The Heir

Chapter 3: Clumsy Healer

Terra pulled out a pouch from her bag and opened the rim wide. She picked up the stray coin from the ground and added it to her small collection. She continued through the market, winding through the randomly placed stalls.

The blazing sun was hard to handle, forcing her to stop in the shade of a nearby tent. Terra opened the satchel, trying to count her coins without drawing unnecessary attention.

Just then, some repetitive thuds of different levels sounded inside the tent. Terra was taken by surprise, dropping her satchel on the ground. Thankfully none of the coins she found fell out. She swiftly picked it up and closed it. Terra walked around to the entrance and drew back the curtain.

She barged in to find a person on the floor. He was surrounded by books-some open, and a fallen bookshelf was on the ground. His head snapped around to see Terra standing there.

"Please, don't help," he said. He got up and dusted himself off, fixing his glasses. He ran over to a table, probably to get something. Terra felt some pity for him, knowing how angry her brother got when that happened. She went to the fallen pile and readied herself. She worked her magic again, picking up the shelf and slowly placing each book back. Once the last book was in order, the presence of her magic disappeared.

She turned her head a little to find the person looking in confusion. "Who are you?" He muttered just loud enough for her to hear. "Terra. I guess..." She trailed off. "N-no, like, what are you?" "Uh... Reng Tu." She said.

He froze for a second. "I assume you don't have a place to stay, do you?" Terra nodded. "Well then. I was just about to leave. I'm Riben. You may stay at my house, if you would like to." He picked up his messenger bag after stuffing a notepad and pen inside.

"Yeah. I'll come." Terra said, after scanning his thoughts once. Riben walked out, motioning for her to follow.

They were now outside, the sky now gradually darkening. "It's better if we leave fast," Riben said. "Why?" She questioned. Out of the blue, loud voices were heard screaming and yelling. Terra could see a hooded person running away with a small bag of something unfamiliar. "They've got my Lihset seeds!" A woman shrieked from the distance. "That's why." He said, charging on. Terra was left a few paces behind, so she ran forward. Soon they had made it out of the market and into a comparably quieter area.

The place had narrow streets made of bricks, with charming fairytale-like cottages. "I live in the next street." He said. Terra kept admiring the cottages, picking up ideas for her own. They walked in silence till the turning to the other street. "Why are you being nice though?" Terra asked.

Riben pulled some keys out of his bag, and was opening the door to his cottage. "It's a bit complicated. Can I explain to you a little later?" "Yeah, sure." She replied a little disappointed. He got the door open and stepped inside. Once Terra got in, he locked the door again and set the keys on a table. "How long do you plan on staying?" Riben asked. "I'm... not sure. I guess I'm here on a... mission."

"Well, make yourself at home then." He said, just before walking off to another room. Terra sat on the couch. On the table, there were a bunch of cluttered notes, full of weird names. Among the chaos was a flower vase, like a reminder that there's always beauty in disarray.

Riben entered the room with a jar of some mystery liquid. It looked a lot like water. "What do you do for a living?" She asked. "I'm a warlock. Well, a healer to be more specific."