The Moon Calls

47

The ride to West Ipsil was mostly uneventful. Mostly, aside from the occasional black rock attack that Varian furiously blocked before storming off and having some choice words with his "mother" out of earshot. Whatever he said, the attacks reduced and they were able to make it to West Ipsil in relative peace.

"Hey, Varian, Eugene, look!" Rapunzel said excitedly as she came over to them with a poster. It was an announcement for an upcoming performance by Hookhand.

"Ohh...great. Him." Eugene grimaced.

"Ohhh, we should've brought Hookfoot!" Rapunzel said, apparently ignoring Eugene's discomfort.

"Who?" Varian asked.

"Oh, right, you didn't meet him!" Rapunzel realized. "He's Hookhand's little brother!"

"So...do they have actual names, because there's no way they were born with hooks on their bodies." Varian deadpanned.

Rapunzel blinked in surprise. "...I never asked."

"Wait, wait, you guys know the famous Hookhand?" Hugo asked in surprise. "How come you never mentioned it?"

"He was one of the people that helped save us from the tower." Varian shrugged. "I guess we didn't really think about giving you the details."

"He's going to be performing here, in West Ipsil, tomorrow! Oh, we came just in time!" Rapunzel bounced on her feet excitedly.

"Alright, yeah, let's all go see Hookhand in concert, yaaaay." Eugene said halfheartedly.

"Good thing we're already in the area. Let's get our shopping done today so we can relax and enjoy the show tomorrow." Donella suggested.

"Have you ever seen his show before?" Rapunzel asked as they all got ready to head into town.

"I've caught a couple." Donella nodded. "Usually when conducting business in the same place."

"Me too, for the same reason." Hugo nodded.

"'Conducting business'?" Lance asked.

"I tend to collect artifacts of a certain nature, and I meet with people to either buy it from them or find out where I can get it so I can send Hugo to fetch it for me." Donella said casually.

"'A certain nature'?" Varian asked.

"Magical." She smiled. "Or a rare creation of alchemy. But usually magical."

Varian nodded. "Is there a lot of those?"

"You should see her vault. It rivals The Spire." Hugo smirked.

"Well, let's not be talking about this stuff while we're in town." Cassandra suggested. "Never know if someone might be listening."

"Ever the careful one, aren't you?" Donella looked amused.

–

West Ipsil was a pleasant little town, one that Eugene, Lance and Hugo didn't have reputations in, and Rapunzel and Varian delighted in taking the time to explore a town that wasn't in some form of peril. They hadn't found a town – besides the Hamlet of Pincosta – that wasn't suffering in some way.

In fact, Varian noted, it didn't even have any black rocks littering it. Plenty outside of it, but not inside. He hummed thoughtfully and discreetly tried to summon one but, to his surprise, it didn't work.

"It seems there is something in this town that is preventing the use of magic." Donella said to him quietly. "Perhaps it might be worth looking into."

"If we have time." He nodded. "But, it's not like it's in our way. If it's keeping the black rocks out, then whatever it is is fine."