The Amulet of Kryshar

Chapter 13

"So, according to that bartender from Starbucks, we need to find an old lady managing a flower store around the northern outskirts of Laveray for directions," Melanie concluded. We followed the directions the bartender gave us and walked for almost two hours along the cobbled main road until we reached a town. Hopefully the town the bartender told us to find the flower shop in. Melanie looked around. I followed her lead.

My gaze landed on a weather-beaten wooden sign above us that read: "_ope __u enj__ed your _tay!" in white letters. Someone most likely hastily wrote that phrase with chalk and not with something permanent. I grinned and walked over to the other side of the sign, which was in the town, and pointed out the sign to Melanie.

She looked at me irritated. "What? Don't you know what that is supposed to say? It obviously means 'Hope you enjoyed your stay!' Seriously," she muttered under her breath, "even a monkey would be able to read that."

"So," I dragged the word out and my grin widened. "You don't notice anything else off about that sign?"

Melanie sighed in frustration and stormed over to the side of the sign I was standing on. Her eyes widened in surprise and the corners of her mouth twitched upwards. "Really? They swapped the sides of the sign? Well, at least we know now that we are at the right town."

The writing above our heads read, 'Welcome to Laveray'. I wasn't sure what to think. The name was what the bartender told us, but maybe the wielders had moved on. Would they really hide in a town, which didn't even have enough time or resources to turn the sign around, let alone actually write on it with something permanent?

Slowly, I walked into the town. Lampposts lined the road; I assumed that this town had access to electricity then. Quant cottages were spread out at the outskirts of the town, along with neat squares of farmland. Several farmers were harvesting something that looked like normal wheat, corn and some kind of mutated potato. They stopped what they were doing and pointed and stared at us. Maybe they didn't get a lot of tourists? Melanie and I couldn't possibly look that strange anymore; we had shed our thick jackets and had them tied around our waists almost as soon as we started walking towards Laveray. Our furry winter boots probably still gave us away though. No one in their right minds would wear winter boots in the middle of, what I assumed was, summer.

Melanie and I hastened through the streets and soon enough reached the northern district of Laveray. Here, the roads were cemented smoothly and carriages were driving past us regularly. This section definitely seemed more like the business sector of the town. We passed by a row of stalls, the vendors loudly praising their various goods. Smells of bread and other warm pastries floated into my nose, making my mouth water and my stomach rumble. Which reminded me that I haven't eaten anything except for a bowl of strange sweet nuts the bartender claimed to be a cross between almonds and cashews. Other shops sold velvet, silk and other soft and shimmering fabrics. Melanie was eyeing those greedily, but when a shopkeeper tried to sell a roll of silk to her, she refused with an apologetic smile.

Out of the corner of her mouth, she whispered to me, "We better find a way to find some money here. Do we even know what the currency is here?"

I shrugged my shoulders and walked past a vendor selling clay pots and cups. Around the corner, I stopped and pointed. "Hey Mel, do you think that's it?"

"Don't call me that!" she snapped. We stopped in front of an antique-looking shop with an iron door. Through the dirty shop windows, I saw beautiful arrangements of lilies, roses, orchids and many other flowers I didn't know the names of and have never seen before. Soft bell chimes announced the door opening and a strong sweet smell assaulted my nose as soon as the shop door opened and a dainty lady waltzed out of the shop with a bouquet of bright blue flowers in her arms. She gave us a haughty look and sashayed past us. Snob, I thought.