Flux

slave?”
    Miner had been Ennek’s slave but Ennek had never truly treated him as one. “No,” Miner replied as boldly as his ridiculous situation permitted. “I’m his lover. But…who are you?”
    “I am a wizard as well, of course.”
    “You’re a seagull!”
    Somehow, the bird managed to look angry. “I am not. This bird is only my messenger. I am far from you, many miles inland.”
    “You’re human?”
    “Naturally!”
    Miner was not especially reassured to learn that he was speaking with a person. With the exception of Ennek, his experiences with wizards had not been good ones. He would almost have preferred a conversation with a sentient bird. But he had so few options remaining to him now. “Can you help him?” he asked.
    “What is wrong with him?”
    “I’m…I’m not certain. He used too much magic, I expect.”
    The bird rose into the air and flew to the jolly boat. It landed on the gunwale. “Were you shipwrecked?”
    “Yes.” It wasn’t exactly a falsehood.
    “And he saved you.”
    “Yes.”
    “Is water his element?” The woman’s voice sharpened with that question.
    Miner didn’t know whether he was endangering Ennek by divulging too much information, but he nodded. And then he repeated, “Can you help him? Please?”
    The bird left the boat and glided to perch on the pebbles only a few feet from them. It seemed to be thinking. And then it nodded, which looked very strange. “I shall help you. But I shall expect something in return.”
    “What? I don’t have anything—just what you see here. Not a single coin, and—”
    “I have no use for money. I shall send assistance to you. Once your wizard has recovered enough to travel, you shall come to me. I am in the village of Jiangbei.”
    “I don’t know where that is. I don’t know where anything is here. I’ve never left Praesidium before.”
    Again, the gull clacked its beak. “Two days’ walk. I shall send you guidance. Do you accept my offer?”
    Not without misgivings, Miner said, “Yes.” And then he added, “But I can’t guarantee that Ennek will do whatever you want him to.”
    “I expect your word to bind you both.”
    Miner looked down at Ennek, who was showing no signs of life other than his slow, quiet breathing. “All right,” he said at last.
    “If you break your oath I will find you. The air is my element and you cannot hide from me.” As if to emphasize the point, the bird flapped its wings.
    “I will keep my promise.”
    “See that you do,” the bird said. Then it took to the air and flew swiftly away.
    In the book Ennek had given him—the book with the Mouse and the Cat and the Miller’s Daughter, and which was now lost to him—was a story titled “The Shoemaker and the Imp.” It told of a poor man who had promised a small green creature one of his possessions in return for wealth. The man felt assured, assuming he had nothing of value. The imp had kept the bargain, filling the man’s purse with gold and jewels—and in return, it had taken the man’s only son.
    Miner very much hoped he hadn’t repeated the Shoemaker’s mistake.

Chapter Five
    h

    L ess than an hour after the bird left, Miner heard voices. He looked up, but there were no gulls in sight. Then he heard footsteps approaching. He didn’t bother trying to stand, but only knelt over Ennek and tried to look fierce.
    A few moments later, a half dozen people appeared. They stopped short when they saw him and Ennek. There were four men and two women. They wore loose earth-colored clothing in flowing fabrics, and their long black hair was decorated with ribbons and small stones. They stared openly until one of them, a squat older man with streaks of gray in his hair, stepped forward. He said something that Miner couldn’t understand.
    “Please,” Miner said. “Help us. He’s…he’s hurt.”
    The strangers hesitated a few more moments, and then finally the short man came closer. The others followed. Miner tensed as the man hunched down nearby, looking at Ennek. He said something to Miner that was clearly a question, but all Miner could do was shrug. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
    The man frowned at him and then stood up again. He barked a series of commands at the others. They trotted off, but came back a few minutes later with a pair of long, sturdy branches broken off from the trees. One of women had been carrying some folded fabric; she and the others wrapped it around the branches, and Miner realized