SAM

  Take a hover train across Uno? Check.

  With our bags draped over our shoulders, Cora and I stepped aboard and took a spot next to the window with Jax and Ree. Minutes later, we were off, speeding away from Nineton, heading due East towards the mountains and Uru.

  “I know you can’t see it because of the speed, but the agro-domes are outside the windows,” Jax nodded.

  Ee was right, I couldn’t make out anything until the train stopped, and our first mini-city popped into view. Little town covered by a clear biodome, filled with greenery.

  Travelers got on and off the train, and we took off again. It went on like that for over an hour ’til we reached the last stop: Uru Station.

  It was a sight to behold. Familiar white buildings like Nineton, but with a town that looked like something from a fantasy.

  Round buildings with clear domed roofs. Raised curving pathways. Tiers of buildings with massive arched windows.

  “I swear, they made a city look like birthday cakes from a princess's dream,” Cora marveled.

  Ree laughed, “They do look like a bunch of stacked cakes, don’t they? Some of them flat, some domed! Isn’t it gorgeous, though? This is my favorite city on Uno. It’s so nice on a summer day like today when the biodome above is open. It has to be closed all winter to keep the snow off the gardens.”

  “I, for one, prefer the burbs of Nineton, but when I have to be in a business center, this is the one I go to. Shall we?” Jax directed, and we followed through the station.

  We stepped into a clear elevator that gave us a birds-eye view of the inside of our hotel: gorgeous white marble lit with daylight from above. Concentric rings that grew smaller the higher up we went.

  Stopping on the tenth floor, we stepped onto an open walkway that ran a ring around the elevator shaft. There were only a few doors, and we found our room quickly and stowed our bags.

  “Ready for dinner?” Ree asked in the hallway.

  “I’m starved,” Cora said.

  “Something smells amazing. Like roast corn?” I asked.

  “That’s the hotel kitchen, but we’re going someplace special,” Jax said with raised brows.

  We followed them across the city, taking the raised walkways past scene after scene of city life: shops, mothers with babies, kids running, couples holding hands. A girl with a bird perched on her wrist. A man with a python wrapped around his shoulders. A boy floating leaves above his head.

  Right. Just an average, everyday town.

  Plus a few odd balls.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  I smiled to myself, in love with Uru—home of the weird.

  “Here we go,” Jax gestured to a small arched doorway, and we stepped into grandeur of the smallest order.

  The little balcony was open-air, with a bannister carved from the same white stone as everything else. But each column of the handrail was sculpted into the fantastic: mermaids, elves, phoenix, satyrs. Beyond it, the entire city of Uru spread out below us in majesty.

  “Someone’s a fantasy lover?” I asked, pointing at the satyr.

  “I did tell you it’s my favorite genre,” Ree smirked.

  “Jax! Ree! So glad you made it!” a chef in a dark maroon uniform stepped onto the balcony with a tray.

  We took our seats at the only table as Jax introduced us to Chef Radic. He was mid-height, with light brown skin, almond eyes, and dark short hair streaked with grey. The delicacies he presented us looked divine. I’d never seen anything like it.

  “A-MAZE-ing,” Cora joked, and she was right. It looked like a maze, not a meal.

  The circular plate before me held a spiral-shaped ring of colorful foods so pretty only my hungry stomach could get me to dismantle it.

  “You need to experience the Spire for yourself,” Ree purred. “But here’s a hint: start on the outside. The very beginning of the spiral. That way you get the full effect.”

  I picked up my fork, taking a bit of the pale fruit on the outermost edge. Didn’t taste like much. I scooped up the greenery next to it and bit down on a crunchy salad with a little more flavor.

  Oh, I got the idea. I kept sampling bites, working my inward. Each bite grew consecutively more flavorful, and by the time I reached the innermost circle, the salad was peppery, a little sweet, and had a punch to it like green onion.

  Fabulous!

  “This is wonderful!” I told our hosts.

  “Incredible,” Cora agreed. “Is all the food in Uru served in spirals?”

  “Why of course,” Jax said sarcastically. “Order a burger, you get a ring you have to cut with a spoon since you can’t pick it up. We’re very practical here.”

  We chuckled. Okay, so the Spire was a special thing.

  Chef Radic arrived with hot plates that smelled delicious. Another spiral. This one with a red, creamy grain.

  I started in. Almost bland, it tasted like lightly salted grits—oh! “This is polenta? Corn? Right?” I asked.

  Ree nodded, “Yep! One of the two varieties grown out in the agro-domes. Everything you eat here tonight was grown on Uno—nothing imported. So, I hope you like it.”

  “I’m loving this,” Cora raved. “The way the flavors build, and it looks like we’re getting some different proteins? Shrimp, mussels, and fish?”

  They nodded, and I kept tasting my way through the plate.

  “When the Sloans built these cities, did they design food presentations like this?” Cora wondered.

  Jax laughed. “No way. You know Nineton? There are fourteen cities similar to it in a ring around the equator of Uno, where it’s warmest. Places like Uru are the products of the settlers. Those of us who want to do the fantastic on our own. You could say we imagined it into existence.”

  “Right,” Cora drolled, gesturing with a fork full of veggie-covered mussels. “Just like we dreamers go to sleep at night, then magic our morning coffee into our hands when we wake.”

  “Oh, that would be nice,” I agreed. “Nanna’s breakfast casserole would be lovely to wake up to.”

  “I take it you two don’t have shadow monsters that eat your eyes in your nightmares, eh?” Ree asked.

  “It’s all rainbows and sunshine,” I assured her.

  Jax turned to Ree, “Grandmother will be very happy to hear dreamers are now pulling casseroles out of thin air. This is an unexpected twist for the Talented.”

  She elbowed her mate, “Tell them about the city, babe.”

  I raised eager brows, scooping up a bite of spicy fish with shaved veggies and creamy red polenta. Delicious!

  “Alright, curious ones. According to my gran, the Sloans hoped the colonies would grow and that the settlers would branch out. Invention was encouraged, and we Uno-ites did not disappoint. There are a bunch of cities that sprang up like Uru—“

  Ree cut Jax off, “This is the youngest—the newest. There’s nothing else like it!”

  “Well, I love it. Obviously, people are comfortable here, wearing their snakes, putting food into circles. . . it looks like a perfect place for creatives,” I said, finishing the last bite of my dinner.

  “Is dessert gonna be served in circles too?” Cora asked.

  Waggling es brows, Jax answered, “Wait and see.”