The port city of Comi was greeted with a sneeze. Far enough to see a panoramic view, salt still found its way up a nose from the harbor.

  Mier had to cover his face to cover his fits. Everyone else took in the wide sight of their next destination.

  The group passed by a few other Tyrovivs who moseyed along the road. Ythan led up front, yards ahead of everyone else. As usual, he walked with no one by his side.

  Behind him were the Yerps and their wagon. Yach led the horses from his seat with a stony look. Mier sat beside him, his face hidden behind a rag.

  On one flank walked Conon the other, Onyl. A few paces behind them all walked Quin.

  Like Ythan up ahead, Quin kept to himself. Aside from his boss’ commands earlier that morning, none of his teammates uttered a word to him.

  The back of Arty’s head occupied Quin’s time for most of the walk until the new city attracted attention.

  The harbor was cloistered and clustered with seagulls. They screeched and squawked as they moved in every direction.

  Aside from them, no other activity occurred along the mostly vacant row of piers.

  The harbor itself was the least noticeable thing about the city. Prominent in view stood a series of towers. Three massive structures jutted higher than all the others.

  Nearly identical, they were distanced apart one behind the other from Quin’s perspective.

  An assortment of other towers filled the distance and together they formed a curve that enveloped the harbor. In between stood a sea of red tiled roofs.

  With the rising sun at their backs, Quin and the rest had to shield their eyes as its glare bounced off the assorted towers.

  At the very front closest to the gates poked a small solitary tower, left out to itself. At least some of the other towers had sky bridges to link with each other. This one though stood all alone.

  One thing that caught Quin’s eye after the sun were the long stairs along each of the three biggest towers.

  He couldn’t tell how far down they went, but he could see them reach the very top. With the other towns he visited, stairs only existed on the bottom levels.

  If the stairs here traveled all the way up, were the Yerps allowed access to the top?

  Quin walked up to Onyl as his eyes avoided the glares. “You know anything about this place?” he asked her.

  Onyl slightly turned without a word; the cold look on her face said it all. Her pupils rose to meet her crumpled eyebrows as she displayed a glare worse than the sun.

  Clearly not in the mood for a conversation, Quin left Onyl alone.

  He looked over to the other side of the wagon. Upon eye contact with Conon, he shook his head as if to inform Quin not to ask him either.

  It was not his imagination, his teammates gave him the cold shoulder. He had a good clue why.

  Quin continued his silent trek behind everyone as they reached the gates. The lonely tower was right there to greet them.

  Just seconds into the city, a figure in black jumped down from above. The Tyroviv landed in front of the group.

  Nothing differentiated his outfit from Quin’s except he had a blue bandanna around his head. His attention went straight to the blue cloak.

  “Ner. Fyful?” he asked.

  “Who else would I be?” Ythan replied dourly.

  “An assembly’s been made regarding your reports last evening. Your presence is requested.”

  “I seeeee.” He sighed before he undid the larger pouch from his waist. He then tossed it over to Conon.

  “I don’t know how long this could take. Find us some accommodations. Whether or not we go today, we might as well have some rooms tonight.”

  “You got it Bossman.”

  Ythan turned to the messenger. “Is Der. Cosane among this assembly?” he asked.

  “Yes sir. A few Deravivs have arrived after the storm last night. Der. Cosane, one of them.”

  Ythan let out something of a groan and a growl before he palmed his face.

  “Slight change Conon. It won’t be too long. In any case take charge, and don’t forget what I told you. He’s not your friend.”

  Conon sunk his head at those words, his lips retreated into his mouth. Ythan signaled his readiness with a nod; he and the messenger sprang off the ground upwards across the tower.

  As Conon clutched the coin pouch, Quin rushed over to his side.

  “What did he mean by that?” he asked. “What happened?”

  “Not now,” Conon answered back without eye contact.

  “We hafta get ourselves situated. Onyl, let’s split the tasks. You get the Yerps hitched up somewhere ‘n’ I’ll go find us a place. Take Quin wit’ you.”

  Onyl closed her eyes. “Understood.”

  “We’ll meet back up by the tower once we finish. By then, Bossman should have some news for us. Alright, I’m off.” Conon sprinted out before he skipped up the collection of towers.

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  Onyl marched up to the wagon and stared sharply at the two Yerps seated up front.

  “I do not wish to spend much time on this, so if any of you know where to dwell in particular, now is the time to bring it up.”

  “Yes. Yes, actually I would know,” Arty mentioned from the back. “It’s probably clearing up since it’s morning. Actually, I was there earlier this year and spoke about the anniversary so they-”

  “Then sit up front and get to it,” Onyl ordered. “And with haste before a crowd forms.”

  After a quick switch, Arty cautiously took up the front seat next to Yach. Once done, the group proceeded through the city.

  The main road seemed as large as the Corison back in Sirqu with two wide lanes for foot traffic separated by long rectangular patches of shrubbery.

  Activity started to pick up indeed. More people stepped out of their abodes as Quin heard morning greetings left and right.

  Workers watered the roads while others behind them scratched off and swept any muck to the side. He could detect hints of petrichor through his mask as he passed by.

  As the group continued on, one thing became abundantly clear to Quin, all the buildings looked the same.

  It wasn’t just the red tiled roofs. They all had one window at the front. The doorways were in the same spot. They all appeared to be made with the same type of material.

  Some might have been a little wider or a little taller, but they were all built in uniform with one another. He thought the scene would make for some chat fodder with his partner.

  “With how everything looks the same, I’m kinda surprised the Cosondera aren’t based over here,” Quin conversed to Onyl. She acted as if she heard nothing.

  A light chat was not on the agenda. Quin saw no point to engage further, he received the message. He messed up.

  The past few days gave him a feeling that he had bonded closer to his teammates. Events of the prior day appeared to undo such bonds.

