Jayde enjoyed the early evenings when she still had enough light to see the passing countryside. As the trees faded in the twilight and the colors slowly ebbed into blackness, sightseeing became impossible. Cameron emerged shortly after dusk from being undercover and took over the reins. Then the teaching began.

Jayde’s formal schooling had ended at age seven, but her fascination with magic had never wavered. She continued to try but remained unable to perform any magic herself. Marie restated her thought that Jayde brimmed with potential, despite her lack of results.

The team took occasional breaks for food and rest, during which Marl received combat training from Marie. Marl took Marie’s word as law. During their breaks, they would disappear into a nearby field, and Jayde would watch them spar in the moonlight.

Marie bounced as easily off her hands as she did her feet. She lunged at Marl and pummeled him into the ground. Although frequently hit, Marl smiled and thanked Marie, eager to learn more.

Marl attempted back handsprings for nearly an hour. The forward hunched frame of the rock troll made it impossible. Over and over he jumped backward and landed on his head.

“Rock trolls won’t need handsprings,” said Marie.

“Me need to learn. If me not try, me no learn,” said Marl, landing on his chest. Instead of turning over, the back of his head morphed into a face and his arms simply rotated around.

“Wait, you can morph your body to the other side?” Jayde said.

“Yah, all rock troll can,” said Marl, looking embarrassed.

“Marl,” Marie said, “we need to train you to stop working on perfecting human techniques and start working on techniques that only you will be able to perform.”

Marie and Marl discussed new techniques while traveling. She discovered he could throw a punch with one arm, and then have that arm split into two arms while he punched. Marl explained that the amount of rock in him stayed constant, but the ability to change shape was nearly infinite, except in his chest which always stayed the same. He learned to retract one arm into his body while punching with the other. This effectively doubled the punching distance. Having a single exceptionally long arm looked quite odd but was remarkably effective in fighting. Marl learned the importance of versatility. With Marie’s help they created a wide variety of attacks only a rock troll could do. He still remained unable to strike Marie even a single blow.

Jayde learned magical concepts but had little success in practice. Tonight they were discussing Conjuring.

“I still don’t get what the components are,” Jayde said.

“Well, try thinking of it in a different way. I know I have talked about elements and the various states of confluent forms, but—”

“But that just sounds like goop to me. I don’t get it,” Jayde said.

Cameron looked over. “Jayde, did you ever see a baker in a window?”

“The baker in Haynis was one of the few guys who didn’t mind when I nicked the occasional roll or pastry. I think my sneaking in and stealing amused him for some reason,” she said.

“You know how a baker makes a cake?” he asked.

“Not really.”

“Well, a baker begins with flour and mixes in other ingredients. He has to add butter, eggs, sugar, and milk. He then stirs it all together to get the right consistency, but too much of any one ingredient ends in a cake that tastes bad.”

“Conjuring is the same thing,” Marie said. “For inanimate objects, you can make anything out of the ingredients around you. The best conjurers can change what they have around them into what is required. Like turning dirt into the flour, sugar, eggs, and milk they need. Then, after creating all the ingredients, they combine them and conjure up a cake. Before you conjure anything, you need the right ingredients.”

Jayde thought about this for a while. “What about animals?”

“What do you mean?” Marie said.

“Well, you said ‘inanimate’ objects. Can a conjurer make animals and people and stuff like that?”

Marie looked at Cameron. “It’s possible. But that is advanced Conjuring. It is not something you should even be attempting. True masters of Conjuring can create familiars.”

“What?”

“A familiar is a creature that is part of you. You have to give part of yourself to the creature, and the creature behaves as you desire. It is completely loyal to the conjurer because it is part of you. I have been told that conjurers can see through their familiars’ eyes and control them from across an entire country. However, if a familiar is hurt, you lose that part of yourself. It takes quite some time to rejuvenate lost parts of your soul. Thus, it’s a terribly dangerous Conjuring, even for the most gifted.”

“Why?” Jayde asked.

Cameron jumped in. “Think of it this way. Let’s say to make a familiar you had to shave off all your hair. If you used that energy to make a mosquito, and someone absently swatted that mosquito, you would still have lost all your hair. It takes a long time to grow your hair back. Familiars have similar properties, only, instead of your hair, the part that you give to the familiar comes from in here,” he said, pointing to his chest.

“So you can grow that part of yourself back, even if it is lost?” Jayde asked.

“Well, yes and no. Some conjurers fall into the trap of Conjuring too much or making too many familiars. If you split your spirit into too many parts, and all the parts are killed before you can regenerate them, you would die too,” Marie said.

Jayde pondered. “So it’s kind of like I’m an icicle. I could use really small parts from the bottom of the icicle, but then I would not be able to make as cool of a creature. I could use a bigger part of the icicle and make a better, more complicated creature, but it would be at risk of destroying the whole icicle. And, if I use too much of the icicle, it would break off, and there might be nothing left,” Jayde said.

Cameron looked over at Marie, who seemed shocked by Jayde’s explanation.

“Actually,” Marie said, “that’s a better explanation than I’ve ever heard before.”

