Charcoal and Salt

Shock. Denial. Horror.

“You think I can save your world?” I asked, pulling myself up on the square pedestal. The frigid water was finally enough to force me closer to Seeker Len and the other two. “How?”

“That is not for us to know,” Seeker Len said simply. This ignorance didn’t seem to bother him at all. “All we are required to do is summon the Seer and then you will receive instructions from the gods.”

I was stunned speechless. It would have been funny, but despite how ridiculous the words were, no one was laughing. I pressed my forehead into the stone beneath me.

“Send me home,” I said, my voice muffled from being so close to the stone.

“My lady?” Seeker Len asked.

I snapped up, fighting back tears. “Send me home, now.”

He seemed bewildered by my reaction. He glanced over at the rich man and the woman before clearing his throat. “Ah, you must forgive me, but I am unable to send you home even if I wished to. You see, I do not know how to do that.”

Whatever hope had been lingering in my chest was snuffed out like a candle. I sagged, wrapping my arms around myself. My mind was spiraling, refusing to believe my senses and yet knowing that the world around me had to be real. This wasn’t a dream, and I wasn’t going to be able to go home.

I heard a splash nearby, then felt fabric land on my shoulders.

Seeker Len smiled that irritating smile. “Here now, you must stay warm. You’ll catch a fever otherwise.” He’d draped a blanket across my shoulders, blue and soft.

I could only stare at him. This kind gesture rattled against his previous action, which was to rip me from my home, from my reality. This inconsistency robbed me of anything to say.

He held out the small vial of liquid. “Please, my lady, you must drink this. Without it, your body will begin to deteriorate.” He glanced down at my hands. “I’m afraid it’s beginning already.”

My gaze went to my hands and I let out a cry. They were turning grey, the colour leeching from them, the flesh hardening like stone. What choice did I have? I snatched the vial and downed it in one swallow. It tasted like charcoal and salt and I gagged, clamping my jaws shut to prevent myself from vomiting.

After a few frantic breaths, the grey began to fade from my skin. In the span of ten seconds, it was gone, leaving no trace that it had ever been there.

I rubbed my eyes. This was hell. I was in hell. Perhaps I’d died during the night. That made as much sense as being summoned to another world.

Seeker Len reached out, perhaps to pat my head, but then he thought better of it and returned his hand to his side. “Thank you, my lady. Now, allow me to make introductions.” He dipped his head in the direction of the woman. “This is Her Majesty, Empress Hana Imai, Sixteenth of her Line, Beloved of the Night.”

Empress Hana curtsied towards me, though the movement wasn’t exactly like the curties I’d seen before. Instead of one leg going behind the other, she put one leg in front of her, then bent at the waist. “We are honoured by your presence, Seer.”

The title rubbed me the wrong way. I hadn't even agreed to anything and they’d already saddled me with this word. “My name is Rin,” I said, voice scratchy and rough. I refused to let them take my name from me.

The Empress dipped her head in acknowledgement but didn’t say anything in response.

Seeker Len turned his attention to the man. He put more gravitas in his voice this time.“This is His Majesty, Emperor Kenzo Imai, Twelfth of His Line, Beloved of the Gods.”

The Emperor dipped his head and slid forward in a brief low lunge before straightening out. “You have Our eternal gratitude, Seer Rin, and the gratitude of every living soul in this realm. Without you, we are lost.”

Nothing very polite came to mind in response to these words, so I chose to just stare at my hands.

“Well,” Seeker Len said into the tense silence. “Seer Rin has been through an ordeal this night. I respectfully request the privilege of escorting Seer Rin to her room.”

Emperor Kenzo nodded. “See that it is done.” He turned his attention back to me. “I look forward to speaking more in the coming days.” With that, he and the Empress left, walking out of the cave and into the dark.

Seeker Len began to head in the same direction. He picked up a torch that had been laying beside a brazier and lit it. “Please follow me, my lady.”

What could I do but follow?

The path out of the cave became a tunnel and quickly forked, though Seeker Len didn’t hesitate before going down the left path. I kept close as it soon became clear how convoluted this tunnel system was. It was more of a labyrinth, curling and curling around and around. My eyes were glued to Seeker Len’s feet. If I just stared at them and followed like a duckling, I wouldn’t need to think. I couldn’t afford to think too much.

Before I realized, we had arrived at the end of the tunnels. There was a wall made of dark wood with a single, tiny hole in the exact middle of it. Seeker Len retrieved a brass key, fit more for a doll house than anything, and placed it in the hole. A sharp click echoed around us before a section of the wall slid away to reveal a room. I could see clothing in a myriad of colours, sumptuous greens and rich reds. We went inside and Seeker Len shut the door behind us by pressing somewhere precise on the wall. Another few steps and we emerged from what I realized must have been some sort of closet.

Seeker Len used the torch to light a few candles, brightening up the room enough for me to see it. It was spacious and sparsely furnished, nothing but a desk and a bed in the room. The circular bed was in the center of the room, directly below what seemed to be a skylight though the skylight itself was blocked. A rug made out of a bear of some kind lay just in front of the bed. It was as big as a grizzly, but it was tan with white patches. The candlelight danced in its glass eyes, giving them a haunted look. I shuddered and ripped my gaze away.

Seeker Len must have noticed my discomfort. “We will have the rug removed. Would you have any preference for a replacement?”

“Nothing with eyes,” I muttered. It was getting difficult to speak, my mouth struggling to open and close. It bothered me that I wasn't bothered by that.

He nodded. “Of course. Now, I recommend you go to sleep at once. The travel here will have taken a serious toll.”

Fatigue unlike I’d ever felt before was crawling into my brain, the fog spreading to my limbs. There was a real danger that I might collapse on the spot. I stumbled to the bed, landing atop the sheets, too tired to move any further.

I heard shuffling and Seeker Len’s voice. “Sleep well, my lady. There will be much work on the morrow.”

Then, I heard nothing at all.