Emilie sat on a couch that had springs poking through and its fluff spilling onto the floor. She was leaning forward with her hands pressed together as she stared at the floor. She had raided some of the cabinets and bandaged up the wound on her leg. The blood soaked through the cloth, but the bleeding seemed to have slowed. I paced up and down the hall while biting my nails. The soles of my shoes started to wear from spinning in place.

  Four hours had passed and no sign of Dimitri. My legs grew weak and unstable with all the aggressive pacing. At some point in time, I had given up on pacing to sit on the floor in the corner next to the door.

  The moment I sat, Emilie’s gaze shifted from the floor to me.

  “What are you?” she asked.

  I wished I could play dumb and brush off this conversation, but she saw everything. At the very least I should tell her the truth. I couldn’t keep it from her any longer.

  “I think,” I said with a pause, “I’m a mage.”

  “A mage?” she asked calmly, “and what’s that supposed to be?”

  “I can use magic and brew potions. Those sorts of things.”

  “So all those stories are true then?” she asked rhetorically, “Eric, why did you keep this from us?”

  I tucked my legs into my chest and crossed my arms across them in my own shame.

  “My name is Vincent,” I said.

  “You even lied about your name.”

  “Emilie, I’m sorry,” I pleaded.

  “Sorry? You lied to us for months! You fell from the sky and we saved your life. At least tell me how you go there.

  I sat in silence for a moment as she reminded me of the past events, and told her everything. I told her about how I came from within the wall. I told her about the demon attacked and I saved that boy, and how I was still accused of summoning the demon. I told her I was meant to be executed, and that I somehow teleported myself into the demons’ den, and lastly, how I escaped.

  I told her everything, and I hoped she would see what I've been through and forgive me. I was sorely mistaken.

  “This is your fault, you know,” she said.

  This statement felt like she shoved a dagger into my heart and ripped out my soul.

  “How is this my fault?” I asked.

  “How is that even a question?!” she yelled as she stood up from her couch, “You went into the demons’ home! You led them to my home!”

  I realized everything she accused me of was true. I lied. If I had intervened sooner or told them sooner, maybe David wouldn’t be where he is now. I should have told them. They would have wanted me gone, but at least I would have been out of their way.

  “I know what I did. Don't remind me,” I said.

  I wanted the conversation to end. My eyes started to flicker and my throat felt like a desert. The guilt was already consuming me, and it was only getting worse.

  “When David wakes up I’ll tell him everything as well, and then I’ll leave,” I said as I stood to go into another room.

  “No,” she said as she crossed her arms.

  I turned my back to face her once again. I began to feel hopeful. Has she forgiven me?

  “You have to leave now.”

  This is not what I hoped for.

  “Wait, no!” I begged, “you have to let me apologize to him!”

  “And it’s your fault he's hurt! Why should I let you see him again? Just leave us!”

  I opened my mouth to speak, and nothing came out. Emilie kept speaking, but all I could hear was the high-pitched ringing. My only option was to do what she asked. I had to leave.

  Nothing else I could have said would have helped. I didn’t want to leave. They treated me like their family, so I thought of them as such, but now I was unwelcomed, and I walked out the front door. I went down the steps and found myself back at the wood sled I had grown accustomed to seeing every day.

  I picked up my spell book I had tossed on the sled earlier and carried it as I walked farther into this unfamiliar town. I passed many shops, restaurants, and homes. I could see nearly fifty people walking the path at any given time. I could even see kids playing together. There were no distinct districts, and it was certainly unorthodox, but this town was thriving nonetheless. There was even the occasional guard post stationed throughout the length of the town.

  I stopped by a building carved into the wall with a wooden sign that said, “Wang’s Food & Inn.”

  Knowing I had nowhere else to stay I stepped inside. The bottom floor was entirely made of stone just like the outside. The walls themselves were at about a forty-five-degree angle with a second-story walkway resting on top. From there I could see the frames of wooden doors leading to individual rooms. On the bottom floor, there were several booths with stone seats and stone tables carved from the wall. In the center, there was a small pit with a low burning fire, and three men chatting at its side. Past that, the main desk stretched across the length of the inn.

  The man at the desk leaned against the top while two women worked to serve food and drinks to the guest. He looked like a rather pale, elderly man, and his eyes seemed to be stretched farther than most. He had winter-white hair that was done into a ponytail that dropped just below his shoulders.

  The manmade eye contact with me as I approached. He seemed to know what I wanted.

  “You need a room?” he asked in an accent I’ve never heard before.

  “Y-Yes please,” I responded nervously.

  “That’ll be three pal,” he said while holding out his hands

  I haven’t even thought about money now. I had no copper or gold. All of that was left behind in the city, but I’ve never even heard of pal until now.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, “but what’s a pal?”

  The man dropped his hand and gave me an almost comical side-eye.

  “Kid, you aren’t from around here, are you?” he asked.

  “No, I’m not.”

  He sighed. The man seemed to contemplate whether to send me away or to let me in. Eventually, he made up his mind.

