<div dir="ltr">“Bye!” Cheep said, and turned and began jogging back toward the city. He traveled faster than was probably safe in the lighting, trying to get back in time to get a little bit of sleep. Eventually, he broke through the trees into a large clearing, but Metamor was still a few hundred yards away. Cheep bolted under the momentary cloud cover across the open plain before scrambling back up the slope to the wall where he had climbed it earlier. He looked up, searching for patrolling guards. The sky suddenly brightened; Cheep saw the moon emerge from behind the clouds and pressed himself up against the wall. The cloud cover returned, and Cheep watched a torchlight disappear behind the tower before stepping back, pulling the rope and hook from his pack. He once again tossed the hook into a crenel and scaled the wall quickly, switched the hook from one side of the wall to the other and rappelled down the other side of the wall. Retrieving the rope from the wall, Cheep re-coiled it and stored it in his pack again and headed back to the Keep stealthily. He entered without arousing suspicion, walking down the hallway and focusing on his room. Oddly, he walked for several minutes without encountering any doors. He tried focusing harder on his room, furrowing his brow as he stalked onward, growing frustrated with the Keep. Finally, he came to his door and pulled on the handle. It didn’t budge. He pulled harder. Still nothing. He braced both feet on the wall and pulled the handle with all his might. It popped open easily all of a sudden and Cheep flew backward across the hallway and into a previously unnoticed room. The opening he had come through faded into a stone wall just as he passed through before he hit the ground. He cried out in surprise and got up off the floor quickly to run to the wall. He pressed on it frantically and felt all over it for an opening, but there was simply a wall. Then he heard a satin-smooth, somewhat inhuman voice behind him call his name. He turned around apprehensively, not sure of what to expect. What he saw surprised him more than the wall changing before his eyes: a girlish figure, slightly transparent, light blue, and glowing a bit, reclined on a couch wearing a loose flowy garment. Cheep just stood there staring uncertainly until she motioned him to sit on the couch beside her. He hesitated for a moment, but felt he should obey. He meekly walked over and sat down, wondering what and who this strange being was. She seemed to read his mind. “Hello, child. I am Kyia. You look a bit frightened, and tired as well.” “Uhhh… yeah. I mean, I’m sorry! Lady Kyia. But what do you- I mean-” “Why did I bring you here like this? Very simply, I wanted to talk to you. You are a very interesting boy, but one who needs to learn many things still.” Cheep shifted uncomfortably. “You are very bright. I can sense all kinds of ideas swarming about in your mind, but you don’t apply common sense to many situations. For example, do you know what quarantines are for?” Cheep felt his ears burn as he looked at the floor, embarrassed. Then he was confused. “How did you-” “I see everything that goes on here, child. Also, you smell of the forest. Anyone who paid you attention would discover what you did. In the future, I suggest that you follow the laws, even if you think there is no reason for them; those who rule did not receive their positions lightly. As it happens, you were correct about the quarantine being unusually long. You do not need to know the reason for this, but it will be lifted tomorrow; its purpose has been fulfilled. However, you did not know that, and were wrong to break quarantine. No punishment will come to you this time, but you must learn to live wisely and follow the laws. They are in place for the good of all, not for your inconvenience.” Cheep had grown more and more embarrassed while she spoke, sinking lower and lower in his seat. “Sit up, child. I tell you this to better you, not to torture you. You may go now. May we meet again under more favorable circumstances. I will be watching you, Cheep.” She smiled. “Uhh…Thank you… I guess…Lady Kyia. Well, Goodbye.” He turned to leave the room, and then remembered the wall. He turned back to Kyia to ask her to open the wall again, but she was gone, as was the couch, and also the room. He stood in the hallway facing the wall opposite his door. He stood there stupefied for a few seconds, and then tried his door again. It opened with the standard ease, creaking only slightly as it swung outward and admitted him inside. He heard Kag snoring loudly in his room, and he closed the door and clambered tiredly into his hammock before dropping almost instantly off to sleep. The next day, Cheep was only slightly more tired after scout training than usual. More sore, perhaps, but he still felt the energy from the exhilaration of his nightly expedition. “What’s got you in such a good mood?” Kag asked. Cheep looked up, startled. “Huh? