Ale and the kid wondered around the woods of the kingdom, grabbing a mushroom or two, hunting a deer, fishing, and sleeping with the stars as their blankets. Near the warm and fuzzy fire. Despite the fear Ale felt before taking the kid with him, he proved to be a very capable. For a child, that is. Ale started to enjoy himself around the kid's presence, unfortunately that wasn't enough to stop him from drinking. Every second day the kid had to drag Ale out of the bars so they could go to their camp spots or rooms. Depending how long they stayed. The kid hated it, but he didn't have anyone else who would care for him the way Ale did.
After wondering around they arrived near the king's doorstep, to be more specific, the city that was the closest to his castle. From the moment they stepped foot inside the city they could feel an unwelcome and gloomy scent wavering over the city, even though it was very sunny and the people were mostly smiling.
"Quit a welcome, huh?" Ale asked the kid, who nodded his head cautiously, as the walk around the city. The kid was looking at the people's clothes and their jewelry that were fancy, elegant and shiny. Things he had never seen before, he was amazed by how beautiful clothes can be and how much impact clothes had on an individual as he saw those rich people become more beautiful the more they wore these clothes. Ale, on the other hand, was unimpressed by their style. The only thing on his mind was to see if anyone needed help with anything.
They stopped at a small restaurant, where they sat down and were chatting what to order. As they were thinking about what to eat, Ale took notice of something. Most people here were adults, there were barely any children. It seemed as if the adults were double the children. "This is a rich city, they must be studying or something of this short!" But still, he felt uncomfortable. He couldn't let the kid out of his sight.
A waiter approached their table, a quite young woman, no older than thirty with a messy hair and regular village clothes that they were used with. She smiled at them and asked what they would like. The kid ordered first, "a big chop of beef stake well seasoned, mashed potatoes and a glass of water please." He said with a smile. The waitress smiled as well, "such a grown man you are!" The kid blushed a little. "And you? Sir?" Ale thought hard about it, "I shouldn't ask for beer nor wine, I'm giving this kid a terrible role model." He looked at the kid, yet he still requested for a beer and decided to take the same meal as the kid.
As soon as the waitress left the kid went forward, "seriously Ale? It hasn't been even a day since your last beer, it's damaging you!"
Ale was embarrassed to admit that a child was right, "you're right. I should have ordered a glass of wine."
The kid sighed as he looked around, "I'm sorry, I'll try!" He said with a reassuring smile.
"You promise?"
"I do!" He said nodding his head.
"Pinky promise?"
Ale laughed, "I do!" They shook their little fingers as their orders arrived.
The waitress left their food and drinks on the table, "enjoy your lunch!" She said in a joyous tone. As she was getting back inside, Ale called out to her. "Excuse me, ma'am!"
She turned around to face him, "yes? Anything else?"
"Well, I . . . we were wondering what's the deal?"
She raised her eyebrow, "I don't follow."
He coughed and looked around, observing all this people with fancy dresses and wide smiles in their faces. "Where are all the children?"
Her face turned white as her smile ran away from her face.
"It's . . . unusual. I'm what you'd call a traveler and I guarantee you, there has you to be a city as big as this one, where children don't scream loud enough to make your ears fall off."
She stayed too quite, Ale watched her like hawk as the kid took a bite of his steak. She smiled in a very uncanny way, "it's just your imagination! As you can see the majority here are quit rich, and since we are close to the capital, they probably send their children to the best schools they can. After all, people here . . ." for a moment she was unsure of what she was saying and looked down to the wooden floor, she looked back up at him, "they love children!"
He wasn't convinced by her acting, quit the contrary actually, he felt a chill ran down his spine as he took down a sip from his beer. "You are right . . . I've never visited this place, sometimes I forget the differences between villages and town with cities. I apologize for my disturbance! And thank you for the food."
The waitress was shocked by his sudden change of tone, however she quickly laughed it off. "Of course, there is no problem sir." She laughed again, "is there anything else you'd like, sir?" She took a better notice of Ale, and saw his staff which he hid inside his cloak. "Oh . . ."
He glanced up at her, "what is it?"
"You're a wizard?" She asked with a low tone.
He and the kid exchanged looks, he then spoke up. "Yes, I am! Is there a problem?"
She was shocked and leaned closer to him, "you do know that the king is searching for wizards, right?"
The kid looked at Ale, who started laughing. "Of course I know!"
She stared at him for a moment not uttering a thing. "Then why are you here?"
He shrugged, "I go wherever the wind goes . . ."
She didn't say anything, just stared down. "I am sorry!" She started to leave, but the kid noticed her face before turning around, as if she had something to say. "Is everything ok miss?"
She smiled at the kid, "stay close to your father kid!" She spoke in a concerned tone as she entered the restaurant.
Ale saw the kid was freaked out by the comment and decided to mess around, "be careful, these people might eat youuuu!" The kid looked annoyed at his attempt to be scary, "you are very funny Ale." He laughed.
"I try my best to entertain others, you know." His tone shifted, "don't worry nothing bad will happen, I promise!"
