A Sword For Gold

Chapter 3 - Evening Road

They had just arrived in time before the gates would close.

"Good evening, Maraxus and Cora," greeted one of the two guards that manned the southeastern gate of the city just before they had decided to close it down for the night.

"I guess we arrived just in time?" asked Maraxus.

"That's right," said the other guard, "Come on, get in before others begin thinking that we're giving special treatment to the famous Starfall Hunters."

"Thank you, both of you," said Cora with a sigh of relief as they walked through the gates as they closed behind them.

"Taking refuge in the city for the night?" asked one of the guards who let them in.

Cora shook her head, saying, "Not exactly. Where are the stables?"

"Just along that road," answered the guard as he pointed down the road towards their right. It should be near the northern gate."

"Alright, you have my thanks, kind sirs," thanked Maraxus as he and Cora began to walk towards the northern gate of the city so that they can claim the horses that Kaleb Penelyth had prepared for them. In the evening, the city was a cold ghost town where only guards were the signs of life on the streets, while others were sleeping in peace and few were drinking in high spirits in the many taverns established around the city. However, the streets were always peaceful and quiet during the night, and perhaps this was a blessing in disguise for them. Lesser amount of people that would notice the renowned Starfall Hunters passing them by meant fewer distractions for Maraxus and Cora.

"Fucking hell, I don't like this city," grunted Maraxus as they walked through the cold evening streets of Goldhaven.

"Why?" asked Cora with a raised eyebrow and a playful smirk, "You find it creepy at night?"

"It's not that," he shrugged, "It just reminds me of all the weird missions we had to do for Sorcerer Elarius. You know, those times we had to hunt for wolf tears or dragonfly scales or turkey beaks."

"I like Sorcerer Elarius," Cora disagreed, "I've learned quite a lot of alchemy and a bit of sorcery from him. That's how I have also managed to sense our enemies without having to see them or hear them."

"Yeah?" Maraxus scoffed, "Did he also teach you how to fly on a fucking broom?"

"Don't make fun of the sorcerer, Maraxus," Cora scolded him, "What he does is very difficult, and while we're at that topic, flying is a very difficult spell to master, and that already adds to how hard it is to learn even the basic spells."

Maraxus shrugged. "What did you learn from him so far, anyway?" he asked.

"As I said, I've learned to sense enemy energies," she repeated, "I've also learned how to conceal my own energy to avoid being senses by other capable sorcerers, and adding to that, I can also conceal your presence. However, the hardest spell that I learned from him, which is actually easy for adept sorcerers, is the Flicker Step Spell."

"The fuck is a Flicker... Spell Step?" Maraxus reacted.

"Flicker Step Spell," corrected Cora, "I focus my inner energy towards my feet so I can run faster than one may expect of me. Here, watch."

Cora took a deep breath, as she began to channel her energies towards her feet, and in a split-second, she had dashed thirty meters ahead of Maraxus before he could even count a second, or even half of it.

"You've been hiding this shit from me, Cora?" asked Maraxus with a raised eyebrow.

"Jealous?" retorted Cora, "Don't worry, Maraxus, I'll teach you soon enough."