Kylie and Asalya waited by the bell until the beam of magic light that held the gondola vanished. Then they waited some more. Kylie wasn’t sure how long was long enough to keep up the plausible deniability that she and Naomi had never met. She figured she might need to wait an entire day, just to be sure. But that wouldn’t do. It was beginning to snow again, she was very hungry, and perhaps most pressingly she was getting bored. Kylie watched the snow flutter towards her before getting too close to the dragonfire stone and turning to rain, then to mist. She decided it was time.

“Come on, Aslaya. Let’s go visit the big city.” She slapped the bell with four extended fingers. A flurry of arrhythmic chimes competed against each other as the bell swung around and settled back into place. The beam of light emerged from the pole, and they saw the gondola approach from the distance.

They stepped into the gondola the moment it landed. She found the bell and rang it without hesitation, then took a seat by the window where she thought she saw Naomi sit. Naomi probably knew the proper way to do this. Kylie could only guess.

The moment the gondola started to rise, Aslaya leapt to its center. She spread her legs out wide for balance and started shaking. Kylie slid from her chair down to her knees and hurried to Asalya, wrapping her head in a hug and scratching her ears.

“Don’t worry, girl. I get it, wolves aren’t meant to fly. But we’re totally safe right now, and we’ll be back on solid ground soon.” 

Asalya’s legs didn’t relax, but her quivering subsided. Kylie sat on the floor, holding her friend. She hoped the gondola would hurry up. It felt like this was taking forever. Kylie didn’t notice they had landed until Asalya finally decided to sit down. She pet the wolf for a moment more before getting up. Noise permeated through the gondola wall. It seemed to be busy in the city; there were so many people talking and the sound of so much movement through the streets that Kylie assumed the city market may have been right outside.

“You did really well,” Kylie told Asalya, letting go of the wolf and standing up. “Want to give me the stone? Thank you for doing such a good job holding it.”

Asalya lowered her head and spat the stone into Kylie’s outstretched hand. Kylie said thanks and placed the stone in her bag. As soon as she did, the cold closed back in. But she didn’t mind. Surely a city would have places where they could warm back up.
Kylie took a deep breath as she turned to face the door. She exhaled and watched her breath condense into a puff of mist. A smell permeated the gondola door. She was stalling. Kylie threw open the door and stepped outside.

She paused the instant her foot touched the street. A strong smell filled her skull. Nothing struck her as especially foul, but the odor of thousands of people mixed with the lingering scent of animals that had walked this path, and mixed again with whatever people were carrying in their bags - fresh meat, vegetables, spices, perfumes, metals. Kylie has never smelled so much at once. Between that and the noise, it all was a bit overpowering for her heightened senses. When she brought herself to look around, there was little information she could gather from that either. Apparently everyone was waiting for some kind of platform. She was too overwhelmed to try and figure out why.

Asalya nudged Kylie’s leg and barked. When Kylie peered down at her, Asalya guestured with her head towards their right. A group of four older people sat around a table, playing a card game while a couple children played in the snow beside them. A sweetness trickled past the other smells in the air as one of them poured honey into their drink.

Kylie walked towards them. These people were far enough away from the crowd that there was at least a chance of having a conversation she could actually hear.

“Hello, sorry to bother you,” she said, extending her hand to the nearest person. They wore a dark green jacket with a matching cap and had quite the impressive flowy, white beard. They turned to face her slowly, with a slight look of confusion on their face. 

“I’m Kylie of Nighthills, she/her.” Kylie spoke her name with a pride she hadn’t felt since she’d first picked it. These were people she’d never met and would likely never meet again. She was free to be of Nighthills and not of Rodehills. And besides, Kylie of Nighthills was the name she’d been called by a dragon. That held far more power than confidence alone.

With a gentle nod, they accepted her handshake. “Ah, Merritt of here. Xe/xem/xir.” 

Even with the crowd behind her, Kylie struggled to pick xir voice from the rest of the noise. She continued, “Would you know the way to-”

The person across the table from Merritt - the one with short blonde hair and a long purple coat that Kylie had seen pouring honey earlier - jumped from their chair. Their hand flew over their heart. “Oh my goodness is that a wolf?”

