A Detour North
Real-world date: 2026/09/04
Author: Percival van der Berg
Semet recovered more quickly than I had expected.
By the following day, the worst of whatever had struck her seemed to have passed. She could walk again, speak normally, and, much to my relief, showed none of the same alarming symptoms that had caused her to collapse.
That did not mean I had forgotten what happened.
I had watched her fall unconscious without warning. I still did not know why.
As we continued along the road, I found myself watching her more closely than usual.
Not obviously.
At least, I hoped not obviously.
Her pace was steady for the most part. Her breathing was normal. She spoke when she wished to speak and appeared considerably more like herself.
And then, occasionally, there would be something small.
A slightly slower step.
A brief pause.
A hand resting against something for balance.
Nothing particularly alarming.
But enough for me to notice.
After one such pause, I stopped walking.
Semet continued for another step before looking back toward me.
“What?”
“We're going north.”
She looked at me.
“North?”
“Yes.”
I unfolded my map.
“The Mühn Prosperity.”
I pointed toward the northern territories.
“I know someone there. Rullen Bellfore. More importantly, he knows people who may be able to examine you properly.”
I looked back up at her.
“You recovered quickly. I know that.”
A brief pause.
“But I still do not know what happened.”
After several hours, Semet's step faltered slightly.
Only slightly.
She recovered almost immediately.
I noticed anyway.
Before thinking much about it, I extended my hand toward her.
She looked at it.
Then at me.
“Percival?”
“You don't have to take it.”
I paused.
“But I thought you might want to.”
She remained looking at my hand.
“I can walk.”
“I know.”
I kept my hand extended.
“That is not what this is about.”
A faint smile appeared.
“I simply thought that, considering recent events, it would be preferable if we avoided any further unexpected encounters with the ground.”
The land gradually began to change as we entered the territories surrounding Mühn.
Forests became denser.
Waterways appeared between enormous trees.
Fish weirs and cultivated areas emerged among the ancient tidal landscape.
And beyond them stood structures unlike anything I had previously seen.
Buildings appeared almost grown rather than constructed, their irregular forms blending together beneath thick, pale surfaces.
I stared for longer than I should have.
Semet noticed.
“You are doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“That.”
I looked toward the structures.
“I don't know what you mean.”
“You're staring.”
“I am observing.”
“Of course.”
We found Rullen later that day.
He recognised me before I had finished approaching.
“Percival.”
“Rullen.”
His eyes immediately moved toward Semet.
Then back to me.
“What did you do?”
I looked offended.
“I have done nothing.”
Rullen looked toward Semet again.
“That is rarely a reassuring answer.”
Despite myself, I smiled.
The familiarity between us returned almost immediately.
Even while I explained what had happened to Semet, Rullen's attention drifted briefly toward the equipment hanging from my belt.
“Still carrying all of that around yourself?”
“It is useful.”
“I am sure you think so.”
I glanced toward him.
“And I assume whatever you have been funding recently is considerably more useful?”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“You would be surprised.”
That was generally how our conversations went.
Rullen had a habit of speaking about Mühn's engineers with the same pride that I spoke about my own work, while I had a habit of questioning whether some of their more unusual constructions would benefit from being measured properly before being built.
He, naturally, disagreed.
“Mühn's engineers seem perfectly capable of building things without consulting a ruler every five minutes.”
“And Koperdam's engineers generally prefer knowing whether something will stand before discovering it experimentally.”
Rullen seemed pleased with that answer.
But once I finished explaining Semet's collapse, the humour faded.
His attention returned to her.
“What exactly happened?”
“I don't know.”
That answer bothered me more than I expected.
“She collapsed without warning. She recovered quickly afterwards, but I would prefer someone examine her properly.”
Rullen nodded.
“Then we'll find someone who can.”
He did not hesitate.
Through his connections and influence within Mühn, Rullen arranged for Semet to be examined and given a place to rest.
I remained nearby until she was comfortably settled.
When I eventually stood, Semet looked toward me.
“Where are you going?”
I glanced toward Rullen.
Then back at her.
“To discuss a few things.”
I gestured vaguely toward the door.
“Trade. Technology. Perhaps several matters concerning things neither of us has invented yet.”
A faint smile crossed my face.
“But you are staying here.”
I pointed toward the bed.
“That is not negotiable.”
I paused.
“Rest.”
Rullen waited by the door.
I turned toward him.
Then looked back at Semet one final time.
“Try not to disappear while I'm gone.”
And with that, I followed Rullen outside.
…………………………..
