image [https://i.imgur.com/jpOYNWV.png]

We enjoyed a nice supper together and talked out the specifics of what we’d be doing shortly.

Colson and I would supply and take care of a few things in New Orleans, then we’d drive northwest past Oklahoma City and eventually hit and follow Route 66 towards Santa Monica. As he explained it, manifesting and developing a Sigil in the early stages was best done in the evenings in relative quiet. The hubbub of larger cities could sometimes scatter your focus.

While I didn’t have anything against the idea, it seemed a bit boring after the experience I’d just had, but he assured me that it was the best way to proceed.

He explained that there were multiple towns and communities near the road where we could stop and pick up jobs from the Board of Enforcement to diversify our travels if we were bored.

“There’s always a contract or bounty to do. What happened here was a travesty and mostly it’s not so bad, but there’s always new stuff popping up all over the country, it’s not exclusive to larger cities,” he’d said.

Imara also took the time to elaborate on the Blessing she’d given me. She felt it was only fair since she knew about my Sigil. She explained that part of her abilities let her expend her mana, essence, aether, or whatever term I wished to use—I was going with aether because it was the norm—and apply it to other people, or objects, and have it trigger when certain conditions were filled. Since she had a strong affinity for healing, she’d placed such a Blessing on me when she deduced what I’d be going through, set to trigger the healing effect when my heart stopped beating.

I told her I was simply glad it had worked.

During our conversation, I asked her what the package that we had delivered for my father contained, but she simply told me that she had hired him to find something. The specifics were between her and my old man. Nonplussed, I couldn't understand how he'd had the time to do anything outside of managing the company. Maybe he'd outsourced the job.

My curiosity about my father was almost overwhelming, but I held off asking her more questions about him. I had a feeling she wouldn’t be very forthcoming and I didn't want to run the risk of her getting mad at me.

Imara seemed content with our decision to leave and fuzzed happily, preparing a packed lunch we could bring along in the car, while we went back into the city for much more mundane reasons.

“We need to get you geared up, kid," Colson said giddily. "First of all, we need to get some packs to carry our things and food and water if we get somewhere where we’ll need it. Then we’ll establish an Enforcer’s account so we can deposit the bounty you claimed. You did all the hard work, so you get to cash it in. After that, we’ll head to Allan’s and spend a little. I fight barehanded, but I figure we’ll get you a weapon of some kind.”

Alright, maybe not so mundane reasons after all.

“Cool!” I said excitedly.

I’d always wanted a weapon of my own. I wasn’t sure how I’d get away with carrying one, but Colson told me to wait and see.

Driving back into New Orleans, we arrived near the French Quarter and hit up a store that sold backpacking equipment. We got some boots, clothes, a couple of large packs, flashlights, headlamps, power banks and various small stuff, loading it in the car.

Next, we headed to a nondescript building in Jackson Square. Inside was a bookstore, with a clerk manning a desk in the back.

Colson walked towards it, and I followed, my eyes wandering to the various tomes I could read the covers of.

Brandt’s Bestiary - Your No. 1 Source on Fauna Since 1219 AD.

Fight or Flight - A Comprehensive Guide to Battle Analytics.

Wicked Dragons 3 - Alustria’s Back and She’s More Inflamed Than Ever. I blinked at that last one. Must’ve been a romance novel.

When Colson reached the counter, the clerk put down the book she was reading and looked at us. She was short and slender, with platinum blonde hair and a youthful appearance. She had kind eyes and two small dimples appeared when she smiled at him, a nose piercing glinting when she moved her head.

“Ah, Colson. Good to see you, it’s been a while. How’s it going?” she asked

“Hey Dina!” he answered, smiling back. “Doing alright, same as ever. How’s business?”

“Flourishing! There’s been an uptick in assignments lately, are you here for a contract or bounty? And who’s this?” she asked, looking at me.

“Nah, I usually pick up assignments at Imara’s when I’m in New Orleans. The kid’s the reason I’m here actually,” he gestured at me. “I need to set up an Enforcer’s account for him.”

“Really?” she raised her eyebrows at his statement. “If you’re here to vouch for him he’s under eighteen I assume?”

“Yep. Go on, introduce yourself, kid.”

“Hi, I’m Ethan, and yeah, I’m only seventeen,” I said, sticking my hand out for a shake.

Taking it, she looked at me for a moment as we shook.

“Very well, Ethan. Dina, a pleasure to meet you. Let me just get the paperwork.”

She went in the back and came out with a form for me to fill. I filled out the various boxes with personal info and signed on one of the dotted lines at the bottom. Colson grabbed it and co-signed it on a second line next to mine. There was a square box in the middle of the two lines that I left blank.