Kylie looked down at Asalya just as Asalya looked up at her. She hadn’t considered that bringing a wolf into the city might cause an issue. “Oh! Yes, Asalya here is a wolf, but she’s also my best friend. She’s very calm and sweet, and I promise she won’t cause any trouble.”

“Well, thank goodness for that,” said the person with long salt-and-pepper grey hair and a pink jacket who sat next to Merritt. They placed their cards on the table. “Did you just come from the gondola, dear? No one ought to be travelling in this weather. Especially not without a faithful companion! Come now, have a seat. I’ll run back to the apartment and get you a clean cup and some fresh tea.”

They stood up to go. Kylie started, “Thank you for the offer, but I-”

Merritt waved her towards the now-empty wooden chair. “Come now, no use arguing with Evals when he gets this way. He’ll be back soon enough.”

Evals leaned over and gave Merritt a quick kiss on the forehead before heading through the crowd across the street. Kylie forced a toothy smile. She wasn’t sure if she needed to hurry or if wasting time would help Naomi more, but was nevertheless feeling impatient. Still, she could hardly bring herself to refuse unwelcome kindness. She’d been guilty of offering the same.

Kylie walked around and took her seat. Asalya, with her head low, walked beside her. As she did, the person in the purple coat slid their chair a bit closer to the fourth person at the table. They wore a green coat much like Merritt’s, but had the coat’s hood raised. It was only from this angle that Kylie could see the two ram-like horns on the side of their head. They had tight curls on their white hair. They smiled and nodded at Kylie, and Kylie did the same back. She’d known there had to be more animal-like people in the world than just the canines in Nighthills, but she didn’t think this journey would let her sit at a table with someone else who’d changed themselves that way. The tension in her muscles relaxed a bit.

“You’re sitting across from my dear friend Jules in the green there and their husband Louis, they/them and he/him respectively.” Merritt explained. Kylie gave a little polite wave, and Jules and Louis both responded in kind.

The children in the snow, both dark-haired and seeming to be about six years old, took notice of Asalya and ran to the table. The one in a blue coat ran arms-first into Kylie’s chair, nearly knocking her out of her seat. They asked, “Hey, miss, can we play with your dog?”

Kylie turned around, the one in the red jacket was already reaching slowly for Asalya’s nose. Asalya, keeping pace, moved her head further away. Louis started getting up to grab the kid.

“First of all,” Kylie said, summoning the authority of experience that teenagers have over younger kids, “Asalya is not a dog; she’s a wolf. A ferocious wild animal, with claws. Like these.”

Kylie arched her fingers to show her claws, but kept her arms far away from the kids. The red-coated one responded, “Woooooah.”

“So if she wants to play with you, you need to treat her with care and respect.” Kylie looked down to Asalya, who was now backing further away from the children. Kylie leaned over with a soft grin. “Asalya, do you want to play with the kids?”

Asalya slowly turned her head to meet Kylie’s gaze, a look of obviously not plastered all over her face. However, Kylie held her smile and didn’t move. The kids bounced up and down in anticipation. Asalya grumbled, lowered her head, and walked towards the kids. They moved to the side of the table, back towards the fresh snow. Louis placed his cards on the table and stood over them, ready to interfere at a moment’s notice.

“So, what brings you to Crescentia? Don’t get many visitors this time of year, though it seems we do now more than ever. You with that kid in the red who passed by earlier? They looked about your age.” Merrit made a series of gestures with xir hands as xe spoke. Kylie had been taught enough by the adults in her village to recognize signing when she saw it, but knew little past that. When Merrit finished speaking, xe picked xir hand off the table, looked at it for a moment, then placed a card with a picture of a dove at the center. Xir ram-horned friend immediately threw a card with a caterpillar on top of it. It wasn’t a game Kylie recognized, and she wasn’t interested in sticking around long enough to find out the rules.

