The pounding resonated through the floorboards. It shook at the seams of Naqi's little cabin. The birds would not trill. The orangutans would not laugh. Naqi would not breathe.

But he had to, so sitting on his coffer, comforted only by a bright piece of silk, he meditated. First, he focused his breathing. Then he let his thoughts slip. And slowly, slowly, he was all aflame. One end of his being the wick, the other end a great plume of smoke disappearing into the cosmos. He burnt out and there was nothing physical left to him, just him in the atmosphere floating and dissolving. This was how he imagined daarwah to be. Nothing and everything all in the same plane of existence.

The cabin door swung open. He breathed in sharply and sat up straighter, his blurry vision focusing on Governor Carneus Oriol and the army of men he left on the porch. Naqi did not personally know him, but he had seen visions of this man. This could only mean that he would play a role in Naqi's fate.

Governor Oriol turned to the two tan men that escorted him into the room. "Leave," he said. He himself was tan-skinned, The tip of his nose and his forehead red. A curious marker. It must mean he traveled a good deal in the sun. Naqi had only seen flashes of Oriol's journey to New Jhatari in the days previous, which was enough to confirm his suspicions.

"My name is Governor Carneus Oriol," he said. Naqi narrowed his eyes at the unnecessary introduction. Not many people knew what the Governor looked like, let alone received an audience with him. He was a private man. The boy still sat in a meditative position. He had not dropped his hand mudras or spoken a word yet. "Speak to me, jaat!"

Naqi continued his breathing exercise. Many foreign travelers had called him a jaat before. When he was younger, it angered him. Now he imagined himself letting the insult go as a butterfly from his hands. "You have journeyed here because the Oracle is valuable to you," Naqi said.

"I find myself having to turn to a child. Fate is horrifying." The Governor sat before Naqi, right on the bare floor, clearly upset that Naqi had the higher ground. Naqi reached out his palms and closed his eyes, but popped one open at a shuffling. Oriol was off the floor immediately. Opening the door, he called out onto the crowded porch, "Seiryu, please come in here." Standing before Naqi, he only sat when the tall woman entered the room.

Oriol sat down finally. "Make sure that this jaat doesn't harm me.."

"This is a child. The Oracle. There is no murder in his eyes nor his hands," Seiryu replied.

"You murder me, you murder a king," Oriol said, but there was an amused tinge to his voice that made Naqi wonder if Oriol even thought the success of an assassination would be possible.

"You are tempting him now," she said, crossing her arms. Her voice was a bit strange, a mix of many things. She had the face and the voice of the Shanyingyan travelers that he had met, but there was something Durantan about her as well. Her dark eyes were partially hidden by an emerald-colored hood that covered her head.

"I do not know temptation," Naqi replied in a whisper. He placed his palms up and Oriol reciprocated, placing his hands on top. Naqi felt the lines--the heart, the life--then swept his thumb over the Mount of Jupiter, The Plane of Mars, then down to Pluto.

The back of Naqi's head burned and an explosion of white sparked across his vision. And then, he was gone. Naqi was somewhere else, with visions of spirits--bright white bundles of light, flickering away at the ends like flames. The world was blue-coated. Often, Naqi could recognize a spirit's energy in his visions. He could feel this spirit--a girl, lost, forgetful, full of life. "Dejah," a voice said, echoing in the infinite space.

He became her. For a second, in the dimension of spirits, he could feel everything that she felt in the living dimension. He was the Jhataran Oracle, the arbiter between Gods, spirits, and men. Clouds filled his head, birds filled his mouth, his hands were unfamiliar with everything. He felt other spirits around him. Some that he did not recognize and then one that he was very familiar with. Sabik.

Naqi, pushed on, an immense pressure building on his spirit. He was careful to never go so far. It was dangerous and had left him sickly before. But Oriol wanted results and if he couldn't deliver, Naqi feared the worst.