Percival left the room. It had been a long time since I had been alone, I thought, listening to the silence. I walked over to a window. It was hard to make out anything through the thick foliage of the surrounding jungle. Occasionally, a bird would cut through the air to snatch an insect before vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. The rest of the time, there was nothing but the vines wrapped around the tree trunks, swaying in the wind. And then…
And then it happened again.
In the sky, Ssta’s cloak of night covered everything. The clouds, the blue - everything vanished, replaced by a deep, black expanse. The sun itself was obscured by a disk of obsidian.
It isn’t real. It isn’t…
“Semet.”
I took a step back, almost instinctively.
“My daughter. Over here.”
A beam of light pierced the shroud of darkness hanging over Mühn and landed right between two trees.
I turned my head toward the door.
“Try not to disappear while I’m gone.”
The words echoed in my mind. My gaze fell upon my hand. I could still feel the lingering sensation of his - the hand that had guided me during our journey.
“Please, accept my apologies. But… I must go.”
………………………
After a few minutes of difficult walking over the root-tangled forest floor, a clearing opened up before me. And in the center of it…
My heart skipped a beat.
An archway. Almost complete. It was made of that purplish stone, oozing a glowing pink liquid in places. On the ground, the grass had given way to blood-red stone, veins of magma, and flowing lava.
It is just like in…
I spun around abruptly. No one. I had thought I detected movement. My imagination, no doubt.
Gathering my courage, I gripped my tool and raised it high. It felt as though hands were grasping my arms to guide them. Even here, then, the Six had the power to move me.
I brought my pickaxe down on the arch with all my strength. Then again. And again, and again, until that hideous structure was nothing more than a heap of black gravel - shattered and useless.
Staggering, I fell backward against a tree. My vision was blurred, but my duty was done. Magic would not threaten our safety, nor that of the citizens of Mühn, I told myself in my thoughts, hovering on the edge of unconsciousness.
Fortunately, after lying motionless for several minutes, my body began to respond again. I pulled myself up and conscientiously gathered the fragments of the gateway one by one, casting them into the molten rock to make them vanish forever.
I stepped back, surveying the finished fruit of my labor. That was when the adrenaline faded. Even leaning on the handle of my pickaxe, I couldn't stay on my feet. I sank carefully to my knees, adopting the same posture I used for prayer.
That was when real sounds emerged from behind me. Unsurprisingly, it was Percival. He had heard the clamor of my work.
“Semet! I…” he shouted, before stopping dead.
He surveyed the scene of total destruction, realizing it was likely my doing. Perhaps for the first time, I saw him frown in confusion.
“No… No, no, no!” he repeated mechanically, before turning back to me. “Semet… Why did you do this?”
Out of breath, I tried to explain.
“Those things… are dangerous. They must… be destroyed.”
He shook his head, still gripped by doubt and confusion.
“If those… things truly pose a danger, then they must be studied! Certainly not destroyed! Semet, I know your beliefs -”
Despite my exhaustion, my eyes locked onto his, cutting him off abruptly. He continued:
“Semet… If we want to avoid the danger these arches pose, we have to understand them. Destroying them will only keep us in ignorance. And consequently, in peril.”
Once again, I attempted to stand up. My body was feeling a bit better, so I managed to do it on my own, without support.
“I know perfectly well that all you want is to understand this magic. But… I already know what it is about. At the very least, I know enough to realize that the best course of action is to rid the world of its presence! Magic… Magic is wrong. I mean, it is evil itself. I… I hate it! I want it gone!”
The echo of my shouts bounced around us several times before fading into the distance. That was when I realized I had lost my temper -fortunately, only in front of him. Regaining my composure, I approached the artificer.
“Percival… Please, trust me… I am begging you…” I whispered, once I was less than a meter away from him.
As I stepped closer, images of the Grey Night haunted my thoughts. The flames. The screams. The death. And above all, the horrified faces of those dear to me, struck down by mages and pillagers. My own helplessness, hidden in the shadow of an overturned cart. The death rattle of my own father - the sound he made as I held him in my arms, imploring him not to leave. All of it… all of it because of the mages.
I will destroy them. But… but not through violence. I am not like them…
I bumped into something. Snapping back to reality, I became aware I had walked right up against Percival. My head was resting on his shoulder. And just as when I was a little girl, a river of tears was flowing - the sound of its current, my sobs, muffled against my companion’s jacket. Not knowing what else to do, and desperately needing comfort as I relived that horrific scene, I clung to him with all my might.
He is alive. He is here with me. He is not leaving.