Kylie shook her head no. Anyone could be part of Naomi’s order, so it’d be best to keep any information about their travels close. Still, if she was going to lie, it’d be easier to tell one that was close to the truth. “A monster attacked my village recently. We managed to drive it back into the forest, but I’d still like to find out more and see if we can prevent something like that happening again.”

“Wow. That’s something more serious that I would have thought.” Merritt took off xir cap to scratch xir head. “What kind of monster?”

“I think it’s called an ‘Absentia?’ It’s a big beast with red eyes made of dripping shadow.”

“Great skies, that’s scary.” Merritt folded the cards in xir hand into a stack and placed it beside them. “Never heard of anything like that before. You might want to talk to the Mountain University about that. I bet someone there knows something.”

Kylie sensed her opportunity. “Actually, I met some people heading towards Laryth on the road. They said the Order of Rejuvenance here might know how to deal with it. Do either of you know anything about them?”

“Order of Rejuvenance?” Merritt looked to xir green-coated companion. Xe continued signing as xe spoke. “Jules, you ever heard of them?”

Jules pointed down the road and signed their answer back. 

“Oh, right, the Larythians!” Merritt bounced a knuckle on the table. “Can’t say I know much about them, kid. They mostly keep to themselves but they seem like nice folks. I know they do healing magic, but I guess it’s possible they do some magic shadow-beast slaying too.”

“They keep to themselves?” Kylie raised a curious ear. “From what I heard I thought they were some grand region-spanning light magic authority.”

“Ehh, kinda? Their building’s been here longer than anyone I know has been alive - and in case the grey hairs haven’t given it away, I’ve been alive a while now. It’s just everyone around here goes to see the Light Mountain’s Order when they need doctoring. Of course I don’t exactly think Doc Okor - the nice little lady with the rabbit ears who looks after my teeth - would be much more help to you fighting a friggin shade demon than an actual rabbit.” Merritt titled xir head back and drained xir cup. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Kylie caught Evals coming back from across the street, carrying a tray with some fresh tea, a clean mug, and some chocolate cookies with a scent so powerful and wonderful Kylie could pick it out from everything else. The knot in her stomach clenched tighter. She’d almost managed to get her ravenous hunger off her mind.

“Hon!” Merritt shouted as Evals approached. “You know anything about the Larythians?”

Evals sat the tray on the table and placed the little white tea cup in front of Kylie. He began pouring tea as he replied. “Can’t say that I do, dear. But didn’t Mika get her leg fixed by them after that sledding accident?” 

“Was that with them or with that group of water healers at the university?”

“No, I’m pretty sure you’re thinking of when she was searching for carpal tunnel treatments.”

They went back and forth in the conversation for a bit, talking about various ailments of people Kylie had never heard of. She quickly lost the will to keep listening. Instead, she became transfixed by the snacks in front of her. The tea was a light green, with an aroma of fresh mint that filled her whole head. She found herself both desperate to drink it and unwilling, as the smell alone was so soothing. Kylie instead reached for a cookie. Her hand crept across the table, an overcorrection to avoid seeming as desperately eager as she was.

The instant she placed her hand on a cookie, she felt eyes staring at her. She turned her head. Asalya stood a few feet away, glaring at her. The red-coated child sat on her head, petting her ears a bit too energetically. Asalya didn’t growl, but Kylie could feel it. She slowly took a cookie and bit into it. It tasted wonderful, and it wasn’t something Asalya could eat anyway. Still, she knew from the look in the wolf’s eyes that she’d pay all the same. 

“Well anyway,” Merritt turned xir attention back to Kylie. “They’re on basically the exact other side of the mountain, same level as us. You want to get to them all you’ve got to do is circle around.” 

“Or you could take the elevator up to the third level, take the path through the mountain, and take the elevator back down. It’s a shorter trip.” Evals offered.

“Shorter in distance maybe, but this time of day you’d be waiting in line forever.” Merritt looked at Evals incredulously.

“I suspect you’d be there faster if you take the elevator near city hall.”

