The Amulet of Kryshar

Chapter 13

Pushing open the door, I entered the small shop. An old lady was working behind the counter, glasses perched on the bridge of her sharp nose, while she was busy counting coins on the palm of her hand. Her grey hair was bunched up in a tight bun on the top of her head, giving her a stern and unyielding look.

She barely even glanced up from her work as we entered the shop. "What do you girls want? You don't look like you can afford anything. If you can't buy anything, then get out."

Melanie ignored her and asked, "Are you Thynia?"

Thynia looked up this time and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Yes, why?" she demanded impatiently. "Who are you girls anyway and how do you know my name? I have never seen you around here before and your clothes are also quite unusual."

This time I stepped up before Melanie could open her mouth to further irritate the woman. "Sorry for my friend's behaviour, Miss Thynia." Melanie cast me a seething glare. I smirked in return. "We were told to find and talk to you by Matt, the bartender from Starbucks." Thynia's hard gaze softened slightly at that name. I hesitantly went on, "He also told us to talk in private with you."

The old woman raised her eyebrows at this and after some thought, walked to the front door and flipped the sign from OPEN to CLOSED. Then she turned to us and crossed her arms expectantly. "What do you want to talk about that is so top secret that it has to be done in private?"

"Well— ", Melanie started but Thynia cut her off.

"No, rude girl, I'm not talking to you."

"Hey! I'm not rude!" Melanie complained.

"Oh, my sincerest apologies. You are just excessively annoying to converse with."

"Excuse me?" Melanie said incredulously.

Rubbing my temples, I gruffly said, "You are excused."

I watched as she huffed indignantly but thankfully stayed silent. She was probably sulking and I couldn't help but feel amusement while looking at her. Thynia seemed to think the same as me, for when I looked back into her frosty blue eyes, they were dancing with youthful mischievous amusement, which almost didn't seem to match with her old and wrinkled face.

"Now then, what were you going to say?"

I took a deep breath and blurted out, "Matt said you knew where the last of the wielders are."

Thynia immediately stiffened and narrowed her eyes at me until they almost looked like chips of cold, cold ice. "And why would you need to know something like that? Especially someone who is still new to Kryshar." She shook her head at my dumbfounded expression. "Did you really think that I wouldn't notice? You have the look of someone who doesn't have a clue of what is happening around them. Most newcomers act that way. Most newcomers also meet Matt first, who gives them some advice on what to do next. So, my question still stands. Why would Matt tell two newcomers, one of them a perfectly rude girl, about the wielders and how to find them? I doubt you even know a thing about Kryshar!"

"We do know some stuff!" I retorted indignantly, even though a part of my mind was shouting at me that this was a bad idea, that I didn't know what I was talking about.

Thynia smiled dangerously, eyes glittering. Her sharp nose and pointy chin suddenly looked like the beak of a hawk on the search for easy prey. "Well, then. I hope you wouldn't mind telling what Kryshar's currency is called then?"

Melanie and I exchanged confused looks. I decided to take a guess. "It's those small, shiny coins you were counting earlier, right?" I said, while haphazardly waving around with my hand in the direction of the big leather pouch, where Thynia seemed to store all of her money. Next to me, Melanie looked at a loss.