Secret Places and Hidden Things

Chapter Nineteen

It didn't take as long as she thought. Either through some trick of time, or simply the enjoyment of traveling so light and free, before she had even started to tire they arrived at the edge of a massive pair of floating mountains. The fox jumped off the vines, which were growing out of the side of the cliff, and began to walk around the edge of the tree line. Suddenly, she heard a shout from the distance.

"Hello there!"

A man was making his way up from the valley. She waved and the fox barked, running towards the sound with its tail flailing in the air.

Jain followed more slowly, and when she got to the man, the fox was devouring mushrooms out of his hand.

"There are mushrooms everywhere, why does it like those better?" she asked.

"Probably because they were mine," the man said, laughing. "Who are you? I don't see many people around here."

"I'm Jain."

"William," he said, bobbing his head. He handed the fox another mushroom.

"Do you know this fox?" Jain asked. "We just came from the helm."

"What's the helm?" William asked.

"A big castle. It was over that way..." Jain had turned to point, but caught herself mid-gesture. The helm was long gone.

"Ah, well, I've never seen a big castle around here. That's not so unusual, though. Nothing stays in the same place in these parts. The only thing fixed is the cabin I live in." He scratched the fox and it jumped around him excitedly. "I definitely know this fox. We've been living together for quite a long time. I don't really remember when we came here. The days seem to run together—especially since the bird tore everything up. The sun never sets in these skies now, it just moves around the edges."

"A bird caused all of this?" Jain asked, looking out at the string of islands floating above the clouds.

"Yes, actually. It wasn't even a large bird."

Jain watched as a flock of geese took off from one landmass and circled around to another.

"It's almost like sailing, isn't it?" she asked. "Why would a bird carry the land away?"

"I think it was used to carrying burdens," William said. "It needed something heavy to grab hold of or it would have been lost in the void. It nearly took us there, as well, but I threw a rock."

"You threw a rock?"

"Yes, that's all it took, surprisingly." William turned back towards the valley between the two peaks high above them. "Would you like to come to the cabin? We could sit down for a bit. No doubt you've had a bit of a voyage to get here."

Jain nodded, and the fox trotted ahead as they began to walk.

"Did you know this fox lost its skin?" Jain asked.

"Wait, what?"

"I saw it happen. The red woman, Marelle, stole its skin. Daerk said she took possession of it, so we couldn't steal it back."

"How do you steal a skin?" William asked. "It looks like it still has skin." He looked ahead at the fox, who was digging at the base of a rotting stump.

"It's Michael's cloak. At least, that's what Daerk said."

"Who's Daerk?"

"He was the man at the helm," Jain said. "He was trying to tell me about death."

"I don't know any of these people," William said laughing.

"I don't either," Jain said. "I've been traveling a lot."