"We finally reached the exit!" I said with a louder tone than usual because I couldn't hold my excitement.
I made my first footstep to the Ba-prince Frederik's kingdom. In his country, I wasn't a wanted person anymore. Nothing happened after I left Rheya's castle but I was nervous the whole time. I kept thinking about how somebody would figure out the connection and take me back to her. No matter what kind of place this was I'd surely have a better time than at Rheya's place.
A natural fog spread all over and I wasn't able to survey my surroundings. Even the fire spirit couldn't disperse the fog with its flames. The natural occurrence was too heavy and strong to dissolve easily.
The path we walked upon were dirty patches of grass. According to the map, the main road wasn't too far away and it was supposed to be paved but I didn't want to search for in the fog. Once it dissolves it will be easy to find the main path.
"After we meet prince Frederik and strike a deal I was thinking of finding a settlement," I said "Beyond this kingdom lies a small town near a bunch of small mountain waterfalls. Despite its small size, the people are active in their trades and I could surely find work there to keep me busy. The scenery of that place is beautiful. I could build a small house there ."
The fire spirit which was silently floating in front of me silently listened.
"My knowledge of that place is all based on books but I've got a feeling it will be exactly as I described," I continued.
As we were walking I felt that something hit me from behind. I stopped my movements and slightly jumped from shock. The fire spirit didn't notice anything and it continued to float ahead of me.
I reached towards the impact point which was my bag and noticed that it strangely felt a lot lighter. Too light. Something was wrong. Very wrong. I was standing in the same spot and opened my bag to see that my money pouch was gone. That...was the worst kind of disaster that could happen. I felt that a sudden cold overcome me as I checked the bag again but not a single gold coin was to be found. Did I drop money along the way? Impossible...that impact just now must be the cause.
Could this be the kind of hit and run robbery I read about in funny novels? I looked around me and on my left a saw a small black-haired figure running away.
"Wait!" I yelled.
The small black-haired person didn't say anything but started to run away faster and I followed after him.
"Wait! That's my money!" I yelled again.
The dirty looking little boy looked in my direction for a second and run even faster. It was such a short period of time so that I wasn't able to take a proper look at his face. I couldn't keep up with him and he got lost in the fog.
"I'm sure you'll manage miss," he said somewhere from the fog.
"I won't," I cried out the truth."I need it."
I ran left and right trying to find the boy but he was nowhere to be found anymore. What do I do now? As I run distressed I bumped into someone.
Caught you!
I thought it was the culprit because I closed my eyes upon the impact but it was the fire spirit. It danced around in a confusing way after seeing my sad face. I held back my tears but my feelings were still visible.
"I just got robbed,"I said.
The spirit snuggled to my right cheek to comfort me.
"Without any money, I won't be able to afford a place to stay for the night," I said.
The option of staying outside was always open but in the meanwhile, I acquired a fine sum of gold coins which should have paid for inns/taverns and other places to rest and eat. All of the money was earned by my work of selling potions or doing magic tricks. It was something I worked for and I wanted to enjoy the fruits of my work, but now it was all gone.
The fire spirit left my right cheek and snuggled against my left one. It must have tought that I was in such a bad spot, but I am a witch. I have a lot of options. Magic could help me track down the culprit. This fog was getting in my way and removing should solve the problem.
"Spiritum dona mihi potestatem usque ad aqua dissolvere," I closed my eyes to focus on a strong spell and carefully emphasized each word.
The fog slowly dissipated until an earthy meadow with some grass spots, under the cloudy sky appeared. There was nobody in sight. The boy ran off somewhere far away, but I wasn't done. I need my money back.
"Let's find some people and try to find info about the thief," I said.
The fire spirit nodded in agreement and we went to search.
"I thought it'd be foggy the whole day but the fog dissolved so suddenly, as if magic was at work," I heard female voices talking about today's weather but I didn't feel like getting involved in their conversation.
I entered the remains of a village which was crowded with people. The houses or rather wooden constructions barely held together. Everything was old, half-destroyed, and had its colours washed out.
"And remember the black holes? One day there were gone. Just like that. Vanishing without a trace," an older woman said.
If I said I was involved in the black holes business I'd only look suspicious so I decided to keep quiet about it. I had no proof I helped the world and I didn't want people to misunderstand my intentions.
First I should start by searching for clues about the boy who robbed me. I carefully looked around me to see to whom should I start asking.
The clothes of every one were ripped at different places and the fabric was barely holding together. The colors were all washed out, leaving pale white, brown, and green shades of their original colours. It was completely different from Rheya's capital where everyone was nicely dressed.