“Great. Seems to be in order,” she provided, perusing the form. “Here’s your pin." She handed me a small metallic object, "If you’ll just prick yourself and leave a drop of blood in the square there, we’re good to go.”

Finding it a little odd, but going along with it, I picked up the pin, shaped in a circle with a clenched fist in the middle, and various symbols on it and did as she asked. The form flashed for a second, and she put it away.

“Phenomenal. Congratulations on becoming a probationary Enforcer. The pin is keyed to your signature. You, and only you, will be able to use it in all of our establishments, kind of like a wire transfer. No aether's needed. You simply will it to happen. See the runes running around the edge there?" she pointed to the edge. "They link it to our database, so it functions like a credit card and identification token linked to your account. We’ll send you a normal credit card as well, so you can use that account in normal stores. It’ll arrive in a couple of days, should we ship it to the address on the form?”

“Nah just ship it to Imara’s, she can hold onto it for us,” Colson told her.

“As you say, will that be all for today?”

“No,” Colson continued. “We have a cheque to deposit as well.”

Grabbing his wallet, he folded it out a piece of paper and handed it to her.

“Hold on let me just check the reference ID.”

She opened the laptop sitting next to her and typed in a number.

“That cheques out,” she said and looked at us with a deadpan expression.

Colson groaned.

“Every time,” he muttered under his breath.

Ignoring his complaint, she summarized the transaction.

“13450 dollars deposited into the account of one Ethan Margrave. What should I write in the description field?”

Thirteen grand? Holy crap.

“Empousa. Twenty-six confirmed murders. New Orleans. Lair down on Royal and Toulouse,” Colson told her.

“So that’s what that was,” she mused. “Welcome to the club, Ethan. Best of luck out there. Don’t let this oversized teddy bear weigh you down.”

“Har har,” came Colson’s reply.

“Thanks, and don’t worry, as soon as I turn eighteen, I’ll kick him to the curb,” I teased.

“Ethan! A joke at my expense! Never thought I’d see the day. My boy’s all grown up,” Colson smiled and pretended to wipe away a tear. “Thanks, Dina, pleasure as always.”

We waved at her and headed back out.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“That’s that taken care of, let’s head over to Allan’s and see about getting you equipped,” Colson instructed as we set off down the street.

“What’s with the blood?” I asked as we walked.

“Binding, almost like an oath. I didn’t wanna say anything in there but never offer your blood unless you’re certain there are no nefarious purposes behind it. If it’s offered freely, it can be used against you. Blood that spills on the ground and such doesn’t contain any properties, so stuff like getting hurt doesn’t matter,” he explained.

“Doesn’t matter?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, of course, it matters, I was talking about ritualistic usage.”

“I figured; I was just yanking your chain.”

“Well look at you, being all jokey and upbeat! I like it.”

“There’s a lot of these places like the bookstore lying around?”

“Yeah, a fair amount. Every major city has several, and there’s usually at least one in smaller cities and towns as well.”

“It’s that widespread?” I asked.

I assumed that there were a lot fewer people capable of magic than there were normals, so it sounded strange that there’d be so many personnel to go around.

“Yup. Your thinking's right, there’s only a fraction of the population that can manipulate aether,” he confirmed. “But generations of families in the know, pass it along. Many people, or creatures, born to parents with aether capabilities don’t have any of their own. We don’t know how it works, it seems pretty random, but many of them decide to pursue a profession in this world. Help their families or do their own thing and so on. You’ll find them doing administrative work, managing stores, all kinds of things. They’re the cogs that keep the machine running.”

“I’m glad you’re sympathetic towards them,” I told him seriously. “Truth be told I was worried that people who can do magic would think of normals as lesser, in a way.”

Colson was quiet for a moment and his expression darkened.

“You’ll find plenty of those, I’m afraid. Most still stay within the rules. But there are some who feel that normals are a subspecies to be used and abused at their leisure.”

“That’s terrible,” I muttered.

“That it is. Don’t worry though, if I think you’re getting too arrogant I’ll slap you silly myself,” he grinned at me.

Smiling wryly at the imagery, I asked him about the banking system and how it worked. He told me it was all interconnected with the regular economy, local governments supporting what the powers behind the Board of Enforcement had built.

Surprisingly, the Board's bank was a sister company to branches around the world, although it was a well-kept secret which ones. Through that, money, favours, and businesses functioned much the same as in the regular world.

“It’s not really feasible to use gold coins to pay for everything, you know?” he finished.

