Minutes later, we emerged from the forest.  Before me, half a mile off, large hills rose steeply to meet the evening sky.  In front of these, in a natural basin, was a small village.  I was surprised to see all the buildings seemed to be made of adobe. 

“I will leave you here.”

I turned back to Masad, finding I didn’t want him to go.  I had trusted him with my real name, which, apparently, was a huge deal here, and yet he had not even removed his mask.  I had been hoping to see his face and, for some silly reason, I’d thought he would do away with the mask when parting from me.  I looked at the ground, disappointed.

“Is something wrong?” Masad asked.

“Nothing,” I said looking up again and carefully wiping all traces of disappointment from my face.  “Thank you, again.”

“Good luck, Ethereal.”  So saying, he disappeared back into the forest, much like one of the long evening shadows and I wondered for a moment whether he had been there at all.  I felt instinctively for the medallion and was comforted by its presence.  

The haze from smoky cook fires rose above the little village as I started down the hill.  An adobe wall guarded the town, standing about twelve feet high.  

I half expected to be stopped at the gate and asked my business, but there was no guard.  I walked in, noting the dusty streets and the similarity of all the buildings.  The few people I saw seemed too intent on their own business to pay much attention to me.  The town was small, but with every building looking so similar, I might get myself temporarily lost.  But I was already lost, wasn’t I?  At least, I had no clue how to find Trenwyn, if he was here in the first place.  Should I ask someone and expose the fact that I was a stranger—chance running into one of the Seti majai—or should I just wander the streets, hoping to catch sight of him?  

I almost screamed when a black form bounded out from a side street, until I saw Trenwyn behind and realized in was Lucian.  Trenwyn’s face looked pale and drawn.  

“What happened?  Where have you been?”  He spoke in a harsh whisper and his cloak’s hood, coupled with the absence of people in the streets and the deepening gloom, gave an aura of conspiracy.

“I had an accident,” I replied, not daring to raise my voice, though I wasn’t sure why.

Trenwyn sighed and some of the tension left his face.  “Let’s get you into the warm and get you some food.”

I agreed heartily with this idea and followed him through the grid-like streets.  It only took a few minutes to reach our destination—another small, nondescript adobe house.  Trenwyn ushered me in and Lucian followed on my heels.  A fire burned on the hearth.  The room we entered had a rough-hewn table and three matching chairs in addition to the bed against the far wall.  On the table was a single, shining candle and a soft leather bag.  Trenwyn went to this and produced a flagon of wine and some more cheese and cracker-like bread.  Seating myself at the table across from Trenwyn, I began to eat.  Trenwyn set down two metal chalices and filled them with the wine.  He also had a large bone for Lucian, who settled in front of the hearth, gnawing eagerly.  Trenwyn scratched the wolf’s ears, but the wolf was too intent on the bone to take much notice.  Looking up from the wolf, Trenwyn stiffened.  “What happened?” he demanded, apparently seeing my hand and the splint for the first time.  “Who bandaged you up?”

“Well,” I began with my mouth full and took a swig of the wine—bad sour wine—to wash down the food.  “The elk was not the smoothest ride I’ve ever had and I ended up breaking my hand when I fell off.”  I took another bite.  “I didn’t know what to do.  I didn’t know where I was, where you were, or where Rhir was.  The elk just ran back into the forest.  Fortunately I had the sense to climb to a high point to get my bearings and, on the way up, I met a hunter who splinted my hand and guided me here to Rhir.” 

“Did the man give you a name by which he is known?”  His voice was anxious.  It was as if the wolf, Lucian, could feel his master’s concern, for he had stopped chewing the bone and now watched both of us keenly, almost as if he was following the conversation.  Uncanny. 

“Yes,” I answered slowly.  Why was this so important?  “He said he was known as Masad.”

Trenwyn frowned.  “Finish up here.  There’s a tub full of water in the other room if you wish to bathe.  I must go talk to members of my circle.  Lucian will stay with you.”  He bent down, whispering to the wolf, as if to instruct him to play babysitter.  With no other explanation, he made his exit, leaving me alone in the house.  I looked around, taking stock of my surroundings.  Sparse furnishings and a semi-feral wolf.  Great. 

