Slowly Nadiya walked to the top of the fragrant green hill. The land around her was bathed in moonlight and scented with woodsmoke, cardamom, and ginger. Almost half a mile behind her, the great straw bear blazed beneath the starlit sky.

Every four years at the Festival of Leya, a forty-foot straw animal was erected to represent the past four years. Throughout the day, citizens and travelers wrote their pains, sorrows, and grievances on scraps of parchment and placed them inside the wooden frame. Then, one hour before midnight, the straw animal was set ablaze, honoring the one extra day they were given every four years to contemplate their lives and prepare for the next four.

Always before, she had written her sorrows and troubles, and there had been many.

Not this night. This night she sat on the top of the hill and stared out over the valleys. Most everything was dim and vague. Her eyesight was poor, and she was weary. For the past ten years, she had alternated between traveling and working, searching for her soul mate.

Soul mate. She ducked her head as she pressed her lips together. “Are you even out there?” she whispered.

Pressing back her silver-blue velvet cloak, she removed the pendant that hung around her neck.

Everyone in the land received a magical necklace on their eighteenth birthday. It was intended to guide one to their soul mate. A tradition long held and credited for the millions of happy marriages and beautiful families it had created. The pendant itself was simple, but the magic surrounding it was deeply guarded. Whenever one drew near to her soul mate, the central stone within the pendant would begin to glow. A dull orange first. Then bright orange. Then brilliant pale gold. The brighter it was, the nearer one’s soul mate stood.

But hers was the same unyielding sapphire it had always been. She vividly remembered her determination when her eighteenth birthday passed and not even the slightest glimmer of light stirred within the deep blue. She’d told her best friend Leelo that she knew she had two choices: she could wait for her soul mate to find her or she could go find him. And Nadiya had settled on the latter.

It had seemed so exciting to gather up her few possessions and strike out as far as she could walk north. But when her money ran out, she had had to return to work in the doll shop. As was typical of Leelo, Leelo did all she could to help her reach her dreams. In addition to meals and lodging and a salary, Leelo also gave her a small bonus for each doll she sold. Soon Nadiya earned enough to travel again. And on and on it went. An unending cycle of earning and traveling. Not that it was all bad. She smiled faintly as she rested her chin on her knees.

Adventures soon felt empty when one was constantly alone. Leelo was only able to travel with her occasionally when the doll shop did not require her attention, and Nadiya had no other friends aside from those whom she met and taught at the edges of dusk and dawn.

Her gaze fell to the pendant again. She wrapped her pale palm around it and let it fall to the ground. “Where are you?” she murmured.

Many hills stood between her and the highest hill outside Arth De Nami. When one stood on this height, the city looked as if it were cradled in the bottom of the lush valley with ridges of hills surrounding them and circles of ever-growing mountains spiraling outward. This hill though provided the best view of all in Nadiya’s opinion. The enormous straw bear about half a mile away looked like a child’s toy now on burning. How the practitioners wove it together with such skill was guarded as closely as the creation and magical infusement of the necklaces. Perhaps there was magic in the straw animal, and perhaps a similar magic would help her find her soul mate.

She scoffed, shaking her head at herself. For the two previous festivals, she had written her requests, and nothing had happened. She doubted anything would have changed this night if she had written her pains and let them burn with the rest. No, no difference at all. She watched the ash and sparks dance on the wind. May it carry away all the troubles of the past four years and make room for the blessings of the new one, she thought.

She lifted the pendant, preparing to fasten it back around her neck, but it had changed. A faint light gleamed within the center stone. Just a dull orange at first.

Her heart leaped with joy. For a moment, she stared at it in disbelief. Standing, she cast her gaze about, struggling to see in vain.

“Hello!” she called out. “Is someone out there?” She started forward, and the light dimmed.

She moved back.

It strengthened.

It was coming from the direction of the burning bear.

The pendant gripped tight in one hand, she raced toward it. “Hello, who’s out there?”

The light strengthened. It grew brighter and brighter. Then she saw it, another pinprick of gold racing toward her. “Hello!” a male voice shouted from one of the other hills. “I see you! Tell me your name. Quickly!”

“Nadiya! What’s yours?”

