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Back to O'Jahnz

"Wow... you actually made all of those options sound really not fun." Jax relaxed back onto the grass and yawned.

"Seems like someone's getting tired." Meredith laughed as she leaned back in the grass as well.

"Looks like Jax is getting second shift then." I rolled my eyes as I already heard his snoring. I leaned over to my right, where Meredith was sitting.

"You can take the third shift, Cos. I can stay up for a few more hours." She leaned closer and I fell into a cold sweat.

"You sure? There's no way you're not tired after traveling that far." I tripped over my words and my hands were shaky. I turned to her and she looked away as if she had been looking at me for a while. She yawned and tried to cover it up. She turned back to me, her face red. She started giggling and I joined in with her, laughing.

"I'm sure. I'm sure." Meredith insisted after stifling another yawn.

"Yeahhh," I answered sarcastically. "Take third shift so you can get some sleep. If something is going to ambush us in the middle of the night, you'll need to be prepared." There was a long silence and eventually, Meredith leaned her tiny body against the arm that was propping me up. I blushed and continued talking through the embarrassment. "Like, anything could be living in this forest. One of these trees could be a treant, or even an ogre could live in these-" A faint snoring came from my shoulder. I looked down to find Meredith sound asleep against my arm, her hair messily falling over her shoulders. I laughed to myself and laid in my own thoughts until I felt it was about time to wake Jax for his shift and go to sleep.

. . .

The next few days were spent on walking, camping, and sleeping. It was almost fun at first, chatting with Meredith and Jax and becoming very close friends with each of them, but after a while conversation and gossip became stale. The only thing we had to look forward to was reaching O'Jahnz, and the chances were high that it was currently a war zone.

Soon, days flashed by as if they were minutes. My brain got used to the pattern. Long, hot days walking through plains, forests, rivers, marshes, and hilly regions. At night we'd struggle to light a fire and Jax would collapse. Meredith and I would spend our nights talking and Meredith would eventually doze off mid-conversation. I didn't mind, though.

Eventually, on our third day of travel, O'Jahnz was within 75 yards. Its massive tiered figure loomed over us, creating a shadow in the blazing orange sunset. The lights in O'Jahnz were electric and they lit up the streets as though every street was a Trading Depot.

Even accounting for the time, the streets were bustling with people either purchasing things from various shops or merchant's tents, eating in restaurants that lined the roads, or just milling around with family.

Before we even stood in front of the massive central gate of O'Jahnz, its firm and sturdy iron bars just looked menacing. The crude chain system that was used to lift the gate was archaic compared to the technology on the inside. There were four guards that stood on either side of the gate that immediately halted us. Two wielded great axes and the other two wielded massive shields and swords.

One was in full knights armor, including the helmet. The rest wore armor but spared the helmet as it most likely got hot, especially on days like the one we had just been through. One of them had a full beard that was not very long and evenly trimmed all around. The others were cleanly shaven, one going as far as to have a completely bald head despite his young face, the other didn't particularly have any unique traits, just short and black hair that had a few grey streaks in it.

The one wearing a helmet spoke first. "What is your business in O'Jahnz?" What he said was a question, but he spoke it in a tone as though it was a statement. However, this could have just been because of the muffling of his voice caused by the thick helmet.

"Wow. Straight to the point, aren't' you?" Jax asked, as though the knight was his best friend he had seen every day. Meredith and I turned in astonishment at this casual comment, which Jax did not even seem to be afraid of. The two knights with great axes slammed them against the hard, paved ground, making an unsettlingly loud noise.

"What is your business in O'Jahnz?" The knight in the helmet stated again.

The knight with the beard leaned in and warned, "I'd listen if I were you, kid." He curved his hand and put it to the side of his mouth as if it would block off the next words he said. "He takes his job a little too seriously."

The bald knight spoke up. "So, don't make us ask more than three times." he chuckled, a lot more relaxed than I had expected the guards of O'Jahnz to be. "What are you three's business here?"

"We'd..." I was too nervous to tell the knights our business there.

"We'd like an audience with Lord Tarint." Meredith replied, sounding pristine and dignified. Regardless of this attempt to sound more adult, the guards all looked at each other with unsure faces.

"Listen, we understand that Lord Tarint loves to speak with his citizens," The black haired guard started. "But he tends to only accept an audience with citizens of his city. I don't think he could handle an audience from every man, woman, and child west of Oase." He laughed a little and the bearded knight spoke up again.

"Even if he had time to talk to you, he's meeting currently with a group of people called the Followers of Andi." He said. Meredith, Jax, and I immediately snapped our heads over to each other. The situation of magic versus technology was complicated throughout the entire region, but even more so in O'Jahnz.

My dad used to introduce technology to O'Jahnz so it seemed like it was a type of magic. He believed that magic and technology should exist in harmony and that it didn't have to be one or another. He knew and told me personally that Lord Tarint was always stubborn. He thought magic could do anything better than technology. Tarint had a group of the ten best sorcerers in the region, and he believed strongly that they were unarguably the best solution to any problem. I could remember conversations between my father and me, and he was always complaining how stubborn Tarint was to accept the ways of technology. Lord Tarint was going to accept the ways of technology for sure, now; and magic would be erased from O'Jahnz.

I turned back to the knights and said, "That's even more reason for us to get in there! We need into O'jahnz, now!" I yelled.

"Naive child." The knight with the helmet on spat. "We're going to have to ask you to remove yourself from O'Jahnz until the meeting is over."

"I'm sorry, kid." The bearded knight leaned in again. "But that is protocol. If we were to let you in to O'Jahnz now, I could be arrested with assistance to sabotage. All of us could." he gestured to the rest of the group of knights.

The black-haired knight spoke up again. "Come back at sundown, kids. The meeting will be over then and we'll let you in, alright?" We shook our heads and walked away collectively.

"Well, it was worth a shot to try to get in legally." Jax shrugged and smiled.