Chapter four

And indeed it was. Everywhere Zana looked, there was something new. At night, the tower could be lit by bizarre glowing glass orbs if you moved one of the projections on the wall. There were devices about the size of a loaf of bread that played music. The servants had these really, really weird bags with sticks attached that supposedly cleaned, but really just made a lot of noise.

The biggest harbor for these monstrosities would have to be the kitchen. There was a huge metal box that would become hot on the inside or summon fire whenever a cook touched it. There was another smaller box that would beep when you put food in, and then later beep again to signify that it magically cooked it. There were more of the tubes that spat out water, but they could some how keep the water from falling through the holes. There were strange pointed things that couldn’t cut meat and yet were used to eat all kinds of foods. And then there was the black monster in the corner that extruded steam and made loud noises to clean dishes.

However, maybe the strangest thing of all was The Moderator himself. It seemed like he couldn’t come up with any sort of solid personality. Sometimes he was suave and intelligent. Sometimes he was forgetful and silly. Sometimes he was somber and quiet. Sometimes he was manipulative and sadistic. Sometimes he was something Zana couldn’t fathom. The only thing that he consistently was was enigmatic.

And at the moment, he was scaring her.

“Master, what’s with the smile?” She asked, her voice shaking.

“Oh, nothing.” He replied, his grin growing wider.

A dragon’s smile is never a pretty thing. They’re very menacing creatures in the best of times with their scythe-like claws, clubbed tails, angular facial-features, dagger-like teeth, and burning orange eyes. However, some looks make them even more frightening. Zana supposed that a dragon’s smile could be as warm and friendly to other dragons as they were when two elves shared one, but to far smaller creatures, that same expression could make one feel like a mouse in front of a particularly hungry snake.

“I don’t think that that’s nothing.” She said. Instinct told her that she should run, but lacking that option she concluded that it would be better to get to know what was happening in that huge scaly head.

“It is, as far as you can tell in your current state.”

“Huh?”

“What have I been teaching you for the past week?”

Zana sighed. Despite (or maybe because of) the mystery of the tower, her lessons seemed duller than a hundred-year-old ax. Honestly, she had started to give up hope that she would ever get to the fun stuff. And to cap it all off, The Moderator insisted on having oral examinations every day of what she had learned so far.

“On Monday I learned the importance of having a moderator, and On Tuesday, I learned what my future duties will be. On Wednesday, I learned what is expected of me. On Thursday, I learned how much of the expectations I could meet and how to do so. On Friday, I learned how to fake the expectations I could never reach. On Saturday, I learned the importance of secrecy. On Sunday, I learned the main differences in etiquette of all seven major countries. This brings us back to today, when what I will learn is a mystery.”

“Don’t say it like it’s a funeral!” He said, bringing up his drill sergeant mask. “No one will listen to you if you tell them facts like they’re what your mother used to put you to sleep! Again with feeling!”

Zana took a deep breath, put on her best smile, and again said, “On Monday I learned the importance of having a moderator, and On Tuesday, I learned what my future duties will be. On Wednesday, I learned what is expected of me. On Thursday, I learned how much of the expectations I could meet and how to do so. On Friday, I learned how to fake the expectations I could never reach. On Saturday, I learned the importance of secrecy. On Sunday, I learned the main differences in etiquette of all seven major countries. This brings us back to today, when what I will learn is a mystery!”

“There you go!” The Moderator said, blowing a smoke ring at her as his smile returned.

Zana smiled and held her breath as the hot air hit her. The first time her master had done it, it had scared her out of her skin. However, eventually she learned that it was a dragon’s main sign of non-romantic affection, and the only one that could be used on smaller, more delicate creatures.

“So, what am I learning today?”

“Well, now that you understand why you’re going to learn why you’re here and what to act like, I’m going to move on to how you’re to do your job.”

“And how’s that?” She asked, quite confused.

“You’re finally going to be getting your first taste of magic.”

“Really?” She asked, excitedly.

“Really.” He said, nodding.

“Yes! Where are we going to start? Blasting cities, reading minds, telling the future?!”

The Moderator laughed. “Don’t get me started on what would happen to you if I tried to teach you that now. No, we’re going to start with the two simplest spells that you’ll need to use: Translation and Glamour. You’ll learn to mask your presence completely.”

“Why do I need to use those if I can just learn how to bend minds into thinking I speak their language and transform?”

“Because,” The Moderator said, “How can you go into a mind without knowing how to understand its owner? How can you convince your body to change shape if you can’t adequately describe the right shape to it?”

“Uh…”

“Exactly. Actually, these two spells are the cornerstone of everything that you’re ever going to do. To ‘blast a city’ you must be able to speak to the buildings you want to destroy. To tell the future, you must be able to hide the eye you send forth.”

“I see.” She said, cupping her chin.

“Good. Now, let’s get started. Which do you think is more important?”

She thought for a moment, “Even if I do conceal myself, it’ll fall through if I can’t talk or understand anything. However, I can hide in other, more conventional ways.”

“Wise words, child. Now, let’s get started.”

***

“Whew! What a day!” Zana said to herself happy on the way upstairs.

