Nicole hated Kurg like a huge weight dragging her to the depths of the ocean. She’d only been staying afloat by working hard to tread water, but having a cure dangled in front of her, just to see it whipped away, had been too much. Oh, the Architect was going to pay for that when she got her hands on him!

  She was inconsolable for a time, but then between Lyra holding her, Kazic squeezing her hand and Ustrina bumping a bony forehead into her temple, just like a cat, she was reminded she wasn’t alone.

  “Thank you.” She spoke to each of them, in turn, then focused on the fragments of the city, “Shall we open these up and see what we’ve got?”

  At first, Nicole expected to have to unlock each piece, but was surprised when the next piece opened without any trouble, revealing a hexagonal arrangement of walls, about fifty feet tall, with a gate house on one side, all composed of orichalcum. The whole arrangement was built on the seven-yard wide hexes that seemed to be the entire basis of the city. Each wall was four hexes long.

  Stepping through the open gate, she found a large, transparent dome taking up most of the space within, the interior of which housed a hive-building with transparent walls, looking like something akin to a greenhouse full of raised planter boxes, though there were no plants in the soil. The frame and doorway leading into the greenhouse was orichalcum and by the look of things, Nicole guessed it could be attached or detached from the standard hive-like structures of the city with ease, if she could figure out how to move the walls.

  Inside the gatehouse, just past the gate and on either side, were a pair of stairs that allowed access to the top of the wall, where there was a walkway surrounded by a low barricade defenders could crouch behind, for cover.

  As she turned to consider the possibility of moving the walls, her head started to ache and knowledge poured into her mind, detailing the procedures required: any individual segment of the city, no matter how small or large, could be instructed to fold or unfold, so long as a held structure wasn’t divided by the action, with some exceptions. Most of the hive-like buildings couldn’t be divided, but the connecting hallways and the walls could.

  The city would respond to the desires of any authorized user, which explained why the one they’d been sleeping in folded up whenever she attempted to pick it up and whoever most recently opened it was considered authorized. However, she now understood that an authorized user could divide the city simply by intending to fold only a smaller portion.

  Along with the sudden knowledge, she was bothered by the fact that the spell in her head had managed to break through the interference of the nullifier. Nicole reached for the device that powered it. She fiddled with the controls until she found the power setting and adjusted it to double the power.

  Within minutes, the ache in her head faded, but anger and frustration quickly replaced the pain. She needed Kurg out of her head, because even with the nullifier, it seemed to just be a matter of time before her entire mind was consumed!

  Turning back to the walls of the city, she confirmed what she’d just learned, by folding up a section of the wall. She wasn’t at all surprised to see the walls reshape themselves, with the barricade around the walkway adjusting itself to close the gap.

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  Acting on a hunch, she picked up the newly-folded segment and moved until she faced the wall. She unfolded the new piece right next to it, with the clear intent in mind to form a three-way junction in the wall. As she stepped back, the wall piece unfolded. At the same time, the existing wall appeared to melt and flow, until it formed the structure she’d had in mind.

  With a hint of a pleased smile, she turned to Lyra, “It’s almost like a puzzle, but we get to decide the final shape.”

  “Handy.” Lyra commented.

  “So, how is this going to work?” Nicole asked Ogomid, “I know your people have a vested interest in building Kurg, but how will I fit in?”

  After a long moment, during which she assumed he was consulting with his people, Ogomid responded, “Without Irkith or the Architect, we need your connection to Kurg. We will put your needs first, for the time being, and you will lead us. In return, we’ll look for a way to find the Life Giver.

  “To us, a city is both a place and a people. The Ulkun were made to inhabit Kurg, but all are welcome, so long as they live harmoniously.”

  Kazic grinned, “We’re going to need a sheriff if humanoids start moving in.”

  Nicole cocked her head to the side, “We?”

  “Aye. Some things are worth more than all the gold in the world and as me said, ye’ll need a sheriff.”

  “You offering to do the job?” Nicole smiled.

  “Me knows what me wants,” Kazic met Nicole’s gaze with an intense stare, “and me won’t be left behind, so me may as well make meself useful. Me was a watchman before me became a fire dwarf and worked me way up to fire chief.”

  Seeing the intensity of his gaze, Nicole blushed. She didn’t quite feel the same, but she was beginning to and wanted to see what might blossom between the two of them in the long-term. Already, she considered Kazic a reliable and valuable friend, but she could see a hint of the famous dwarven stubbornness in Kazic’s face and Nicole was clearly the object of it.

  “What about you, Lyra?” She quickly decided to adjust the course of the conversation, mostly out of embarrassment.

  Nicole’s birth mother shook her head, “My adventuring days are over and I-” she shed a tear, “-want to stay close to home, in case your father comes back. Someone should be there to greet him.

  “I only came on this trip, because there was no other way. Someone had to introduce you to Ogomid, but you can count on my financial support, if you need it. After all, you’ve got as much right to the family fortune as I do.”

  Nicole could see the depth of grief in Lyra’s eyes and wasn’t about to stand in the way of what she wanted. Levi had been a time-traveling wizard and he’d vanished through a hole in time, taking a powerful enemy with him. Most everyone figured he’d died in the process, but no one knew for sure. Officially, his fate had been recorded as ‘missing, presumed dead’, for lack of information, but Lyra had never given up hope of his return.

  “Okay.” Nicole nodded, “Thanks for getting me this far and thanks for your support.” Turning back to Ogomid, she decided, “I’m going back to Heart Forge, for now, but I’d like your people to join us there, as soon as possible. We’ll put the city back together from there and then figure out our next move.”

  Ogomid nodded and walked away, heading for the stone city, which was just up the hill from the grassy field they were in. It was a surprising and impressive sight, but within minutes, every one of the Ulkun was on the move, carrying what few personal items they desired to take with them. There were at least several thousand of them, though it was impossible to get an accurate count from the ground.

  The stone people moved fast; while each step took a few seconds and appeared slow at a distance, their legs were long, allowing them to cover quite a lot of terrain with each step. As Nicole watched, Peares and his guards chased after one of the high-ranking Ulkun.

  The little man shouted, “What’s going on? Where are you going all of a sudden?”

  While Nicole worked to fold up the open piece of Kurg, she requested, “Lyra and Kazic, would you two mind gathering up the other pieces?”

  “Sure thing.” Kazic got to work.

  Lyra quickly chimed in, “Of course.”

  Nicole pocketed the new segment, then jogged over to Peares, to explain.