Fight or Flight

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The crowd thickened as we neared the market center, mostly nocturnes, dwarves, and umbrans, a few humans and crystallines, but no avians. A bustle of voices washed over us and I caught snippets of conversations - deals being struck, friends reuniting, lovers whispering secrets. It all made my pulse flutter.

Commotion erupted nearby, and for a moment, I was worried I might be faced with an erratic human who had hunted me for my wings. But my pulse softened as my eyes were met with a flamboyant nocturne street performer, a gather of people watching him magically manipulate cups of water into intricate shapes that hung suspended in the air. The crowd 'oohed' and 'aahed' as the water formed the likeness of the Moon Mother's crest, then a bird, then scattered into a shower of droplets that evaporated before touching anyone.

"Aye, lasses, I'm getting hungry," Finnian inserted before striding hastily towards a food stall. The vendor, a dwarven man with a magnificent mustache, was frying what looked like the small, iridescent fish I had seen during my one and only dip in the ocean.

"Pearlfish," he announced proudly. "Caught fresh from the Serac Sea. The magic in their scales are said to grant the eater dreams of flight!"

I couldn't help but laugh. "I think I'll pass on those," I replied, but accepted a skewer of grilled vegetables instead, the spices tingling pleasantly on my tongue. Finnian however, took three skewers in each hand and Alannah followed suit.

As we wandered deeper into the market to find a bin to discard our skewers, we stumbled upon an umbran woman with voided eyes like swirling galaxies. She sat at a table in her stall, a plaque in front of her announcing her services.

"What is a fortune used for?" I glanced up at Finnian, who had just polished off his last pearlfish skewer.

Alannah cut in to answer before he finished chewing, earning a glare from the captain, but a laugh from me. "It's used for knowledge of the future. Your personal future, specifically. But it's more of a service provided by a soothsayer than an actual object.

Soothsayer? The word felt irrationally foreign to my ears but I kept listening anyway.

Alannah continued, "She'll look at the lines on your hands or something and tell you everything you need to know."

The umbran woman wordlessly motioned for me to sit in the chair across from her. I took a hesitant seat after some gentle coaxing from my friends, who stood behind me to watch.

The soothsayer reached her hands across the table to me, flicking her fingers in indication that she wanted to grasp my hands within hers. As soon as my fingers grazed her shadow-misted skin, a woman's voice, worn and leathery, snapped across my consciousness.

Welcome. It whispered, its voice echoing both before and after its words. My name is Lirael. Have you come to seek your fortune, avian?

Was that voice coming from the umbran soothsayer?

Yes. She hissed, offense sharpening her words. I am an umbran, girl. Is it not common knowledge across the regions that umbrans speak through physical connection?

I paused, breathless at the type of interaction I was having. There was nothing like this... this witchcraft in Riem.

Witchcraft?! You continue to disrespect me, you foolish child. I will— she cut her tirade short, as if it had taken her a while to process my words. Ah, her voice lilted as she continued, a complete switch. But you're not from the mainland are you, avian? You're far from your home. Far from Riem.

I felt the world drop away for a moment, and Lirael's hands pulled me up, up, up, as if my very essence was lifted from my body. Then we were soaring, flashes of images sliding past us at an alarming rate. They flipped fast– too fast. I wasn't sure whether to scream or vomit. My head began to spin with vertigo, Lirael's grip tightening beside me as a reminder. Do not miss this, girl. She seethed through clenched teeth.