Free The Edge of Chaos by Jak Koke Page B

no patterns and the only constant is chaos.”
    Tyrangal paused, her smirk gone. Her golden eyes shone yellow in the morning light. “That seems like a dangerous place for someone who holds tight to an ordered world.”
    Slanya remembered the funeral fire from yesterday, the allure of the flames oh so close. All the fires from her past came to her mind, and the temptation of losing her control rose up in her in that remembrance. Yes, there was something to Tyrangal’s assertion.
    “I understand,” Slanya said. “And thank you. But you need not concern yourself with me.”
    Tyrangal smiled. “I’m not ‘concerned,’ but I do like to give my customers the full benefit of my knowledge. You’re paying for these warnings. Perhaps they will help you prepare.”
    Slanya nodded. “Thank you. What was number three?”
    “Three, you will find the guide is a bit … wild and unruly.”
    Slanya gave a confident smile. “That, I think I can handle.”
    Tyrangal appraised Slanya carefully. “I think you might, at that,” she said.
    “So where might I find this guide?”
    “He is currently out on a task I have given him. I expect him to return to me by tonight or tomorrow.”
    “That long?” Slanya asked. “With the Festival of Blue Fire in two days, we need vastly more elixir than we can
    currently make. Otherwise hundreds of pilgrims will get sick and die.”
    “Well,” Tyrangal said slyly. “I do happen to know that he’s arrived back in Ormpetarr, but he hasn’t personally paid me a visit just yet. Not his style to come to me right away. He attends to…other needs first.”
    Slanya frowned. “I’d like to speak with him as soon as possible. If he’s in Ormpetarr, I shall seek him out.”
    “I don’t recommend it; he will return when he is ready. Hurrying him isn’t likely to speed your departure any, and it certainly won’t win you any favors.”
    Shifting from foot to foot, Slanya considered her options. She could ignore Tyrangal’s counsel, or she could wait.
    “However,” Tyrangal continued, “I can see that you feel you cannot sit idle. So for your own sense of accomplishment I will tell you this: His name is Duvan, and you will likely find him at the Jewel—the festhall and gambling house across from Finara’s Inn on the main thoroughfare.”
    “Thank you,” Slanya said, wanting the interview to be over. “I shall seek him but”.
    “Be careful, young cleric,” Tyrangal said. “Duvan is a feral beast on his best days, but he is truly the only person who can accomplish what you seek to do. I have considerable influence over him, but he is completely free to make his own choices. I advise against angering him.”
    “Your counsel is Very much appreciated, Tyrangal, If my need weren’t so pressing…”
    “But I see that it is. You may go, and may the gods watch over you.”
    Slanya took her leave and headed back down into Ormpetarr, her gaze studiously avoiding the gut-heaving swirl of the border veil. And by the time she’d made the walk back down the hill, through the gate and into heart of Ormpetarr, the Sun had fully risen.
    Beneath a cloudless sky of palest blue, peppered with
    motes flowing out from the changelands, the thoroughfare bustled with activity. The cobbles and flagstones from the city had pitted and become uneven, replaced with dirt and mud. Wooden shop fronts and businesses of all kinds lined the thoroughfare while merchants with wagons and carts, tents and tarps crowded the streets. Under the vigilant gaze of Tyrangal’s guards and the Order of Blue Fire Peacekeepers, merchants plied their wares to the crowd.
    Slanya insinuated her way through the people, heading for the Jewel and its reportedly seedy clientele … including her guide. Not for the first time, Slanya wondered what she’d gotten herself into. This Duvan character sounded uncivilized and potentially dangerous.
    Ormpetarr drew all races and all professions. It was a magnet for adventurers, danger seekers,