Inside the inn, Strife pays for a single room. It has one bed. Sweiza shoots Strife a look for this and Strife only cocks her eyebrows up at the girl. Sweiza overhears Strife and the attendant (female orc) speaking, the inn is called the “Dragon’s Cove Inn”. As it turns out, there is a nearby cove. They are close to the shore? Why wouldn’t Lukas take them this far? Perhaps he didn’t know? Then again…

Sweiza’s thoughts are interrupted by Strife. “Vera, follow me. We have a room.”

The inn is pretty simple, being three stories tall. It has a good look over most of the city, if it can be called that. By the time Sweiza hits the third floor, she stops. She looks out a window. She looks down at the townsquare and the people moving here and there. A bustling city! She wishes Maria Village could be like this.

The inn is bigger than Sweiza expected. By her estimate there are at least six rooms per floor. However, her attention shifts to Strife. “How many people live in ‘Torres’?”

“I don’t know dear.” Strife says it with some thought to it, “Perhaps the attendant or someone in the village knows.”

“I thought it was a city?” Sweiza says it blinking once. Hopefully Strife doesn’t rebuke her.

“Vera, let us put aside some concerns for right now and get a nap in. We’ve had a long journey thus far and I haven’t slept in a proper bed for some time. Also, we’ll have plenty of time to explore the village.” Strife waves her hand over her shoulder and Sweiza simply blinks once again. Sweiza is beginning to understand she’ll have to get used to her ‘mentor’ telling her what to do. At least so as long as she (Strife) knows more than she (Sweiza) does!

Once inside there room, Sweiza doesn’t note anything out of the ordinary. There is a candle on a rather large desk, there is a lantern with another candle hooked to the ceiling, there is a small open closet with what appear to be wooden hangars, and then the bed has what she can only describe as hand knitted covers. The animal skin blankets are especially appealing to her. They are very outdoor and rustic to her. She walks up and pulls up one of them. It is lighter than it looks. Perfect for cold nights! What she does notice is the sheets underneath have also been hand knitted. Absolutely wonderful!

Sweiza drops the animal skin cover from her fingers. She bolts her head back towards Strife and beams. “This is really nice!”

Strife cracks a smile at her before resuming her composure. “Good night Vera.”

Strife gives her apprentice little concern. Soon the mentor is under the covers with them pulled over her. She appears to be asleep. She (Sweiza) is not used to sleeping next to anyone with maybe the exception of Sprite, whom often sleeps nearby or on top of her. She has gotten used to him. She knows in the future she will have to get used to a man, specifically Lester, sleeping in the same bed as her. That is a different story. But a woman? This will take some doing. At least it is a tradition she is observing.

Freya forbid anyone thinks she is a Lesbian. Then again, do Valkyrie display Lesbian tendencies? She figures a few would. She finally pushes away the idea and is about to drop herself out of her boots when she realizes something. She turns around and sits on the bed. She looks down at her boots and holds up her feet. She concentrates. They disappear with the intended effect. “Thought so.” She says it to no one but herself.

The covers are thankfully large as she pulls herself under them. She is soon reinforced on and understands the idea behind Valkyrie together in the same bed - body heat. She never expected that Strife was this ‘kind’ and knowledgeable in the past. She’ll need to make a note to find out what changed her over the next two hundred years.

Sleep soon takes her.

—

Her sleep is sound without a trace of Demi. She wakes up refreshed and lets out a stretch. The covers are half on her feet, but she doesn’t feel cold. In fact, she cannot feel any temperature. It must be sometime in the afternoon? She pulls herself to a sitting position and sees that Strife is not in bed with her. Sweiza looks towards the room’s window. She is out of bed and at said window in a few steps. She looks out and down. The town’s people are still moving out and about. She tries to locate the sun, but she cannot see it. She looks down at the ground to check their shadows. It appears to be about five in the afternoon. Did she oversleep? She holds out her hand. She tries to make her watch appear. It doesn’t. She concentrates. It still doesn’t appear. She looks down at her wrist funny. Why isn’t it working?

She shrugs the idea off and pulls out her journal. Time to get writing!

—

“Dear Diary,

We got what we came for, but Strife hasn’t filled me in on what. I assume it is for the hammer of legend. Supposedly we can use it to strike down Odin. I wonder who is going to wield it? Perhaps Strife? I think she prefers the sword or the lance, I remember her using a lance in the future. I don’t ever remember her having the hammer? I had read in a book on the ‘Sterling Blue’ that the ‘Valkyrie Rebellion’ failed. Was the hammer destroyed by Odin perhaps? I can only wonder.

