"The woman you love so much sleeps with her grandfather."
''What are you saying? They are relatives, that's not possible... Who are you talking about? I asked in shock''
''You're such a child. Don, I don't mean to upset you, but it's true that I expected more from you from what I heard. In the case of Kira, who is sleeping with the dwarf, this is known by all your people. Mister Snuch is irritated by anyone who approaches his stepdaughter. He loves her so much that his love transcends the normal. He told me word for word one day in front of a bonfire like this!''
A bit stung and with my stomach churning from the grumpiness that hit me like a bolt of lightning, I asked:
''And why are you telling me this?''
''We elves can't lie... Well, that's what they say.''
''I never asked you anything.''
''I know. I did it because it seemed necessary. You may have beaten up some bullies, but trust me you don't want to mess with that dwarf.''
Suddenly, staying close to her became unbearable. I wanted to get away:
''I'm going to walk a little, I said.''
''Don't go too far away. Tomorrow we'll leave early. You will discover many things, cheer up! Where the Don passed by, who was talking enthusiastically about seeing everything beyond the borders of Duncaster.''
''You've just taken the edge off.''
And I went quite a long way from where the little camp was.
__________________________________________________________________________
[Narrator]
Hurt and angry, Don walked away. He walked into the warm breezes. Feeling lost, he let himself drift wherever the wind directed him. His steps soon felt so heavy that, compared to his grief, replaying and rethinking the moments he had spent was wrong. So, suddenly, he began to blame life for his betrayal. Though wrong, he felt equally betrayed for having given him false hope, and cursed the name of the dwarf who had dared to lift that flower he loved so much.
A slow walk in the cold, suddenly feeling the warm dampness. A strong smell of foliage haunted him. The silence of the night in the middle of an unknown forest began to change when he arrived before a lake, and he remembered that same lake that left him certain good moments. The sound of certain birds accompanied him in a silent sorrow and rage that simulated the growth of poisonous and corrupted seeds, which little by little, so he looked at the sky, then promised that he would save her from the clutches of that dirty and filthy dwarf who pretended to be his family, but who in the end every night gobbled up the courage of the woman he loved so much.
And then he looked at his reflection in the water. Suddenly, an insane amount of bubbles began to bubble up under the water, from the intense heat that was beginning to glow in the heart of the small lake. The lake was evaporating little by little, following a natural state it could not escape. Don looked at his reflection with disgust. His fury got the better of him. His flip-flops caught fire and everything under his feet burst into flames. Suddenly, everything around him began to burn. Lost in himself, horrifying images came to him: bodies hanging, flames everywhere, a burning house, a woman crucified on top of the roof, and screams... cries, pain and suffering... All at once, he was hit by severe attacks in the head. Extreme pain. He began to scream and roll on the ground from the exaggeratedly high-pitched sound that collapsed his thoughts. Without explanation, he suddenly returned to normal, like a branch that abruptly splits in two. When he was able to pull himself together after several minutes, he looked around: the lake was already completely dry. The dead fish, charred. The hot air felt heavy and blew the ashes of the animals that were unlucky, a dense and suffocating air, leaving strong smells of charcoal. Because yes: much of the forest was on fire.
Don looked and looked, feeling his body and his sight constantly spinning under his feet. Stunned, he understood neither the moment nor the consequences. He looked at his arm and noticed that it was in its original form, and that ahead of schedule: he only had two potions for eight days. Then he ran out of the burning forest drinking from a flask.
All the while, amidst the strong burning wind of the flames and the ashes of the burning trees, he was being spied on by a blue-eyed elf, attentive with a fiery bravery in her silent character and her ability to disappear in an instant.
Don had only one vial left with an effect of two days each... but it already seemed to be two days stretching on, in two more days.
What will he do if it's not enough, what will he do if they discover his true identity? And I wondered: who will that pointy-eared, blue-eyed character be?
________________________________________________________
[Don perspective]
The next morning...
Don was lying on the ground in the middle of nowhere after spending such a long night. Luckily, Miss Miriel found him in a deplorable state and began, concerned about the state of Don lying on the dirty ground, shoeless and almost naked:
''Don, get up! Then she proceeded to give him several rough blows'' "Get up! And he continued: "What happened to you? What happened to your clothes and your shoes?''
''What...? I answered, half asleep and totally shattered.''
''If I'd known I was going to dislike you so much, I'd have kept it to myself. You look like one of those bouncers in the lady's tavern! -he said, changing his attitude towards me.''
