It's been a month since I started training with the others, and I've turned eight. I didn't bother telling anyone because it wouldn't feel right celebrating without Marin and Emry in any capacity. Even though I've seemed to have fallen into a rhythm here, I'm still anxious about getting home. Everyone, including Reese, continues to be cagey and vague on the details while we wait for this mystery man, who I have to assume is the head of this operation.
I ran the cloth along the length of the cart, dusting it off. The mid-morning sun's rays bathed the street in its warmth. The GLF had street vendors set up around Vista City to gather information. We worked them in shifts. If you were lucky, you would be stationed at only one for the day. But other times, you might find yourself traveling between three different merchant carts. Galen and I were working out of the cart stationed closer to Vista City's town hall. There was a canal that acted as the main road, with a few gondolas passing us by, and the streets were rather busy as well.
"They're working you pretty good, aren't they, young man?" Ms. Beá asked with a coy smirk, approaching the stand. She was a loyal customer who visited often, even though she was clearly wealthy enough to buy finer clothing and jewelry from the silk merchants.
"Gotta start them young, Miss Beá," Galen said, from behind the cart. I scratched the back of my neck and waved at the woman. She was beautiful, looked to be in her mid to late twenties, with sandy blonde hair and a pair of sapphire colored eyes.
"Look at this face," She leaned over and pinched my cheek. "The ladies will surely be coming in droves in the future." I looked over my shoulder, flustered.
"Can we interest you in anything today, Miss Beá?" Galen asked, spreading out an assortment of fine jewelry.
"Not today, love. I just came to say hi to my favorite merchant." She smiled down at me.
"It's good to see you too, Miss Beá," I said, with a respectful bow.
"And manners, too? Where did you find this one?" She asked, covering her lips with her hand. "I might have to steal him." There was a subtle emphasis on the word steal, and her eyes sharpened as they shifted towards Galen, like she was trying to gauge his reaction.
"He's Reese's nephew," Galen responded quickly. "Do with that information what you will." I guess that wasn't a complete lie.
"Reese, you say?" She then eyed the jewelry that Galen brought out briefly. "I'll leave you two to it. Be safe, Canaan." She said with a wink as she walked off.
Then I heard a soft whistle accompanied by a strange warmth in my pocket.
The orb? I thought.
Looking down, I saw a brief flash of teal light. I reached into my pocket, the heat continuing to almost pulsate. I felt the orb. It was fine, but there was something else in there now. A small, cool metallic object, I slipped it out of my pocket, and my eyes widened. The coin? I know I left it back in Ettle. How and why did it just do that? Too bad neither the orb or this thing came with instructions.
"We should just hang you off the cart and draw in the customers that way," Galen said, leaning onto his arms over the surface of the cart. As her footsteps faded, another pair began to grow louder.
"You think so?" I said, placing the coin back in my pocket and turning to face the approaching steps.
"It's your lucky day, kid. You two wrap this up and head back to the inn, It's time." Reese said with a grin.
"Time for what?" I asked, looking back at Galen to see if he was as surprised.
"He's here. The one you've been waiting for." She responded.
Finally, it's time to find out why I'm here. I'm almost conflicted about my time here coming to an end, though. I'm still worried about home, but meeting my—sort of—aunt, the training, and the knowledge about the world I've gained here has been beneficial to say the least.
***
We entered from the front of the Inn. It looked like the bar had been rearranged for this meeting. All the tables, except for one in the middle, were pushed against the wall, and the room was packed full with GLF members in their uniforms, some standing and others sitting surrounding the table. There was a man standing over the table in the center, spreading out a few pieces of paper and a map on top of it. I don't think I've seen him before, but it looks like things were about to start. We squeezed our way over to the stairs, I saw Stefanos but none of the others.
"Alright, it's nice to see everyone in good health," the man started, sweeping his gaze across the room. "I noticed some new faces, so let me introduce myself. I am Phelin Scar, nobody special, I'm just here to bore you while I read off these sheets of paper." He lifted a piece of loose leaf, pinching the corners, and snapped it twice.
"Better listen closely, kid. You don't want to miss any of this." Reese whispered to me.
"Is this the guy?" I said, also in a hushed whisper. She shook her head no.
Phelin placed the page back on the table and ran a hand along his dark brown braided hair. He had two flat braids that coiled into one long tail that fell down his back. He looked young, but his features were sharp. He cleared his throat.
"First, an update. I know many of you are curious about what's been happening in Telenor since the explosion at the Yarden factory. There wasn't any major damage to the city or its people, but there are reports of strange…" he paused. "Events—let's call them—happening. I can't verify the validity of some of these claims, so I won't start any rumors."
It felt like someone wrapped a fist around my heart, stopping it dead in its tracks. My thoughts started to race to try and thread some ideas together. Reese put her hand on my shoulder and pointed to her ear.
"Just listen," she said calmly.