“Oh, that’s too easy, Colson. That’s John Wick. Ethan four, Colson five,” I piped up.

He grunted unhappily.

Arriving at our destination we stopped by a food stand and grabbed something to eat, before walking inside a building called “Allan’s Emporium”.

Heading inside, I saw that it was much more exciting than it had seemed at first glance.

It was filled to the brim with displays not unlike those at Imara’s. They held various weapons, armour, and trinkets, each accompanied by a small handwritten label. Before I had a chance to take a closer look, Colson headed to the desk and struck up a conversation with a tall muscular woman, who looked like she was doing inventory. She looked every bit a blacksmith.

“Hey Annie, how’s it hanging?” he asked as he got closer.

“Colson,” she acknowledged and sighed. “Here to make more deals that’ll leave me in the red?”

“Always,” he grinned back. “Ethan, this is Annie Allan, best artificer, and blacksmith in this neck of the woods. Annie, meet Ethan, my new charge.”

“Don’t try to flatter me, I’m not giving you a discount. Nice to meet you, Ethan,” she shook my hand, and I could immediately tell she was strong.

“A charge, eh? Haven’t had one of those in a while. How’d he rope you into that?” she asked me.

“He kidnapped me a couple of days ago and made me fight to the death against an empousa, I’m not sure how I’ll manage to get away from him at this rate,” I told her in a voice tinged with hopelessness.

“Aha, heh, eh, he’s kidding of course,” Colson uttered awkwardly, smile faltering.

“That so? Ethan, blink twice if you’re being held against your will,” she said, looking at me intently as she leaned on the counter.

I blinked once, slowly. Then I looked at Colson, then back at her, before I blinked again.

“Hmm, you’re lucky I know you so well Colson or I’d think Ethan wasn’t kidding. Alright enough shenanigans, I’ve got shit to do, what can I do you for?” her manner changed and became businesslike.

“I’m not sure I like this new Ethan after all. Can you go back to being a brooding teenager with teenager issues, please?” he asked me.

“No.”

It felt good to be goofing around a little. The anger and insecurities that were constant companions these days were still there, but I had them under control. For now. A change of emotional pace was extremely refreshing.

“Jokes aside, we’re looking for a weapon for the kid. Something he can wear in public and equip, fast as needed.”

She raised her eyebrows and looked at me.

“You know your way around a blade?”

“Yes ma’am, been taught fighting since I was seven,” I told her politely.

She seemed like the kind of person you’d want to be the good graces of.

“With what kind of weapon?”

“All kinds,” I answered.

“Are you pulling my leg? Colson, is he pulling my leg?” she looked at him.

Colson laughed and spoke, “He’s not, he’s been taught in most conventional melee weaponry and some ranged as well.”

Her eyes flickered back and forth between us, “I don’t believe you. Yet. Come on out back.”

She went over to the door and turned the sign to “closed”, then turned around and walked out the back door, motioning for us to follow.

Obliging, we followed her and entered a large room that looked like an artificer’s wet dream. There was a forge, several bars of metal, an anvil, and a workspace with several lamps, magnifying glasses and various tools for etching and shaping. And weapons. Lots of different weapons.

Not one to mince words, Annie told us to come stand in an open space and handed us both an arming sword. I tested the weight and found that it had excellent balance.

“Ethan, swing at Colson to the best of your ability. Colson, don’t retaliate or anything, just focus on blocking his blows. I need to get a sense of what I’m dealing with here,” she instructed.

We saluted and slipping into the tranquil mind, I went to work.

Going through several sword forms, feints, thrusts, and cuts, I gave it all I had. I felt some of my pent-up anger and frustrations melt away as I submersed myself in the routine. I didn’t have to worry about Colson getting hurt or anything. It quickly became glaringly obvious that he didn’t know what he was doing with the sword, but he was just so much faster than me that it didn’t matter. His blade blocked everything I threw at him.

After five minutes or so, Annie called us to a stop. I wasn’t even winded.

“Excellent swordsmanship, Ethan, especially since you’re not drawing on your Sigil” she praised. “You’ve got the practical fighting down to a tee. Frequently I’ll bring people back here to test their skill and they’ll use too many flourishing moves or dance around each other in something that looks as if it’s choreographed, like in a movie. Here.”

She took our swords and handed both of us a spear, “Again.”

We repeated the process and I melted into the movements, becoming one with the spear. Stabs, thrusts, cuts, and chops all blended into one as I flowed from one form to another pressuring Colson to the best of my ability. He was looking a bit harried now, eyes wide as I did my best to hit him.