''Madam...? I asked, but was instantly interrupted by terrible migraines that became more intense than the first time they came.''
Instantly it passed as if nothing had happened. All of a sudden, it felt very strange. Miriel helped me up and asked if I was feeling better. As bad as I was, not knowing why I am the way I am, I wondered what I did to end up with my clothes all tattered and burned. But what seemed to survive was my teacher's blanket.
''You're lucky they didn't loot you with how far you were dreaming. So... Are you ready to go now?''
''How? Like this? Are you crazy?''
''I wish I had something in my backpack for you to change into, but I don't. You're lucky: we're close to town. You're lucky: we're close to the city, it's only two kilometers, I think... It's not very far. Then you'll buy one in town.''
"I refuse to go and enter the city of humans for the first time dressed like a tramp," thought Don when he saw what he looked like."
Don:
-I'd rather go home! -I said, refusing, and turned around. Although... I don't even know where I am, or how to get back.
Miriel:
-What are you doing, Don? Come back here, you fool!
-Where's the address to get home?
-I think I've run out of patience with you, you fucking human. I was paid for two days of travel to finish my work and that's what I'm going to do. So stop your bullshit and follow me, you stupid human!
I looked to the side and pretended not to hear her. I replied:
-As you say, lady elf.
- Madam, did you say...? -I mentioned upset and then continued: "We don't have any more time. We are right here right now," she said pointing to her position on the map in her hands: a remote spot with a huge field of crops around the main road.
''To get to where you want to take me, Miriel, I think it's five miles walking as it is now. We have no mount, carriage, dragons, nothing, no transportation of any kind.
Miriel:
''We have to get to the "slums" as soon as possible, and for that we will have to pass obligatorily through the lands of the nobles. let's go!''
''And how did you find me? I asked him with doubt, because I am literally quite far from where I was and I don't even know how I got here.''
''And you? What happened last night?''
''What happened...? It seemed obvious to me, but I suddenly got to thinking and realized that I remember absolutely nothing of what happened last night. I don't remember.''
''Yes, you're a strange case. Well, never mind... Cover up as much as you can. And when we enter the Dusk lands, try not to talk at all and look at any man or woman accompanied by guards. These people don't like foreigners, well, the Aldaneans... Well, don't talk to anyone. Understood?''
''Understood.''
[Narrator]
Just so began Don's little journey to find the second item on his list: a small flask of molten obsidian crystal.
They traveled a long, quiet road. The sun, barely warm and reddish, illuminated the trees of the new small town that our two young adventurers were discovering, but of course, one more than the other. Even so, the houses in the distance were still illuminated and the children were just dawning to play. And the stores near the entrance, in the distance, you could tell they were just fixing tomatoes, pickles, potatoes or recyclable terralith[1] while far above leaned a castle: a mountain-like fortress that brushed the reddish clouds blurred through the mist that rolled across the citadel. And I'm sure that, like Don and his companion, they would agree that this view was beautiful as the sun set.
Not to mention that, amidst the strong winds, Don, all dirty and with his clothing exposing more than it should-his body in breeches with a huge, furry blanket over his shoulders-walked lost in the vast landscapes of corn crops and green pastures. Arriving at the small town before crossing the entrance of the nobles, Miriel greeted some acquaintances politely.
The sun caressed with its golden light the cobblestones worn by centuries of footsteps. They felt like natural blocks of stone (granite, basalt or similar), carved and then arranged in an irregular pattern. On Don's walk, already the marketplace was becoming bustling, and more the whispers of the merchants already felt like a habit to Don. He, with his eyes roaming even the inhospitable past of every corner of the small town with curiosity, seemed to have been used to it since Dunkaster, but to no person who came to notice his passage thought the same.
Amidst the dancing shadows of the stalls and the scent of weathered wood, these two walked the streets of the Entrada leisurely, but a bit in a hurry to reach their destination, especially Miriel.
"The Enter" is the name pejoratively designated to this village that serves only as a decorative front before reaching the wall that is the entrance to Dusk. And yes: the Entrance has no protection from the Dusk against certain thefts at certain times of the day, certain crime and misdemeanors. The more serious ones are sentenced to death, so the Dusk maintain some order by instilling fear.