  Still, it wasn’t as if Conon and Onyl treated him the way Ythan has, which only felt harsher recently. He knew he messed up, but he might be able to recover if he kept his head down and kept his mouth shut.

  In the end, only he had taken any damage. Like his wounds, the relationship can heal in time.

  “Do my eyes deceive me or do I detect a familiar pair of eyebrows?” a voice asked from a distance.

  Onyl turned to the voice only to turn back, face scrunched up. She whispered, “Oh nooooo.”

  A man walked up to her and Quin. Unlike Onyl, his eyebrows were barely there. A very thin line of hair demarcated his eyes and forehead, almost as if drawn in with a small brush.

  A similar patch rested above his smug smirk.

  His outfit consisted of a bright white tunic underneath a blue vest and tucked into tight black pants which itself tucked down into his pointy boots.

  Aside from the leathery cinnamon fragrance around him, everything else had a repelling effect on Quin.

  “Well it appears I am correct, it is indeed the lesser Roa. So this has been the source of your disappearance.

  “Methinks nearly a year has passed since I last seen you. Perhaps you gave us heed of your departure but not one soul must have been cognizant.”

  “I have official Cosondere business to attend,” she told him as she started to walk away. “Unless it is urgent this conversation must-”

  The stranger blocked Onyl’s path.

  “How could this not be urgent?” he interjected. “Plenty back home wondered what became of you after your truancy. I can only envision the look of incredulity on their faces upon realization that the lesser Roa did not string herself up.”

  “I have no associations with that name. The person you knew before has perished, so whatever faces you see are no business of mine.”

  “Do you truly believe it can be as simple as disappearing? That if you migrate at great lengths, you can discard your identity? Surely, even you cannot entertain such fancies without peradventure.”

  Onyl had a tongue that could rip fools in half. To see her reluctant to do so with this stranger certainly surprised Quin.

  Moreover, instead of the typical scowl, Onyl showed discomfort. A side of her lip curled down while her eyes kept to the ground.

  Quin figured he should jump in somehow, then he thought about his predicament. He couldn’t afford to make things worse for himself. He had to remember to keep quiet.

  “Our conversations have never been this long,” said Onyl. “This is the part where we usually part ways. If you want to talk about things being the same, then prove it right now and leave.”

  Once more Onyl tried to walk past this figure of her past. Just like the past however, he once more barged in front and demanded her attention.

  Quin had to keep his head down, but his patience melted away like ice.

  “Myyy apologies.” The stranger waved off with wide grin. “Perhaps I was not as transparent as I wanted. No matter where you are in the world, you will always be the lesser Roa. You can change your future if that is your volition. You will never be able to change your past.”

  “If you’re finished wasting our time, we have matters to take care of,” Quin butted in. If Onyl wouldn’t respond with her usual coldness, then he would.

  Quin motioned for the Yerps to go on ahead. He intended to make this quick.

  The stranger squinted an eye as he scoffed at Quin’s interruption.

  “Wasting time? It is you who is taking time from my day. Thank goodness you are in a mask otherwise you would take my air too. Who even are you?”

  That mask bit was a good shot. Quin had to hurry and retort.

  “Certainly not exhausting to listen to.”

  A few laughs and chuckles cracked out in the background. The stranger’s eyelids dropped low. His displeasure showed itself in full.

  “I’ve seen enough of people like you,” Quin started. “You’re all the same too. You all think so highly of yourselves. You all try to speak like you know more than everyone else. But really, all you do is take up space and take up time.”

  “The day an insignificant cloak-”

  “Maybe I wasn’t transparent enough.” Quin took a couple of steps up to the stranger. “However high your status may be, all you are, is annoying to me.

  “My partner over there told you already that we’re busy. So take your boots, point them away, and be a pain in the ass somewhere else before I take my boots, point them up, and give you a pain in the ass.”

  The stranger stepped back. Discomfort shifted to him now. Eavesdroppers nearby stopped their activities and paid full attention to the Cosondere and his escalation.

  Of all the people who turned to watch, Onyl turned away. She couldn’t see the scorn painted on the man’s face.

  “You left to be among rabble like this?” he asked her as he stepped away. “Forever peculiar, you will fit right in.”

  Quin took a few more steps toward the stranger. He finally received the message and dashed away. They always wanted the last word apparently.

  Regardless, the situation was finally resolved. The crowd knew the spectacle ended and began to move on with their business.

  Quin just then realized the audience. His attention mostly rested on the unlikable stranger. He approached Onyl who still had her back turned. She trembled as she embraced herself.

  Was she shaken up that much, Quin wondered. He moved closer to try and console her when his ears sensed laughter.

  Tears formed at the bottom of her closed eyes as she covered her mouth and giggled through her nose. As far as Quin knew, Onyl may still have been beside herself.

  “‘Certainly not exhausting to listen to?’ ‘Be a pain in the ass somewhere else?’” Onyl chuckled when she heard the words again. “I never thought you had it in you.”

  “Who was that guy?” he asked. “Is there any chance we’ll never see him again?”

  Onyl dropped her smile but surprisingly, never picked up her scowl. She wrapped herself as she looked into her head.

  “If nature allows it,” she answered. “In any case, do not concern yourself with him. It has nothing to do with the present. There are-” She noticed the wagon many yards away, her scowl returned in a hurry.

  “Who told you to send them ahead, new guy?”

  Quin raised his hands in the air. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t think they should be held up because of that guy. I wanted to move things along.”

  Onyl briefly stared at Quin before she turned for the Yerps.

  “We best get moving,” she stated before she started down the road. “Furthermore, in regards to your earlier question. I know little about Comi, but I might be able to answer a few of your questions.”

  Quin nodded in acceptance. “Sounds good to me.”