It went on like that for another six or seven minutes and fatigue started building up when she called us to a halt.

“Even better. I think it’s safe to say you’re more skilled with a spear, so that’s what we’ll get you,” she pondered, coming to a decision. “Swords are overrated because they’ve been romanticised so much through pop culture. They look cool and chivalrous, but a spear is much more practical since you can keep an enemy at a distance.”

“Damn kid, for a moment there I thought you were trying to kill me,” Colson remarked.

Flashing a predatory grin, I let the tranquil mind go and handed Annie back the spear, “Who says I wasn’t?”

Colson huffed and then chuckled awkwardly, “I guess that’s fair.”

All of us headed back to the main shop, Annie went to one of the display cases and muttered something under her breath. She picked it up and came to stand before me unceremoniously holding out a small tube four to five inches in length.

“Hold it out in front of yourself and infuse it with a trickle of aether. You don’t need much, the slightest draw on your Sigil will do,” she told me.

“Uh, I don’t know how to do that yet,” I replied.

She blinked at me a couple of times. “My bad, I just assumed that you knew since you’re Colson’s charge.”

“Like Ethan said, he’s only been in my care for a couple of days. He only recently manifested his Sigil, and I haven’t taught him the basics yet. We’ll get to it soon though, so if you could demonstrate how it works, that’d be great,” Colson chimed in.

“Sure,” she nodded.

I could feel it. One moment she seemed as normal as anyone else and the next I could feel her draw what I assumed was aether from her Sigil. It was only the barest amount centred around the hand holding the tube, but it was there. It felt like she became more solid, somehow. More real.

The tube elongated from both ends rapidly and, in an instant, she was holding a wooden spear with a glistening metal head and butt. It was beautiful.

“Awesome,” I breathed as she handed it to me.

The haft was made of wood and had long intricate lines with various symbols circling around and along its entire length. I inspected the head and saw it had several small silver characters etched into metal, Annie explaining their meaning to us.

“Ash wooden haft with reinforcement runes for durability and mobility. Keeps it from breaking while maintaining flexibility. The head and butt are made of tungsten carbide, inscribed with silver sharpness and durability runes. It’s a bitch to work with but makes it nigh indestructible and maintenance-free,” she declared.

“Nice work, Annie. How much?” Colson asked her.

“Twenty-five thousand, and I’ll throw in a shoulder holster to carry it in.”

Deflating slightly, I moved to hand the spear back to her as Colson spoke again.

“Twenty. With the holster,” he haggled.

They went back and forth good-naturedly, but I could already determine that they wouldn’t reach my budget. Running my fingers up and down the haft I couldn’t help myself from admiring the craftmanship. The attention to detail was incredible.

“Twenty-two, and that’s as low as I’ll go, Colson. It’s a time-consuming process to shape tungsten carbide, not to mention the hours spent inscribing it,” she told us.

“Twenty-two,” he nodded. “We’ll take it.”

“I can’t afford this, Colson. My family’s well off, but it’s not like I have a trust set up I can withdraw from or anything. Thirteen K is all that I have,” I muttered dejectedly.

He looked at me like I’d sprouted horns. “You’re my charge, kid. Who said anything about you paying for it?”

“I can’t accept-“

“You can and you will. That’s how having a charge works,” he told me firmly, his tone brokering no negotiation.

“Thanks,” I muttered, acknowledging defeat quickly.

I really wanted that spear.

Colson and Annie each held up a pin similar to mine and touched them to each other. After a moment Annie nodded, satisfied.

“Great. Anything else?”

“Nope, that’s it for today,” Colson said.

“Okay, then scram. I need to finish doing inventory. Tim’s been sick for a week and he’s a dunce at recording sales at the best of times.”

She handed me a leather holster, motioning for me to hand her the spear and I felt her draw another drop of aether as it collapsed in on itself.

“I’d say it’s been a pleasure, but I always feel like you come out on top when you’re in here.”

Handing me the spear, I secured it in the holster.

“You know me, I love to be on top,” Colson said suggestively with a grin.

Flirting? Really?

She rolled her eyes at him but flashed him the first smile I’d seen her sport since we entered the shop. Saying our goodbyes, she walked us to the door and flipped the sign back to “open” as we entered the street.

My curiosity got the better of me as we walked down the street.

“So, you and Annie?”

Colson boomed a laugh, drawing heads from the crowd.

“Once upon a time, yeah. Once upon a time."

I waited for a bit, but he didn't elaborate on their relationship.

"Alright," he said instead, "we’ve got what we need, let’s head back.”