"I know, that's why I'm not worrying." They both laughed with one another as they started to eat their food, the steaks melting in their mouths and bringing smiles to their faces, while the shining sun gave them a warm hug.
The kingdom of Oakhaven is just above the southern sea, it helps the kingdom do trading with other kingdoms through the sea, sometimes it was much efficient than trading by land. However both have a similar problem, both land and the sea have bandits and pirates. That's why the 5 kingdoms have made an agreement with the most powerful kingdom on sea, Thalassa kingdom. From the clouds it seems as if the kingdom is drowning. And while this isn't completely false, the people know how to handle things, they built bridges to travel the islands by foot. They were the 'police' of the seas.
Ale, Metus, his father and the king's advisor were traveling from the castle to the biggest port of the kingdom to await the arrival of the resources that was coming from the north. The men and the child were sitting between one another in a very well crafted carriage, Metus was fascinated by the world outside his bedroom and the capital. The wonderful colors of green of the meadows and the light blue of the sky with some mountains, trees, clouds and even flowers giving the environment around him a sweet taste he couldn't fathom.
Of course, for the king it was just a simple view that they associated with work and back pains. Ale, however loves the travels and good sunny days because it helps him sleep like a sheep. When Metus realized Ale was sleeping, he started poking his face. "Reemptio," he whispered, "wakey, wakey-" "Metus!" The king judged him, "leave Reemptio alone, when he wakes up he has a lot of work to do, he should rest!"
"Bad father, look at the landscapes he's missing!"
The advisor laughed, "don't worry young prince, Reem here enjoys them when he sleeps."
Metus made an annoyed look, "it's easy for you to say Valerious, you're always outside the capital. Who knows what you've seen."
He smiled, "I've seen a lot indeed, but I'm no different from you. I also am amazed from the nature, however it becomes boring after a while." He laughed again. "That's the negative when you don't get a chance to look around once in a while," he sighed, "sometimes, I feel as if I'm dead inside . . ." the king opened his eyes wide, he then looked at Valerious who was staring at his feet. He looked up at Metus, "but I tell myself that's the thing I'm giving, the equal exchange!"
The young prince rested his head on his left shoulder, "giving? For what?"
He smiled again, "I give my time and energy in order to better the world we live in! That's the harsh reality of the equal exchange, it's cruel, but worth it!" The king was amazed at how close he felt to Valarious after his speech, then again, he picked him as his advisor for reason. Metus started to mutter, "equal exchange? Equal exchange . . . I think I've heard this before, but I am not sure-"
"Yeah, in my lessons!" Ale interrupted him, his eyes still closed with his cone-shaped hat on the verge of falling. "Did you learn nothing?" He said opening his eyes and staring directly at Metus. The king and Valerious were taken aback by him but Metus was filled with excitement and started pulling his sleeve, "look Reedmptio! Isn't this the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?" The other two smiled as Ale looked at the scenery then back at Metus, he smiled at him and said: "indeed, it is very beautiful," he then wore a cocky smile on his face, "but I've seen better." The king and Valerious laughed as Metus jaw dropped, "YOU ARE JOKING! THERE'S NO WAY, YOU'VE SEEN A BETTER VIEW THAN THIS!"
He laughed by his reaction, while the others laughed even harder. "Hard to believe, but it's true. Don't worry I'll take you there sometime, if the king allows it . . ." Ale winked at Metus and both turned to look at the king, who in turn nodded his head. "That's a tremendous idea my friend, however I won't allow it till the prince turns at least fifteen years old!" Ale shrugged while Metus started throwing a tantrum, "THAT'S UNFAIR FATHER! THAT'S FIVE YEARS FROM NOW! I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MY KINGDOM," he turned to face Valerious, "YOU ARE THE ONE WHO SAYS KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, AREN'T YOU? A GREAT KING NEEDS TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT HIS PEOPLE, NO?"
He laughed, "I believe so, yes." He raised his hand with a more serious tone than before, "too much knowledge will turn into pain and heartbreak, rather pleasure and courage. A king needs to know enough to rule his people, but not more than that. Otherwise they'll turn mad and suffer till they die!" The atmosphere in the room changed in the blink of an eye, Ale hit Valerious gently with his elbow but the king nodded. "You are correct my friend," the three turned to look at him with shocked and confused expressions, "sometimes, making a 'fool' of yourself, benefits you and your people the most!" Ale just stared down and Val nodded his head in agreement, while Metus stared at the scenery again thinking: "will I ever be a king worthy of this title? If yes, when?"