I also get the feeling Strife knows or has noticed something about this place (Torres) and won’t tell me about it. I’m starting to trust her intuition and abilities, but I wish she would make me known to such matters. I’m sure th…”

—

Sweiza’s writing is interrupted to a tapping at the window. She looks up and sees nothing. She continues trying to write. However, she is startled to drop her pen when she hears a loud knock to glass. Shaken she looks up. Sprite is there. He is holding a donut. She sets her journal down and walks up to the window. He seems to be waiting patiently. She unhooks the glass pane and pushes it up. Sprite flies in and flies up level to her face and flashes a giddy look. He is bobbing up and down, but his wings are also fluttering like he is struggling to fly.

“You need to try these. I had one earlier. They are delicious.”

Sweiza eyes him and the donut once. It appears to be frosted with clear frosting; underneath it looks like regular donut bread. There is an odd shimmer on it, like it has an odd spice.

“How sweet are they?” Sweiza’s hands go down to her hips.

“Very!” He flies down to her hand and nudges the donut into it. She finds it odd that he is so ready to give up something so sugary.

She holds the donut up to her mouth. One of her eyes close as she chews it. She eyes Sprite with her open eye. He bobs up and down with impatience.

“Well?” His arms cross and then uncross.

She finds it odd he seems so insistent on the donut. She doesn’t note anything odd about it.

“Sprite, it’s okay. I thought you didn’t like unflavored donuts?”

Sprite lets out a smile. “I’ll get another one!” He flies out through the window. Sweiza shrugs and sets back down to her diary entry. However, he is back again with another donut. He is just as giddy and insistent as before. She finds it an odd sight, but she is hungry. This one tastes more sugary.

Sweiza gives up on writing her entry and waits patiently as this process repeats several times. The donuts appear to get more sugary as time goes on.

“Sprite are you deliberately trying to addict me to sugar?” She shoots him the same look as before.

“Well?” He seems just as inquisitive as before. “Do they taste good?”

“Yes, Sprite. They taste good. Each one seems to get better. But what I really need is a drink. I don’t know why, but I have a craving for coffee.” She says it looking down at the ground. She doesn’t normally like the bitter stuff, but it does go good with donuts. “I doubt you can carry a mug of the stuff.”

Sprite simply cocks a smile and shrugs. “I’ll get some more.”

“That’s quite alright. I’ve eaten my fill.” She says it sitting on the bed with her arms crossed. Sprite seems taken aback, but otherwise follows her wishes.

She has the journal in her lap with the pen up again. She is about to write when she seems Sprite is still hovering in front of her. “Dewey, you know how I feel about you reading my diary.”

She points the pen accusingly at him. He doesn’t seem ample to fly off.

“Is something on your mind, Sir Herschel?” She says it half sarcastically, but otherwise gets that distinct feeling.

“You’re coming along very nicely.”

She looks up at him suspiciously. “What does that mean?”

He points down to her legs. She looks down. Her feet are stone. She does a double take and looks up at him. The last thing she remembers is a black sprite with pink wings and red eyes flying at her with a toothy smile.

—

Sweiza’s eyes bolt open. She feels a pain in her chest. She rushes up to a sitting position. The pain in her chest is tight; she can feel her heart beating fast. Her breathing is fast. She can’t control it. She tries her hardest to get her pulse and breathing under control. However, her thoughts flip to her legs. She whips the covers off quick like and sees her feet still have socks on. She pulls one of them off. She sees skin where she expects stone. She wiggles her toes. She feels a sigh come through her mouth, but it is hard to notice with her breathing.

She continues sitting up in bed until her breathing returns to something manageable. She still feels the daze, and a little bit groggy. She tries to go back to sleep.

Nothing.

She pulls the cover over her head, a last resort tactic as a kid. Some minutes pass. She hears a tapping at the window. Her eyes widen in fear and she feels her heartbeat increasing. She whisks the covers off and jumps out of bed. She storms up to the window. Sprite is there, but he isn’t holding the donut she expects. He hovers just outside the window. He crosses his arms when she doesn’t open it. She turns around and walks off, but stops again when she hears more tapping. She sees him staring at her, still hovering there. When she doesn’t open it, he taps the window again. He points to the window pane and makes a lifting motion. Her eyes narrow and she flips the window latch up and pops open the window pane. He flies in.

He flitters back and forth in greeting.