“Calixto! Hurry! I don’t have much time!” the man’s voice was panicked. “Meet me at the top of the next hill!”

She didn’t understand the panic she heard in his voice, but she couldn’t share it, not with the joy that encompassed her. Her feet flew across the grass. At last, at long last, she had found her soul mate! But as she crested the top of the next hill, she saw nothing.

In the dark, all was vague and shadowed. No pinpoint of golden light drew her attention. The light in her own pendant had vanished as well. “Calixto!” she cried. “Calixto!”

She ran up and down the hills, shouting until her throat was raw. But not even a whisper answered back.

At last, Nadiya stopped in the center of a valley, her hands falling to her side. A knot swelled in her throat. “Calixto…” she cried.

“Nadiya!” Leelo called out. She ran up to her, clutching her cloak tight about her shoulders. “What’s wrong? I heard you shouting!”

“He was here! My soul mate was here, and now he’s gone. He disappeared before our pendants could change permanently. Can you see anyone out there?” Nadiya rubbed her eyes even though that only blurred her vision more. It was like having a film she couldn’t remove, a film that worsened when she became frightened or upset. The night was now a mass of shades, blurred together like a painting whose creator had swiped a palette knife over the surface. She tried to recall some scent, some sound, some clue that might indicate who he was exactly or where he had gone.

“Don’t worry.” Leelo squeezed her hand. “We’ll find him.” She called then to her husband, Tarjo.

Together they searched though they had no other clues, and no one seemed to have seen the man. Nadiya could offer no description of him except that his voice was smooth and rich and his pendant matched hers. By the time the moon set and the first tinges of dawn arrived, she realized he was gone. Not even a single glimmer of gold disturbed the blue stone now.

Leelo pressed her forehead against hers, tears dampening her eyes. “Oh, Nadiya,” she whispered. “Perhaps you dreamed it?”

She shook her head, pulling away. “No. I saw him. I spoke to him. He was here!”

“Then he’ll be back. You’ll find him again.” Her friend embraced her. “I’m sure there’s a very simple explanation.”

“Maybe.” But now it seemed that her heart had been torn open. Had it been possible for her to imagine the entire event? Or was it possible he was one of those people who hated albinos and he had run when he saw her? No. No! She would not let her mind create such doubts! So what answer was there?

She pulled her cloak up over her shoulders. The soft velvet had been worn thin in a few places, but it kept her warm in the winter’s coolness and protected her skin from the sunlight. Though she longed for night and its comforting darkness, she also craved the brightness of day. She wandered the hills and the edge of the forests, desperate for some clue.

People did not simply vanish without a trace. And why had he been so afraid?

His footprints, if he had left any, were gone. Trampled in the patter of the search. Still she walked along. The air was sweet with fresh lavender and silver bell flowers. Droplets of dew clung to the blades of grass, catching the sunlight before they evaporated.

Suddenly an object caught her eye. A deep blue that did not belong in this place. She drew closer.

A thick leather bound book lay beneath the heather brown brambles. The leather had been dyed such a deep shade of indigo it almost hurt to look at it.

She scooped the book up. It was Calixto’s!

The elegant silver calligraphy on the front leaf confirmed this. Opening it farther, she paused, startled to see the strange letters. Either the book was encoded or written in another language. But it was his! She could learn about him now. And surely he would return for it.

She carried the book back and looked up the various languages of her country. None of them matched. Obviously he was from her people. He had one of their necklaces. But…she paused as she saw the calligraphic signature once more. Each of the letters of his name had a small symbol like one found in the book. “It’s a code,” she whispered.

On a separate piece of paper, she marked out the alphabet and filled in the letters. Then she flipped through the book.

It was beautifully written.

If she could have fallen in love with a particular type of handwriting this was the kind she would have chosen. Calixto had also sketched images in pen and ink of creatures and scenes. Many of which were unlike any she had ever seen. None of the landmarks looked familiar either. She gathered each unique symbol over the following days. Absent punctuation, there were thirty-six separate symbols. Calixto’s name provided seven. This was going to take a while.

Her eyes ached and blurred, and her head pounded as she pored over it. No matter the discomfort, she refused to stop. She worked on it every spare minute.

