I was in a crowd of people. Most of them were arranging their last things before evacuation. It had been a very long time since I was in a city. The change was suddenly uncomfortable. I could have left at any time, but I still decided to stay a little longer.
I looked around. A jester stood on a small stage performing his magic. Although it was best time to evacuate, he still devoted himself to his performance.
"Behold the creatures of Endton, I will show you a magic spell that will awaken in you temporarily another race that you have in your blood."
I was interested in that. Various shape changes are not common spells. The so-called changers were very dangerous and very often worked as assassins or something similar. They could transform into any creature they wanted, but it was quite mentally demanding, and if they got it wrong, they could have lifelong consequences.
"Come closer, is there a volunteer?" The jester carefully looked around at the crowd of interested parties. "The magic closet has chosen you sir," he pointed towards the boy who seemed the least interested. He frowned but approached the stage. "What other race do you think runs in your blood?"
The boy hesitated for a moment. His ears were rounded, so he was probably a human.
"Perhaps Cerpeir," the boy said uncertainly.
"What do you think the audience will turn into?"
"Relken!" "Dongr!" Several different races sounded from the crowd.
"Now to enter the magic cabinet."
The boy took a few steps to find himself in front of a red oak cabinet and stepped inside. The jester walked over to the closet and closed the door. He muttered some spell in a foreign language. The door flew open. A figure the size of an elephant stepped out of the smoke. The Trenon, as the race was called, are among the almost extinct.
The boy looked around. Suddenly he could see almost everything.
"I didn't expect that," he muttered, his voice deepening quite a bit.
"Effects last about five minutes," the jester pointed out. The boy rushed into the street and walked through the crowd. It was a very unusual spell, if it could transform various creatures into giants, it would be quite a powerful weapon.
"Any other volunteers?" His eyes suddenly locked on me.
I turned my gaze away and walked away with a smooth, quick step. I didn't want to be the center of attention.
I moved a few streets away where it was quieter. I spotted a nearby inn and headed there. The waitress just wanted to hide the menu sign. Her long black hair fell over her shoulders. The slightly protruding horns from the forehead indicated that she was a variet.
Variet, is a race that has ancestors among demons. Her skin was a little pink. I walked in and sat down at the bar. The inn was freshly cleaned.
"We're closed," said the innkeeper in my direction. He was also a variet.
"Just give me a minute," I retorted, pulling a copper coin out of my pouch.
"You have five minutes," he decided. He tipped the pint and began pouring the beer.
"What's up with everyone running?" I asked.
"Didn't you hear that? Luskar suddenly ambushed the Erdonian army and Erdonia was heavily defeated," he paused. "They should be here in about two days."
The fall of Erdonia was apparently inevitable.
The Luskar Empire currently has the most powerful army on the continent and has a very wide influence in other countries. Until recently, it was rivaled by Detruisia, but after its fall, the empire began to conquer the entire continent.
The innkeeper placed a tankard of beer in front of me. I drank some and cleaned my lips of the foam. The taste of beer flooded my mouth. I wasn't very used to the bitter taste, so I frowned a bit.
"You don't like that?" asked the innkeeper.
"Yes, it tastes good, I'm just getting used to it." I turned to the waitress. "When do you plan to evacuate?"
The girl looked up from the bucket of water and her eyes fixed on me. Her brown eyes seemed to swallow me.
"Tomorrow morning." said the girl. A smile appeared slightly on her face.
"Since it's the end of the earth, don't we go?" I didn't look my best at the moment, but a short bath would fix that. She nodded.
"She's my daughter, if you do anything to her, I'll chase you to the ends of the earth," he said quietly.
"It won't be anything binding," I assured him.
"Just so..." He still showed tension, but he relaxed a bit.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Tessia, but can you call me Tes and you?" she added.
"I'm Daen, so out in ten minutes?" She turned to her father. He just nodded desperately and looked away.
I finished the tankard and climbed out of the inn. The wind was beating furiously against the walls of the houses. A storm was coming. Within a few minutes, Tes appeared.
"Shall we go for a walk?" I suggested
"Sure." She came up to me and braced herself against my frame. Tes was about a head shorter than me.
"What will you do when you evacuate?"
"We'll see, we'll probably run off to Medroinia and start a new business."
Medroinia was the western major power, probably the last one capable of resisting the empire.
"And you, what are you going to do next?" she looked at me curiously.
"I'll see, I guess I'll just travel."
We walked through many streets until we reappeared at that stage. No performance was held. there were only a few people loading the corpse into the car. The first time I didn't recognize him, his face was completely disfigured. The jester was dead.
"What happened here?" I asked one of the people.
"You went to jump off somewhere for a while, and then you didn't come," he paused. "His body was found in a side alley." I looked around dumbfounded. "The only thing he had with him was some illegible paper," he added.
"Let's go," Tess whispered. I nodded. It was strange. If there's a killer in town, I'll tear him to pieces.
For the rest of the day we walked around and stopped here and there for food. The sale made it quite easy to get cheap food. Tes opened the door to the bunkhouse. We went up a few stairs and she unlocked the door.
"You can sleep at my place if you want," she offered.
"Thank you, I'm glad." I leaned towards her but her hand stopped me.
"Take a bath first." She pointed to the bathroom with her other hand.
I frowned but obeyed. I climbed out within a few minutes. I looked around the room and went to the bedroom. The darkness was broken only by smaller candles on the sides. Tes got up from the bed, only then did I realize that she was covered only by a tiny nightgown. I looked away from her body and focused on her face. Her smile was beautiful. She raised one eyebrow to indicate that she noticed my gaze on her mouth.
"There's a kiss."
I crossed the space that separated us and planted a quick kiss on the lips. Her mouth fell open, wanting more. It felt bad. I have slept with many girls in the past, but now it was different, like my body didn't want to. I pulled away.
"What is it?" she asked offended.
"Sorry, I just can't do it today."
After a moment of silence, she just nodded, lay down on the bed and covered herself with a blanket.
"Goodnight," she said somewhat disappointed.
The candles went out and the room was plunged into darkness.
"Goodnight. I'll be leaving in the morning," I replied quietly.
I turned on my side and closed my eyes, but sleep did not come. I lay motionless listening to the muffled sounds of the city, the occasional wind brushing against the shutters.
I felt like Tes was still watching me, but maybe it was just in my head. Finally, I took a deep breath, let go of all thoughts, and let myself be carried away by the fatigue that slowly overcame me.