We left Vin at the inn.

  My brother had been more inclined to stay once he realized that he was going to be at one of the city’s social gathering hubs. I had a feeling that our notoriety as sailors was going to approach superhero levels once he got finished with his stories. Hilde was on the coast, but as high up as it was, it might as well have been miles away from any sign of water. Considering 95% of the city was Nevnua, who had never left their territory, there were hundreds of souls hungry for information about other places and races.

  I glanced back at the inn as we walked away. “Pretty sure we’re going to regret leaving him unsupervised.”

  “Are you going to stay with him?” Starna paused as she thought about who would be best to curb the tales that my brother was going to spin.

  “I…”

  “Your brother will be fine.” Psider grumbled. “Our priority right now is to get to Master Krav and tell him what you know about the Cult.” The landshark shook his head. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner that this was about Kinwell? I would have brought you straight here!”

  “We knew that the cultists were a problem and didn’t want to leave the Gedu unprotected.” I shrugged. “We still got here faster than we would have if we’d come by ourselves, so that’s a plus?”

  The landshark shook his head. “When it comes to that squid, he can take centuries to wait for the perfect time to enact a plan, then spend less than a day executing it.” Psider lowered his voice as pedestrians looked our way to see why he was so animated.

  “You know something about it.” Starna eyed the demihuman. “This has something to do with what you were doing after the war.”

  “History always repeats itself.” Psider grumbled as he hurried to catch up to the commander. “You sent a runner for Master Krav?”

  “The moment you said they had found a lost chamber, I dispatched a guard.” The Nevnua woman snorted. “Keep your voice down; we don’t need to start a panic.”

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  “What are you—?”

  The pair didn’t seem to want to talk about it, and given that they sped up, there wasn’t time to talk, as both Starna and I had to jog to keep up.

  “Wow…” The beautiful Elf slowed as we hurried through the next gate. “This is…”

  “Magic Tech.” I nodded as I took in the lights and horseless transports. “They run off condensed magic, which mages crystallize so that it can be used remotely.” I nodded to the pouch on her waist. “Or stones like your moonstone will be attuned so that anyone can use the magic stored within; then they work as mana batteries for anyone.”

  “We have stuff like that at the palace, like the lights, but wagons?” Starna’s mouth gaped as she watched one of the vehicles drive by without anyone inside.

  “They have stuff like this all over, though there’s not enough magic that the average person can purchase a battery to power them.” I took in how much magictech there was decorating the stores. “I get why they didn’t want Vin on this side of town. Just walking here would have destroyed half of it.”

  “We have the largest magical sector in the world.” The Nevnua began motioning like she was giving a tour. “As you can see, being on New Kazadt doesn’t hamper one’s ability to research magic.” She gestured at the rhino-people milling about. “Or our safety.”

  “What—?”

  I wrapped my right arm through Starna’s left, cutting off her question as I wove my fingers between hers and pulled her closer to me. I whispered in her ear. “We’re attracting a crowd.”

  “Oh!” Her gold and blue speckled eyes widened and her cheeks flushed as she realized that we were being watched

  A Nevnua child had his hand swatted by his mother as he pointed a finger at the visitors to his city. The mother threw an apologetic glance our way before scooping him up and fleeing into one of the nearby shops.

  One of the horseless wagons pulled up next to the curb. It hummed with magical energy as it waited beside us.

  “Ah, our transport is here!” Hinbali motioned for us to get into the topless wagon.

  Psider jumped over the wall and held out a hand for Starna. She took the landshark’s help and jumped into the box.

  “The door opens.” Our Nevnua guide grabbed the handle and opened the door in the middle of the vehicle.

  “Thank you.” I motioned for her to get in ahead of me.

  The vehicle had a row of seats on the front and back. Starna sat in the middle of the back row, with me to her right and Psider on her left. Hinbali sat on the front row and typed our destination into a keyboard behind her.

  “As much as I would like to ask you about your dealings with the cult, I’m sure you have questions about our city.” The Nevnua woman settled into her seat as the vehicle started moving. “I’ll try to answer anything I can on our way to the Speaker.”

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