“Don’t you start with me Dewey. You are a very naughty Sprite giving me stolen donuts in my dreams.”

He flies once to the side, “Were they sweet?”

“Increasingly.” She says it tapping her foot. She makes sure it is loud enough for him to see her impatience. She finally breaks into a laugh. “It was just a dream though, nightmare rather.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

He looks at her quizzically, but otherwise becomes a bit more concerned, “Nevermind that. There is something weird about this place.”

She tilts her head, “How so?”

“I’ve been checking them out most of the day…”

“Swiping and stealing food no less…” She crosses her arms at him and then closes one eye; she blows a kiss at him for good measure.

The sprite is not impressed. “Anyway! There is something off about this place.”

“How do you figure?” Her arms uncross and her closed eye opens; her face turns to something more serious.

His wings flutter as he zips about a foot in front of her face. “I keep seeing the same people walking around.”

“So?” She tilts her head at him. “That’s not unusual.”

“They keep repeating the same motions.” He says it nodding to himself and bobbing in place.

“That’s not too unusual if it’s their job. Are they making deliveries?” She holds her hand out for him to land on. He gladly takes the gesture. Her suspicion is correct that he has been flying and hovering most of the day. He is clearly tired.

“That’s not what I mean. Listen. I was checking out the market earlier. I saw people buying food and then leaving with it. I went to follow them and I’d see them take it home. However, once inside a building, they would walk out with the same food and walk back to the market stall. They would set the food back and get their money back.”

Sweiza notices some concern in his voice. “So? Maybe it was bad food.”

“This isn’t just one person.”

Sweiza looks at him thoughtfully. She doesn’t say anything. She just nods her head.

“Sometimes I would see them walk around the village randomly. Othertimes I would see them enter a building and then leave. They always went back to the market place to buy the same food.” He says it a bit more frantically.

“You are sure of this?”

“I was looking for an easy meal and…”

Sweiza shoots him a dirty look. He smiles nervously at her. “I was looking for an easy meal so I started following some of the same people. They kept repeating the same movements in a pattern. I figured they might drop some food, but none of them did.”

She perks up, “You didn’t steal then?”

He shakes his head at her. “No. But what I did notice is that these people were much quicker during the early morning. They’ve been slowing down as the day marches on. Some of them are barely moving, but they are definitely moving.”

“In the same pattern?”

“Yes!” He says it frantic, but assured. He seems insistent.

She stops to think about the dream. She doesn’t see the connection, and usually Demi appears if there is any kind of danger. She dismisses it. “Okay, okay, I believe you. I’ll check it out.”

She doesn’t see the attendant downstairs at the desk. She looks at it funny, “Whatever.”

Once outside, Sprite jumps in front of her. “What’s the plan?”

She snaps her fingers at him. He stiffens at the gesture. “Okay, it’s time to get serious. I’m going to do some exploring around the city. I’ll follow some of the people around and see what is up. I won’t stray far and I won’t be long. Let’s say in about an hour or two we meet up in the town square?”

He salutes her. She claps her hands together and hunches over at him. “Let’s do it!”

They nod in unison. Sprite flies up into the sky and shoots off in a random direction. Sweiza summons her watch, not sure if it will appear. It does and she checks the time. It is roughly four thirty in the afternoon. Her first move is to head to the town square, check the lay of things, and then check out the town market.

—

Sweiza doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary in the town square. She in fact sees people walking around minding their business. Different people from different walks of life, even if they are of a different breed. She does note the children from earlier in the morning, are still playing with the same rock. Don’t they get bored? She wished she had that kind of youthful energy again.

She sits on a bench for a few minutes and observes passersby. They stare at her on occasion, but otherwise continue on their business. She gets bored after about ten minutes. Her notice finally sets up on the children. They are moving quite slow for children. Perhaps they are tired?

After watching them for some time she notes they are repeating the same pattern with the ball. Lifting it, dropping it, or moving it; the same people are doing it. Some chase without ever picking it up. Odd.

She gets up and heads towards the market. On the way there she notices someone is standing stiff like a statue. It looks weird.

Once at the market she picks a random orc to follow. He is wearing animal hide in typical fashion, but it has been dyed a dull green. He is wearing a strange stocking cap. He has what looks like a cut of the leg of some kind of animal. He is already walking away from a stall. She follows him some distance behind so as not to be noticed. Well, in her mind she won’t be noticed more than she already is. Her plan works. He doesn’t notice her shadowing him. She hides several times while following him several blocks. Thankfully there are multiple buildings. She resorts to squatting behind one building at one point when he turns around. She is not sure if he notices her. She finally sees him enter a house. She assumes it is his. She is in the street and stares at the door. She suddenly sees it open. She ducks out of the way and hides. The orc seems unaware of her as he retraces his steps back to the market. She continues hiding while following him.