“So, if I wanted to, I could make a whole bunch of small mosquitoes, as long as I used just a little bit of my soul-spirit-Conjuring icicle and let it regrow, right?” Jayde asked.

“She understands the difficult concepts better than I do, and she can’t conjure dirt,” Marie muttered.

Jayde grinned. Over the days of travel she had become close to Cameron, Marie, and Marl. Previously she had to steal information or food. Marie seemed not only willing but also happy to educate Jayde about magic. Both Cameron and Marie shared their food and possessions freely without question. Jayde knew better than to trust them completely, but she did not know why they continued to help her while requesting nothing in exchange.

The road became more congested as they traveled. Most moved in the same direction as Marie, Cameron, Jayde, and Marl. The variety of travelers increased as well, including elves, a group of intelligent oxlike Bosks, and even a couple merfolk, who had some contraption surrounding them which allowed them to move on land while being surrounded with water.

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Jayde pointed and yelled, “Look, a dwarf!”

The dwarf then pointed at her and yelled, “Look, an idiot!”

Jayde blushed, and they carried on past the dwarf. Marl glared at the dwarf as they passed. After passing, Marl began scouting again.

Five days later, Cameron halted the cart along the side of the road. Jayde looked up at Cameron, but his face remained impassive. Jayde guessed that Marl might be hiding. The rock troll could change his shape so well that he always resembled whatever rocks happened to be nearby. Jayde heard Marl’s whisper from his hiding spot, right next to the cart. Despite being just past midnight, Cameron had found the rock troll and had pulled to a stop next to the boulder that looked like all the other rocks nearby.

“Big man place be where we go, right?” Marl asked.

“Yes. How far do you think till we get there, Marl?”

The rock troll paused. “Me think four or five.”

“Four or five days?” Cameron asked.

“No. Four or five rocks,” he said, and the boulder on the side of the road cracked into a grin.

Cameron looked at Marie, who shrugged. He advanced the cart to the edge of the bluff and gasped at the enormous metropolis spreading out before them, roughly four or five rock throws away.

Even in the middle of the night, the city teemed with light and activity. The place unfolded for leagues. Even from their slightly elevated position, they could not see the other side of the city. A few hundred paces ahead of them, a large, well-fortified gate stood in the middle of the road. An expanding city wall showed the gate to be the only entrance in sight. They made their way to guards armed with crossbows and stopped at the guard post.

Though they arrived at midnight, they still had to wait in a line behind various creatures to enter the city. The wall surrounding the city towered twenty feet above them. It continued in both directions as far as they could see.

“Whatcha need?” said the guard.

“I’m looking to set up shop in Grandeur,” Cameron answered.

The guard laughed. “You should pick a different entrance next time. This is the Thieves’ District. I suggest riding straight through half a league till you get to the Merchants’ District. But if you need a place to stay, stop off at Gummy’s. Safest place in Grandeur. Fairest prices too,” he said.

“Thanks,” Cameron replied. They rode on into the city. Flickering flames from lampposts illuminated the street. The street still buzzed with activity in the middle of the night. The city of Grandeur did not sleep.

Cameron took in everything with casual ease. Marie scanned her surroundings continuously. Marl slipped into the cart and curled up into a rock, not wanting to be seen. Jayde stared at everything. Her head swiveled continuously, trying to take in all the sights.

As she looked back at the guard post, she saw what looked like a giant pile of mud wave at her, then it collapsed into a trough that ran alongside the road.

Jayde’s brief education over the last two weeks helped her identify some of the creatures prowling in the streets at night. She saw some large black bats zipping around. She saw goblins, golems, and griffins, all moving about their business down the side streets. Mostly she saw people in every sort of garb that could be imagined. A group of goblins hunched over a small sprite. They looked up at Jayde, threw the sprite to the ground, and disappeared quickly in the night.

Jayde saw a cartful of mothlike gypsies being pulled by giant birds with reptilian heads. Everywhere she looked, creatures of all shapes and sizes went about their business. Jayde glimpsed two creatures with whiskers and feline features under their hoods darting onto a rooftop. She tried not to make any noise and also tried not to point, after learning her lesson from the dwarf. But when she saw the giant spider, she could not help herself; it was three feet tall with eight hairy legs stretching far as it scurried down the road. Jayde covered her mouth to muffle her small scream. It had on dark brown pants that allowed the multiple legs to move. It passed their cart briefly and scurried about its business.

A sidewalk ran parallel to the main road in front of the multiple houses, inns, and shops. The few people present walked on the sidewalk. Next to the walkway ran a low trough of mud about a foot wide. The mud continually churned, and sloshed back and forth. No wind nor outside force caused the motion. Jayde pointed it out to Marie, and she just shrugged and shook her head.

Eventually they made it to an inn with bloodred letters that read Gummy’s. Broken glass littered the front of the inn, and cracked paint drifted from the sides. The smell of rank ale and urine flowed from the front of the inn.

“This is the place,” Cameron said, as he pulled up the cart.

“You dudes new here?” asked someone in a cheery voice.