Ale and the kid wondered around the city, the more they walked the more they felt a sense of unease. They eventually managed to find a room for the night with a bathhouse inside the inn. Ale put down all of his luggage, his staff and threw his hat on top of the pillow while the kid watched a part of the city through the window, which had a very unique touch to it. "Did the caretaker seem creepy to you, too?" Ale looked at him and rubbed his beard, "yeah, she was creepy. She started at you as a piece of meat, it's not a good idea to wonder around. Don't go anywhere without me!" The kid was still looking out of the window. "Kid!" Ale called out, "do you under-" "My name is Luka." Ale stopped and just looked at him. "Don't call me kid, it's annoying!" Ale was dumbfounded, "yeah, you are right. But don't ran of without me, okay? Luca?" Luca turned around and smiled, "ahoy captain!" They both laughed as Luca lied down on the bed which was double sized with beautiful art all over with very expressionistic colors, as Ale was about to turn around and grab a glass of water, the bed revealed a giant tongue with two rows of sharp teeth. "ALE!" Luca screamed his lungs out, when Ale came to see what was happening he froze for the following moments. The mimic held Luca on it's disgusting and watery tongue pressing the kid from his two sides, and slowly dragging him on it's tummy while jumping up and down. Luca's screams brought Ale back to reality, without a second thought he grabbed his staff, aimed at the mimic's mouth then screamed "DELERI!"
An explosion shook the entire inn with smoke leaving the ground, as Ale took Luca on his hug while the mimic bed faded away screaming like a snake. Luca grabbed on to Ale's cloak as hard as he could not letting go, a tears started running from his face. Ale started to spin around, holding Luca with both his arms now, "it's ok, it's ok! I'm here! I won't leave you!" "I was going to die Ale," he said between stutters and snot running down his nose. "I thought I . . ." "Shhh, it's ok Luca, I am here!" Ale bit his upper lip with his bottom teeth staring at the place where the mimic was, then at the window where it seemed a different world.
As if, the explosion didn't happen. He scanned the room, it seemed as if it was built today, not a single pile of dust anywhere everything seemed so fancy. Looking back at it, the prices weren't as high as they would be in another city of this sort. His gaze locked with a wardrobe, he couldn't help himself. He looked around, no other object. He put Luca down, who was still clinging on him, and walked in front of the wardrobe. "Once, terrible luck. Twice . . ." he stood right in front of it and nothing happened, "twice, it's orchestrated!" Luca stared at him as he wiped his tears off. Ale stayed still in front of the wardrobe, he then started jumping in hopes of making it reveal itself. "Mimics are not this smart, they act on instinct like a Venus flytrap. Maybe I'm overthinking it. But, it can't be . . ." he thought back to the waitress, "when she told Luca to stay close to me, it didn't seem normal," his jaw dropped to the floor, "they . . . no, it can't be." he clenched at his fist as he looked back at the kid. "Better safe than sorry!" He walked over to the kid and grabbed his staff and stood in front of the wardrobe again. Ale forced a smile, "Luca . . . come here, please." He looked at Ale, who had a combination of both anger and fear.
He gave in and started to approach Ale, "nothing bad will happen, right?" Ale nodded.
"Yes! Come." As soon as he stepped foot on the wardrobe's circle, just like the bed mimic, it attack the kid. This time, however, Ale was ready "DELERI!" In an instant it was erased, never to be seen again.
Luca froze in place with Ale trying to regain his conciseness. As soon as they started to get better, Ale looked around, he looked at a table that was across the room. Two armchairs and the table on the middle of both to be more exact. He started approaching them and called back to the kid to stand in front of them. Same thing, all three of the furniture turned out to be mimics which Ale obliterated in a couple of moments.
"Curse them!" He said between his teeth. "What sort of animal would do something like that?" Luca was confused and very, very scared. He ran back to hug Ale, who hugged him tightly. "Stay close to me, kid. If you see anything like a furniture, don't hesitate. Order me to shoot and where!"
"You . . . you believe the entire city is like this?" He said in a scared voice, as Ale was filled with disgust. "I don't know, but the city hasn't given me a reason to don't doubt it!" "I had heard rumors regarding this, people exchanged other people for materials. Turns out, they give children away like it's nothing. And thank the mimics for it."
Ale, now holding Luca on his back, walked out of their room, checked the other rooms for other travelers, and went down to the inn's lobby. When they stepped foot there, the caretaker was shocked to see the kid in one piece but tried to hide it behind her creepy and unsettling smile. "Anything you'd like sir?" She asked cheerfully, but no response. She was annoyed, but insisted. "How could I help you sir?" Ale, who is in front of the door and let Luca go out the inn just enough from the door, turned around to face her. "Do you want to help me?" She nodded her head violently. "Correct sir!" He stepped outside but he could still be heard throughout the lobby, "go to hell!" As Ale raised his staff her face turned as pale as a cloud, "WAIT! SIR PLEASE!" "Vim extermina!"
And just like that, the inn was erased from the map. The people, who were full of fake smiles moments ago, turned pale as they saw Ale's power. Luca was amazed by it and grabbed Ale's sleeve again as he caressed Luca's hair gently.
"Do you know if someone informed the king's guards?" A woman asked an elderly man. "I heard that they did, although it's very risky."
The woman was confused, "risky? Why?"
The man sighed, "the king will probably come here in person to catch the wizard."
"So? It means we'll get his majesty's recognition, and if we are lucky, more money." She laughed like a wolf in sheep's clothing.
"Don't be so sure . . ." she stopped laughing and looked at him, "the king, is a weird individual, if he becomes aware of the things going on here, he might kill us all!"