While the couple talked to themselves about efficient travel, Jules traced the line of sight between Kylie and Asalya until they caught Kylie’s attention. They held up a finger to their mouth in the universal sign of keep quiet. With practiced movement, they pretended to notice something under the table and just happened to place their hand on the stack of cards left by their purple-coated friend, which just happened to make them move enough for them to peek over the table, where Jules could just happen to see them. It was a bit much of a performance for simply cheating at cards, Kylie thought. But she found it amusing all the same.

Merritt and Evals were still debating which was the fastest way to get to a destination Kylie had no real intention of going to. Although she may have needed to waste time, Kylie was still hungry in a way that cookies and tea weren’t going to satisfy. And Asalya was even hungrier. 

“Well,” Kylie chimed in. “Before we go anywhere else, Aslaya and I really need to go to the market first. Which way is that?”
Merritt pointed to xir left. “Oh, like a mile that way. Wraps around half the city. Can’t miss it.”

“Do you need to get going, dear? It sounds like you’re in a bit of a hurry.”

“Sadly, yeah. I’d love to stick around more, but I should really get some supplies and try to get this whole monster thing taken care of. Thank you so much for the food and company.” Despite the lies she’d told and her impatience, Kylie was a bit sad to go. She was genuinely happy that the first people she’d met had been so helpful and friendly.

“Well, I get that. Travellers got to keep on travelling. You go find what you’re looking for, and if you’re ever in Crescentia again I’d love it if you paid a visit.” Merritt shook Kylie’s hand.

“Absolutely.” Kylie stood up from the table. What she was looking for. There it was again, even if it was unintentional. The implication that she was lost. Or that she’d run away. Why did that keep coming up? She knew why she was here - it was to protect Naomi. Whatever form that took. Nothing this group of Crescentians had said made her like or trust Naomi’s Order any more than she did, but there was no evidence of anything wrong with them either. She’d have to keep looking. “Come, Asalya!”

Asalya shook her head until the child slid down her back and into the snow. Louis quickly came to pick them up. Asalya walked up to Kylie. Then past her. Then into a dead sprint, right into the crowd. Several people shouted as they jumped out of the way of the charging wolf.

“Ah, crap.” Kylie pinched the bridge of her nose, sighed, and ran after her.

She must have said excuse me, pardon me, sorry, sorry, sorry a thousand times as she ran through the muddy streets, sliding to a stop over and over to avoid crashing into someone. Asalya ran around and weaved through groups of people, determined to create as much noise and chaos as possible. The wolf was a hunter - she knew the concept of being inconspicuous. She’d chosen to be disruptive. This was a game for her. At times she’d stop and turn around to make sure Kylie was still behind her before sprinting off again. Were this the woods, Kylie would stop the chase and wait for Aslaya to come back to her. But this was a city, and neither of them had ever been to a city before. Kylie wasn’t sure if someone would be showing up to try and take her friend away.

Kylie nearly crashed head-first into a very large person covered in hair with large horns jutting upwards from the top of their head. A minotaur, perhaps? She didn’t have time to ask, merely offering another sorry before continuing the chase. There seemed to be many different kinds of people in this city - lots of people like her in some ways and different in others. Some of them may have been born that way, but others must have undergone transformations like hers. And she somewhat doubted that they had all used the Order’s proper methods.
As they ran, Kylie sniffed the air. The scent of everything was appearing more, in higher concentrations. They were definitely approaching the market.

At the same time that Kylie arrived at the hundreds of rows of tents and stalls packed with goods, Asalya disappeared into the crowd. Before Kylie could even begin to panic, an overpoweringly savory scent of grilled meat and spice drifted through the air. Kylie had a good guess where she’d be. Sure enough, Kylie followed the smell to find Asalya loosely circling a stand, her fierce eyes fixed on it. The vendor inside - a quite burly person with a tight white shirt and their long red hair tied back - watched the wolf closely with a narrow gaze. Without turning their attention from Asalya for one moment, they grabbed a skewer on the large grill in front of them with a pair of tongs and flipped it over.