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said guiltily. Kag looked at him hard. “What did you do?” Cheep was blushing furiously now. “Well, I met some new people last night…” “Is that why you were out late? “…I also met Kyia.” Kag’s eyes widened. “What? You did? Really? What does she look like? …Wait, don’t try to avoid the question.” Cheep replied, calm this time: “I’m not. Oh, and she looks kind of like a girl, only sort of ethereal, and all blue. But yeah, that’s where I was. I, uh, may have… broken quarantine,” he said, hanging his head. “… Really?” “Yeah. I went to the woods to find stuff to climb.” “That’s not good. You might have been killed.” “You don’t need to tell me. Kyia made me want to melt into the floor from the guilt. Although, as it turns out, I was right about the quarantine being longer than necessary.” “But that doesn’t make it okay.” Cheep looked exasperated. “I know! But I met a couple of people who are animal Cursed like us who will probably end up coming here. Maybe be friends.” “What were they like?” “One was really nice and laid back; he was an alligator. The other was, hmm.” Cheep chuckled a bit. “What?” “I just thought of how ironic it is that the best word I can think of to describe him is cold. He is some kind of ice mage; he froze my feet before I even saw him. Oh, and he’s a white wolf.” “Ice mage, huh? I wonder…” Kag looked thoughtful. “What is it?” Cheep, unsurprisingly, was curious. “Naaah, couldn’t be. I have a brother, kind of a black-sheep brother, who showed some promise as a mage, but threw his lot in with the wrong people. My father disowned him for his associations, but he never really cared what my parents thought about anything. They were the super-traditional type, who required him to learn a trade that didn’t involve magic; they didn’t trust it.” “Who did he hang out with?” “Nobody really knows where they came from, but there were some rogue mages that lived in our town growing up. They were the type that would frame you for murder and loot your house. The Watch tried to do something about them, but they could never pin anything on them. They never openly caused trouble, just lounged around acting shady. Also, they were the only magic users around, so the Watch were afraid of them. They never found evidence, but they didn’t honestly look very hard for it. They tried to avoid confrontation with them at almost any cost. Then one day they all left. Everybody breathed easier, except my mother. She cried for the loss of my brother because he went with them. I never heard anything from him after that.” “Wow.” “Yeah, I get reminded of him sometimes. I miss him. It’s been 9, maybe 10 years.” “Wait, what was his name?” “Mesmer, but he didn’t like it. He always tried to get people to call him something else; last name I heard him use was Creed, I think.” Cheep’s eyes opened wide. “Did you say Kriid?” “Yeah, I think that was the name. He seemed to like that one better than most. I don’t suppose he uses his given surname, either.” “…Remember I told you there was an alligator? He called the wolf guy Kriid.” ### After Cheep left, Kriid sighed in relief and exhaustion. “Now I need to sleep. Is it your shift yet?” “Close enough. Have a good snooze, dude.” Kriid waved and yawned as he walked to the small tent, tossing a few more sticks on the fire as he passed. He cast a few simple wards on himself and turned around three times as he laid down on the mat. Then he stopped. Wait, what in the nine hells did I just do? He sat in silence for a few seconds, and then decided he didn’t care what odd behaviors his new body was inclined to, he was exhausted and wanted to sleep. Kriid yawned wide, again slightly surprised at the drastically different size of the canine mouth, but pulled the thin blanket over himself and fell quickly to sleep. Several hours after dawn, Dosh and Kriid packed their small camp quickly, scattering the remains of the hours-cold fire, and headed for the main road. Dosh convinced Kriid fairly quickly to meet any patrols of Metamorians they saw rather than hiding from then on, as they had nothing to fear from them. They reached the wide packed-dirt path, coming up on large group of travelers and wagons who looked as if they had been camping there for several days. They approached the gathering apprehensively, unsure of what their reception would be. To their great surprise and even greater relief, most of the people there gave them little more than a cursory glance. They found an open patch of ground near the edge and dropped their few belongings on the ground, preparing for a long wait. A couple of tired-looking Metamorian guards had noticed them approaching and hailed them, halfheartedly commanding they submit to inspection.They showed what few supplies they had and declared their purpose for visiting Metamor: finding a new place to call home. The guards told them to visit the steward whenever the gates opened and then resumed their earlier post, waiting. Suddenly, they heard a commotion from further up the road. A rush of excitement swept through the travelers. Kriid and Dosh picked up their packs and confusedly followed the oddly now-moving crowd until they managed to hear the reason for all the noise: the Gates were opening!</div>