In the Ruins of Hope (Centauri Asaris: Book 1)

The Shopping District

Morning quickly came and we left for the subway. Being the main transportation within the kingdom, the station was packed. The underground railway organized its costumers into five lines. The entrances were spaced about ten feet apart and had ticket booths stationed at their entrances. They reminded me of the queues that were always in front of amusement park rides. Each line was assigned to different trains that come and go every thirty minutes. Each train made a round-trip to the different sections of the empire. Within the boundaries of each section, the different districts could be found. Overhead, a wide billboard contained the travel information for each route. According to the board, we would have to enter the middle lane. Ten minutes after we purchased our tickets, the train arrived.

The shopping district accommodated shops that sold everything from groceries to pets and weapons. If you needed anything, it could be found being sold at one of the shops. The buildings were all identical, but they could be distinguished. Each building had a specific sign that signified what they sold. There were also posters that marketed the items inside. Alisa and I walked a block before we saw a sign that depicted an image of an aerosol can and a cleaning cloth.

After we finished buying what we needed, we loitered around the rest of the shops. Window shopping is dreadful when you can't buy anything. After staring down a mannequin, Alisa and I decided it was about time to leave, but we both saw something that caught our attention. Alex entered an antique weapons shop about two shops away from us.

Almost instinctively, I prowled my way towards him. Alisa grabbed me by my wrist before I was too far away and spun me around.

"What are you doing?" she said cautiously, not letting go of my hand.

I knew she would have second thoughts. "We're going to tell Alex about the letter and how he is a target, remember?" I responded.

"Isn't too soon? We talked about this just last night. I thought we were going to tell him at school," Alisa said as the reluctance seeped out of her throat.

"Listen," I tried to sound as stern as possible, "We have to do this now. If we don't, who knows when we will get another chance. He will probably avoid us at school, and we can't have a private, serious conversation while we're rushing towards our next class. This is the only time we can talk to him before it's too late. We have to get to him before Dain." I pulled my hand away from Alisa and walked a few paces forward. Without turning around, I asked, "Coming?"

Alisa reluctantly followed behind me. She was probably already thinking the worst case scenario which was something along the lines of Alex joining Dain and us digging our graves. She was a real pessimist sometimes. I waited for her to catch up to me before I pushed my way through the door.

Inside, old wooden shelves were stacked with ancient weapons to the right and dust ridden books to the left. I found Alex flipping through the pages of a book titled Ancient Egypt: Weapons and Magic of the Past. I didn't think too much about it before I started to approach him. I was stopped midway by Alisa. "Maybe I should talk to him first. He's not too fond of you," Alisa said. Knowing she was right, I stepped back; she was better at handling people than I was.

"Hey, Alex!" Alisa happily said as she ran to stand beside him, "Coincidence seeing you here. What's that?"

Already appearing annoyed by her appearance, he closed his book and said, "None of your business. I was just about to check out, so move out of the way."

"I can't do that," she calmly said, "I have something important to talk to you about. It involves you and probably anyone around you."

Still not wanting to talk, Alex made his way to the back of the shop. A sales clerk that had long white hair stood from his seated position at a sluggish pace. His hair went down to his elbows and covered his head like a mop. His hair parted in a way that only showed his mouth and a beard that went down his chest. Ancient fingers snatched the book away from Alex and in an aged, raspy voice he said, "Ten currency is your expense."

Before Alex had a chance to give him his topes, the empire's currency, Alisa handed the clerk ten topes. The clerk handed the book back to Alisa and sat back down on his stool. "Now you have to listen to me and her," Alisa said with a mischievous smile and nodded towards me.

As soon as he saw me, he spat, "Keep the damn book! I'm not going anywhere with a Hastings."

Before he stomped out the door, I grabbed his hand and desperately said, "Listen, I don't know what I did to you, but that's not important right now. Your life is in danger! We need to talk. Now!" I was now tearing my fingers in his skin despairingly trying to not let go.

He saw the seriousness through my action and reluctantly said, "Fine. I'll give you ten minutes, but we have to go where no one is around, right?" I nodded my head and he continued, "I know the perfect place. It's in the next district. Follow me." Before we could answer, the door was already closed, so we hurried to catch up with him.

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Picture Details:

This is the antique weapons shop Alex went into. The store is separated into two sections: weapons and books about weapons. The weapons here are basically useless, but they contain powerful magic. The books contain knowledge of the past like the weapons and magic of the ancients.

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I found this picture here: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/89931323782250620/