Walking through the forest was terrifying. He knew how to fight, true, but his only weapon was his golden spear. It was ceremonial, mainly, and he had taken it only so he could trade it for food and clothes.

 A wolf’s howl sounded in the distance, and Nikola gripped his spear. He would rather not see if he could even regenerate as only bones, so he went into the opposite direction of the sound.

Something delicious announced to him that he was nearing a settlement. Even if it was only a hut in the woods, he promised to himself that he would be grateful.

Following the scent, he stumbled upon a village. With its pointy roofs and dirt streets, it announced to him loud and clear that he was indeed in China. He knew the local language.

He made it a point to learn all the languages of the nations he subjugated. And yet, he drew the eyes to himself. In his crisp white tunic with golden and silver trims and the golden spear by his side, he made quite the picture.

 He wore wool, while they wore hemp and cotton. He had sandals on his feet, his toes showing. They had boots on. He stopped by a street vendor and opened his mouth to say something when the woman put a steamed bun under his nose.

“You must be hungry, young man! We don’t have many travelers passing by. Was there another shipwreck? We didn’t hear anything of it here, and we are very close to the coast.”

Nikola took the bun and quickly ate it before the woman could change her mind. He suddenly realized how hungry he was.

“Good woman, do you have a pawn shop here? I’d like to trade this.” He moved the spear forward and the woman shrank back. Realizing his mistake, he placed the spear back on his back.

“We are a small village, young man. I don’t think even old handler Hua would have enough money to buy this off you. Say, where do you even have it from?”

“I fished it from the sea one day,” lied Nikola smoothly. There were engravings on the spear that pointed at its Atlantean origins. It was best if he didn’t say it was an heirloom or anything.

 “I’ve been travelling all this way from Troy. Have you heard of Troy, ma’am?” Troy was one of his favorite places. He had gained a foothold on it when he had married one of his grandsons to the local ruler. A bloodless conquest always brought good feelings in him.

“Can’t say that I have, no,” the woman eyed Nikola’s tunic once again and his mane of a hair and gave him another bun. “But you come back after you sell that thing off. You owe me a copper for the second bun. The first one is on the house. I am Nuo Nuying. And you are?”

Nikola entertained the thought of lying to the old lady, but then he risked forgetting his new name. And his name sounded Thracian enough, if anyone here even knew of Thrace.

“Nikola of Troy. And I will repay your kindness, Nuo Nuying,” the old lady pointed to her right. “Old handler Hua is down this road. Look for the yellow lanterns over the red door. Now off with you, I have other customers.”

 Nikola waved goodbye and moved towards the direction of the shop. He soon found it. It was one of the more well-off buildings in the area, which spoke eloquently for his prospects to get as much gold as he could for his spear.

Walking in, he noted the fine porcelain vases that lined the corners. They were tall and elegant things, with cranes painted on them. Nikola remembered how the crane was thought of as an animal in which people’s souls lingered after their bodies passed on. It was only fair that the first animal he sees in this shop that offered him a new beginning was the crane.

“Do you like them? Will you buy?” Came a rasping voice from the front of the shop. Nikola moved towards the man, and he took the spear off his back.

“I’m here to sell, actually. Nuo Nuying, send me to you. I want to sell you this here. It’s from pure gold,” placing the spear on the counter, Nikola watched as the old handler’s eyes lit up. Then the man traced the engravings on the side of the spear, and his face darkened.

“Where did you find this…?”

“Nikola,” was quick to fill in the former emperor. “Nikola of Troy. I found it in the sea.”

The old man’s frown deepened, and he pointed to the engravings.

“This here says that this was the Emerald Emperor’s spear. The foul wretch of Atlantis, may there still be some meat left on his bones, so the maggots could continue their feast. I will have to melt it down or else one warlord or another will steal it from me. That means I can only pay you for the gold itself.”

Nikola looked sadly down at the spear. Azazel had crafted it for him, a thousand years ago. This was his scepter. He had stood on more than one battlefield with this spear strapped to his back. This was the last symbol of his power. But he needed to survive, as much as he didn’t deserve it, and repent. He nodded at the trader.

“Fine, so be it. However, it’s still quite a bit of gold. Can you pay me for it?”

“I sure can, but not at once. This can set you up for life, Nikola of Troy. Both of us, in fact. Sure, some of it will have to go towards taxes but once I sell this gold, I would be able to close this shop for good. I can pay you a hundred silver upfront, and then I’ll get in contact with my agent in the imperial city. I’ll take the taxes out of your share, and you’ll get the full profit. You are looking at a five thousand silver pieces at the least. Do we have a deal?”