  He looked back to me again and said, “Okay kid, here’s the deal. I’ll give you three nights to stay, BUT you have to find a job in that time. Once the three days are up you pay for the three nights you stayed at a fifty percent discount. Got it?”

  “Yes sir!” I replied, “Thank you so much.”

  “If you couldn’t tell by the sign outside, my name is Wang.”

  “I’m Vincent.”

  “Well Vincent, your room will be on the upper floor, farthest to the right.” he said as he pointed to the room, “and find a job.”

  Wang reached under his desk and tossed me a single key marked with the number eighteen. I thanked him again and walked behind the desk to the stairs and made my way to room eighteen. After I made it to the door I was met with a semi-rotted wooden door with a keyhole in the knob. I inserted the key and opened the door.

  I peeked inside and saw a small room with a desk and a chair on one side, and a real bed with a mattress on the other. Truth be told I half expected to be given a stone box to live in. I was very thankful for his kindness and I knew I would have to repay him soon. Three nights to be exact.

  For now, at least, I needed to get some rest. I would spend my first night in bed, and in the morning I would look for a job. However, I was still left with an unanswered question. How does one find a job in a town like this?

  I decided it would be best to sleep on it. I closed the door behind me as I stepped into the room and set my book on the desk. I removed my shirt and hung it on the end of the chair. Which revealed the scar on my chest, which served as a memory now. Last, I climbed into the bed and tried to drift off into sleep.

  I found it difficult to rest that night because I was still worried about David. Emilie hated me, and I was sure to never hear news of his recovery. There was nothing else I could do. Just move on and keep living I suppose.

  After an hour or so of thinking, I finally dozed off. The bed itself was by far the most comfortable thing I had ever slept in my entire life, but the dreams still haunted me throughout the night.

  I dreamt of darkness. It wasn’t just the lack of light. It was a dark presence. I could feel it surrounding me. It felt as if it was swallowing me, and I could feel a burning desire for power and destruction.

  I woke in a panic and covered in sweat, but I wasn’t in the bed like I remembered. I looked around for a moment to gain my bearings when I realized I was laying on the cold, stone floor.

  “Agh,” I grunted as I placed my hand on a lump on the back of my head,“ that hurts.

  After I had gotten dressed again I stepped down the stairs. I walked past the main desk to see Wang standing there just like the day before.

  “Good to see you moving,” he called to me.

  I simply nodded before heading towards the door. After I was outside I turned my head both ways, trying to decide which way was best. I decided the farther away I was from the doctor the better. Besides, I felt safer the farther I was from the entrances anyways.

  I walked farther into the town with my eyes bolting from building to building, just trying to find something that might work. The one job I wouldn't take was working with food. That was the one job I hated with my entire being, but for now, it seemed to be my only option around here.

  Eventually, I stumbled upon a blade shop. The store itself was just a large gray tent with several weapons racks scattered about, and in the back, I could see a forge with other grinders and machines I had never seen before. I had never worked with metal before, but I thought it would be nice to give it a shot.

  I wandered around the area for a bit to see if I could find anyone who ran the business. I found a woman who was dipping a red-hot sword into a bucket of a dark liquid. She wore thick blue jeans, a torn red shirt, with a brown apron that was covered in burns.

  “Hello?’ I called.

  She pulled the blade from the liquid and turned in my direction.

  “Huh? Whatcha need?” she asked.

  I held my two hands together and said, “Well, I’ve just been looking for a job and I wanted to know if you needed an assistant.”

  “My assistant?” she asked excitedly, “Yes, of course! We can start today if you'd like.”

  “Yes, that would be great.”

  “Awesome! Go find yourself a cross peen hammer and I can get you to work.”

  Already I was sure I was in over my head. I had never heard of a cross peen hammer. I did the best I could and searched under Nina’s tent. I found that one of her racks was dedicated to hammers and hammers alone. I scanned the rack and saw most of the hammers I had seen at some point, but I didn’t know the names of any of them.

  The one hammer That seemed out of place had an almost hourglass shape with triangular spikes on both ends. The grooves for the spikes were cut in a grid-like pattern, so I thought surely that’s where the name cross peen comes from.

  I took the hammer from the shelf and brought it back to Nina who was still working on the same blade.

  “I got the hammer,” I said while holding it out in front of me.

  Again, she turned to look. This time she seemed less enthused than I remembered. The smile fell from her face and she took the hammer from my hands.

  “If you don’t know the first thing about being a blacksmith then why did you come here?” she asked as if she was disappointed in me, “This is a meat tenderizer.”

  I instantly felt disappointed in myself for my own mistake. Nina dropped the hammer to the ground and started shoving me out of her work area before I had a chance to say a word.

  “If you need palladium that badly, I heard Liam is always looking for help in his mint factory, I’m sure he can spare a few.”

  These were the last words I heard from Nina before she pushed me back to the street. I suppose I could follow her advice and search for this Liam guy, but I was already tired of walking today and I didn’t exactly know where to find that man. I decided to return to Wang’s inn for another night before searching again.