Galen opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. He was confused for a moment before he remembered that he was in a room at Prichard Inn. He turned his head and found Severin hanging out of the bed with the blanket pushed all the way to the end. He tried to stifle his snickers, but the muffled sound was enough for Severin to wake up.
"Huh?" Severin leaned forward in the bed, ruffling his hair.
"Good morning," Galen greeted.
"Oh," Severin stared blearily before groaning and flopping back down, "I'm not ready to get up."
"That's too bad because we need to get a move on."
Severin groaned again. He reluctantly rolled out of bed, rubbing his eyes. As his arm fell back to his side, he glimpsed at the insignia on his hand. He brought the hand closer to his face in order to investigate the mark closer. Severin had forgotten about it due to the excitement of being in the city. He poked at it with his other hand, but he felt nothing. He asked, "Do you really think this thing goes away?"
"The enchantment looks solid."
Severin frowned, "That word again. I forgot to ask yesterday, but what are enchantments? I remember you mentioning them once when I first started learning Oxuri."
Galen hummed, trying to think of a good way to word what he was about to say. "Enchantments or hnnuenmatceèta as they are called in Oxuri are casted when magic is infused with an object. In this case, the enchantment was infused with those branding rods. "
"How does the enchantment stay on the mark left behind?"
"Do you see the words etched on the insignia? Because the iron leaves a perfect imprint on the skin, the enchantment works on the brand too."
Severin inspected the insignia. He could see small words written along the inside of the circular mark. "What does it say?"
Galen peered at his own mark. "It's hard to read because the words are so small, but it appears to say, 'Ehtu cyait efo yelsoet inadu seakome.' Sounds like a moniker for the city."
"Can all enchantments be transferred?"
"No, most inscriptions cannot be removed or put on something else. Some materials like gold can resist enchantment. Putting the words on a branding iron is an interesting way around that."
Severin remembered what he saw on the walls. "What about those symbols on the city walls? The ones that glowed. Are they also enchantments?"
"No, they are reuûn or runes. They are similar to enchantments, but they do not need to be infused with an object. This makes them significantly harder to cast. While the runes were drawn on the wall, they would work even if the wall crumbled beneath it."
"Why haven't you talked about them before?"
"Unlike potions or spells, enchantments and runes required advanced knowledge of Oxuri to work. Knowledge that you don't have."
Severin sighed, "I have so much to learn."
Galen slung an arm over his shoulder, "Don't worry. As long as we keep up your practice, you should be able to do everything in no time, especially now that we have a steady supply of asteran parts."
Severin went to complain more, but his stomach growled before he could say anything. Severin covered his stomach in embarrassment. Galen grinned and said, "Let's see if the inn has breakfast."
The two walked down the stairs into the main room of the inn. Unlike yesterday, the front desk woman was not alone. Another woman was sitting at a table near the back door. Her head angled down toward the table.
The front desk woman looked up, "If you want breakfast, it will be ready in fifteen minutes."
"Thank you." Galen steered Severin toward the other empty table next to the woman. From his seat, Galen had a good view of the only other occupant. A breath caught in Galen's throat. She was beautiful. Galen glanced at Severin and could see he too was stunned by her beauty.
Severin whispered, "Is it just me or is that the most beautiful woman I have ever seen?"
"No, I see it too," Galen whispered back.
The woman raised her head and made eye contact with the two. A dazzling smile spread across her face. Galen shyly smiled back. Severin cleared his throat. They gazed at each other silently before the woman rose from her seat. She walked over the few feet between her chair and the vacant chair at Severin and Galen's table. She sat down and waved at them.
"Hello," she cheerily said.
"H-hello," Severin stammered.
"What're your names?"
"I'm Severin, and my friend here is Galen."
"I like those names. My name is Amiria." Galen and Severin were rendered speechless. When they failed to respond, she continued, "Do you live in the city?"
"Ah, no." Galen lifted his hand to show her the insignia branded onto his skin.
"Ouch." She gave a sympathetic wince. "I live near the wall, so I can sometimes hear people getting their identifiers."
Galen said, "I screamed pretty loud when it happened to me."
"Why have you come to the city?"
"We're here to get asteran parts," Severin answered.
"Oh," Amiria's eyes widened, "Magicians. Can you show me some magic?"