Kylie didn’t slow down, instead barrelling into Asalya and wrapping her in a hug. “There you are. Please don’t run off when we’re in a strange place again, okay?”

“She yours?” The person in the stall asked, pointing their tongs at Kylie.
“She’s her own, but we look after each other.” Kylie scratched Asalya’s back.

“Yeah, okay. You doing alright? I was about to say she looks like she hasn’t eaten in a week but it also looks like neither have you.”

“It’s only been a day.” Kylie shrugged in an attempt to play it off.

“Oh, that’s all? You’re taking some free samples right now.” They held two small meat skewers out to Kylie. “There’s a traveller’s stand on down the road where the city keeps surplus food and supplies you can go get, but I’ll be thrown off the mountain before I let a kid starve in front of my stand.”

Kylie took one of the skewers and handed it to Asalya, who tore at it with delight. The vendor kept the other one held out expectantly. Kylie held up her hands. “Sorry, um, I’m a vegetarian.”

The vendor put the skewer back on the grill and picked up another one containing a pattern of lightly charred eggplant, mushrooms, squash, tomatoes, and onions. Kylie sank her fangs into it instantly. She couldn't deny it was seasoned fantastically, very savory but with a notable heat that built at the tip of her tongue the more she ate.

“Say, you wouldn’t happen to be Kylie of Nighthills, would you?”

Kylie’s ears raised. She’d already started going in for her next bite, but backed the skewer away from her mouth. So many strangers seemed to know her name. “Yeah, actually, I am.”

“A centaur passed through here like an hour or two ago looking for you. She said you might be with a cleric girl?”

“She said what?” Panic rushed through Kylie, though she immediately started developing a theory that made her feel safer. Between being another magical creature, asking for Kylie of Nighthills, and knowing she was with Naomi - she must have been another one of Madeline’s friends. Who else had her teacher befriended, beyond wolves, dragons, centaurs, and witches? What was the depth of her connection with the mystical? She’d have to pry more when she got back home.

“About a cleric girl. Hey, is this centaur not someone you know?” The vendor folded their massive arms - a gesture Kylie read as protective.

“Not personally, but I think we have a mutual friend. Do you remember which way they went?”

Their arms still crossed, the vendor flicked a thumb to point down the road. “That way, towards the traveller supplies. If they wind up giving you trouble, you come running back here and I’ll put a stop to that real fast.”

Kylie grinned to show her teeth. “I don’t think you’ve got to worry too much about that. Besides, we’re wolves, we’ve got fangs. If anything goes too wrong we can take care of ourselves.”

“I’m sure you can. Still not comfy with the idea of kids having to, though.”

The hunger in Kylie’s stomach tightened again, the little bites of food only serving to remind her of its presence. She was tired and sore. And Naomi must have been ten times more so. Although she’d volunteered for this journey, she wasn’t sure she liked the idea of kids making it alone, either. In fact, by now, the idea that Naomi had been forced to straight-up pissed her off.

 Behind the meat skewers, some thicker-cut steaks layed sizzling on the grill. The centaur had already past them by an hour or more. Kylie could spend a few minutes bartering. “Do you trade for meats?”

“I’m a spice person, mainly, but I’ve got some pre-seasoned cuts I’ll trade for. The ones on the grill are for samples, but I’ve got raw ones in the ice chest. You have anything to trade? I hate asking a kid in your situation, but I get these herbs all the way down south of Laryth. Need to trade to have supplies for the journey and stuff to trade with the Larythians once I get there. It’s how I get to keep making Crescentia flavorful, you know?” They held out their hands and wiggled their fingers for a little flourish.

Kylie searched around for anything she had to trade, but there was really nothing she could think of that she could afford to part with. “Is there any work you need done that would be worth two steaks?”

“I thought you said that you were a vegetarian?”

“They’re not for me.”

“Gotcha. How old are you, kid?”

“Seventeen.” It was still weird to say. She hadn’t been seventeen for very long, but she already felt so much closer to being an adult.