As the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, she identified several of the letters. Or at least suspected that she did. It was hard to know for certain. Hunched by the fire or hovering near the candles, she studied the letters and puzzled over the text’s interpretation for many long, dark hours. During the day, she spattered the doll’s dresses with dyes and wove their hair into braids. And every so often, when she had earned enough to cover her expenses, she put on her velvet cloak and journeyed as far as she could, searching again.

Yet no one knew anything about Calixto.

Her pendant showed no spark, no gleam. She clutched it often, rubbing her thumb across its bubbled surface, and wondering when Calixto would return.

The indigo journal gave her hope, small as it was. It was a work of art. Sometimes she sat and stroked the pages, wondering where he had witnessed these incredible sights. Sketches of monsters with four heads and apparitions with doe eyes filled the pages along with unusual images of buildings with sideways copulas and engraved vestibules. It ignited her love of travel and the wanderlust that so often clung to her. When he came back, she would have to convince him to take her to these wondrous places. Most importantly he would have to explain where he had gone and then where all these strange things were from. Despite her many travels, she had never seen anything like most of these drawings.

Combing through the book left her anxious sometimes, ragged or contemplative in others. She tucked the journal away each night and considered what it might mean if he never returned. Some nights, she cried, and the tears traced shaky paths down her cheeks and neck. Other nights she walked the invisible paths and trails of the forest and the outskirts of the desert, musing over what she might discover. And still other nights she shrugged and nestled beneath the covers, confident that her life could and would continue on. She had had many fine adventures and traveled to hundreds of places in her search. But there was still more to see and more to accomplish. One did not need a soul mate for that.

However, the pain of Calixto’s disappearance struck her all the harder after another four years had passed and the Festival of Leya returned. Though Leelo tried to coax her from the shop, Nadiya refused. So when Leelo and Tarjo left to dance in the streets and buy strings of cardamom and butter-soaked corn, Nadiya curled up beside the domed fireplace and stared at the entries in the indigo journal. If only they could speak.

The sun had already set and the moon had risen by the time Nadiya set journal aside. “What am I doing?” she asked aloud, pressing her hand to her forehead. “If he comes back, he comes back.” Leelo had been right. She should have gone to enjoy the festivities. It was her life, and it was up to her to live it. She couldn’t waste it wishing. Not even for a single night.

Picking up her cloak once more, Nadiya swept it over her shoulders. Perhaps she wasn’t in the mood for company, but she would at least go to see the lighting of the stag, the symbol of the last four years.

It was nearly an hour before midnight, and the streets were empty. She walked slowly, her hands in the pockets within her cloak. There were still adventures to be had. Her life was hers to lead. She had nearly saved enough to purchase a llama or a mule. Five more weeks, and she could leave again. Maybe I’ll return to the Sapphire Falls, she mused.

It was strange to see the city so still. As she passed beyond the three separate walls enclosing the city, she looked to the great hill with the stag and the farther one where she had spent the last Festival of Leya. Though Leelo would be glad to see her and insist she try the ginger rolls, Nadiya knew she wanted to be alone. There was a certain kind of pain that came from being alone in a crowd where most everyone had discovered his or her soul mate. And though she did not begrudge them their happiness, she wanted some for herself. Or at the very least a cool place to sit and watch the old years pass and prepare for the new ones’ arrival. And perhaps…perhaps some part of her hoped Calixto would come again.

As before, the night was cool but pleasant. The stars shone clear as cut diamonds, and the moon was as white as a new washed pearl. The grass beneath her feet released pleasant scents, faint but present nonetheless. As she reached the top of the hill, she turned to face the stag and crossed her arms over her chest. It was only a vague outline beneath that winter moon. But the chanting and singing rose as the people prepared for its lighting. Then a gong rang out. Once. The torches lit up. Twice. The torchbearers strode closer to the stag. Thrice. The torchbearers bowed, their torches dipping with them. The legs of the stag burst into flames, and the night was lit in the red-orange and yellow-white light. Though she could not hear it, Nadiya imagined the crackling and snapping as the fire spread. The celebration would continue for hours. Next year, I’ll celebrate. I really will, she told herself.

Sitting back down, she rested her hands on her knees. There was a quiet beauty in it. And surely there was far more to see in this world. Once she had her mule, she could travel even farther. Perhaps even to the uncharted territories.

