123 CHAPTER 122 SORCERER

"Estoy aqui para ver a Clare (I am here to see, Clare)" Kira mumbled and walked past, without any waiting for the approval of the Miens on the doorway. They did not object, however, neither did they showed any interest. Their frowns remained unchanged as they stared ahead, looking God knows what.

"Are they always so cold and mean?" Ham asked when he hurried after Kira. 

"You should learn to keep your heads down and stop starring at every Miens that comes your way. That is going to get us into trouble." 

The chillness in the voice of Kira made him rub his hands as if cold. He was becoming uncomfortable and that still voice in his head was beginning to doubt if the girl had really brought him here to help him or to kill him.

Despite the heating sun outside, there were candles on the stands, hanging at the far end, directly opposite from where he stood. The room was white, from the tent wall to the table, cups, and chairs. Some electrical panels, scattered on one of the working tables, was the only thing that contrasted the white colors. There was also a black screen, and a mirror standing under it and reflecting the lights of the burning candle.

"Staring is not allowed here," Kira said, moving deeper into the room.

Ham rubbed his nose from the stench of some burning leave. It became heavy the more they walk deeper into the room, but the source was not in sight.

Kira led him to another room, which was more colorful than the first and less stuffy. It was almost empty, but for the chair and table, and some few Jewries hanging on the black wall. The dusty ground had been worked on and was covered now with some marble or rubber foot-walk, which Ham cannot describe. There was no candle here too, the only source of light was the dim light from the bulb, hanging on the ceiling.

A woman was humming to herself. She had not turned to face them, probably because she was oblivious of their presence or was pretending to be engrossed with what she was doing.

Kira picked up one of the sticks on the table. She took the seat to the right and close her eyes. It was as if she was in a trance or something, for she started humming with the other woman, rocking her head to and fro as if the song they hummed was the best in the entire universe.

Ham's eyes flickered from one woman to the next. The lyric of the song was strange to him, but their behavior reminded him a lot of the women's circle back in Anadan. They would gather around under the moon and would tell themselves stories of how they had met their first love, or how they had met their husband. Ham had sneaked to the circle one night with his friend, to eavesdrop, but that had led to some severe beating by his father when he had caught them.

Shifting his weight to the other feet, he decided to sit on the seat just a few paces away from the doorway. If the women had decided to use him in their rituals, then he could be quick to run away before they reach him. That would be the only way to save his life.

Must have been hours before the humming finally stopped. Kira opened her eyes and dropped the stick into the glass cup. The woman who had been kneeling with her back on them turned for the first time.

Her expression was not stone cold as Ham had expected, but the numerous black lines on her pink skin, made Ham wonder how old she was. Kira looked way younger and if she was about a hundred and sixteen years old, then this woman might just be tens of a century or a millennium.

"Welcome, the pride of Vudga." Clare said, smiling warmly at Kira.

"I have told you that I am not the pride of anything. I hardly follow orders." Kira hissed and brought her smoking pipe. She placed it on her lips and was already smoking it, even though Ham had not seen her light it.

"You are not sure of that," Clare said, taking the chair opposite Kira. Her eyes were also gray, but held strength burning behind them like a furnace.

"I can see you found the one." Clare continued, this time, looking straight at Ham. "I am never wrong. I told you." She giggled.

Ham swallowed and shifted his weight uncomfortably, not knowing what exactly the women were talking about. There were not speaking in Olic, and he understands the Araen dialect they were using to communicate. But there was something dark about the two. Something mysterious and strange.

"I didn't find him," Kira winded the smoke flippantly, "Boze found him in the engine room."

"Quit being a baby, Kira," Clare said and picked up a black object from the rack beside her. She placed them on her lips and until she started sucking them, did Ham realized that it was a smoking pipe.

"Boze, has his own role to play in all of this." Clare looked at Ham again and smiled. This time, the white smoke escaped from her lips like a pot placed on a smoking fire. "But not this. It is not his destiny to be with the One who comes with the sun."

"Have you been drinking again?" Kira susurrated as she stroked the sideline on her face, "You are not making any sense, believe me."

"Same old Kira. That was the same thing you said when I told you that you were going to find the one. You doubted it and have signed me off as a drunkard, now you see the result."

For some odd reasons, Ham felt as if he was being nailed to the edge of the wall. These women were talking about him in a strange way that made no sense. 

"Can someone tell me what is going on here?" He shouted and the two women stopped in their argument to look at him as if noting him for the first time.

"The paints and the makeup sooth you. Just that, Kira's skill is not so refined. She had given you a feminine look, a mistake which beginners always make."

"A what?" Ham looked down at himself, not able to fathom the credibility in the woman's statement. He didn't look feminine as far as he can see.

"Do not worry," Clare giggled, "If you had a mirror right now, you would have seen how Kira had designed the dark lines on your face. Those are the first physical appearance that distinguishes a male Miens from a female. But as one of my best students, Kira must have done the painting on purpose. She must be trying to keep the eyes of other girls from—

"—Please don't start," Kira interrupted. Her skin was already glowing and turning red on her cheeks. 

"Oh, get over it." Clare's eyes widened with both amusement and surprise as she stood up, "You can wear denial as a cloak, but the truth of destiny will unveil them when the time comes." She finished and disappeared into the other side of the room.

Ham swallowed. He looked at Kira, but the girl held her gaze on anywhere in the room but to him. She had even stopped smoking her pipe and was fiddling with the hem of her clothes. He scoffed at her, but hid it so that she did not see. She had worn the olive oil fragrance because of him. She wanted to catch his eyes and attention, but he had not noticed it until now. The realization made him want to throw up. There was no way he was going to have any affection for the pink and black creature.

The humming of Clare resounded as she walked back into the room and returned to her seat. On her hand was a scroll, which she spread on the table.

"I never thought I would live to see this day." Clare smiled weakly, placing the edge of the scroll so that every detail would be seen perfectly.

"What is this?" Ham asked, leaning forward. 

"It is the map that leads to the Vudga's palace."

"The Vudga's palace. Should I ask why that is necessary at the moment?"

"You don't need to," Clare said and pointed to the center of the map. "This is the village, and there is the place you must go. That is the place where you will find what you are looking for. That Is the place you will find Nebula."

"Nebula?" Kira asked and exchange a discomforting gaze with Ham.

"Yes, Nebula. It is an ancient machine that transports people between worlds using varieties in frequency." 

Ham's eyes widen with joy, "You mean the machine can take me back home?"

Clare nodded, "It had always been there. Vudga had been transporting our metals to the other side of the world. He had been stealing from us."