by Isaac Crowe
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Lysander pointed at a small tavern not far inside the town. “We’ll start there. Any and all gossip can be found at the local tavern in every town. We can also get food and drink to refresh ourselves.”
Max immediately headed for the tavern. “Then let’s go.”
The weather-beaten tavern kept most of the elements out, but offered little else. The well-worn tables bore numerous carvings left by the many customers over the years. The chairs, strewn about in a haphazard fashion, gave an unnerving creak when sat upon. Lysander stopped in the center of the room.
“Okay, Maxwell, we will spread out. Just strike a conversation with people as they take a seat.”
Max nodded. “Okay.” He took a seat at one of the tables and faced the door.
Lysander shook his head. “Max, you need to be a little more casual about this or else you’ll scare everyone away.”
“Oh, sorry.” Max changed to a seat where he could watch the rest of the tavern. Lysander and Melody sat at stools in front of the bar. Eve shot off to a table in the back corner where another young lacarnian girl sat.
Over the next couple of hours, people came and went. Several talked with either Melody or Lysander, but most left Max to himself. No one wanted to talk to a kid in a tavern, so he spent most of the time watching Melody and Lysander. After a while, that became boring, and he lost interest in the task at hand. His eyes wandered over to where Eve sat at the table in the corner. She had started a lively conversation with the other girl right from the start.
Max sighed, pulled out his father’s box from his backpack and fiddled with it. A few minutes later, Max heard the door to the tavern open once again. He looked to see who he could drive off this time. The door closed behind...nobody? Max scanned the room, he recognized all of the faces in the tavern. None had left.
Strange, maybe the boredom is getting to me.
Max couldn’t put aside the feeling, though, that someone had opened the door. He stood and walked towards it. Drawing near, his heart began to race. He threw open the door and stepped outside.
The street flowed with people, their feet stirring up dust from the dry ground. Max sniffed at the air. He had smelt something out of place: the scent of wildflowers. He turned to his right and the scent got a little stronger. Not far up the street, he glimpsed a purple parasol so dark it was almost black, before it disappeared in the crowd. Max knew without a doubt that it was the owner of the parasol that had opened the door. He hurried after it.
Max had a difficult time keeping the parasol in sight as he navigated the crowed street. It appeared and disappeared several times during his pursuit, always the same distance ahead of him. When he could not see the parasol, he followed the fragrance of the wildflowers.
Max finally came to a stop near the other end of town. The parasol had not reappeared at its usual interval, nor did he smell the wildflowers anymore.
Maybe I passed her, or worse yet, she’s put away the parasol.
Max decided to head back when a soft breeze came from the side alley. The smell of wildflowers almost overpowered him. He weaved through several people, popping out in the alley. He frowned, empty. He looked back into the street, unsure he had come the right way.
No, I know the breeze came from here.
Turning back to the alley, the sight of a small child, no older than eleven, startled him. She stood at the far end, about seventy feet away.
How did I miss her? Max checked both sides of the alley. No crates or barrels for her to have hidden behind, and there’s a fence behind her.
Max focused back on the girl, only to be immediately enamored by her appearance. In a town of people wearing worn clothes, dirty from a hard day’s work, she stood out like a sore thumb. She had long silver hair that flowed the length of her back and ended at her knees. She wore a blood red dress. The cuffs, collar and trimming were black. The hemline fell just above the ground so that only her shoes stuck out from under it. The shoes themselves, despite the dusty street, where black and shined to perfection. In her gloved hands, she held the purple parasol he had followed. It tilted slightly behind her, casting a shadow over her face. Her eyes, blue like the sky, shone from the shadow.
Max’s surroundings faded away as he floated into the vastness of the girl’s eyes. From around him, he heard the soft voice of a child.
“Boy, where did you get that box?”
“Box?”
“Yes, boy. The box in your hands.”
A vague memory came to Max, a memory of sitting at a table fiddling with a box. He concentrated hard to raise his arms. In his hands, he held the same box.
“This? It was my father’s.”
The voice drew closer. “Oh? Well, I like it very much. May I have it?”
Max struggled to find his voice. “No, I haven’t found out what’s inside of it yet.”
“Really, why not?”
“The latch is stuck.”
The voice was right next to him. “Perhaps I can open it. Hand it to me.”
Max started to hold out the box, but pulled it back to himself. “N-no, what if you don’t give it back?”
The voice became stern. “A locked box will do you no good. Give it to me.”
Max felt a tingling sensation all over his body. The blue sky started to turn gray as his body sank towards the ground. He clutched the box tightly to his chest.
“No, you can’t have it.”
“I have no time for this. Give me my box!”
The anger in the voice re-awakened Max’s senses. In the distance he heard another voice.
“Maxy, where are you?”
Eve!
The alleyway snapped back into focus. “Eve, over here, in the…”
Max felt a tug at the box. He looked back just as the little girl yanked on it again.
“How did you…?”
The girl let go of the box and let a small knife slip out of her sleeve and into her hand.
“Let go I said!”
