“None know where the Gate came from, who created it, or what its purpose here is. The same can be said of its keepers.”
— A scrap of mysterious paper recovered from the streets of Encora Rise
“So how did it go?” asked Sorn, crossing to a position behind the Gateseer to face the sidereal gateway at the far end of the room.
The crystalline watcher turned to fix the dark elf with her monocular eye. “It went…well. She…yes. It went well.” Her voice echoed around Sorn’s mind, the slightly narrowed eye the only expression on her featureless face.
“She said you had come to an…introductory arrangement?” asked Sorn, clasping his pale grey hands behind his back.
“Yes. She is…hesitant to commit to anything.”
“Makes sense.”
“Mm. We’re going to continue to speak. She’ll keep me appraised of her…adventures, and in return we will offer what aid we can.”
Sorn nodded, and the pair fell into silence, their gazes turning to the gently spinning wheel of stars at the room’s focal point. Stars, planets, and nebulae twisted and drifted across it’s flat, glassy surface, beckoning the pair to step forward and through, to see what lay on the other side. Neither did.
After a few moments, Sorn spoke up again. “There’s something bothering you.”
“Bothering me? No, no at all.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not lying.”
“What did she say?”
One of the Gateseer’s eyestalks twitched, and turned to face Sorn. He raised an eyebrow at it. There was a reverberant sigh within his head before she spoke. “The Horsemen are in motion.”
“She said that?”
“No. But she said she was visited by one.”
“Visited? But that means…”
“Something is wrong. Things are…out of step.”
Sorn unclasped his hands and crossed his arms over his chest, biting on his lip while he thought. “Is this to do with what the Xerans wanted with the magewright?”
“I don’t think so. Lidda said the vault was tossed overboard.”
“Overboard?”
“Yes.”
“But then surely that could have caused the discord?”
“No, I don’t think so. Xera doesn’t work like that. She knew that was its fate.”
Sorn grimaced. “Then what is at fault?”
The Gateseer turned bodily to face him. “I don’t know.”
Sorn turned and gestured to the Gate at the room’s end. “Then let us find out.”
The watcher blinked slowly. “I think, on this occasion, the Gate will not help us find the answers we seek.”
