Simon and Lucy walked towards the town of Dawnbell. They were both covered in dirt and sweat and smelled like they had rolled in a bonfire for half an hour. Even so, Lucy was smiling. Simon was less happy.

“I told you not to go near those goblins.”

“Oh come on, we’re alive, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, but that’s not the point! I was too hungry to fight properly!”

“That’s because somebody went through all of our food it two days!”

“Using magic makes me hungry!”

They continued bickering like this as they entered the town itself. Dawnbell was built on top of a very uneven landscape, making it feel strange and disconnected. Wooden pathways led up from one level to the next, with each elevation being crammed full of crooked buildings, with narrow alleys and paths in between.

The two adventurers eventually stopped fighting as they entered what could be considered the center of the town. It was a large circular area that was mostly free from buildings, except for one large clocktower in the center. Around the tower were fountains, street performers, and carts of food and other wares. One of the carts caught Simon’s attention as he ran up to it. Lucy begrudgingly followed.

As far as Lucy could tell, the cart just sold a bunch of rocks. She looked at Simon quizzically. What was he so excited about? He seemed to be in a conversation with the owner of the cart, a young woman.

“These are great! Who made them?”

“I did actually. I’m training to be a runemaster.”

“Really?  I tried to do that, but I was told that while I could memorize runes well, my actual creation process was too slow. But you obviously don’t have any problems!”

Lucy coughed, and Simon turned to face her.

“What? Oh! Right! You probably don’t know about this!” He held up one of the stones, “These are known as runestones. They’re stones with runes carved into them.”

On closer inspection, Lucy noticed that the stones did, in fact, have symbols on them.

“Okay, so what?”

“So what? These things can create magical effects just by tapping them!” He held up the one he was holding to the cart owner, “How much for this one?”

“Five hundred crowns.”

“F-five hundred?” He turned to Lucy with wide eyes.

“No.”

“Damn.  Got anything cheaper?”

“I have some one-use runestones. The stone isn’t strong enough to survive more than one activation of the magic. They’re twenty crowns apiece.”

Simon looked at Lucy with a dumb smile on his face. She sighed and put two silver coins in the woman’s hand as Simon picked up one of the beige-colored stones. The woman nodded at his selection.

“Explosion huh? An excellent choice for a one-use stone.”

“Wait, explosion?!” Lucy pushed Simon aside to get in the woman’s face, “Are you selling bombs out here?!”

“Of course not miss, I’m selling runestones.”

“Runestones that explode!”

“Yes, but activating runes outside of sanctioned areas is against the law.”

“So?! What’s stopping people from bombing places?!”

“It’s against the law.”

Before Lucy could begin boiling over with rage, Simon began dragging her away. The cart owner waved happily at them.

“Do come again!”

Simon brought Lucy down a side-street of shops and restaurants, and waited for her to calm down.

“What is up with this town?”

“It’s a weird place. They follow their laws religiously, even though the laws change constantly. I’ve heard that you can leave, come back in a week, and not recognize the place.”

“That sounds dumb. Just like your runerocks.”

“Runestones. And it’s not dumb, I think it could come in handy.”

“When would we need an explosion?”

“Maybe when somebody goes and attacks a monster that we can’t beat…”

“Is this about the goblins again?! We were fine!”

“It’s not about how fine we were! It’s the fact that you ran in without talking to me first! You know, the guy who has done this for years!”

“Fine then! Go play with your runes! I’m going to go but things we actually need!”

She turned and stormed off, and Simon couldn’t help but yell after her.

“One of us is going to die one of these days!”

Lucy walked around a corner and disappeared from view, and Simon immediately felt like garbage. He honestly acted the exact same way as her sometimes, fighting things without thinking. He was just mad because he was tired, hungry, and cranky, but that was no excuse.

Simon took a deep breath. He would give her some space, let himself simmer down, and then he would apologize. This fight was normal for friends, just a lack of communication caused by hunger.

Speaking of hunger, they hadn’t bought food yet. Not to worry! He was standing right next to multiple restaurants! He just had to pick one and buy and nice hearty meal. He picked a building called “King McBeef’s”. The sign outside had a cow wearing a crown. He strolled in through the front door, ready for food.

Unbeknownst to Simon, a figure had emerged from the building opposite of the one he was entering. The tall, trenchcoated figure glared at Simon, and slowly crossed the street to follow him into the restaurant.

Simon entered the restaurant and walked past tables of people eating to a counter where a bored looking employee sat beneath a menu. Simon poured over the menu before deciding.

“I’ll take three burgers my good man.”

“Sorry bub, no can do.”

“Why not?”

“Wednesday. Can’t serve any bread, and the buns are bread. You’ll need to get something else bub.”

“Can I… just get burgers without the buns?”

“Huh. I guess so. That’ll be six crowns.”

“Alright, let me just…”

As he reached into his pack, he realized something horrible. Lucy had all the money.

“Somethin wrong?”

“I… forgot my money…”

“Well then, I can’t be servin you, can I? Better luck next time bub.”

Simon walked away defeated. He was going to not only have to apologize to Lucy, but beg her for money too. It wasn’t the worst day ever, but it was pretty bad. Oh well, the worst parts were probably over.

As he thought this, his head hung low, he walked directly into somebody. He bounced back, as though he had run into a brick wall.

“Woah! Sorry about that, I wasn’t…”

Simon stared at the chest of the surprisingly tall figure, and he raised his gaze. Eventually he locked eyes with the towering, trench-coated figure, who was currently glaring at him from beneath his hood. The man opened his mouth.

“You cannot escape from me.”

Simon took a step back, and prepared to use his magic. He looked around the restaurant, trying to find an opening to get past this frightening man, but it was too late. The man reached out with his right hand and clamped it tightly onto Simon’s shoulder.