She stabbed at his left hand. Max twisted his body enough that the blade missed its target, instead striking his bracer and bouncing off. She swung again, this time the blade slid across the top of his hand. A streak of blood welled up in the long cut. Startled by the pain, Max backhanded the girl, hitting her square in the face. She rocked back on her heels, lost her balance, and fell. Max yelled towards the street.
“Eve! I’m over here!”
Dust whirled behind him. When he turned back, the girl had disappeared. Eve, Melody, and Lysander ran up behind him. Melody fought to catch her breath.
“Here you are. Why did you wander off like that?”
Max stared dumbfounded at the empty alley. “I…I followed someone.”
Melody scanned the alley. “Who?”
Max shook his head in an attempt to clear it. “I don’t know, a strange little girl holding a parasol, but…she disappeared.”
Melody stared accusingly at Lysander. “Lysander, did you slip Max some beer at the tavern?”
Lysander tossed his hands in the air. “Hey, I had nothing to do with this! Maybe the alcohol fumes got him.”
Eve’s ears twitched. “No, there was another person here.”
Everyone watched as Eve stepped farther into the alley. She sniffed at the air, her ears erect and alert.
“I smell flowers, but it’s not from a perfume.”
Max pointed at Eve. “Yes! That’s what helped me follow her!”
“It’s very strange though. It’s new, yet very old at the same time.”
Melody gave her a curious look. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you know how babies and old people smell differently?”
Everyone nodded.
“It’s like that, only all at the same time.”
Eve sniffed again and made an odd face. “Then there is this hint of decay or sickness, like a pile of old, rotten leaves.”
“I think the furball is getting her smells mixed with all the farme
rs around here.”
Max nodded. “Yeah, I only saw one person, and she was definitely a child.”
Eve glared at Max. “Have I ever been wrong?”
Max cringed. “No, no, sorry.”
Eve shook her head. “No, it’s all from the same person. I…I think I’ve smelled it before, but I can’t remember where.”
Melody sighed, putting her hands on her hips. “Well, at least we know Max isn’t drunk on fumes, or anything else.”
Eve nodded at Max. “The cut on his hand was enough proof for me.”
Max lifted his hand. “Huh…oh.”
A trickle of blood flowed down the back of his hand, dripping off of his fingertips. Everything had happened so quickly, he had forgotten about the cut. Now that things had settled down, the pain returned. He grimaced.
“I blocked the first strike, but she got a second in before I knocked her down.”
Melody seemed doubtful of his sobriety again. “She attacked you?”
Lysander’s eyes grew cold, frightening Max. “You knocked down a little girl!”
“Sh…She wanted the box. When I wouldn’t give it to her, she stabbed me with a knife.”
“How did she get the jump on you, private?”
“I don’t really know. One moment she was standing at the far end of the alley, the next she had grabbed hold of the box. When she stabbed me, I just reacted by swinging my arm out.” Max pointed at the ground. “She fell right there. I turned to yell for you guys, and when I looked back, she had vanished.”
Eve got on her knees to sniff at the ground. “The scent is stronger. I know I’ve smelt it before.”
Eve sneezed, sending dust everywhere. Melody brushed her cloak off while she thought.
“I wonder why she wanted the box. She could not have known where it came from.”
“Lord Avram sent Max and I here to check our reports of a camp of troublemakers. They’re probably thieves, and she’s one of them.”
Max shook his head. “She didn’t look like any thief.” Max held up the box. “Besides, there is nothing fancy about this box to attract attention.”
Eve pointed at one of the latches on the box. “Max, the lock!”
Max took a closer look. The left pin had slid out of its locked position, letting the latch flip open.
“How?”
Melody reached for the box. “May I take a closer look, Max?”
Max handed the box to Melody. She examined it for a moment then took a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the left lock clean. The pin slid back in place.
Max was horrified. “Melody!”
Melody returned the box to Max. He tried pulling the pin, but it wouldn’t budge. “What did you do?”
Melody showed him her handkerchief. “I wiped the blood off of it.”
“Why?”
“To test a theory. I’ve heard of a device called a ‘Blood Box’. The locks of this device only react to the blood of the person who initially locked it. Try it.”
Max let a drop of blood from his hand touch the pin on the lock. It slid open. He tried the other lock, but nothing happened.
“Another person must have locked the other side, Max. Supposedly that was a common practice between two parties who traded with one another. Since only fresh blood works, both parties had to be present to reopen the box. The downside; however, is that one person could kill the other, and they had his fresh blood.” Melody put her cloth away.
“I’ve never come across this box before. Why would my blood unlock one side?”
“Blood from direct family members worked as well. Your father must have helped lock that box. Maybe the second person is a Protector.”
“Maybe, I guess I’ll ask when we return. Melody, are you sure there is no other way to unlock it?”
“Not that I know of.”
Eve bounced up and down. “Hey, maybe the Collector will know.”
Max looked at her blankly. “Who?”
Lysander nodded at Eve. “While you were out getting into fights with little girls, the furball actually found some usefully information.”