Hiding in the market is much easier due to all the foot traffic and orcs walking around. She sees the same orc set the leg of meat back onto a stall. The stall owner gives him some money. The orc walks off. The behavior is exactly as Sprite described. She chooses not to follow him, he’ll probably catch wind she is following him. Instead, she hangs around the area for some minutes. As she expects, he returns to the stall to pay the stall owner for the same leg of meat. She cocks an eyebrow up at him. He walks past her (almost knocking into her) without giving her much attention. She turns to the side just in time to avoid hitting him.

She dismisses how rude it is. “This is getting weird.” She notes it to herself and no one else. She checks her watch. It has been about forty minutes. She isn’t convinced yet. She still has some time to kill. Sprite will also be able to find the time from the different clocks hanging from buildings around the town. She decides to shadow a few more people with the same procedure as before. However, she chooses to do so at different intervals, waiting some time between following them. She also chooses some distance between vendor stalls just to be safe. Othertimes she just waits on a bench.

Exactly as Sprite has described. She finds this behavior odd. Further, she has noticed that people are indeed starting to walk slower as time rolls on. She notes there are a few people just standing there in the street, sometimes in a weird pose. Sometimes people will stop walking completely and adopt a weird pose, and then continue walking. She didn’t notice this before. In fact, she doesn’t remember anyone doing this in the morning.

About an hour and in, she decides to sit on a bench in the market. She simply watches the same stalls. Sure enough, the same people come around. On the first pass they pay for a cut of meat or an item, then leave. The second pass they return with the item or meat and get their money back. The pattern seems cyclic, but odd to her. She knows there is a connection somewhere; she stops to think about it, but can’t draw any conclusions. But why are people acting so funny?

She finally heads back to the town square. She looks up at the monolith in the center of the connecting paths. It is an obelisk in nature, nothing out of the ordinary. It does have that strange writing that she cannot read. There is a clock near the top of it. It reads about six fifteen. She looks up and over at the sun opposite and behind her. It is not quite close to setting yet. Sprite should be by in about half an hour.

She decides to pass the time sitting on a bench and watch the children playing. She notes some of them are standing in position. Some of them standing stiff were moving the rock around from before. She looks up and closes her eyes in thought. There has to be a connection. But what? Does it concern her dream? She doesn’t remember anyone eating anything. There was also her stone feet. But she was normal when she woke up? She keeps pondering while she watches the children.

Slowly but surely those not already standing still, start to slow down. She tilts her head and shifts uncomfortably. Some of the children barely move before they freeze in place. There are still several of the original, that are still playing with the rock. Is it the food?

Her attention is snapped to when she hears an anxious squawk. He is hovering some five feet distance from her. He is glowing a dull blue and his wings are fluttering. He looks behind himself and then to Sweiza. He lets out another squawk, “Strife was following me.” He frantically motions with his hands, “She was behind me, I don’t know where she went.”

Sprite suddenly freezes. Sweiza hears a click and a stamp behind her. She turns around just as Strife clears her throat. “I circled around just incase anyone was following me.”

Sweiza looks over to Sprite; he looks over from Sweiza to Strife, Sweiza does the same.

“I don’t think anyone followed me.” Strife says it with some relief.

“What’s going on with this place?” Sweiza says it with concern.

“You’ve noticed.” Strife lets out a smile at her. She looks over towards the direction of the children. “I’m glad.”

Sweiza’s gaze shifts from Strife to the children. Her mouth drops slightly. Several of the children are moving around very slowly, some still moving faster than others. She looks at the children that had been standing stiff or been holding themselves in an odd position. An odd rule of the game? No, the adults also were acting that way. She stops to think. However, her attention focuses on the children that were standing stiff. Their skin color has definitely faded from already dull colors to a very dull and drab grey. There is one in particular where the skin color is black. She swears it looks scaly. Something about the skin isn’t right. But it is the eyes of the children. They are so real, yet so unreal. They look devoid of life.

Strife walks up to Sweiza. “Have you figured it out?”

