Children of Fyre

Chapter Nineteen

Damien was waiting downstairs, literally at the base of the steps. He grabbed me as soon as I was within his reach and pulled me towards the front door. I shook him off my shoulder and turned around. 

"Thank you, miss," I tell the girl working at the front. "Have a lovely day." Then, I followed him out the door. Damien was already a fair distance ahead of me and I had to jog with my gear to catch up to him. 

"We're going to get you a better bow made, and also some new swords forged," he said, mostly talking to himself. 

We walked to the forge, him muttering random tasks to do the entire walk. The blacksmiths were already awake and working when we arrived. Damien pulled aside the lead blacksmith, at least I assumed he was based on approximate age. He was the oldest of the group for sure, so there was a fair chance that he was the main blacksmith and the rest were his apprentices. 

"I need a few swords forged and a bow," Damien was saying. "The bow and one of the swords is for this young gentleman here, so they need to fit him. Nothing super long or big." Damien handed over something to the blacksmith and then beckoned me to follow him again. 

Wandering the town, I noticed even more buildings than I had in the days prior. There was an apothecary, barter and trade store, and a tavern that I never saw before now. This town was quite a bit larger than my own little village. We had to rely on the land and our gardens for our medicines and ointments, then trade with others for any necessary foods or supplies that we needed. Once in a while we'd get lucky and there would be a trader that rolled through the village where we could exchange some of our goods, mostly food, for more novelty items, such as some of the tools we often used. 

I wasn't sure what Damien was doing when we stopped at the apothecary. "Go in there, order some ointments for wounds and whatever you think would be important for a long journey," he ordered me, already walking away from me. 

Walking into the apothecary was an experience. There was so much to take in and it left me in awe seeing all the options for miscellaneous illnesses and injuries. I was walking backwards at one point and tripped over a nearby stool, which was when I heard a small chuckle behind me. Spinning around quickly, I hit the stool again, almost falling because of it. 

"Uh, um," I say, trying to catch the stool to prevent it from completely falling. I managed to both stay on my feet, mostly, and keep the stool upright as I looked up to see a very pretty girl standing there. "Hi, um, sorry about that," I say, turning a little red.

"Don't worry about it, this must be the first time being here, right," she asked, bouncing over to help me get completely upright. 

"Uh, yes, um," I stuttered out. "I'm sorry, this is just, uh, a lot to take in." I was mostly referring to her, though the apothecary itself was also a little overwhelming. She was about the same height as me, beautiful blonde hair, light blue eyes, and lean. She looked strong for her size though. 

"How can I help you," she asked with a smile. 

I could not for the life of me remember why I was sent here. Between the large selection of supplies and her, my mind went completely blank for a moment. "Uhh, travels," I say, sounding stupid. "I need some supplies for wounds while traveling," I finally managed to get out. 

Her eyes teased me and I was mesmerized by it. I found it hard to concentrate on what I needed or what I was told. I wished to stay in the apothecary for a while, as she was a beautiful sight to behold. Her voice was soothing, similar to that of Acacia's voice, but a bit softer and just as well spoken. 

 I snapped back to reality as she was in the middle of speaking. "...will be ready later today," she was saying. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that," I responded, embarrassed that I got entranced by her beauty. It was just so hard to concentrate around her. 

"I was saying that your order will be ready later today. Okay?  

"Okay, that'll be all right, do you, uh, do you mind if I wait here?" 

 "It might be a while," she warned. 

 "That's fine with me."

She nodded as she went back to work. I watched her quietly as she pulled items from the shelf and from under the counter. 

The sun was high overhead when Damien came looking for me. I suppose he expected me to locate him when I placed the order, but my brain was mush. Oh well. A little late now. 

"What are you still doing-" he started, but stopped mid sentence. Damien caught me staring at the girl and chuckled. "I think I would stay too, actually." He shook his head, directing me out the door. "Let's go," he said. "Let her work in peace." Once we were outside, Damien turned to me and started speaking again. "When will everything be ready by?"

"Uh, I think she said by the end of the day, but I could have misremembered," I responded, not even slightly confident in my answer.

Damien chuckled again and beckoned me to follow him. "She was cute," he agreed. "Not my type, but still a pretty girl. Did you get her name?" Damien wasn't being self-absorbed for a change, which shocked me. 

I shook my head. "No, I didn't think to," I responded. 

"Well, when you go pick up our order later, ask her for her name," he told me. 

Later. That meant this wasn't the only time that I would get to see her. That excited me and I was looking forward to seeing her again already. 

"Until that time rolls around, I need you to focus," he warned me. "Focus." He looked at me expectantly, seeing that I had already lost focus on him. "Okay, now go tend to the horses. If they're hungry, get them some food, else muck out their stalls."

Damien stalked off, leaving me outside the horse's stables. I had no idea when we got to them, but I quickly realized that I could think back on the girl and our interactions while working. Mucking out a stall shouldn't be that hard, right?