“Yep! The girl I talked to told me about a camp outside of town.”
“It must be the group of thieves and other rabble that headquarters told us about.” Lysander smirked. “They probably thought Evangeline belonged with them.”
Max heard a low growl start in Eve’s chest. Having been on the receiving end of it once or twice, he knew where it might lead. He tried to get her back to his early question.
“So who is this Collector, Eve?”
Eve’s eyes drilled into Lysander. “He is an old man in town who collects all sorts of junk. Apparently, he knows how to find the camp.”
“He is also who Lady Metis sent me to give a message to, so, we need to head there anyway.”
Max put the box into his backpack. “That’s great! Even better if he knows another way to open dad’s box. Let’s go.”
Eve relaxed, smiling. “Kay”. She took off out of the alley and down the street with the others in tow. “They said his place is pretty hard to miss.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Max stood and marveled at the mass of statues, furniture, wagons, pieces of various scrap and other assorted items surrounding a rundown building.
“Pretty hard to miss is an understatement.”
Paying no attention to the collection, Eve entered the home. Pulling his attention away from the sight, Max entered in behind her. Inside, he found the same clutter with every sort of trinket imaginable lining row after row of shelves.
Melody stepped into the doorway behind Max. “Wow! Careful, Lysander, it’s a tight squeeze.”
Max moved forward to let Melody and Lysander in. He heard Lysander mumble something before a commotion of scrapes and rattles shook the shelves to Max’s right. Melody shot her hands out in time to catch a rock carving that fell from an upper shelf.
Melody gasped. “Lysander!”
Max heard an unintelligible curse from Lysander.
Melody stifled a laugh. “Maybe you should wait outside.”
“Agreed.”
After some more rattling, Max heard the door close behind them.
Melody let out a deep breath. “That was close. I don’t know what this thing is, but I’m sure I don’t have the money to replace it.” She placed the carving back on the shelf. “See, Max, bigger isn’t always better.”
“Yeah, imagine all those missions inside of small sundry shops I wouldn’t be able to do.”
Melody laughed and pointed ahead of Max. “Go find Eve.”
Max walked down the aisle, fascinated by the various items on the shelves. Passing an intersecting aisle, he saw nothing but more rows of shelves.
Where did that girl go? Oh well, she can’t be too hard to...
Eve popped out of the side aisle between Melody and himself. “Hurry up guys.”
Melody jumped and bumped a shelf, causing several small figurines to teeter dangerously along its edge. “Eve!”
Eve snapped her tail along the shelf to steady the figurines. “This way already.”
Spinning around, she walked back down the aisle she’d come from. Max tried not to laugh, but had little luck.
“Finally, she spooked someone besides me.”
He thought Melody would smack him. “That wasn’t funny!”
“Hey, at least she didn’t pounce on you, and, yes, it really was funny.”
Melody swung at Max’s head. He ducked, jogging after Eve, leaving Melody fuming behind him.
“Where did she even come from?”
Max snickered. “If I could answer that, maybe I wouldn’t get pounced on so often.”
He had almost started after Eve too late. Walking hurriedly down one aisle after another, he’d barely see the tip of her tail before it whipped around another corner. After making several more turns, he rounded a corner and stopped abruptly in front of a desk. Behind the desk sat an old man painting a figurine similar to the ones
Melody almost knocked off. Eve stood next to Max, elbows on the desk, watching the old man paint. A moment later, Melody rounded the corner, smacking into the back of Max.
“Sorry, Max.”
“No problem.”
Eve started to laugh, but saw Max blush. She squeezed between him and Melody.
“You should be more careful, Melody.”
“Eve, it wasn’t her fault.”
Melody gave a strange smile. “It’s okay, Max. Eve, I’ll be more careful in the future. You don’t have to worry about me.”
Eve eyed Melody. “Kay.”
Max looked back and forth between them. “What was that about, Eve? What’s with that weird smile, Melody?”
“I’ll explain later…maybe.” Melody laughed. “For now, we shouldn’t be so rude to our host.”
Max knew he would not get an answer now, so he turned his attention back to the old man. The figurine sat completed on the desk. The old man sat starring at them, arms crossed. Max cleared his throat.
“Uhh, excuse me?”
The man didn’t move. Max leaned over the counter, afraid the old man had stopped breathing.
“Uhh, hi, are you okay?”
Eve pushed Max to the side. “Oh, move over.”
She bent over, plopped her elbows back on the desk and placed her head between her hands.
“Hiya, I’m Evangeline.”
The old man cracked a smile. “Good afternoon, Evangeline. Welcome to my humble shop.”
Eve scanned the nearby shelves. “It’s very odd. I like it.”
The man nodded. “Thank you. I doubt you will find any other place like it in all of Velrune. Look around, if you don’t find anything you like, let me know. I am sure I can get it for you.”
Eve focused back on the old man. “How about information?”
“I have a wide variety of that as well.” The old man’s lips drew tight as he gave Max a cold stare. “However, I reserve that commodity for special customers only.”