Everybody looked very poor. Even poorer than the people from my home village. They noticed my presence but nobody made a move to get acquainted. I wondered with whom I should talk first. With an older woman or a man? Maybe somebody my age? Or to kids since the thief was a child?
I was a stranger. A witch. Yet those people didn't seem to care who I was. I didn't even hear any talk about me behind my back. Well, maybe it wasn't a bad thing but I should really decide to whom to talk to. Maybe to that old lady sitting on the log over there or to the two girls happily chatting about guys on my left?
As I was thinking what to do I felt a sudden crash on my back like the one I felt in the fog.
"What? You're broke too, sis?" a small brown-haired, dirty looking boy looked at me with great disappointment in his eyes.
"Hey...you just tried to rob me?" I said in a state of angry shock.
Flames slipped from me but the fire spirit extinguished them. It probably didn't want me to cause a scene there.
"Well yes. How else would you expect a kid to survive here?" he furrowed his small brows.
"Where are your parents?" I demanded."I would like a word with them."
"I'd love to have a word with them too," the boy replied with sadness in his big, brown eyes."Us here don't get the luxury of having parents or relatives. We're all discarded."
I felt terrible after hearing his words and I didn't feel like pressing the matter of his attempted theft.
"There must be other, honest ways to live. You're still a little boy, you could..." thinking about the boys' life in such a poor, dirty place without parents brought tears to my eyes.
"Don't make such a face. We don't need pity," the boy interrupted me."We're poor but we have our pride. You city folk wouldn't understand."
Nobody around us seemed to care about our conversation. I didn't feel a single glance at us. That was strange but I guess that the people here were preoccupied with themselves.
"But now, you're here too. Without anything of worth. You were discarded just like the rest of us," the boys said with a sharp tongue.
"I'm different from the people here! I got robbed," I said.
Perhaps I said it too loudly because I noticed angry glances on me. When I stop and think about what I said it seemed like I was looking down on people here and I wasn't someone like that.
"I-I'm sorry...we shouldn't talk like that. Each one of us has hers of his unique personality and abilities," I said.
"Cut the decencies," the boy interrupted me"You already got robbed before you met me, huh?"
"It was also a boy of your height and age. He had black hair," I tried to recollect everything.
"It must have been Boss," the little thief said.
"Boss? You could tell who it was from such a short description?" I asked.
"There is nobody like the Boss here," the boy said with a sparkle in his eyes.
"Take me to the Boss," I said.
"Can't do. Nobody can meet the Boss. He visits you," the boy said and started running.
"Wait!" he didn't react to my words.
I followed after him through the remains of a village or a town. It was hard to tell what this place was before it got ruined. I jumped to avoid wood and obstacles along the way, crunched through small passages and even made my way through a crowd of poor people. The fire spirit followed me by floating around.
Suddenly a poor little girl stood in front of me to block my path She was holding the flame pendant Akios gave me in Firesworth. Its sparkles were in direct contrast with the dirt around us. The flames were lit this whole time. They never stopped burning. That was very interesting.
"This necklace is nice but it gives me the creeps," the freckled girl said.
She threw it back to me. My reflexes worked well and I caught it just in time before it fell to the ground. Again I didn't notice that I was robbed. How? These kids must have mastered thievery.
"Why are you holding on to that?" the girl asked"If I were you I'd throw it away."
"It is not creepy! This pendant was a gift. I could never throw away a gift," I said.
I looked at the pendant again and smiled. It was the first gift I got from someone during my journey. The one who gave it to me was shady but a gift is a gift. They need to be cherished. I didn't see anything strange about it. No magic was present in it. At least nothing I could detect. Akios was more powerful and maybe he could camouflage magic on it but I don't think there would be merit for him to enchant this pendant. We did say goodbye to each other.
I put the pendant around my neck so I wouldn't lose it easily again. This was I also protected it from another robbery.
"Oh, so this is a book of magic. It is written how to make spells here," another small girl was holding my grimoire.
"Put that down. It isn't meant for kids," I said.
She tossed the grimoire back to me and said "I don't have magic in me and there are no witches around to sell it to. Your stuff is worthless big sis."
I felt a strange sensation of anger and embarrassment. The two emotions were mixed in me, but the latter one was stronger. I let myself be played by a bunch of kids. As an adult, a witch I should have handled it better.
"One woman's treasure is worthless to someone else," I said while trying to reclaim my cool.
I took a few moments to figure out what to say but the girls were already gone. The fire spirit calmly floated by my side. I wondered what it would tell me now if it could talk.
My lead, the little boy who knew Boss was long gone. At this rate, I won't be able to get my money back. The kids defeated me and maybe I should accept it. I should search for ways to make money but this place was too poor. Even if I worked here and was helpful the people looked like they had no money to pay me.
