Chapter Eight
Gom Weydan hung on the horizon like a solitary jewel against the bronze of the morning.
The Shimmering City.
The Drifting Domain.
If there was any place in the seven worlds that Arkady had always wanted to visit but had never had the opportunity to, it was Gom Weydan. The last time it had been around, they'd been on their way to see it, and the city's gates had closed earlier than expected and by the time they had arrived, it had moved on to another location, somewhere outside of the seven worlds.
He'd lived on hearing such fabulous and miraculous stories about the Shimmering City that he'd doubted most of them could be true, and that many had to have been exaggerated over repeated tellings, a small thing becoming a larger thing before it became the sort of unbelievable detail that could only be said about Gom Weydan, because the city itself wasn't around to be verified.
The rules of Gom Weydan's comings and goings were well-known, but still somewhat unreliable. The city would arrive sometime within a thirty-year cycle, but never in the place it had last been in. One day, the area where it would appear would begin to shimmer and the next day, Gom Weydan would be there.
The city would remain where it appeared for somewhere between three and eight months, and then one day, at around sunrise, it would begin shimmering again. That was what was known as Last Call Day within the city limits, which meant if you weren't out of the city by sundown, you would be transported with the rest of the city to its next location, somewhere outside of the seven worlds. And you wouldn't be back this way again for another thirty years.
Sometimes Gom Weydan would be floating in the sky. Other times it would appear against the side of a mountain. Last time, it had appeared as an island inside of Peart Bay, a particularly challenging area where the constant storms made coming and going far more difficult than it had been the time before. Reportedly the residents of Gom Weydan had harnessed the heavy lightning strikes generated by the storms into some sort of power source while they were there.
That was the thing about Gom Weydan that fascinated Arkady the most - each description of the city sounded more fantastical than the one before, and yet, they also sounded so impossible that he was certain no real place could live up to them.
And he was mere hours away from finding out.
"You're nervous, husband," Yasha said to him, her voice dripping with amusement. "I do not recall the last time I saw you nervous."
"It's The Shimmering City, my love," the dwarven mage replied. "I know you've been before, but I have not, and I am eager to see with my own eyes what sort of mythical delights it has on offer for us when we arrive."
"It was centuries ago that I saw Gom Weydan, husband, and I was but a young girl, not even a woman, so those memories are certainly tainted with the folly of youth, and very unreliable."
"We shall soon see for ourselves."
This time, it seemed that Gom Weydan had appeared high in the skies, floating above a rather barren and desolate patch of desert, with a hastily constructed drawbridge extending to the nearest cliffside, where merchant carts were lined up, both coming and going, everyone eager to do what they could to profit off the unusual delights of the Shimmering City.
As they approached by air, on the back of Quiesh, Arkady was surprised at how large Gom Weydan truly was. Despite the stories, he'd expected it to be a handful of blocks, little more, and yet instead those city walls encircled an area made up of
districts
, not mere structures. In this at the very least, the Shimmering City lived up to its reputation.
The walls that wrapped around the border of Gom Weydan were also exactly as described, mostly a deep blue crystal with veins of gold running through them that glowed with whatever magical energy fueled the city's existence. There were no shortage of mages, he expected, who had booked stay in many of Gom Weydan's hotels, in an effort to glean what they could about what powered the city, but Arkady suspected they would be no closer when the city moved on than they had been when it had arrived to discerning knowledge.
Gom Weydan was also known as the City of Secrets.
From above, they could also see the sky gondolas that traversed above the city's streets, strung up on faintly glowing golden cords, trollies zipping along paths of light, ferrying people and business from one building to another. Arkady was astonished to see it, having convinced himself that those stories must've been the imagination or exaggeration of some drunken fool several cups into his idyllic dreams and memories. The carriages were wood and steel, with loops of copper that wrapped around the path cords, with small propellers at the back that spun to push the vehicles along the lines when they needed to move. A logo was emblazoned on each of the long sides of the carriages, four letters, GWPT, each done in a neat and smart font.
The lightning pillars were also still affixed around the edges of the city, giant steel rods that jutted like spikes up into the air, even though it seemed unlikely that the desert air would provide them much in the way of energy. They looked well maintained, even if they were not currently serving their designed purpose.