Severin glanced at Galen quickly, searching for his approval. Galen assented. Severin took out a lock of Galen's hair with one hand and flicked the other toward Amiria. A purple glow emitted as he chanted, "Bgiurn aehte layeg owdïn."
Wind manifested from Severin's fingers, blowing Amiria's hair out of her face. She looked delighted and said, "That is just wonderful."
"I'm glad you liked it," Severin said.
"What do you do?" Galen asked.
"I'm a hitman," Amiria smiled. There was a beat of silence. Amiria burst out laughing, and they soon followed her lead. "I can't believe you bought that!"
Still chuckling, Severin said, "You never know. This city has crazy people in it."
"I think it would be bad for business if I announced something like that to anyone."
The front desk woman approached their table, carrying a tray filled with food. Everyone at the table dug in as soon as the plates hit the table. The next twenty minutes consisted solely of the sound of eating. Once Amiria cleared her plate, she said, "I've had a fun time talking to you, but I have to go. Thanks for the company."
Galen wiped his mouth. "We have to leave too. You were lovely. Maybe one day we'll meet again."
"How long are you guys staying? We could meet up."
"This is our last day, sorry."
"No worries. I enjoyed our time together no matter how short it was."
Severin said, "Us too."
Amiria stood up and walked to the door. She called, "Come find me next time you're in the city."
"We will," Galen called back. With that last reply, Amiria left through the door.
Severin turned to Galen. "She was nice. Look at that, I've only been here one day, and I've made a new friend."
"Good job." Galen pat Severin's head condescendingly. Severin swatted the hand away, crossing his arms and pouting. "Oh, don't be like that. Come on, we've got to leave too."
Severin and Galen went to their room to grab their bags. They left to pack the horse, getting it ready for their departure. Once they were sure they had everything, they climbed into the saddle. Galen took the reins and guided the horse back out of the stable and onto the road. While they were making their way toward the entrance, Severin said, "I'll miss this place."
"You were only here for a day. What's there to miss?"
"The people! And all the shops. Even the smog."
"Halt!" A guard shouted as he marched their way.
"Will you miss that?" Galen grumbled as he slowed the horse to a stop.
"Definitely not." Severin replied.
"Papers." The guard extended his hand.
Severin rifled through the saddle bags, pulling out the papers and handing them to the guard. The guard scanned through the information, looking between the paper and the duo. The guard grunted, "All clear."
Severin shoved the papers back into the bags as Galen pulled on the reins. They continued their steady pace. Soon they reached the gates of the city. Galen nodded to the guards who made no movement to suggest they saw them.
"I definitely won't miss the guards," Severin said.
Severin and Galen reached Sunmesto before nightfall. Galen exited his seat, and Severin did the same behind him. "Here is where we part ways. I'll see you tomorrow," Galen said.
"See you tomorrow."
A year passed steadily. Galen and Severin spent most of their days tending the shop and practicing magic. Teaching Severin had the unexpected bonus of improving Galen's own spellcasting. Severin's progress in Oxuri was excelling at a good rate. He could now say simple sentences and write short paragraphs.
While they spent the majority of their time at Galen's shop or in the surrounding forest, today found Galen at the town center. Severin was praying at the twin goddesses' statue. Normally, Galen left him to pray by himself, but he decided to come to pass the time. Examining the statue, Galen was impressed at the craftmanship. Although multiple copies of the statue were sprinkled across the country, the quality never suffered. Sculpted out of white marble, the goddesses faced each other with their hands clasped together. The name plate simply read, 'Inoeda and Rieda.' He was not surprised. Unlike the lesser gods, the twin goddesses need no more introduction. Inoeda and Rieda were revered around the world and worshipped by all. The creators of humankind, molding the blueprint for the soul and the body. Galen never worshipped them as the soulless were not part of this blueprint. However, he knew how important the goddesses were to Severin, so he respected his need to pray.
Galen was so engrossed in his examination and thoughts that he startled when Severin laid a hand on his shoulder. Severin snickered, "Did I scare you?"
"No, I was merely startled."
"Same thing," Severin teased, "Ready to go back to the shop?"
"Yeah, let's go." Galen turned and saw a familiar figure in the distance. At first, he did not believe his eyes, but he became sure as the figure approached.
"Galen," the woman said.
Galen tensed. Severin shuffled nervously next to him. Finally, Galen breathed, "Thuraya. I wasn't expecting you."
"I need your
help."
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