A faint voice reached her ears. The sound was garbled, but for the briefest moment, it seemed as if someone called out her name.

Frowning, she turned.

The voice came again. It was clearer this time. “Nadiya!”

Pinpricks of hope cut through her. Rising, Nadiya stood and turned. “Calixto?” There was no pinprick of gold or orange moving from the hill with the stag, but hers had started to brighten.

“Nadiya!”

Turning, she looked in the opposite direction.

There he was! A pinprick of gold racing down another hill. “Calixto!” She ran toward him. Each time his spark disappeared from sight, her heart choked even though her pendant kept shining.

The knee-high grass whipped about her legs and feet, tugging at her gown and cloak and slowing her. Still she ran.

Reaching the top of the last hill, she saw his outline then. He was racing up toward her, arms pumping and long, braided hair flying.

He was real! Real! And here!

She flung herself forward with a strangled cry of happiness, meeting him halfway down the hill.

He swept her in his arms, and she hugged him tight. Their two pendants blazed with gold richer than the sun’s.

“Nadiya!” he gasped, breathless. His heart hammered against hers, and his body was bathed in sweat. He crushed her tight. “It’s finally you.” Setting her down, he kissed her fiercely.

She closed her eyes, melting into him. The warmth of his lips soothed and excited her at once. She twisted her fingers through his many braids. “Calixto,” she murmured. He tasted like sweat and apples.

“I am so sorry,” he said, at last pulling back. “I didn’t think I was going to make it.”

“What do you mean? Why wouldn't you? I don't understand any of this.” Her heart still pounded with excitement, but she could not forget all that had happened. “Where were you?”

He clasped her face in his hands. He was a broad-faced man with a warm smile and wide, expressive black eyes. Charms and trinkets hung about his neck, overlapping and clattering with every move he made. And he wore several knives strapped to his leg and his waist. But there was kindness in his eyes and in the curve of his mouth, and something quite pleasant about the shape of his brow. Faint scars traced the length of his jaw and feathered across his bare arms and neck. “I’ve been counting the days till this one.” He wiped the stray tears from her cheeks with his thumb. “All 1461. It felt like an eternity.”

“Where were you?” Nadiya asked, half laughing, half crying. He was everything she had hoped. Excitement, joy, relief, confusion, and sadness all swept over her. He had vanished before. What was to keep him from vanishing again?

“I was on other worlds, and I couldn’t get back. Not until today, and that wretched curse set me down miles from here. I’ve been going as fast as I could just to find you.”

“Curse?” she echoed.

He bowed his head as she looked at him with increasing confusion. “I’m cursed, Nadiya. On my eighteenth birthday after I received my necklace, I offended a witch by not using the proper tone when I bid her good day. She determined that I was prejudiced against her and had a treacherous heart. So she condemned me to find the paths between the worlds as treacherous as she found me. Every day at midnight, the boundaries between the worlds fall, and I am pulled into another.”

“For using the wrong tone?” Nadiya’s mouth fell open. “But that’s horrible!”

“She was a horrible person.” Calixto tried to smile, but it wavered. “I am so sorry, Nadiya. I can only imagine how difficult all this has been for you. If you wish, you may consider the bond severed and search for another. I cannot ask you to share this life of mine, but I am glad to have had this opportunity to meet you.”

“Surely there’s a way to end the curse. Some sort of cure!”

“None that I have found. Perhaps in time I’ll find one, but so far, there has been nothing. I only have what is left before midnight strikes, and then I will be pulled into the next world once again. That’s what happened before.”

Tears filled Nadiya’s eyes, and she clenched her jaw. “You’re just going to disappear again?” Perhaps she had fallen in love with an ideal she had fashioned over these years as she searched for him or perhaps the magic of the necklace made them feel closer than they were, but she felt as if she had known him all her life. And now she wanted nothing more than to be with him. Always.

“Not by choice. I'd stay if I could,” he said.

“And no one can go with you? You have to go alone?”

He hesitated, glancing up at the great clear sky. “Nadiya, it is a great burden to be pulled constantly from one world to another. There are many dangers and such uncertainty. I am condemned to be a wanderer all my days, and I cannot ask another to share that.”