Arkady noticed the skies above Gom Weydan were teeming with life, and there were even areas around the tallest spires of Gom Weydan that were marked as 'docking berths,' places where those who travelled by means such as Quiesh could let their steeds rest and relax while they did their business within the city walls. Griffons, phoenixes, dragons and drakes aplenty, flying creatures of every stripe and delight landing and resting. There were also a small number of airships drifting across the skies, a few of them moored against towers so their crews could go about their business.
The architecture of the buildings within the walls of Gom Weydan reflected dozens of various construction styles and just as many different types of building materials. Stone, crystal, wood, brick, even cloth and what looked like spiderwebs. Some of the buildings were all curves and soft edges, others still were nothing but sharp lines and harsh corners.
They could've spent hours looking at the city from the skies, but Arkady was too keen to get on the ground and walk the city streets himself, so he steered Quiesh over towards one of the skyscrapers with a berth atop it, bringing the griffon in to land before hopping out of her carriage atop her back to greet the tall avian humanoid walking towards them. "Hail and well met, friends of the skies," the figure said to them. "I'm Skymaster Hagolik, of Hagolik's Aviary Resting Place. Are you anticipating staying hours, days, weeks or longer?"
"Certainly longer than hours," Arkady said as Yasha, Sophia and Moonweave disembarked from Quiesh's dwelling, his wife gesturing for the handlers to move and secure the carriage, allowing a small cadre of dockworkers to begin movement immediately. They hooked into the secure corners and then moved to remove the straps which secured the carriage into place. Once it was lifted off of Quiesh's back, the griffon moved out from underneath it and stretched her majestic form, preening as she shifted, pausing to scratch against one of the wooden beams before one of the handlers took the hint and began to scratch the griffon's shoulder. "Let's call it a week, and if we use less, then you can keep the difference and if we use more, we'll pay the balance before our departure. Book us under the names Arkady and Yasha, with our griffon friend there's name being Quiesh. Keep her awash in fresh meat and she'll be content enough." The mage glanced at the rates on the wall, pleased to see they were still on the Interdimensional Multidenominational Platinum Standard (or IMPS), which meant rates were easy enough to calculate in his head. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a pouch of platinum coins, taking a few out before tossing the pouch to the Skymaster. "We good?"
"More than, Master Threadbinder," Hagolik said to him. "I must ask, are you here on preexisting business, seeking new business or just choosing to take in the sights that Gom Weydan has to offer?"
"Existing business, but also just getting my first taste of this marvelous city of yours," the dwarf said, trying to hide the genuine sense of wonder from his voice. "I've spent several lifetimes dreaming about what sort of delights and wonders could be contained here."
"Well then, let me be the first to welcome you to the Shimmering City, Master Threadbinder, and also let you know that should you be willing to take on new contracts while you're here, the Mayor of Gom Weydan has an open contract for any Threadbinder who passes through our gates. I'll receive a reward just for sending you her way, and even more should you complete the contract, so I'll hold onto this payment of yours, and should you take her contract and complete it successfully, I will give you back your money, pay your housing fee, and it will be on the house."
"Sounds like an opportunity I should avail myself of," Arkady said with a chuckle. "Any idea what kind of need the Mayor has?"
"The Mayor's niece attempted to retain the services of a less-than skilled Threadbinder several years ago, and whatever that mage attempted, it went horribly wrong, and the Mayor's niece has been kept in stasis in gernosh crystal since then," the Skymaster told him.
"Then after we've seen to our business, we'll stop and see to the Mayor," the dwarf said. "I would not want to be an unaccommodating guest to a host in need."
"Thank you kindly, good mage."
Sophia skipped up alongside him as they made their way to the stairwell leading down the inside of the tower. "We're here looking for one of my threads?" she asked him.
"We are." Arkady glanced over and focused at Sophia's chest for a moment, long enough to pick the threads from one another and find the one he was looking for. "The thick and wide thread leads to somewhere within Gom Weydan, so we're going to get to street level and then follow it along the streets until we know where your soulmate here is."
"I'm so excited I can barely stand still," Sophia said with a giggle, pushing her hair from her face to tuck it behind her ear. "Where can we find him?"
