Steel Flight [Completed]

Chapter 38: Dreams

-Jack

I had devoured several plates of shiny, exotic food by the time dishes were placed before Colton and Tom Thum. Skai had to visibly force down every mouthful, though she ate almost as much as I did. The smart thing, I supposed.

Colton sat wide-eyed, staring around at the furniture, the decorations, and more than anything else, the people trickling in and out the door: their iridescent jewelry, olive skin, feathered and beaded hair, and rough, yet ornately patterned clothing.

I couldn't blame him. It was an overwhelming mix of foreign sights, smells, and sounds. I'd been fishing often enough to recognize most of the smells coming from our plates as those of underwater creatures, though the smooth, powdery looking wood and copper-colored wood full of knots both had unique scents that I'd never experienced before. Even stranger were the substances that seemed to be some hybrid of metal, wood, and stone. For example, upon first glance, I thought the floor was stiltstone, but I did a double-take, realizing that if it were, it would crack under all the pressure. But no. Despite the bits of waterweed, shell, and fish scale stuck in it, obviously suggesting stiltstone, it was perfectly smooth, much stronger than it should be, and faintly opalescent.

Though I can't say Colton's expression didn't bring me a great amount of pleasure. "Told yah."

He just stared at me, with those same huge, bewildered eyes. Maybe the surprise had broken him.

Tom Thum sat on the seashell inlaid wooden table, carving out the insides of what looked something like an acorn, and popping the thin shavings into his mouth.

Noyahma stepped back in, and everyone still inside quickly left. Where before there had been the motion of everyday hustle and bustle, now there was stillness. Guess that was all the food we were getting.

She was in simple sandals, shirt and skirt made of the same print as everyone else's, swirling black and white earrings, and carried in her shaking hands some of the rocks from between our cave and the river. She set them in a bowl of other pebbles of varying shapes, sizes, colors, and lusters before wiping her hands and turning to us.

Groaning, she knelt down across the table from the others. I floated awkwardly to the side.

Then she looked at me. "You want to know why I am uncertain as to whether or not I have been to all the Mountain?"

I nodded, excitement tingling in my stomach with the glowing pink thing I ate earlier.

She clasped her hands on her lap. "This is no ordinary landscape. Our mountain is rooted in ancient magic. All who live here must learn to coexist with that magic, learn to rely upon its unreliability. Based on the fact that one of your companions is floating, I assume you have all seen magic before?"

Not floating; flying.

Her squinted blue-green eyes swept over us, and we each nodded.

She sat back. "Well then, I will just come right out and say it. Our settlement does not stay in one place. Every night, our homes are transported to another location on the mountain."

She looked at each of us again. "Each morning, we wake up somewhere else."

My breath caught in my throat. What would Mum have said if I told her this? She would have believed me, would have appreciated the exhilarating secret it was.

Skai swallowed, looking pale.

Colton shook his head. "You can't be serious."

Noyahma looked taken aback. "Why-ever not, young man?"

"B-because," Colton sputtered.

"I thought you knew everything about magic," I teased, then shook my head. "How is this any harder to believe than flight that turns you to steel?"