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Karp approached the counter at the general store to pick up another order. This order, however, didn’t contain anything as extravagant as the water steel dagger. Since Karp had promised The Whitecoat she wouldn’t return to the Shift World, she had lost access to months of supplies in her storehouse. So, Karp had ordered a few weeks’ worth of dry goods to store in her inn room for the days she didn’t have time for a proper meal at the tavern. Unlike the dagger that cost nearly one hundred pounds of steel, Karp could pay for this whole order with a single small steel coin.
Karp snapped the coin on the counter. As the coin rang out, Karp had a vision of the man from her storeroom standing under a collapsing wall. The man wasn’t in a defensive position with his hands raised, nor was he cowering under the falling debris. He calmly stood with his feet together and his arms down in front with palms facing out. His face showed no sign of distress. Karp shot back to the general store and staggered as though she had just been struck on the side of the head. She steadied herself on the counter and tried to make sense of what had just happened.
was he trying to commit suicide? if i didn’t shift, how did i end up there?
˝What’s wrong?”
The visions quickened, and Karp then saw the man in the Shift World for longer than she saw the store. Every image of the Shift World flashed in her mind. Karp dizzied and backed away from the counter to stop herself from hitting it if she fell. Karp witnessed Slart's reaction in slow motion, and Slart shouted for her.
˝Karp! Karp!”
The visions appeared so quickly that time seemed to stop in the Shift World, and Karp’s world dragged her through time at a quarter of regular speed. Karp felt her mind tearing. The strain of being pulled between worlds so quickly was too much for her to handle. The man standing under the falling wall opened his eyes, even as rocks floated, suspended in midair. The man’s eyes read of fear, confusion, and an intensity that scared Karp, and then Karp collapsed from the pain. The flux of sand changing to wood and wood turning to sand battered her body. Karp convulsed on the floor of the general store.
˝NORT! NORT!”
Slart shouted with completely uncharacteristic desperation and sincerity. From the ground, Karp saw a book suspended in the air near the stranger’s feet. The stranger turned toward her, and she forced her gaze up toward his face. He completely turned in her direction, lifted his arm, and took a step. Karp’s convulsions stopped. A dazed Karp looked up at the ceiling of the general store.
Nort shoved his way through the vault’s stone door. Slart was on her knees, sitting back on her heels with her hands on the ground, shoulders hunched; she was bawling. Relieved of the mental strain from whatever had just happened, Karp’s energy slowly returned. Karp was sitting up by the time Nort reached her on the floor. Slart latched onto Karp and continued sobbing. Nort’s face showed a mixture of relief and confusion over what he had missed while in the vault. After a few minutes, Karp rose to her feet.
˝Don’t pretend like uh nothing just happened! Nort, you go with Karp. Take her supplies, and YOU rest until I come to see you later.”
With a look into Slart’s eyes, both Karp and Nort knew better than to argue with her. Nort lifted a knee-high jar holding the supplies that Karp originally came for, and escorted her out the side door. As they crossed the alley, Karp noticed her neighbor Barp heading west onto Village Square Road. Karp and Nort entered the Traitor’s Tavern Inn, crossed the dining hall, and ascended the stairs. They reached Karp’s room and entered. Nort emptied the jar’s contents into several smaller pots set up under Karp’s bed. Karp could only think of revenge while she lay on the floor of the general store, and even now, that’s all she could think of as she watched Nort empty the jar.
Nort waved goodbye when he was finished, and Karp saw him to the door. As soon as she shut the door behind him, Karp drew her dagger, took a defensive stance, and shifted. She looked around the storehouse, and there the man stood near a table. The intensity in his eyes had softened, and now he just looked tired.
˝who are you?”
˝My name is Wili.”
˝why did you try to kill me?”
˝What?! I’m not trying to kill you! I need your help!”
˝my help? after what just happened!?”
Wili desperately pleaded his case.
˝I really only remember the last few days. I was in the desert with one pervasive thought: ‘Read the book quickly.’ There was some kind of journal in my hand, so I opened the cover, and three things were written:
1: Your name is Wili.
2: You are a scholar.
3: Find a safe place to continue reading.
“I looked around and saw a towering stone spire, so I headed off toward it. The tower was connected to a building with diamond-shaped windows. I was walking around the outside looking for an entrance when I heard a creaking sound. I looked up to see the tower wall collapsing. I put my hands up, and next thing I know I’m in here. I didn’t have my book, but you were standing there. I asked you about the book, but then I was under the falling tower again! Everything was frozen, and you were there on the ground. Then we were here, talking, right now.”
Karp’s resolve softened at the sincerity of his response, even though none of it made any sense.
˝why is this book so important?”
˝I don’t know, but I feel like it can explain what’s going on. So will you help?”
i don’t know who this guy is, and he did almost kill me.
Karp sighed and sheathed her dagger.
˝look, i believe that you didn’t mean to hurt me. i also believe that you don’t know what’s going on. frankly, i think it would be too dangerous to help you, and besides, i wouldn’t get anything out of it. if you can figure out how, please just leave.”
Karp shifted away without waiting to hear any objections, complaints, or counteroffers.
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