“Stay close,” Jiroh whispered.

An entrance appeared on the face of the pyramid as they approached. Unlike the other structures, this one didn't seem to have any other way of going in. The moment the trio arrived a few steps from the entrance itself, a tall fury dressed in a dress to cloud fabric appeared. The difference was that the dress was deep green.

“Good morning,” she said. There was a smile on her face, but Dallion could sense that she was far from happy to have them approach. Rather, she was like a shopkeeper who wanted to appear polite, but was doing everything possible to get rid of a potentially problematic customer.

Stands to reason, Dallion thought. We’re nothing but riff raff here, after all.

“How may I help you?” the fury asked the universal question that aimed at getting rid of people who weren’t wanted.

“I was offered to apply for a job here,” Jiroh said with icy calm. Just to stress the fact, she took out a ball of cloud matter the size and shape of a hand-full of cotton.

The fury in the yellow dress pulled it towards her with an air current, then stretched it as if she were about to start a game of cats’ cradle. The moment he saw it, Dallion’s writing skill kicked in. So, that was what fury writing looked like.

“I see.” There was a note of disappointment in the fury’s voice. “Unfortunately, today isn’t a good time. You’ll have to come back tomorrow and—"

“We’re not here for that job,” Dallion interrupted, filling his words with curiosity and compromise.

On cue, Jiroh took out the ingot. Back on Earth, or even in the awakened world it would be treated as trash. Here, though, the fury’s eyes widened as if she’d seen a flawless twenty-four carat diamond.

“Our reference,” Dallion added with a smile, as he added fear of missing out in his voice.

“May I?” the fury in the dress asked. It was normal to snatch a work application; when it came to a piece of metal, one always had to ask permission.

Jiroh nodded and allowed a new air current to grab the ingot.

“Fifty grams,” the fury said, closely examining it. “Multiple metals. Might I ask where you found it?”

“We forged it.” As he said it, Dallion knew that the fury was hooked. “And we’d like to share the method with someone who would appreciate its value.”

This was the moment of truth. Despite all their preparation, the offer remained a bluff. A piece of metal was impressive, but they didn’t have the means to offer more, not without Dallion surrendering his entire armor outfit. Doing so, though, would result in a long fall and a quick death.

Take the deal, he said to himself.

Every second was agony. Had they approached the wrong person?

“This way, please,” the fury said as she returned the ingot to Jiroh. With a slight nod, she then turned around and proceeded forward.

The cloud matter that composed the door rolled to the sides. The moment everyone was inside, it filled up again, becoming indistinguishable from the wall.

Two giant lion-like creatures growled deeply from their places. Each was a ten-foot reminder of what would happen if the group outstayed their welcome. Instinct made Dallion reach for his thread splitter. Reason kept him from pulling it out.

“Would you like some refreshments while my superiors arrive?” the fury asked, leading them down a large hall. The ground was smooth as marble, but Dallion knew that it was still made of cloud.

“Sure,” Jiroh replied in the same fashion she dealt with merchants in the awakened world. Clearly it had an effect, for the other fury didn’t add anything more.

They continued, walking past a corridor leading to the inside of the building. Another wall opened up, revealing a far smaller hall, though there was no question this one was designed for VIPs. For one thing, the floor was covered with a thin layer of metal. Back on Earth, one would call it tin foil. Here, it passed as opulence. Stone frames hung on the walls, holding modern art statuettes made of solid metal. In the center of the room, between several large cloud couches, was a round metal podium, on which a movie was running.

Seeing cloud entities form like in a three-dimensional video game caught Dallion off guard.

“The latest model,” the fury said, catching his interest. “Thanks to a revolutionary metal-glass core, it can allow plays to come in all colors. It’ll be a few years before it becomes available to the public, of course.”

“Maybe we’ll get to improve it,” Jiroh said, bringing Dallion back to reality.

“I’m sure.” The other fury smiled. “The metal, if you please.”

Once again the ingot floated into her hands.

Thank you. If you would wait just a few moments, please. I’ll be right back.”

A few minutes passed, then a few more. A large fury dressed as a butler walked through the door with a large tray of refreshments. Carefully, he placed it near the “cloud theater”—where a table appeared from the ground—then left the room again.

“How long do you think they’ll make us wait?” Dallion asked in fury. He was aware that they were being watched, so he couldn’t afford to get out of character.

“Maybe half an hour,” Jiroh replied. “They’re trying to find anything they could about you.”

“That’ll be tough.”

About ten minutes later, a wall opened up again. The fury who had greeted them had arrived, and this time she wasn’t alone. A fury dressed in red was also with her. To Dallion’s surprise, he was a thunder fury.

“Apologies for the wait,” he said in a deep voice. “I had to do some checks before our meeting. I’m sure you’d understand.”

“I’m sure,” Dallion replied, adding trust into his words. “Did you find out anything interesting?”