She was exhausted. Even during harvest time, she had never been worked that hard. Her mind and body felt sore, but her soul was soaring. The Moderator had complemented her so often. That had never happened when they had been doing all the bookwork. She felt like she had really come home to somewhere she had belonged. Before, she had assumed that the place where she really should have been was with her family, but that feeling of kin was nowhere near as strong as she felt with that two-ton fire-breathing lizard.

She decided that she most definitely deserved a long, hot bath. She had found that those were good for relieving sore muscles. Also, she had sort of come to enjoy being clean. However, as she sat in the warm water, washing herself, she noticed that the sunset was absolutely beautiful. Suddenly, she also remembered that she had a journal entry to write.

“Oh yes.” She said.

As soon as she was clean, Zana got out of the tub, drained the water, and dried herself with a soft towel. She walked over to her wardrobe and threw open the doors. She moved aside the beautiful robes of every color and fabric to reveal her old clothes. She pulled all three of them out and laid them on the bed. Normally, she would have just chosen any outfit, but The Moderator had really pushed appearances on her, so she figured that she would take the best of what she had.

To start, she chose brown pants and a green shirt, both practically new and pulled them on. She grabbed the nicer of her two bodices, the one that her parents gave her when they found out about her new position, and laced it up. Then, on a whim, she took her traveling cloak and hat. After all, black hats and cloaks were cool, and everyone wanted a cool apprentice, right?

Zana grabbed the book and a pen- some weird stick that held ink- and walked out the door. She was especially quiet as she walked past her master’s chambers. She wasn’t sure how he would feel about his apprentice dressing like a normal elf and sitting on the roof. However, soon she was past him and at the end of the staircase.

She opened the last door and strolled out onto the balcony that surrounded the cone-like roof. The view was breathtaking. The city was sprawled out before her, all the buildings looking like pure gold in the light of the setting sun. Little people were wandering around on the ground, looking like insects. Beyond the city, there was deep green grass, going on until it met the sky. The sun itself was as red as her master’s scales and half-hidden already behind the farms.

In was at this part of the tower that she chose to sit down and write her journal entry. She used her best penmanship and best spelling. After all, today was a special day.

Deer Diery,

Toodai was grate. Master tawt me how too translate all tungs and how too do glamars. He was realy supportiv and nise toodai. I think I’m starting to understand him, probly nawt. Oh wel, I think I maed him prawd, and that’s good enough for me for now 

Nyway, Naw I’m on the roof, waching the sunset. It’s so prety. I wish I cud remember this forever. I think I’m gonna dra a piture under this.

I feel so hapi. I love living heer. I wanna stay in Gods Land with Master and his famli and the servents forever. It’s liek heven, only beter, becuz I’m learning magic

Sen- sincc- sinci-

Love,

Zana.

She turned her book sideway and tried to capture the beauty of the moment However, it wasn’t easy. There were so many details and the sun kept moving, which messed everything up. Eventually, though, she had something that looked okay. Although, she was pretty sure that if her big brother was here, he would say that it looked like a ball rolling over some straw to knock over some teeth.

“And that’s why he’s not here.” Zana thought happily.

Of course, he’d probably make fun of her spelling too if he could read, and she knew that it was totally perfect.

She then closed the book and laid it in her lap. When she accidentally bumped the shingles, she realized that they were nice and warm. She leaned against it, closed her eyes, and dozed off.

Later on, she was rudely awoken by the feeling of something tugging on her shoulder. She waved it off, assuming that it was a bird. But the tugging only got stronger. It soon grabbed her other shoulder and began to pull harder. She opened her eyes to see what was yanking on her. But there was nothing there.

She screamed and clasped her book close to her chest, hoping someone would hear her. But they didn’t the pulling only got stronger. She grabbed onto the guard rail, hoping that that would save her. For a while, it worked. But then, her hand and arm started to fade before her eyes. She screamed again, but this time it sounded weak, she could barely even hear it. The sound of her cries diminished more and more until it totally disappeared with her body, leaving nothing behind.

***

Several floors down, The Moderator stared deeply into his mirror sadly, having witnessed the entire event.

“Poor girl.” His wife said. “Are you sure it’s the only way?”

“Yes.”

“Couldn’t you have at least told her what was going to happen?”

“No, because then she wouldn’t have gone.”

“Rayd,” She said, “She’s only a child.”

He sighed, “I know, but she has to do this.”

“Why?”

“Because on the Other Side, there’s a boy who needs her.”

“You’ve already lost two people, why must we lose a third?”

“Either we’re going to get those two back, or we’ll get her back.”

“You promised to protect her!”

He looked at her seriously, “I am.”

“You have a plan.”

“I have a plan.”

She took a deep breath. “Thank the gods.”

“For once,” The Moderator said looking back at the mirror, “The gods have nothing to do with it.”

His wife laughed. “Well, I won’t wait to see this plan unfold. You’ll tell me when it’s time. But for now,” She yawned, “I’m going to bed. Good night.”

“See you.” He called back over his shoulder. “Now,” He said, moving the mirror ever so slightly with a claw, “What are you up to, Kai?”