Relief--momentarily before his spirit was released from hers. He shot up into the galaxy, a dome of constellations and colors. A form materialized in front of him. Before he understood what was happening, anger filled him, thick and unforgiving. He was becoming someone else. The figure before him drew a blade and slashed it across Naqi's throat.

His spirit was grounded back in his physical form. Naqi's back slammed into the windowsill. Tearing the dryness away from his mouth with his tongue, he looked around the room, making sure he was back in his body. He extended his hands toward the desk. Sieryu floated across the floor and grabbed the canteen, knowing exactly what it was he needed. "What did you see?" Oriol asked.

"Be patient with the boy," Seiryu said, handing the bottle to Naqi. He took it from her, gratefulness in his eyes, and let the water drown his lips. The fuzziness drifted out of his head.

Oriol shot a look back at the woman. "I will not take orders from a woman nor a child."

"I apologize, Governor," she bowed. She took the canteen back from Naqi and smoothed out his hair. "It would soothe Governor Oriol if you were to pick up the pace. We needn't stir his ire."

"You talk like your husband," Oriol said, spitting at the floor. "Go on, find another way to disgust me, woman."

"I have seen many things," Naqi said. He hoped this would save Seiryu from any more attacks, but he knew that as soon as they left, the abuse would continue. Ibba would call that a bandage for a bullet wound. "You know a girl that can sing? A daughter?"

He paused, taking time to think. "Which one?" he asked. "

"She has a pure heart. Dejah?"

His face folded into revulsion. "Oh. Her."

"You are not immortal, Governor. She will be your demise. She will come to know the one that will murder you."

Oriol stood up and raised his palm. He brought it through the air, his hand colliding with Naqi's cheek. Naqi shouted and pushed his hand against his cheek to dull the pain. Tears welled up in his eyes. Oriol breathed out through his teeth, waiting in the silence. The slap echoed in Naqi's ears. Burned his cheek. "Don't play games with me."

"Do not hit the Oracle. He's telling the truth," Seiryu cried. Oriol looked at her, surprised.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Seiryu stepped over and sat beside Naqi, rubbing his shoulder to calm him down. She had the eyes of a mother and Naqi soothed instantly, leaning closer to her and away from Oriol. She held him by his chin and brought him to look at her. "Now, tell the Governor what you can, darling."

"I saw only that," he said, trying to sound his oldest and wisest, but he couldn't mend the fact that he was lying for Sabik's sake. Whatever happened happened. The fates of life and death could not be remodeled. Naqi had worked his very hardest to change the tides of fate only to be very disappointed.

"Then we must kill her."

"You cannot," Naqi added. It wasn't part of fate. "She will only serve to slip out of your grasp like a fish."

Seiryu sighed. "Gienah. If she is Gienah, she will never have the chance to meet this man." That wasn't how fate worked either, but it would save the girl from death.

Oriol's eyes lit up. "You must come back to the Mainland with me to prepare for her departure. We have very little time."

"Keep her locked up. She will not remember it, anyway. I must go to see my husband."

Oriol swatted her off the bench. "He won't remember you anyway," he mocked her. She looked down at her hand, clasped tight in Naqi's. "Seiryu, he has to go. He's the last piece of the Durantan problem." Then, he turned back to Naqi, with both his fingers holding the boy's jaw and pressing into his cheeks. The pressure set a constant current pain through Naqi. He stared at the man, his eyes threatening to spill over.

"I will not say anything," Naqi tried to say.

"Try to. Try to say something and I'll cut off your tongue and feed it to my bitch of a daughter." Oriol let go, thrusting the boy's face back. Naqi caught himself before he slammed into the windowsill again. His skin prickled with fear. At the door, Governor Oriol stepped out first.

Seiryu bowed and whispered "Katiguul, Naqi."

His eyes widened, at finding that she knew any bit of Jhati. He bit back his surprise and nodded at her. "Katiguul, Chaiyi Seiryu"