“Yeah, there’s no way I’m getting a seventeen-year-old who’s not apprenticed to me to do work for me, and even then I’d have reservations.”

 So much for nearing adulthood then. She racked her brain for anything she could part with. All she had was the stone, but that was far too valuable. Finally, an idea came to her. She reached down and slid the knife out of her boot. Holding the flat part of the blade with two fingers, she passed it over to the vendor. “It’s not much, but it saved my life once. Of course, I don’t know if it’s worth anything to you.”

“You must want to give your wolf friend a treat pretty badly, huh?” The vendor grabbed it by the handle, looked over the blade, then slid it into a pocket. “It’s a little dulled, but I could always use a trusted tool on the road. Let me get those steaks prepped for you.”

A moment later, they handed two hefty slabs of meat wrapped in wax-coated paper over to Kylie. They nodded at Asalya. “Hope your friend enjoys.”

“Me too.” Kylie set the steaks down in her pack, gave a little wave, and the two wolves went on their way.

A little ways further down the market, they found a tent with a sign reading Travelers Welcome. No one seemed to be inside, but there were plenty of ice chests and a heated pot that filled the tent with the smell of lentil soup. There wasn’t much in the chests - as Merritt said, there weren’t many travellers this time of year - but they contained bread and potatoes and various vegetables that would most likely last their little trio until the next town they reached. Kylie helped herself to some supplies and some soup. She nabbed an old iron pan as well, figuring if it wasn’t meant to be taken it probably shouldn’t have been left out among everything else that was.

Finally filled, she looked briefly for any sign of this centaur. Finding none, the wolves simply carried on down the road. They circled around, and soon found themselves outside of the market again, directly on the opposite end of the mountain from where they’d began. Kylie looked at the tall black buildings. She was sure Merritt had said the Order of Rejuvenance was somewhere around here. But she had no idea what distinguished their building from any other, or what she even intended to do if she found them.

Far ahead of them, she saw someone. From this distance and angle, she couldn’t even be sure they were actually a centaur, but the general physique certainly seemed centaur-esque. Whoever it was, they were walking away from the wolves. Kylie motioned for Asalya to go on ahead a bit. She’d have an easier time catching up.

And then Kylie hit something. Like running face-first into a wall. She stumbled backwards, her nose pulsing with a sore throb. She gasped, more from shock than from pain. But she saw nothing. Only the snowy streets of the mountain city, looking the same as always.

Asalya was already ahead of her. The wolf turned back, confused why Kylie wasn’t following. Kylie wasn’t sure either. 

She reached her hand forward, slowly. For a while, there was only air in front of her. Then something. Her fingers pressed against solid nothing, and where they touched it, it flashed with a yellow light. She pressed her whole hand against the invisible wall, and light surrounded it. Around the side of the outline of her hand, glowing yellow runes - words in a language she couldn’t read - drifted and faded in and out.

Her heart raced. This was magic - it had to be. But what kind? It hadn’t stopped Asalya. It hadn’t seemed to stop anyone else. Why only her?

She pressed her hand against the surface harder, and it pushed back. But its resistance was weak, like pushing into sand. She pressed even harder, and the light shone brighter. Then her hand lurched through.

The light around her arm turned black. From the circle formed by her hand, the yellow letters spread, then darkened and fell towards the floor, where they disappeared. The wave of light and consuming dark rippled further and further, higher into the sky until it arched forward and circled around. Whatever this dome in front of her was, bit by bit, it came crumbling down.

Kylie shivered in fear. What had she done? How had she done it? The black letters rained down but vanished far before they hit the ground. Were they the reason that the sky seemed so much darker now than it had only a moment ago?

Ahead, a crashing noise echoed across the mountain. Kylie’s terrified and shaking head looked towards the source, to the top of a building. A massive hand of dripping shadow clutched the side of the tower. It tore off chunks of black stone and sent them smashing into the snow below. With another mass of rock that fell, Kylie saw its glowing red eyes.

It was different than before. Larger, weightier. But the situation was the same. The Absentia was coming for Naomi.

Kylie and Asalya sprinted towards it.