When His Magick Exploded ✓

11: Battle behind the Shame Garden

Soon, Cypur and Wescherlie were on their way to Boridianverie in the rain. It was a town near the edge of the Ring. The edges of Rings that were nearest the center, or the hole into space, usually had warped time zones. 

The phenomenon of time zone warping still baffled many scientists. Sorcerers who studied the magick movements and all its complicated equations couldn't figure out how, when the sun and moon seemed to be rather unified between Rings, the time zones could be altered from one spot to another.

But time-zone altering wasn't as troublesome as complete time loss. There was one city nearly teetering off the edge into the hole of space. Freileeriemerd City was called the Fry Zone, a play on 'Frei', because living there meant you were willing to fry your brain trying to figure out what time it was any moment of the day. 

Freileeriemerd folk—called the Frees or the Leeries depending on which town—sectioned out a part of their city as 'completely unlivable' because it was said to alter your heart beat. It made you out like you were dead for a few minutes each day.

Crazy rumors, but what if it was true? Could Sorcerers temporarily die out there? Cypur didn't want to go to find out, but he knew the High Collection Police, Sorcerer Faction put exiles there. Boridianverie was close. It made him a little nervous going that direction.

But one thing he did want to see was laundry in space. Rumors had it, houses balanced precariously on a drop. If you were out hanging laundry, dropping something meant it floated out to space. Like underwear. Cypur sucked in his lips, holding in a snicker.

"Coast is clear," Wescherlie whispered over her shoulder. They were standing under the roof of a forever-closed café and now they ran through the rain to the next roof. Since it was so dark and glum out, no one was around. Cypur put his cape over his head to hide his golden hair just in case.

Across streets they ran through Berlennia City. It was near the edge of this city that Boridianverie was, according to the map he recalled from his memory. He kept to narrow alleyways and uncommon side streets to keep out of any potential main street's watchful eyes. One thing he knew about the Sorcerer Police was that they didn't like working in the rain, but that didn't mean they wouldn't. It was better to be extra careful.

Soon they came upon a garden sandwiched between stone walls of window-less houses. Bushes had been trimmed to look like spheres were rolling across the stone-laden path. The path curved into the garden, shrouded in shadow from the canopy of trees above. The trees were also made to look spherical on top. The only way to the other side was through the garden. Cypur had never been near a garden like this, but he seen plenty on the screen.

Wescherlie put her hands on her hips, surveying the area. "Sorcerers need a new house designer," she declared. "I would put windows to look at the garden."

Cypur whispered, "It's a Shame Garden."

"Ashamed garden?"

He nodded. "Yeah, for shaming citizens." He lifted his cloak a little. As far as he could tell, no one was there except them.

"Oh," Wescherlie whispered after a long pause, "not ashamed, a shame garden," she said with a snap of her fingers.

With a nod to each other, they ran through the rain again. There was a ripple around their bodies as they neared the Shame Garden. It was protected by a dome to keep the inside dry. Still the ground was wet as if the rainy day still affected the place.

"Whew!" Wescherlie unfolded her wings and flung water off them. "It's hot in here!"

And it was. Cypur ditched his cape and draped it over his shoulders, latching the buckle under his chin. He shook out his hair and ran his fingers through, yanking some snarls out. The smell reminded him of those herb rooms at school that were kept steamy to keep the vegetation fresh.