“But can someone go with you?” Nadiya asked, her voice firmer. She took his hands in hers. They were strong and muscular, calloused and scarred. From the looks of the scarring, he had been bitten, stabbed, and burned. This life of his was harsh indeed. But hers had been challenging as well. The thought of danger did not frighten her. Traveling alone had made her brave.

“Yes, if they're holding onto me when midnight strikes, they will be pulled with me into the next world. But, Nadiya…there’s no way to stop this once it has begun. You have to complete the cycle. It will be four more years before you’ll see your friends and family. 1461 days exactly. And if we’re separated in some way, you’d have to find me after another four years or locate some other spell.”

She smiled slightly. She caressed his face, his skin warm to her touch. “I’ve done many strange and terrifying things already,” she whispered. “When I was searching for you, I traveled to the lengths of this world as far as my feet would carry me. I dove off the Sapphire Falls of Monti Spial, and I crept through the caverns beneath the Ghost Walkers. I have searched jungles, rivers, and forests, and I have walked the streets of every city, town, and village after dusk. Do you not think I am acquainted with danger and risk?”

“You could wait another four years though. I’ll be back here for the Festival of Leya again.” He clasped her hands in his. Though his words were strong, a heavy longing and sadness tinged them, and loneliness filled his face. “And you have to understand that I can’t promise you that we’ll survive to the next Festival of Leya. I can’t promise you safety or riches or anything like that. It’s a difficult and lonely life, and —”

She placed her finger against his lips. “What can you promise me?”

His eyes softened. “I can promise that I will love you. That I will listen to you. That I will speak with you. That I will share my heart and my life with you. I will share all I have with you.”

“That’s all I can promise you too,” she said. “Really…that's all anyone can ever promise. Besides I’ve been trying to decode that journal of yours.”

“Is that where it is?” Calixto laughed. He removed a scarlet leather journal from the satchel at his side. “I was afraid it was gone forever. I’ve started a new one.”

“And I’m sure it’s filled with all kinds of incredible adventures. Adventures that will be all the more wonderful if you have someone to share them with.”

“Yes.” He nodded. Tears still shone in his eyes. “All kinds.”

“That’s more than enough for me.” She pulled him forward. The night was bright with starlight and moonlight, beautiful beyond her comprehension. Such elation filled her she felt she could almost fly. “Just let me tell my friend!”

It did not take long to find Leelo on the outskirts of the gathering, but it was nearly midnight by then. The stag continued to burn beneath the night sky, casting a great golden halo all around them. And though Leelo was at first skeptical, she accepted him as she confirmed the pendants’ claim. “When you return in four years, will you be at this place?” she asked, her voice thick with emotion.

“Near here. But not always in the same place.” Calixto said. “It’s rather unpredictable like that.”

Leelo stepped closer, her hands clasped to her chest. Her blue-black eyes shone in the torchlight, and a gentle smile lit her face. “Well then, there will always be a place for you here. We’ll keep a room ready, I promise. And if you can, promise you’ll visit?”

“I promise,” she said.

The tears spilled down Leelo’s cheeks. “You know I’ll worry about you.”

She embraced Leelo, holding her close. “You’re a wonderful friend.”

“As are you.” Leelo kissed the top of her head and then straightened her cloak. A tear shone in her eye as she nodded toward the great clock tower. “I guess I’ll see you in four years.”

“1461 days exactly. I’ll think of you every day, Leelo.”

“And I’ll think of you.”

Drawing a deep breath, Nadiya turned to face Calixto. It was almost time. “Oh!” she clasped her hands to her mouth. “I forgot your journal. Do you want to —”

“We’ll get it next time. We’ve got the new one to fill.” He took her hands in his. Excitement trembled in his eyes. The sands within the clock shifted as the ringers lifted their mallets on the top of the tower, then, as one, they struck the gongs. Midnight. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

There was no doubt in her mind. “I do.” With the bells ringing out, she slid her hand against his cheek. As she smiled up at him, he smiled back at her. A weightlessness encompassed her, and everything began to grow dimmer except for the stars, Calixto, and a thousand sparkling lights.

Vaguely, she heard the last resounding stroke of midnight. Leaning up to his ear, she whispered again, “I do.” Then slowly everything faded and then a great white light took them.