Dream Walker✔️

5.4

His serpentine eyes lit up as he saw me. "The girl with the phoenix feathers, back again. Here to demand more money for feathers you've already sold?"

I shook my head. "I found a few more feathers to sell—or rather, trade—for a couple of things."

"I'm listening." He crossed all four arms, but the look in his eyes was still eager.

"I want to buy a translation charm and some kind of healing charm, fire if you have it." I pulled out a quarter of the feathers I'd plucked and set them on the counter. There were six of them, cleaner and less raggedy than the last ones I'd sold to him but admittedly even more drained of magic than the previous ones.

Neza flashed his hood out in obvious outrage. "You must be jesting or drunk. Twice this many feathers would buy a translation charm, but I don't even have any earth or fire charms on hand. I would need to special order the parts and craft one myself. It would take at least a month and a fortune. That you would even dare to suggest-"

"Okay, okay, I get it." I pulled out six more feathers and placed them on the counter. "Let's start with the translation amulet. Do we have a deal for that, at least?"

Pursing his scaly lips together, he nodded in an almost reluctant way before adding, "Assuming these are legitimate." He took out his magic tuner device thing and prodded each feather with it before meeting my gaze again. "They're legitimate, like the others I'm sure your boss will soon be missing these."

"My boss-" I bit my tongue, remembering my silly story about being part of some dragon parts smuggling ring. "Right, yeah, that's why I've got to sell them quick."

He chuckled, an odd sound with a hissing undertone. "After your first sale, I reached out to my... less savory contacts. No one is missing any phoenix feathers. Strange, as you'd think anyone with such a prize would keep a sharp eye on them."

"Yeah, but everyone makes mistakes sometimes, lets down their guard. And why would they tell you, anyway, if they were stupid enough to lose pricey feathers? Anyway, do we have a deal for the translation charm or what?"

Nodding solemnly, he took the feathers into his back room and came out with a small glass vial on a chain. Inside the vial floated a ring of black, nebulous void bubbling like a forbidden lava lamp. Neza held it out to me but didn't release it, even when I had the vial in my hand.

"The glass is thick, but if you break it, you'll experience immediate frostbite," he said with a huff. He let go of the chain.

I took the necklace and tucked it in my pocket. I would've preferred to have Aster wear it, but he didn't have a shirt or anything to hide it under yet. "Now, about the fire charm—I don't need to keep it, really, just use it for a short while. Would you or anyone else have one I could use? For a fee, of course."

"Hmm... There is one that might be of use to you, and if you play your cards right, you might not have to pay a penny to the owner. But first, you'll answer a question of mine I've been pondering since you walked into my shop yesterday." He leaned forward, uncrossing his lower arms to press those hands flat against the counter. "I tested those feathers more thoroughly after you left. They're not fifty years old or even twenty. Drained as they are, I'd be surprised if they were as much as one year old. Care to explain that?"

I stiffened, mind whirring as I tried to come up with an explanation. What could I say? Phoenixes were supposed to be extinct. Maybe my 'boss' had one secretly held in captivity? It was possible but not at all likely. Would Neza buy that? Again, maybe but probably not. Not that I had any other ideas.

"My boss has a pet phoenix, maybe the last one in the world, you know. Can't tell you where, 'cause I've never seen it, but he's got so many feathers he hardly notices when a few go missing. So, where's this fire charm you were talking about?"

He flicked his hood out. "I'm not sure. I've never seen it."

I huffed. "I mean it, I've never seen the phoenix. What more do you want?"

He paused, a calculating look in his eyes. Finally, his gaze darted to my pocket. "The rest of the feathers you're carrying."

I'd have to work hard to get access to the fire charm for free, then. Or I could leave a couple of feathers behind in my pocket just in case. I pulled out the rest and handed them over.

"Where is it?"

"The SPD building in the center of town. It's just off of the town square, large crimson towers—you can't miss it. They have an old fire artifact they used to use for sacrifices. It recharges with the sun, so they're not too choosy about how they use it."

That was good news. "And the SPD would be?"

He laughed. "You really aren't from around here. It's the Society of Patron Dragons."

"Right, well, thanks for the info. And the charm." I patted my pocket and turned back to the door with Aster.

"You're very welcome."

We left the shop, and Aster stuck his hand in my coat pocket. I caught his wrist.

"Anyone sees you with this, and we could end up arrested. Wait until we meet the others and get you a shirt or scarf or something."

He reluctantly pulled his hand out of my pocket. "Right. So, I'm not sure what just happened in there, but it doesn't look like you got a fire amulet. Unless I'm missing something?"

"You're not, but he told me about a place I can get one. Or rather, where I can use one. I just need to find town square first."

Despite my complete lack of knowledge of the streets of Oveb, it was fairly easy to find the town square after asking a few people for directions. From there, the crimson-bricked SPD building was perfectly easy to find. It stuck out above the other shorter, pale-stoned buildings around it.

The SPD's huge front doors were open to a high-ceilinged cathedral-type room. Everything was a different shade of red—crimson-bricked walls, pale rose red floor, red-black columns. It was impressive enough on its own, but what really drew my gaze was the red-black stone altar at the end of the room. Above the altar hung what looked like the biggest telescope I'd ever seen, with a hinged ceiling panel directly overhead. Unless I was mistaken, that telescope contained the artifact I was looking for.