"However, it does lend credence to our suspicion of the Yarden factories and their connection to the stricken. For those that are new, that's what we've been calling these strange transformations." He then rustled through a few of the papers, lifting one and skimming it. "Which brings me to my second point. As you all know, our goal is to free the Grishans who have been consigned to forced labor at the Yarden facilities. We originally thought that Nole was able to pull this off by himself, but recently we've become aware of the fact that the King is in on it as well. Meaning we need to be extra careful going forward."
He didn't say "us" when he was talking about the Grishans, so he must be from Alestrios. Even though I know it's a mix, I assumed most of the leadership would be Grishan, but instead, they're mostly Alestrio. Considering what the king plans to do with Dean's disappearance, this could boil over into a civil war if either side isn't careful, assuming that's something they don't want. But the King and Nole working together would make that strange lab in the King's study make sense. Forcing the Grishans to do work for free could also hurt the local economy, taking jobs away from the blue-collar workers, creating more unrest. Maybe the king is after some sort of conflict…or maybe preparing to justify something we aren't aware of yet.
"We've luckily been able to finish up most of our work in the countries Avron and Bell to the west, as well as Ingris in the south." He spread the map out and turned it so it was facing the crowd, running his finger along the roads. "Up until recently, we were able to control the flow of information by intercepting couriers along these routes and replacing them with our own people."
"Reese," I called to her from the corner of my mouth.
"Yeah, kid?"
"I thought the Celtreas ruled all of Alestrios. How do these other countries work?"
"The Celtreas built themselves an empire during the conflict with Grisha. By the time the last war with the Grishans ended, they had taken over the rest of the territories and either appointed their own governor or kept the country's ruler but under their oversight… or something like that."
"How long has the conflict been going on?"
"Centuries, now pay attention. You can ask your questions later," She responded, turning to face Phelin.
"Basically, we'll need to make significant changes to how we operate here and slow down our efforts. It's already dangerous enough with the second-stage water mage Lucan governing Whiteren, don't need the King sniffing around and turning his ire on us." Phelin said, straightening the loose paper on the table.
Looks like I missed a little bit talking to Reese, but for the most part, everything makes sense. Second-stage water mage, huh? Does that mean he's stronger than Reese?
"There are three factories here in Whiteren, we'll be systematically taking them out over the next six years. And with that, I would like to welcome Silas. Once again, I sincerely thank each and every one of you for your sacrifice." A wave of excited chatter washed over the room. The anticipation was practically tangible while Phelin cleared the table.
The stairs next to us creaked, and an older man with streaks of grey running through his black hair stood.
How did I not notice him?
He was around six feet, had a medium build, but was still pretty muscular. He wore the same brown trousers and combat boots, but had a beige poet shirt with a string collar on. He also carried a sword on his hip. He had his eyes closed, and three large scars like claw marks covered the right side of his face. His features had a sort of wisdom carved into them from his many years. He turned in our direction. Reese gave him a rigid bow, the most formal I've seen her since we met. And then his gaze—If I can call it that—fell towards me before he made his way to the center of the room. His steps exuded a sense of command and control, even silencing the floor beneath his feet. It was strange, though. There was something oddly familiar about him.
"I won't be before you long," He started, clasping his hands behind him and pacing toward the table in the middle. "Nole has figured out a way to absorb magic. Phelin, would you mind?" Phelin retrieved a bracer that looked like the one the guards use. "Stefanos, fire off a spell at me," Silas asked. All eyes turned towards Stefanos, who was nervously shifting his head around the room, pointing a shaky finger towards his chest.
"Are you sure? In here?" He asked, swallowing hard. If I remember correctly, Stefanos already experienced this with Cal. I wonder how he's doing.
"You have nothing to worry about, boy. Fire your magic." Stefanos summoned a flame and aimed his palm at the strange old man and fired off the spell. Silas calmly grabbed the bracer from Phelin and placed it directly in the path of the firebolt. The flame sputtered as the distance closed, then it spiraled and was drawn into the bracer, just like on the street. The room reacted with a few shocked gasps and some whispers.
"Some of you would have already encountered this technology, but for those who haven't, this is what you will be up against." He said, rotating the bracelet in his hand. "All this means is, you can't solely rely on your magic anymore, so from here on, we will be focusing on physical combat to prepare you all. And that's all I have for you."
Phelin stepped up to dismiss everyone with a few closing comments about everyone meeting with their respective captains.
"Are you ready, kid?" Reese said, placing a hand on my shoulder. Giving me a similar feeling to when Dean dropped what felt like the weight of the world in my hands, on the way to the council meeting, all those months ago. I nodded yes. The crowd slowly started to dissipate, Leah and Stefanos came over to talk for a bit, and then left with Galen.
"Canaan." It was the old man's voice. Caught off guard, I turned to face him and extended my hand, then hesitated awkwardly as I wasn't sure if he was blind or if he just had his eyes closed. I guess in either scenario, he wouldn't see my hand unless…I'm graduating to getting my very own blind sensei. My train of thought was cut off when he actually met my hand with his.
"Yes, sir, that's me," I responded as he gave my hand a firm shake.
"Shall we go somewhere a bit quieter?" He asked, looking at Reese.