End Of Mortality

Chapter 1

The market was busy today, full of traveller's stopping by the farmers stalls and giving their ears to the fortune-tellers for a peek into a hopeful future. All the young girl could hear was a muddle of chattering as she wove her way through the crowd, attempting to find her parents. They had gone out to get some ingredients for dinner, and like always, the frail child got knocked away from her father's grip and washed away in the sea of people.

"Papa!" She called out, and only got a few downwards glances from adults wondering if their child was calling them, but once they noticed she wasn't theirs they turned away with disinterest. She furrowed her brows, and kept moving, passing a stall of tomatoes of various colors and sizes. Her stomach grumbled. "Papa, where are you?"

She continued on, moving to the more densely populated area of the market. Here they sold sweets and lucious baked goods, the scent of scones drawing the munchkin in. Her eyes went large as she walked towards the store, and headed up the small stairway, her hand dragging across the wooden wall. She was stunned at what she saw just by standing in the doorway.

Piles of fresh bread and scones in displays, doughs of all kinds being made behind the counter, with cupcakes and doughnuts on racks just waiting to be ate. She wandered inside for a closer look, making sure to fold her hands behind her back so she didn't touch anything she shouldn't be.

"Can I help you, dear?" The clerk asked, causing the little one to look up. It was a familiar face, a young woman with red hair and pointed ears. The name Xenia was on her name tag, and she wore a plain white outfit with a blue apron that was covered in flour. "Would you like a cupcake today, Valkyrie? I wasn't sure you'd be by tonight."

The lady offered Valkyrie a perfectly iced vanilla cupcake, to which she happily took and dug into. "Thank you, Miss Rathmore. Do you think you can help find my papa? I lost him in the produce area," She meagerly said between bites. The clerk shook her head in amusement.

"Ah, alright. I'm sure he will come by once we put your little flag outside the door. Why don't you sit and wait until he comes by?" Xenia snagged a purple piece of cloth from behind the counter, and went to hang it on the door.

Valkyrie stood in the middle of the shop, looking around for any changes since she was last there. A large window at the front of the store looked out at the street and the mountains further out, and old worn out tables were oddly spaced away from each other to her left. In front of her were two large, new display cases full to the brim with goodies. And it seemed she was all too enamored to notice her father standing behind her, placing his hand onto her shoulder.

"Thank you for putting the flag up, Xenia. Valkyrie has a tendency to vanish into the market place." He smiled, handing the clerk a bag of copper coins. "Can I get a loaf of your multigrain bread and a blueberry scone?"

Xenia hurried behind the counter, dumping the coin out on the surface to count it, and separated half. "Yes. You have enough to double the order today, would you like to?"

He shook his head, and she gathered his items and placed them in a paper bag, and then handed his pouch of coins back. "Thank you very much, Xenia." He said, smiling. "You have a good day."

"You as well, Finn!" She exclaimed as they walked out of the building and back onto the bush street, heading home.

On the way back, Valkyrie got knocked over again, falling to her hands and knees, nearly slamming her face into a tiny book. She stared at it for a moment, picking the the leather-bound item up, and was whisked away by her father immediately. She put it in her pocket, patting it for security as she kept walking.