Antine pulled his thick cloak's hood tight around his face, trying his best to keep his head down. It wasn't easy, because everything in the carnival amazed the little fox so much that he was constantly watching everything with his eyes wide. He had never been to a carnival before, and Sundar had decided it would be a good experience. But both of them had to be careful. Thorneau was a plane dominated by humans, and Foraine especially did not take well to non-humans. Sundar, with his half-elven ears, would have been strange, but a foxfolk like Antine would likely be arrested.

And so, they had come to the carnival at night and near the beginning of winter, when Antine's cloak would not stand out as strange. His snout was the biggest danger, and Sundar had warned him numerous times to avoid crowds. Despite the warning, they had become separated, and Antine found himself standing in front of a crowd, watching a juggler as he performed his act. In order to hide his snout, Antine had his head bowed and could barely see the man.

After the show ended, the crowd applauded half-heartedly, left the man a few coins for his effort, and began to walk away. Antine breathed a sigh of relief as the crowd thinned, feeling like he had dodged a Jakkard bullet. However, once the crowd had mostly left, the old magician walked up to Antine and slapped him on the back in a friendly gesture.

"Did you enjoy the show, my friend?"

"Uh," Antine managed. "Yes. You're, um, very good."

"Really?" The man said. "Funny, I wouldn't have thought you could see it, staring at the ground like you were."

"Well," Antine started, but found he could not continue.

The man laughed. "I bet I know what you came for," he said. "I bet you were hoping for an Aubedore reading, weren't you?"

"Um, sure," Antine said, not knowing what the man meant.

"Well, you're in luck! Come this way!"

Before Antine could object, the man pushed him by the shoulders to a nearby tend and sat him down at a small table. Then he withdrew a deck of cards from a nearby chest. Antine kept his head down, and the man smiled.

"My name is Nasperge, by the way," the man said.

"I'm Antine," the fox replied into his own chest.

"Antine? That's a strange name." He began shuffling the cards. "So tell me, Antine, what would you like to know from the cards?"

"Know? I, uh, I don't know. What do they know?"

"They know a great many things. They can tell you about who you are, or what your life is, or even what will come in your future."

"The future, I guess..." Antine said, not really knowing a way out.

"Very well," Nasperge said, and stopped shuffling. Then he began to deal out the cards in a strange pattern on the table. "Let's see what the cards tell about your future then, Antine."

Nasperge flipped over the first card and froze, staring at it in shock. Antine, sensing the man's surprise, risked looked up slightly. "Is...is something wrong?"

"I don't understand this," the Magician said. "This makes no sense."

"What? What makes no sense?"

"You...you got The Teardrop."

"Is that bad?" Antine asked.

"I don't know," Nasperge admitted.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean, there is no 'Teardrop' card in Aubedore."

"How can that be?"

The Magician just shook his head. He flipped over the second card. "What the hell?"

"What is it this time?"

"It's another Teardrop!"

Antine whimpered. Nasperge scratched his head, then flipped over a third Teardrop card.

"This isn't possible!" the Magician said, picking up his deck. He flipped through the cards quickly. "These are all fine," he said. "How could I have possibly dealt out three cards, which aren't even in the Aubedore set, or any other set I know of, from a perfectly ordinary Aubedore deck?" He looked up at Antine. "What are you?"

Antine started to cry. "I don't know! I didn't do anything!"

A moment later, the tent flap was thrown open and Sundar Elarion stepped through. "Sorry to interrupt, but we should get going. Antine?"

The fox stood up and started moving over toward his friend. Then he glanced back at the Magician. "How much do I owe you?"

The Magician shrugged. "This one's on me," he said, and Antine nodded. He and Sundar disappeared out into the carnival, and then off the plane completely. Nasperge sat for a long time, staring at the strange cards before him. Finally, he just laughed. "Damnedest thing I've ever seen!"

"May I?" One man said to the other.

"No," the other man answered.

"But what harm could it do?"

"I said 'no.'"

"Look, I am not used to saying this, but... please?"

"I'm sorry, but no!" Denner said, annoyed. "You can't come with me."

"Why not?" Raiker complained. "Your life is like a walking inspiration to my poetry."

Denner hung his head. "But you only write tragedy!"

"Precisely," Raiker said with a grin. "That is precisely what I mean. Wait," Raiker said, pausing. "You do not really think you will find a cure, do you?"

"Just leave me alone, will you?"

"Do not worry," Raiker assured him. "After this poison has destroyed you, I shall immortalize you in verse."

"I don't want to talk about this poison anymore."

"Very well," Raiker said with a grin. "Let's talk about your love life."

"Ouch! That horn hurts!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!"

Oh, that's cruel! He really is a master of timing and opportunity, isn't he?

Orida picked up the clapper and started walking, more from hunger than anything else. It didn't look like the ash would yield much, but she had no desire to be any more dead than she already was.

Well after the frozen tears had numbed her face, she heard a small sound off to her left, loud in the silence between her footsteps. She froze, adjusted her grip on the clapper, and started toward the silhouette on the horizon.

"Curious," the figure said sadly as Orida approached. "A world usually disappears when it stops producing mana."

Orida stopped. "Huh?"

The woman turned toward her, hair shimmering in the light of what could be a moon. "What happened here?"

"How the **** should I know?" Orida snapped.

"Oh!" The woman put a hand up to her mouth. "I'm sorry; I thought you were from around here."

"Not even close." Orida set the head of the clapper down and leaned on it like a cane. "So how did you die?"

"Wait, what?" The sadness had been replaced by genuine conufusion.

"Fought a **** of scarecrows, myself, and next thing I know, I'm here in Ythol."

"This is Ythol?" The woman's eyes went wide, as she looked back and forth across the desolate land. "It was beautiful, once." She hung her head, whispering, "Is there nothing we can't destroy?"

Orida blinked. "Hey now, it was like this when—" she started, but found herself talking to empty air. She walked over to where the woman had last been, finding only the shore of a frozen lake, and cursed.

Lukas hesitantly met the magician's eyes. "I'm told you can answer questions."

"Of course! Come inside!" Nasperge held the tent flap open. "Have a seat."

Once they were seated, Nasperge started shuffling his cards. "Now, what sort of question do you have?"

"Where can I find my love?"

"Ah, a classic!"

Lukas grimaced. "Sort of."

"Well, let's see what the cards have for you." Nasperge flipped over the first card. "The Ghost, inverted." He peered at his customer. "I begin to see what you mean."

Lukas shrugged, looking down.

Nasperge frowned, and flipped another card. "The Castle. Getting to your love will not be easy, then."

"Of course not."

The third card. "The Demon." Nasperge's throat tightened. "I'm so sorry."

Lukas sighed. "No, it's about what I expected."