long story, and I'd hate to bore you. It's not harrowing or brave.”

  “Doesn't have to be, but it's something worth telling. Irwin, might want to set up a roll on the floor for yourself, can't have our friend here roughing it. She's too soft yet. The Veil hasn't gotten to her!”

  “The Veil hasn't gotten to you, Cavalo. Explain that?”

  The cider had given him the courage, but he asked a question I would still be asking - why it never got to him.

  “Who's to say it hasn't?”

  The night went on until the candles started to give their last flicker of life. The hearth, embers. The food, devoured. We talked about things happening in the outside world. They had so many questions I couldn't begin to answer them all. I tried.

  I'd felt warm and comfortable for the first time in weeks. It felt wrong.

  “That was needed, I'm going to step out for a piss.”

  The night had gone still and cold. I looked up for the first time since I'd come through the shimmer. The bruised color was gone. Deep sapphire bled into purple at the edges, like liquid gems suspended in the sky. Energy moved through it the way lightning moves through a storm but slower. It rose above the clouds, taller than the mountains by a measure I couldn't imagine.

  I went back near the tub, relieved myself.

  From just outside the door came the sound of pots and plates clinking in the kitchen basin. Irwin and Cavalo laughing at some unheard joke.

  I grabbed the iron poker from beside the doorway and crouched by the fire, turning the logs over. The way the heat moved around in the coals, chasing each other around endlessly. Hot spots flashed and dimmed.

  I heard Cavalo before I saw him. The creak of old joints. Grass crunching underfoot. He settled by the fire without ceremony. Looked up at The Veil and didn't look away.

  We sat like that for a good while. Just looking.

  He added a log to the fire and said —

  "Out here under The Veil there aren't many you can trust. Everyone always wants something. Or they're trying to get one over on you."

  He kicked off his boots and put his feet by the fire.

  "They'll take everything if they can. Doesn't matter to them. It's a prison."

  I thought of the cylinder.

  "But there are some." He nodded toward the hut. The pots had gone quiet. "Who you can trust. This valley takes something from you and replaces it with something desperate and vicious. It takes a special person to end up anything other than a rabid animal here."

  He went quiet for a moment and resettled his feet by the fire.

  "That boy in there. When he came here he was barely chest high on me. Camp to camp, trying to find a place to call home. By the time he walked the whole valley he'd made quite a name for himself."

  He went back to gazing up at The Veil.

  The fire crackled and snapped. A log fell. Sparks raced up into the sky.

  "He made a home here. Not many can say that."

  “You can.”

  I had said it without thinking, but it was true.

  He took a small clay pipe from a pouch and stuffed something in it, pulled a stick out of the fire and inhaled.

  The lights shifted. Slow. Dim. Bright.

  I lay back in the grass and watched them.

  I pulled my cloak tightly around, tucking one side in. It was nice.

  Something moved nearby.

  A rabbit. A bird. Something.