“What?”

“Follow me…there’s all sorts of places hidden around Manhattan” he said, leading me down the street before off towards a park, but he instead led me down an alley across from the park before just holding his hand out towards the brick wall.

“It’s a wall”

“Well, it wouldn’t be a secret if we kept it just out in the open” he said as he rose his cane a little and twisted the top as he pulled the crow skull forward, but instead of a knife or sword like most canes have hidden in them, a long thin black wand was attached to the end of the skull, he barely turned it in hand before raising it to the wall and tapped at a corner of a brick where a deeply engraved circle pattern, he stepped back from the wall as his arm held out to push me back a little as all of the bricks seemed to glow on their inner edge where the bricks met each other, a bright point of light formed where the circle was and shot upwards and downwards before all of the bricks started turning on axis, around and arounds as with each revolution the next layer outwards started spinning at the same rate till four-five bricks out were turning then locked in place with a metallic tone, but in front of me wasn’t some like…stairwell or anything, but a massive street. He motioned as he put the wand back in his cane and walked forward, I walked behind him and a wash of gold/bronze light filled my eyes, but when it faded I was in a massive street market: gray uneven flagstones underfoot, huge sweeping upwards townhouse styled shops lining the streets in flamboyant colors, woods ad materials, giant windows, flamboyant signs and all sorts of things spotting the road and street. Above me was the same fall sky of New York, but it was like I stepped into a different world: there were all sorts of strange…creatures I could see: I saw a spectral man made of glowing silvery white float through a wall holding a bag and the bag went with him, I saw a few short people with huge glittery wings off their backs, a man lumbering at near ten plus feet tall, people with long delicately pointed ears, people with multiple arms and vibrantly colored skin and bracers around their forearms, people with all sorts of fish like adornments, people with stark white hair and skin shift and warp between various other appearances, people without skin, instead being entirely scaled, huge wings, tails and horns, men and women hanging out of windows with bat wings and devil tails as they catcalled people passing. I saw a woman in a long dark cloak with a walking stick that as she passed, I saw her face flash as nothing, but skull for a split section. A man rushed past with the lower body of a bipedal cow and a bull’s head in place, people with various animal bodies for their lower half like centaurs, fauns and satyrs. I saw a woman with arms that merged to feathered wings at the elbow and long talons in place of legs. I saw a guy with a mohawk of snakes instead of hair.

I heard a loud screech sound and looked up to see a massive golden and bronze bird with four wings fly overhead, feathers crackling with electricity before it landed on the shingled roof of a building and collapsed into a lightning that as it faded at the ground, a woman walked away with hair the same tone as the feathers.

“What…what is this?” I asked, Kal sighed deeply before laughing.

“Well, it wouldn’t be a good secret if everyone was allowed to know about it, no?”

“But…but…” I started as I looked around.

“All sorts of magical beings exist in the world, we use glamours and magic to hide ourselves…however every so often, a human is born…with the ability to bypass the illusions, no matter what…the illusions do nothing to them. One of the signs of a Seer being born…is complete heterochromia with one of the eyes being icy blue white.”

“…we?”

“What, did you think I was human if I could show you all of this. I’m only half.”

“And…the other half?”

“Your majesty” A mermaid woman in a water orb said bowing her head deeply towards Kal before vanishing down another street.

“Are you…like a triton or something?” I asked as I looked to follow the mermaid down the alley before she vanished from view. There were various other aquatic based races I saw around us that were all bowing their heads in respect towards Kal.

“No” he said shaking his head before sighing, “There is a race known as warlocks, half human and half demon…I am a warlock…my father is…Leviathan.”