Flux

bathe today.”
    Ennek rolled his eyes and splashed him, then dove under again. He spent a few minutes gamboling about like an otter before pulling himself out onto a rock, where he shook his head, spraying droplets that glittered in the morning sun. Then he simply stood there, dripping and shivering and magnificent.
    “Do you want a blanket to dry yourself?” Miner asked.
    “No. It’s warm and I’ll be dry enough soon.” He looked down at his chest. “It’s an ugly scar, isn’t it?”
    “There’s nothing ugly about you.”
    Miner must have looked sincere because Ennek smiled at him. “You look good, too. And in the sunlight your eyes…I didn’t know eyes could be so many colors.”
    Miner blushed. “You’re going to turn my head and make me vain.”
    “Vanity is not one of your vices.” Ennek hopped down from the rock and gathered his clothing. He was still a bit damp, but he got dressed anyway. When he was finished, he straightened Miner’s scarf and gave him a quick buss on the cheek. Then he glared at their bird guide and helped Miner pack up their belongings.
    It was fortunate that they had stopped for the evening where they did, because the path began to rise again, this time quite steeply, and at times the footing was treacherous with loose stones. Twice Miner slipped, and both times Ennek caught him by the elbow, saving from a spill. “I wonder why there’s not a better road,” Ennek said after the second time. “Perhaps there’s not much trade in this direction.”
    “Maybe the wizard doesn’t like to be disturbed. She probably doesn’t need a road when she wishes to travel.” He gestured up at the Bhujanga, which was soaring far overhead.
    “I suppose not.”
    And then neither of them spoke for a time because their way had become so precipitous that they were panting for breath and sometimes grabbing for handholds in the rocks and scrubby brush. It certainly would be easier to travel as a bird, Miner thought. Flying looked so effortless, just a flap of the wings now and then. Ennek had told him of machines that had been made to go on tracks, powered by great engines and running more swiftly than a horse. Could a machine be made that could carry people through the air as well? It was an interesting idea—and a bit frightening. He glanced down into the valley that lay to their right and wondered what the vista would look like from even higher aloft.
    The path dropped as abruptly as it climbed, twisting through thick woods and then a narrow canyon, until finally the landscape opened up and they found themselves entering an enormous plain. The road widened as well, as if it suddenly meant business, and off in the distance they saw what appeared to be a cluster of a few dozen houses. They looked at each other—Miner wondered if he looked as grim as Ennek—and marched forward. The bird flapped away.
    The farmers here looked moderately prosperous. Their hair was done up in elaborate braids adorned with ribbons and bits of gold, and some of them were using a pair of oxen to plow a field. None of them looked surprised or pleased to see the newcomers—they simply stared flatly, their faces blank. “Jiangbei?” Ennek called out to a young man who was stooping to plant seeds. The man scowled at them but nodded.
    It wasn’t difficult to determine which house must belong to the wizard. It didn’t cover any more ground than the others, but it was the only one with a second story. Colorful flags snapped atop the flat roof. Unlike the others, it had no courtyard, just an imposing set of double front doors made of intricately carved wood. The wizard must have known they had arrived, but there was no sign of her. With a resolute look on his face, Ennek marched forward and knocked loudly on one panel.
    Several moments passed, long enough for the butterflies in Miner’s stomach to multiply and for a bead of nervous sweat to drip down from his brow. But then there was a creak and the right-hand door swung open.
    The woman who stood there could have been anywhere between thirty and sixty. She looked nothing like the other people they had encountered here: instead of straight black hair, hers was an indeterminate light brown, thick and frizzy and hanging past her shoulders without adornment. Her skin might once have been as pale as Ennek’s, but now it was as chapped and weatherworn as any sailor’s, and she had deep lines at the corners of her brown eyes, as if she spent a lot of time