Sweiza gazes from Strife to the children. She sees the last few moving around have suddenly come to a halt in movement. They appear to have frozen like a game of freeze tag. However, there is the one holding the rock. No, he too starts to slow down until he freezes, still holding the rock outward. She stands up.

“They freeze?” She says it quizzically at Strife.

Strife shakes her head as she crosses her arms. Her right hand forms into a pointed finger at the kid with scaly skin. Sweiza looks over. She jumps in place as she sees the kids eyes have turned to a glowing red. She starts to feel anxious as she sees in real time the child’s clothing start to dull. For that matter it appears to be aging. Several threads start to fall off.

“We need to leave.” Strife says it with no matter of uncertainty. Sweiza looks at her with concern. She stiffens with fear andStrife grabs her by the hand.

Sweiza takes one last look at the children. She is horrified to see that their clothing has become quite aged. In fact there are many holes in them. Their skin has turned a dull grey or black. Their eyes glow that ghostly red. It is the kid holding the rock that gets her. Something about it isn’t right. It’s almost like they are turning to statues. She turns away in grief as she begins to understand the dream.

Still holding Sweiza’s arm, Strife begins to increase her pace. She pulls the girl down the footpath, Sweiza begins to recognize it as the one leading towards the gate. She tries to look back, but her attention has to focus forward as the two have broken into a run. It is awkward with Strife pulling her along. The woman can run faster than she looks. Sweiza lets out a squawk for good measure. She hears a chirp as Sprite descends from above and flies in front of them. She feels relief as her friend is in tow.

Strife does not let up her pace, in fact she increases it. Sweiza is starting to feel the effects of running. Her lungs are starting to burn. She can hear Strife is starting to breath harder.

There!

She can see the gate some distance in front of them. They run for some distance until it is more visible. The gate is closed!

Strife lets out an audible “Shit!”

They are some one hundred feet from the gate when the trio stops. Sprite takes one look at Sweiza. She nods. He flies off and over the gate wall. Sweiza sees several guards under him on the platform. Her eyes jump down to the guards in front of the gate. They are blocking it! Their clothing looks aged and their armor looks rusted. Their skin is that same scaly grey or black color. But it is the ghostly eyes glowing red that bother her. She then sees T’lak walking in front of the gate. He is holding a club. He turns to face them. What surprises (and scares) her is when the effects hit him rapidly, almost like a wave, from his legs on up. His armor simultaneously rusts, his clothing ages and shows signs of wear, the club starts to rot, his skin turns black and scaly, and his eyes turn red.

“Strife!” Sweiza lets out a plea of help in the woman’s name.

Strife looks from the gate, to Sweiza. “We’ve been deceived. Hang on!”

Strife grabs the girls arm tight. “Sweiza, run with me as hard as you can!”

Sweiza doesn’t hesitate as the two break into a run.

A pair of red wings in vapor form appear behind Strife. They flow with the wind behind them in their wake. Sweiza’s body passes right through them. If she wasn’t so scared, she would remark how cool they looked. However, she is startled when she sees them flap once as Strife jumps up and then land into a crouch. They flap harder as the woman breaks into a jump. Sweiza shrieks as she is seemingly pulled along with the motion. This happens several more times as their jumps continually get higher. They finally pass over the gate and land outside. Strife lands with an unsteady crouch, but Sweiza falls to her knees. Sweiza lets out a groan.

“We’re not out of the woods yet!” Strife pulls Sweiza standing to her feet.

Sweiza feels shaky. She sees Sprite hovering next to them.

“Daughter, in my arms!” Strife shoots Sweiza an alarmed, but sharp look.

Strife looks to Strife. She pauses momentarily. The word daughter has caught her off guard.

“Vera, now!”

Sweiza nervously approaches and leans her back against the woman’s left arm and hops up as her right arm braces under her knees. She wraps and locks her arms around the woman’s neck. Strife takes a running start and makes several jumps. The unsteady motions jolt Sweiza as they are much higher this time with each jump. Sweiza suddenly feels the wind in her hair. She looks back to see the wooded fort-like fence around the village turning black. By now Sweiza knows they are flying, but it appears to be much faster than before. She can see the winged-like vapor trailing Strife. She looks down at trees quickly moving under them. She also sees a familiar blue orb. She tries to let out a chirp, but he doesn’t hear her. She thanks the Goddess he is safe.

Strife feels a tap on her shoulder. She looks at Sweiza. Sweiza is still looking down. She finally looks up. Their eyes meet.

“Strife are we going to be okay?”

“We still have to get back to the ship.”

“Oh goddess…”