I was still arguing with Archer by the time we arrived in town, he hadn’t said anything because the cart was more precious then our conversation, it contained the pies he worked so hard on. I tried to do exactly what he was doing, ignoring him and focusing on what needed to be done. But for the first time in my life it was extremely boring to plan things out, it must be the after effects of the adrenaline rush. Earlier I added up the total amount of money I had; it should be enough for us to stay in a hotel for the rest of the night, which judging by the season and position of the moon would be 7 hours of sleep. It could be worse, we travelled pretty fast for a walking distance without a donkey, I would have been way more tired arriving at town and probably collapse from exhaustion and not made pies and the grand total of money I would make would be Nada thing. In a way W-Archer had deemed himself worthy.
The town was new so it didn’t have that slight sour smell in the air; instead it smelt like fresh bread, barbecue, and every new store we strolled by, it would have been a nice arrival if not for the chimneys. The smell of burning wood triggered a slight head ache, and the new smells felt very masculine compared to the orchards and my own country; this was a town in fire city after all. I huffed, so much for selling pies, I look ahead at Archer who had a hop in his step and was whistling a tune I never heard of, well at least I had someone to share the pies with, and maybe it could even be an early morning snack.
I could imagine it now. I would be walking through the lobby at the hotel we were staying at while eating a piece of pie on a beautiful plate designed to capture the beauty of a white rose caught in the early hours of the morning. The restaurant inside the hotel would be calling out for meat-eaters everywhere and I would debate with myself whether or not I should walk in and throw the pie away since there was just too much too enjoy. Mid-bite a voice would send shivers down my spine behind me,
“Can I have a bite?” He would ask, just like the city his voice had a deep masculinity and a low hum in it that would reveal a hidden sadness that only one who listened close could hear.
I turn around only to find a Greek god with a wide smile. I would back away, embarrassed and try and keep a steady gaze with those big round eyes.
“You can have a bite only if you promise to shower me with gold.” I whisper. I pause then move closer to him my eyes glistening with hope. “And love.”
He smiles and leans in while I spoon feed him, our faces are close and-
I run into the back of the cart making a metallic thud ring through the night and the impact reopens my wound. I fall on my back and lay on the ground not bothering to get up, I do not recall a time I had been as clumsy as I was this night. I look at the sky, who was it that always did? I searched the sky hoping if I found one I would remember. My eyes water bit before I wipe them and curse out loud. Like Bam I would cry, it must have just been smoke from the chimneys, typical of a fire city town to produce so much gunk.
I remember now, it was in a newspaper I read on my way to the orchards. Apparently it was the most organized town they had built in Fire City while all the others were a spur of the moment. The town people who built the settlement called it Harlow after the recent award winning Scorcher for her work on a new magic medicine for mountain city mages, its still undergoing tests. The medicine was nothing new; it was just extremely complicated to create medicine for their magic.
My wound stings and I cringe, I would have to be more careful or else I would open the wound even more than it had already. I tenderly touch the bandage and feel the warmth of fresh blood, well nothing I can do about that, I stop poking it and the bandage unsticks from the cut. In all of the night’s sky I better not get a bam scar or else I would have to get a water mage to make it disappear and only the person in my past life would be able to afford that. I stand up and storm to the front of the cart to ask Archer what he was doing instead I was catching flies and a tiny squeak escaped when I was met with an open space.