But when ordinary people saw their companion - in this case, Don - they still greeted him ironically and mockingly at the same time. They even said he was handsome, and some children, friends of Miriel's acquaintance, admired him for his well-sculpted body, but since he was still covered with scars, he instilled a little fear in the small society of low and medium resources. Which is the first door to the great village of the Dusk. They, such eccentric people, wouldn't let totally poor people be the first impression of the fifth most beautiful village in all of New Glimmetropolis, so they keep the beauty of the Entrance as they please. In this case, not so much.
Miriel quickly brought him down from his clouds full of compliments, because when they would arrive in front of the wall, the guards would not treat him the same seeing how he dresses and how he behaves. She tries to explain that he is as curious as all the Aldaneans in the lands of Count Richard Choiniere. Without delay, she suggested him to cover up more and not to take so much confidence with anyone in the village.
And by the way, close to arriving, Miriel revealed to him some rather interesting rumors:
''Don't believe everything you saw. They are quite hospitable, but they are only masks of what they really are. They are... well... they don't like foreigners here very much, and even more so now that since a few weeks ago the Corruption has been spreading beyond the barriers. And still nobody understands how it happened: birds going crazy and crashing everywhere, and infected crops. So people are a bit suspicious. Fear, little by little, is instilling.''
And Don responded:
''It used to happen something similar with my master's crops: birds eating the ether cores, or at every step you would find a bird lying around, hiding among the rice crops.
''Silence," she said as they reached the entrance row of passage in Dusk and in front of the gigantic entrance of the walls that caressed the sky between its hundreds and hundreds of meters high that protected the city of Dusk. For several guards that seemed to be of a very high level watched over those who wanted to enter illegally. And in front of Don's surprised eyes, they beat and took inside a fake merchant with fake trade ID, and not to make him very nice things....
There were women with children, merchants, adventurers, warriors, retirees, nobles of low and very high rank. And the latter did not take a line. For his luck, Miriel pointed out to him who he would never have to mess with in the city, like Duke Martin Dusk, who was just passing by in his luxurious carriage, moved by four monumental and healthy horses, lots of jewelry glittering wealth and ornamented with fragrances of status that melted anyone who was near. And Don stood in awe, unable to look away. And between the curtains of the carriage he noticed a glance, that of a beautiful woman who crossed his own, and seemed to attract the young woman's attention against her will, before such an exposed body. In a good way, perhaps...
Quickly, Miriel smacked him upside the head to revive him from his wet dreams of someday getting on those excessively luxurious transports.
''Don't look, stupid! Do you want to get us in trouble?''
''What did I do?''
''You fool... Walk, the line is already far away from us.''
The line got closer and closer. And when they arrived in front of the checkpoints, two guards stepped forward. One approached as if they were longtime friends, shaking hands with each of them, while the other uttered absolutely nothing, staring at Miriel and Don as if they were rank four criminals. And just had his hand already stroking the loop of the sheathed sword in case they made any funny moves. Miriel wanted to speak first, but the guard ignored her and looked at the weirdo first and began:
Guard:
''How are you, where did you come from, boy?''
Don:
''I... uh... I'm from Dun....''
Miriel:
''He and I come from the capital.''
Don:
''Why are you coming from the north? It doesn't make much sense to come out of the capital from so far to our lands.''
''I am a guide and we work for Mei Wei. We were taking a tour because the lady wanted me to find more pharmaceuticals in Dunkaster and she let us both go.''
''Mei Wei? Yes, of course. Your papers, elf.''
Very quickly, the other guard unsheathed his sword and looked at them, waiting for the next order to be able to attack for no reason. At first glance, the guard looks quite strong and intimidating, with an aura so present that it shook anyone who could feel it. Don, in a rebellious fight, would most likely end up dead. She handed them to him: an official document proving his provenance and officialdom from the kingdom of Montesis. But the document said it was the property of Mei Wei and her rank five security member. And the guard looked at it analyzing something we will never know what it was. We will assume that he was stressed by witnessing a rank five in front of him and quickly handed back his papers.
Guard:
''Excuse me, Miss Rockstone. Enjoy your day in Dusk," the other quickly sheathed his sword, sporting a calm soldier's stance and looking straight ahead. Miriel thanked the guard for his kindness and, about to leave, the guard continued: "And the young man's papers?''
[1] Terralith (noun, m.):
Any object capable of imbuing magicules (particles of magic) into ether and using them to generate a specific effect on a cyclical basis is naturally so called. Such an effect occurs in continuous loops until the terralith exhausts its limited capacity to store or transmit magicks.