He waited there for the best part of an hour before he was finally summoned.

He was led into a large stone chamber that obviously served as an office, judging by the books and papers that littered the shelves and floor as if it hadn’t been tidied in years. Tiptoeing around the clutter, he was told to sit on a chair by the large pointed-arch window. It seemed these were the chambers of Papus. The two leading him used the bizarre term in reference to her: the Gydja of the Order of the Dawnir. A bit much, really…

As he was left alone, staring through the window, a strange blue creature caught his eye. It flew down from one of the balconies on some higher level, arced awkwardly out of sight, then back into view briefly before banking up to one side.

The ancient chamber had a musky smell, with broken bits of masonry here and there. He knew the city was old, but had never imagined buildings like this would still be standing. Everywhere, there were books littering the shelves and even the floor. Mouldy with their broken spines, pages stuck together, sprouting sheets of paper exposing diagrams and equations to the air. There were pieces of equipment too, strange unrecognizable masses of metal, mechanical-looking insects, precise and advanced shapes.

Seeing all of this accumulated wisdom generated a feeling of inadequacy about his own education. He knew he was intelligent, but here was a more structured knowledge: ancient languages, history, the names of rare flora and fauna, whereas he mostly knew about swords and dancing and women. He had his wits, though, and you couldn’t find every answer in a book – some were out in the real world.

The door opened, and a woman stepped in, garbed in the same outfit as the other two cultists. Her hair was darker than he remembered, and she was leaner.

‘Who wants to speak to me?’ Her voice was deep, her blue eyes dazzling.

Randur walked over to her, drew out the coin.

She took it and studied it. ‘Yes, I remember. Folke, 1757. You’re the little boy that saved me.’ She handed it back, and gave him something like a smile. The severe lines on her face suggested that this was a rare gesture. ‘You’ve grown, I see.’

‘It happens,’ Randur murmured, placing the coin back in his pocket. ‘You said, at the time, if I ever needed a favour to come and find you.’

‘You have had a successful journey then, so far.’ Papus walked over to the table, and began to shuffle some papers. ‘Well, what is the favour?’

‘I need to find a cultist who can stop someone from dying, or else bring them back from the dead.’

Regarding him seriously, she put down the papers she was holding and took a step closer.

‘I did save your life,’ Randur said lamely. He thought at this point it might be an appropriate reminder.

‘Yes, so you did – but you’re making an incredibly serious request, you realize? I mean, why would you want to live forever?’

‘It’s not for me. It’s my mother.’

‘Oh, I see.’ Papus perched on one end of the table. ‘Could you just wait here for a moment?’

‘I’m used to that by now.’

Papus reached under her cloak with her right hand-

– and vanished in a flash of purple light.

Randur jumped up, as if scalded, and stepped towards the table. He scanned the heaps of books and papers as if they’d offer any clues. ‘Now how the hell did she do that?’

Randur was back in the seat by the window, trying to fathom one of the books that he clearly didn’t understand. He decided that he liked the diagrams aesthetically, however.

The door opened. Papus re-entered.

‘I see you’re using the door now?’

‘Look,’ Papus said, ‘I do owe you a major favour, and I’ve talked it over with a few of my colleagues here, but I fear I must tell you that what you’ve asked for isn’t really where our expertise lies.’

Maybe he was naive, but this was getting frustrating. ‘You’re magicians, aren’t you?’

‘No,’ she said, briefly.

‘No?’

‘No, we’re much more than that. It isn’t simple magic. There’s a whole craft involved. We devote years to studying the subtleties of our technology.’

It sounded like a speech recited many times before.

‘You made a promise. So what d’you suggest?’

‘Well, I’m referring you now to another sect. You’ve got to understand that we normally have nothing whatsoever to do with them. I’m not placing you in any direct danger, but you must be particularly careful. I’m only doing this, remember, because of your service to me all those years ago. I would not be doing it for any other reason.’

‘They sound pretty unsavoury,’ Randur said. ‘I’m not sure I like where this is going.’

‘Let’s just say that this is a tough time for the orders. Relationships are strained.’

‘So I gather your lot and this other group don’t like each other.’

‘That is putting it mildly.’ Papus laughed. ‘But I’m now handing you over to them, and that is my favour to you in exchange. I don’t think you’ll ever understand just how big a favour it is.’ She paused, then explained. ‘We have radically different ways of thinking.’

‘How so?’ Randur enquired, noticing the anxiety in her expression.

‘They – the Order of the Equinox, they’re called – like to… take the world apart. We prefer to put it back together. That’s as easy as I can make it for you.’

‘Make it harder,’ Randur said. ‘I’m curious.’

‘They want to take the world to pieces, to find out all its secrets. To know how everything works, and they won’t let anything like ethics get in the way. They’re ruthless, cruel and destructive. Whereas I like to unify, to keep order, observe a high level of morals. We give our help to the Council of Villjamur, and the Emperor, whenever they need us. But, nevertheless, it is to the Order of the Equinox that I must take you, if you’re ever to find that which you seek.’

‘There are two sides to every coin.’ Randur had the token in his hand again. ‘How do I know that you’re not just finding an easy way of getting rid of me?’ He flipped the coin in the air so that it shimmered in the light.

She grabbed it even as it span, and handed the coin back to him. ‘Come,’ she said. ‘I’ll take you to meet them.’

‘Who exactly?’ Randur said, his head tilted slightly.

‘Dartun Súr,’ Papus replied, turning to leave the room. ‘He’s the Godhi of the Order of the Equinox.’

‘Means bugger all to me,’ Randur muttered.

She said sharply, ‘It will, soon enough.’

‘One question,’ Randur said. ‘What was that thing you took from the man who was trying to kill you, all those years ago?’

‘That’s not important now. It was a weapon, it was meant to hurt people, but nothing fancy, nothing world-changing. Nothing prophetic. We just didn’t want it in his hands. As I said before, Randur, we’re the ones with morals and ethics. We’re just trying to keep order, to safeguard things for the benefit of the Empire.’

Through the streets of Villjamur once again.

Down a route he wouldn’t have noticed existed. Through constricted alleyways, along hidden bridges. Much about the city had faded, died – disused chambers and archways, remnants from another time with no place here any more. As they passed under passageways he could hear carts being hauled above, and if he looked up through drain holes he could see people walking. Down here there were different styles of brickwork, crumbling stone where moss and lichen had colonized profusely near constantly dripping water.

‘You know,’ Randur said, ‘the people who run this city could always ship those refugees from outside and set them up right here. It might be squatting, but still, if it means they don’t die…’