Nikola ran his fingers over the spear. This was the last time he would be seeing it. Then a thought struck him.

“You said you’ll close the shop, yes? Sell it to me instead. With the house, I saw attached to it. I’ll pay you double what they are worth. And I want one copper more with the hundred silvers. I need to pay for the second steam bun I ate.”

Hua smiled happily and placed a copper into a leather pouch and handed it to Nikola.

“I’ll move out when I get the money.”

“I would need you to point me to a tailor or a seamstress, good man Hua,” at the respectful way he was being addressed Hua. Who turned out to be Ying Hua. Send Nikola to the seamstress, telling him to place the clothes on Hua’s tab. To be paid with Nikola’s winnings.

Happy that his silver would remain in case he required it, Nikola first returned to old lady Nuo Nuying and gave her the copper. When she found out he had no place to stay, she cursed handler Hua, calling him a grabbing old geezer, and she offered to host Nikola in her home for fifty coppers per day.

That was a bit much, even to Nikola, but the lady had been nothing but kind to him, and he felt like she deserved the money. How long could Ying Hua take to melt and sell the spear anyway?

Thereafter, it was to the seamstress, and she didn’t fleece him. Although, she attempted to offer him clothes made of silk. It must be hard for her to sell them in such a small village. Still, Nikola was adamant that he wanted cotton. And soon his measurements were taken, and he received the promise that if he were to come back just before the shop closed he would receive his first bundle of clothing.

With nothing better to do, he returned to old lady Nuying and offered to help her sell the rest of the buns. She was skeptical that he could, but when Nikola showed her a magic trick, in which he made a stone spin without touching it, she enthusiastically welcomed him.

 She told him that if they sold all the buns, she would lower his rent to thirty coppers. So, here Nikola was, having fun performing magic tricks for the passersby.

He didn’t do anything fancy. At one point someone brought a deck of cards and Nikola ended up telling the women of the village their past and, once they confirmed to the nonbelievers that he was indeed right, their future concerning their love life.

He did so in exchange for them buying a steam bun, and some of them demanded he read their future more than once. And so, the buns were soon all sold out, and yet the women kept crowding around Nikola. At a loss for what to do, he looked back towards old lady Nuying, who had written a sign and was holding it up.

Learn your future for a copper!

It read, and the old woman was grinning childlike. Nikola resumed reading the fortune of the surrounding women, and he was relieved when the sun began to set for, he had an excuse to get away from the women.

“Gege, don’t go! I want to learn my great-grandson’s fortune next!” Said Mei Chang, to whom he had been telling everything about her future grandchildren and their wild love affairs.

“I have to pick up my clothes, Madam Mei. Maybe if you come back tomorrow, I can tell you in exchange for a steamed bun,” at this Nuo Nuying’s face lit up.

“Ok now, kind flowers, do let the oracle go about his business. He will be here tomorrow and for as long as he stays under my roof. But if you want to get your future so badly, I suppose I can arrange meetings for a silver per reading.”

The women were shouting at the old bun seller, who merely cackled. Nikola shook his head at his benefactor’s opportunistic nature, and he continued towards the seamstress.

“Why don’t you sell me your clothes?” Asked him the seamstress as Nikola was changing into his new ones. “They are from wool, so they are unclean. I can make rags from the fabric. But the gold and silver I can take out. Sell it and give you a cut of the winnings.”

Nikola’s breath hitched. He wasn’t going to wear the tunic ever again anyway. However, it was of fine Atlantean make. He gripped the fabric of his new clothes and then looked at his old tunic. Someone could recognize it.

It was too rich by far for someone, even a Trojan noble, to have. He needed to get rid of it. And yet… His spear he knew he had to get rid of because of its value and markings. But the tunic?

The seamstress was running a finger over the gold plate near the neck area, and Nikola gave a sigh. If he could gauge out his eye and kill off his people, then he could also give up a simple tunic.

“Fine. I’ll leave it in your hands. Just keep making me clothes. And keep putting them on Hua’s tab.”

“Will do, will do, Gege. Good night to you now,” she then unceremoniously pushed Nikola towards the exit. Now dressed in traditional clothing, still more expensive looking than he would like, he fit better in. Then he made his way towards the home of the old bun seller.

Two streets from the stall, no turns. A brown door with a yellow lantern in front of it.

 Had told him the old woman, and he looked around himself. The house was small but looked well-kept. He knocked on the door, and an exited Nuo Nuying opened it and ushered him in.