The voice surprised all of them. Cameron disappeared right before Jayde’s eyes. Marl jumped in front of Jayde, creating a substantial rock wall between her and the speaker. The voice had come from the area of the mud trough.

“Whoa,” said the speaker, “you’re like totally freakin’ out over nuthin’, man.” The voice sounded like a school of dead fish being dropped from a building. The creature splurtched into the dim light. It looked like a big upside-down bowl made of mud. It was about four feet tall, which made it about four feet wide as well. The creature had no arms or legs but oozed toward them, a large pair of eyes peering from the sides of the blob.

“Didn’t mean to frazzle yah, brahs. Sorry about that. I just thought you dudes and dudettes might like the Happy Smyle Inn a bit more. It’s totally more your style,” said the mud creature.

“And what exactly is our style?” Cameron asked from somewhere behind the creature.

The creature’s face melted away and appeared on the other side of its body, facing Cameron. “Oh, you know, dude. The style that lets you hold on to all your worldly possessions. Wicked bad karma in this part of the city, brah. Hard to hang onto the things you’ve grown attached to, you know? Things like this cart, the magic cabinet, your kidneys, those sorts of things.”

“And why should we trust you and not the guard who recommended this inn?” asked Marie.

“Well, probably since that dude works for Gummy’s, and I work for myself. Check that. I work for the dictator, but Solo’s a cool dude, dude. Other than that, use your own noggin, brah. Just being helpful. See yah around,” said the mud creature. It oozed back into the trough and disappeared.

“What do you think?” Cameron asked Marie.

“Happy Smyle Inn sounds better, and it can’t be worse than this,” Marie said.

Cameron materialized next to Jayde again, sheathing two black blades he had drawn the second he had been startled by the mud creature. The horses seemed as eager to get away from Gummy’s as Jayde. They made their way to the Happy Smyle Inn.

The instant they came within a hundred paces of the Happy Smyle Inn, Jayde felt something odd. Marie later explained to Jayde that that sensation was an enchantment. Many inns had enchantments to prevent violence cast on them, so it was not abnormal to feel an enchantment near an inn.

A stable boy was sleeping on a small cot on the side of the inn. Next to him was a sign that read Think About a Bell Ringing for Assistance. Marie walked over and looked at the sign. She thought about a clanging bell. The young man jumped up out of a dead sleep. Marie spoke briefly to him, and he then led the horses and cart into the stable, as they went into the inn. Before they went in, Marie took Jayde aside.

“When we are inside, I don’t want you to say anything to anyone.”

“Why?” Jayde asked. Even though she had been brought to this new place, she was hesitant to let anyone have control over what she did or did not say.

“Trust me on this. I’m pretty sure the owner of this place is an enchantress. We don’t want to cause suspicion while we are here, so just let me do the talking, all right?”

Jayde frowned but nodded.

It took some convincing to get Marl to enter the inn, but his reluctance was overruled by his desire to stay at Jayde’s side.

As they walked inside, an odd sensation washed over them. Many small groups dressed in black spoke in strange hushed voices. Jayde tried to understand but could only hear a bizarre low murmur. Serving girls sped by with tankards of ale. It seemed that the Happy Smyle Inn never closed.

A plump woman in a bright purple blouse smiled and greeted them, as the foursome walked to the bar. Her garb seemed more appropriate for a jester than for a barmaid in a shady part of town.

“Welcome to the Happy Smyle. What can I do for you, with you, or to you?” asked the lady.

“We’d like a room for the night,” Cameron said.

“For the night? You mean the next two hours?” she asked.

“How about till tomorrow night?” he said.

“No problem. You hungry? We have stew,” she said. She nodded toward Marl. “If you prefer, we do have some good granite. I’ve been told our limestone’s not too bad either, though I’m not really one to judge.”

Marl’s face beamed. “Me have the first.”

“Granite it is,” she said.

“Anything special you need for your daughter?” she asked.

Jayde started to respond but stopped when Marie grabbed her shoulder.

“She’s fine. Just some milk instead of ale with the stew please,” said Cameron.

“No problem,” the plump lady said, winking at Jayde, while she pointed toward a booth.

After they finished eating, the woman handed Cameron the room key, and they all went upstairs together. Marl collapsed into a rock and quickly fell asleep. Marie and Jayde took one bed, and Cameron took the other. Before going to sleep, he made absolutely sure the windows were completely covered without a chance of sunlight coming through. Then he locked the door and lay down. It had been a long night.

Jayde lay in bed and waited for Marie to fall asleep.

She had initially planned on leaving once she got to the city. The part of her from Haynis told her to leave. She just got a free ride, free food, and, in addition to that, she had learned more about magic in two weeks than in all the time she had spent on her own. If she left now, she could disappear into the city. She could continue researching magic and be happy.

Jayde got up, walked to the door, and stood still. The lady at the bar thought she was Marie and Cameron’s daughter. Jayde smiled; maybe she would give Marie and Cameron just a few more days before Jayde left. They likely had money as well. She would need something to get started in a new city like this.

Jayde walked silently to her bed and crept back under the covers, drifting quickly to sleep.