Maybe I should look for a safe place to rest for the night and when I reach the next town start to earn money immediately. Using magic to get revenge against a bunch of poor kids would leave a bad aftertaste. They were poor just like me, but they were at the beginning of their lives. If the thief was an adult I'd go after him or her, get my stuff back and maybe get revenge, but putting my hands on kids was a big no. Their parents should scold them but they had none.
Teaching the kids a lesson wouldn't be a bad idea but I had no means of leading them to a better life. Even if I took them with me I wouldn't know how or where to find a safe place where they could live an honest life. They needed parents or an honest adult who would take care of them and lead them to the proper life path. I heard that kids without parents usually went to live with their relatives but the ones here seemed to be on their own.
There were no orphans in my village but I heard rumors of abandoned children in the citadel. They always ended up missing after a while. The king used them to get money by selling organs. I felt a sudden coldness remembering it and I shook a bit.
"Miss...are you alright? You seem to be shaking," an old man called out to me.
The man had pure white hair and a mustache of the same colour. He smiled at me but half of his teeth were missing.
"Miss! Are you perhaps a witch? Those clothes and that strange book you're holding. Isn't that a grimoire?" he asked as he touched his back.
"Yes. My name is Calytrix and I'm on my coming of age journey around the world,"I answered.
"My, that's so nice. My name is Niall" the man said it in a very happy tone as he straightened his position.
His tone creeped me out because it reminded me of the old man from the Onocentarum villiage. The old man currently near me continued."You're the second witch I had the pleasure to get acquainted with during my long years."
"The second one? Who was the first one?" I asked.
"Her name was..." he rubbed his eyes."A-a...I can't remember."
The man seemed quite old so it wasn't surprising if he forgot. Some of the very old folk in my village would lose parts of their memory. It wasn't anything new that I hadn't encountered so far.
"Well, I should get going," I started walking away.
"Wait!" Niall yelled and suddenly jumped in front of me blocking my path.
I was surprised by his quick movements.
"To see a witch is such a rare sight and I don't have many years to live left," the man said."Would you grant this old man a pleasure of a conversation. There are so many things I want to know about magic," the man showed me his biggest smile.
"That's okay, but I'll need to get going before it gets dark," I said.
"The one who made the fog disappear was you, weren't you?" he asked"You must be a powerful witch."
"It was me, but there are so much more powerful mages than me," I remembered.
"Mages? What is that?" he asked confused.
I laughed nervously. "What did I just say. I meant witches. There are many powerful witches in our world,"
"I see that there is something you won't tell me. We all have our secrets so it's fine if you don't tell me," Niall said.
Once again I felt embarrassed. I was so bad at lying but I didn't feel like explaining all the stuff that happened on my journey to some random old man.
"I just remembered how some black holes started appearing but all of a sudden they were gone. Just like the fog you made disappear," he said.
"Those black holes were a real nuisance for everyone but they want be appearing again," I said with a slight smile."I hope they didn't hurt anyone here."
"Nobody was hurt. Even the little thieves were fine," the man reassuringly said."That reminds me. You should check your belonging Calytrix. They always rob strangers."
"I'll be okay. If you could point me to the nearest town I'd be..." I tried to cut the conversation.
"You should check your belongings Calytrix," the old man said again.
"I don't feel like rummaging through my bag because there is a lot of stuff in there and I don't feel like disturbing the order of contents," I lied.
"If they stole your coin you'd be in a pinch," Niall insisted.
I don't know why was he so intent on me being robbed. He just didn't want to let the topic go.
"I actually got robbed a while ago and I was searching for the kid who did it," I confessed.
"My, that's terrible. Are you going to use some spells against the thieves?" Niall asked.
"No. I shouldn't use my magic on humans and I don't want to hurt anyone," I said.
"My, that's so admirable!" The man almost clasped from excitement."They actually robbed me too and I only wanted to help them."
"Help them?"
"Yes. There are some city folk without children of their own willing to take these kids as their own," Niall explained.
"My! That's great. They can get parents too," I was filled with excitement too.
That's exactly what they need. Parents will take care of everything. The kids will get a chance to grow up properly. Nobody could teach the kids a lesson like parents.
"I already arranged everything but the little thieves don't get that it's for their good," Niall said."Would you come with me to try to persuade them?"
"Sure!" I had no doubt it was the correct thing to do.
"Excellent! Their hideout is near the ruins of a temple. It's a fine distance from here so you'll have to spend some of your journey with me,"
"I don't mind," I said."Let's go."
The fire spirit and I followed after the old man.