“Quite an interesting piece of metal.” The funder fury said, holding the ingot. “Crude, hastily made, no consistency to speak of. And yet it’s a hundred percent metal.” He tapped its surface with a finger. “Where did you say you came by it?”

“We didn’t,” Dallion corrected.

“Ah, right. You forged it. The last few years, we’ve had quite a few people make that claim. Most of them were liars and scam artists. A few actually believed they could. But then again, you shouldn’t have such issues. After all, you’re not a person.”

Spikes emerged from the walls and ceiling. Seeing the game was up, Dallion prepared for a point attack. Jiroh too sparked up, lightning covering her hands. However, she was matched by a similar reaction from the man in the red suit.

“You might be able to burst through the floor, but that won’t do you any good,” the thunder fury said. “Our weapons are not that harmless. Not to mention we have a numerical advantage.”

If Dallion had all his awakened powers, he’d laugh at the threat. Unfortunately, as things stood, he was at a disadvantage.

“What are you?” the male fury asked.

“I’ll still take you out,” Dallion clenched his fist. In his current state, he could manage three, probably four point attacks. Each one of them had to count.

A bolt of lightning flew through the room, disintegrating the theater as it went straight for the thunder fury’s chest. On his mart, he managed to deflect it with his own lightning bolt, sending both up through the ceiling.

“We’ve come to make a deal!” Katka shouted in a thick, almost unnatural accept. “You can’t capture us and you’ll gain nothing by fighting us. So, let’s just take a step back and do what we came here to do.”

There was a pause. Dallion could smell the ozone build up in the air. Thankfully, the thunder fury pulled back his lightning sparks. A few moments later, Jiroh did the same.

“You’re right,” he said. The spikes in the walls and ceiling went back in. “There’s nothing to gain. Please,” he extended his hand to the cloud couches.”

Everyone took their seats. The floor had already swallowed all the debris, and soon enough, a new tray of food and refreshments was brought in. Once everyone had calmed down, and the serving staff had left the room, the real negotiations began.

“You can call me Olm,” the thunder fury began. “I’m the head of this library.”

“Dal,” Dallion replied. “I take it I’m not a complete surprise.”

“We’ve been tracking you for the last few days. Now one can just start digging for metal unnoticed. The impressive thing was that you actually found some.”

“It’s not that difficult once you know how.” Dallion glanced at the fury in the yellow dress. “Why the issue with getting in, then?”

“There are certain things that even librarians don’t know. She had to be briefed before we could have our… conversation.” He grabbed a glass of sparkling liquid and took a sip. “What do you want out of this? You didn’t go through all that trouble to impress us with an ingot for our benefit.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Dallion asked, injecting a feeling of inferiority in his words. “Information. From what I know, it’s your stock in trade. We need information regarding certain matters and in exchange, we’ll provide you with the knowledge of how to extract and forge metal at a much faster rate.”

There was no mention of finding ore deposits, but Dallion had agreed to keep that as a bargaining chip for further on.

“Despite what you have heard, we don’t have access to all the information in this world,” Olm said. It was a clear lie that emanated from him as loud as a church bell.

“We’re not asking for any present-day information,” Dallion said, using his music skill to make the fury more agreeable. “What we’re looking for is information about your past, your distant past. Myths, legends, early history, that sort of thing.”

If there was anything that would confuse them, this was it. No doubt they were expecting some military secrets or political details. It was natural to jump to such a conclusion. From the view of the furies, Dallion and Katka were trying to go into this world. The reality was that they were trying to get out.

Unfortunately, that was only going to further raise the furies’ suspicions. Already they were half convinced that the pair were scouts of a hostile race. Having them refuse military information might have put those fears on pause, but the effect would be temporary.

“Do we have a deal?” The mage pressed on.

“I’ll need some time to discuss your offer with my superiors,” Olm said. “From my perspective, it seems fine, but I’m not the one making the decisions.”

“Alright. One other thing. I’ll require some metal and tools to illustrate the process. You know that metal can’t be destroyed, so you can always melt it back if I do something you don’t like.”

“That might be a bit more complicated.” Olm sighed. “It’s not about the material, but about finding a place where you won’t be seen.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Dallion stood up. He could feel the discussion was over. Katka and Jiroh did so as well, following his lead. “We’re free to leave, right?”

“Oly will show you out,” the thunder fury said. “Just one last thing. You never told me what you are.”

“Does it matter?”

“It might.”

“We’re travelers who came here by accident. That’s why it took us so long to find you.”

That was such an obvious lie that a five-year-old would figure it out. However, when facing an unknown of such proportions, the fury couldn’t dismiss the possibility. They didn’t believe Dallion’s words, but weren’t ready to dismiss them either, as if they were seeking the grain of truth that was hidden in them.

“Anything else?” Dallion asked, his smile visible beneath his hood.

“That’s all for now. Have a safe trip. We’ll be in touch.”

“Thanks.” Dallion turned towards the wall they had entered through.

“You’re not going to take your ingo?”

“Keep it as a token of our good will. Next time it’s your turn.”