After finishing the crackers and cheese and draining my chalice of wine despite its awful taste, I went to examine the bathroom.  Lucian watched me with his golden eyes as I moved about, but seemed disinclined to move from his comfy spot.  Inside the bathroom, a single candle burned on a tall wooden table set next to a large tub of metal.  The water inside was only lukewarm but it would do.  I was probably lucky to bathe at all, I told myself.  On the floor next to the table was a bundle which, upon closer examination, turned out to be fresh clothes: tan breeches, a brown skirt, an off-white loose blouse, stockings, and boots.  There was also a woolen towel.  He’d thought of everything, which was a little creepy.  Then again, with all that was happening, this might be the least creepy aspect.  I supposed if Trenwyn had wanted to kill or rape me, he’d had plenty of opportunity before. 

Undressing, I discovered that my boots contained about as much dirt and pine needles as they did feet.  Indeed, I had managed to get dirt nearly everywhere.  Throwing my ruined pajamas into a heap near the polished wood door, but keeping the medallion on, I stepped into the tub and sank down into the water.  I had to bathe with my splinted left hand propped on the side of the tub so as to not get it wet, but I felt much better after scrubbing off all the dirt and grime. Content that I was truly clean, I redressed myself in the skirt, pulling on the new breeches under it.  In case of calamity, pants were always preferable to a skirt. 

Dressing one-handed was challenging, but I managed.  Trenwyn was still gone when I returned to the main room and Lucian seemed to be sleeping.  It was only moments later when the door swung open and Trenwyn burst in, and Lucian was on his feet in a moment.

“Get that splint off your hand!  Immediately!”

Stunned by his antics, I just stood there, staring at him wide-eyed.  He strode over and virtually hauled me to the table where he quickly and efficiently cut the splint off with a long, straight knife.  Once he had it off, he cast it into the fire as if it was a poisonous snake.

“What was that all about, Trenwyn?” I demanded.  “My hand is broken, I need something on it!”  

“I’ll make you another later,” Trenwyn said dismissively.  “Now, it is very important that you tell me everything you know of this Masad.”  His eyes shone with a keen light.  “What, exactly, did he say to you?  What did he do?”

Doubt welled up within me.  “Why?  What’s wrong with Masad?”

“Ethereal, he’s an agent for the Seti circle.  One of their mercenaries.”

Was Trenwyn telling the truth?  I couldn’t think of any motive for him to lie about this.  But it didn’t make sense.  Why would an agent of the Seti help me, probably saving my life, when he knew his employers wanted me dead?  “How do you know this?” I inquired, my tone carefully flat.

“The senior member of my circle confirmed my suspicions.  This Masad has been working for the Seti for long enough that he is known.”

“Then why didn’t he kill me?  I told him I was running from a circle of majai.  He was even the first to name them and give me some answers.  More than I got from you, I’d like to point out.”

Trenwyn shrugged.  “I cannot say for certain why the Seti and their agents do what they do.  That is, in part, what I hope to learn by saving you.  But I can tell you most assuredly that this Masad is one of their mercenaries and that you have been marked by them for termination.”

“And what about this marking?  How did this come about?”

Trenwyn shrugged again.  “It can only come through physical contact, so you must have met one of them within the last few weeks.”

I looked Trenwyn up and down with his cloak and shaved head.  “Somehow I think I would have known it if I’d met another maj recently, Trenwyn.”

Trenwyn shook his head.  “No, my lady.  Majai have a talent.  We can enter your world. Some do so on a regular basis.  Seti in particular.  Most majai, when in your world, dress and act much like anyone else on Earth.”

“Wait a minute.  What, exactly, do you mean, ‘my world’?”

Trenwyn frowned.  “I’m sure you’ve realized that you’re now in a very different place.  Now, have you met anyone new recently in your world?  Anyone who seemed a bit strange?”

Leo.  I swallowed and Trenwyn must have seen something in my face.

“You did, didn’t you?”

On impulse I looked up at Trenwyn.  “Trenwyn, would you put your hood down?”

He looked at me suspiciously but slowly did as I asked.  A cold shiver ran down my spine as I saw his ears.  They had a slight point to them, not overly noticeable, but there, nonetheless.  Leo’s ears had been similarly pointed.  I remembered noting his angular face and the strange slight point of an ear sticking out from beneath his shaggy brown hair.

“I did meet someone yesterday, Trenwyn,” I admitted, carefully keeping my voice calm.  “His ears were like yours and he said something very strange.  And slightly disturbing.”

Trenwyn frowned, dubiously.  “All majai have pointed ears.  The older they are, the more pronounced the point.  Did he ever touch you throughout the course of your conversing with him?”

I nodded.  “Yes.  I shook his hand.”

“Which hand?” Trenwyn asked.

“My right hand.  But, Trenwyn, that’s not the worst of it.”  His eyes were guarded but I had to tell him.  If all this was real, there could be dire consequences.  “He knows my real name.”