“Ninety bronze dracara,” a brutish tongue cut tersely through the ruckus making up the street. Similar to those around him, the man stood behind his table, one filled with vivid vegetables and fruit while a flock of demons came to buy. Well, rather, intended to buy before going away.


    Usually, just like all the vendors he was with, he would be shouting to gather round customers, however, a vicious fruit fell from the heavens right to his shop. One he had heard about and wished he wouldn’t come over any time soon. A few heads taller and a full body wider, the brown-skinned demon crossed his arms after delivering the price towards the frail-looking, collared human carrying a basket containing packaged meat as well as vegetables from his stand.


    Inflating his chest high up, he released a deep sigh after seeing him rummage through his pockets, being the only person near his stall. With a quick glance to each side and beyond the slave, looking at the plethora of demons buying from other demonic merchants, he could only burrow the frustrations deep inside him and accept the fates.


    “Ber, huh,” he muttered under his nose while seeing the single, small coin Lutiel brought out from the jacket. Handing it over, the smooth palm around his furred fingers caught it before bringing the coin closer to shine inside the seller’s eye.


    Looking down beneath his stand’s table, he appeared to glance at something, or at least pretend to, as Lutiel saw it. “I don’t have any change to give you,” he said with a blank face while the human stared at him with a straight one.


    “What?” He asked while the merchant’s shamelessness perked up.


    “What? Are you deaf? I don’t have any change. Maybe I would if you hadn’t come, but as you can see, there’s a shortage of customers today,” biting back immediately at the slight remark, he glared at the human like a ferocious animal.


    “Alright,” Lutiel accepted the man’s retaliation, immediately making him raise his voice as his hand neared the red onions.


    “What are you doing?” He asked with a terribly agitated tone.


    “Getting a few more onions.”


    “Listen here, you little trash. That won’t work for me. You already paid for the previous ingredients, so don’t try to add up the price unless you want to pay again,” he said, quickly grasping onto the human’s arm while leaning over the vegetables.


    Letting his hand off, Lutiel stared at the steam coming off of the man’s mouth while he spoke. Standing there for a few moments, he simply let go of the matter before moving away.


    Not daring to glance back, his vision became a field of bodies. Standing on both sides, as well as walking in the middle, demons conferred with each other next to stalls, some merchants loudly exclaiming to lure in potential vendees.


    However, having filled his basket full, he did nothing but look ahead of himself, his eyes focused on the black carriage drawn by two stallions, one white and the other brown respectively.


    Unruffled against the gazes he received, Lutiel kept his ears shut from any words they muttered, hurled in a language he didn’t understand anyway. Though, much to his surprise, not nearly as many of them were courageous enough to speak to him anymore.


    Having cleared off a large portion of the distance from the carriage, more than halfway, practically no stands appeared around him anymore, only demons that walked along the pavement just like him. Yet, he stopped in the middle of his steps, gradually coming to a halt.


    “Young man,” a voice spoke to him, from a point he couldn’t deduct.


    ‘?’ He doubted himself inwardly, quickly turning back to check around him. Some demon barely evaded bumping into him from the sudden stop, an irked expression appearing on her face. Still, she left before he could even excuse her, shaking her head and clicking the tongue.


    Regardless of the demonic lady, he stared at the dirty walkway, gray stones pruning away their fresh look with black dust entwined between the gaps.


    “Young man, over here,” the same voice repeated itself, this time Lutiel looking directly at the source. Furrowing his brows, he stared at the black cocoon of cloth spiraling against somebody, the face beneath shadowed by the hood.


    ‘Did I see him there before?’ A thought permeated throughout his mind, but he couldn’t answer it truly, having been focused on the carriage in the distance.


    Walking closer to the curled up man sitting next to a building’s facade, Lutiel stopped only a step or so away from him, promptly seeing the grinning face of an old man through the shadowy veil.


    “Care to spare some fruit for an old man? He asked faintly, yet the hoarse voice resounded clearly around his ears.


    “Who are you?”


    He didn’t answer immediately. Staring at the boy for a while, his complexion remained still before crumbling completely. From the grin, it transformed into a considerate ponder, ending with a raised eyebrow on either side.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    “So you ask, yet the one unable to utter the truth is yourself,” he said slowly, revealing a pale, withered hand from beneath the cloak, pointing at the human with his sinking, wrinkly nail. Immediately, as Lutiel glanced down at his chest, where the man pointed his finger, he squinted his eyes tightly.


    But, while the question tumbled inside his head, the man led him astray suddenly, a stroke of laughter bellowing in the streets and catching the attention of passerby demons, only to quicken their leave. “I’m joking, I’m joking.” He added quickly, still giggling at the gullible slave.


    “I’m just an old man on the verge of his days, nothing more, nothing less. You don’t have to care about me, but if you have it in you, how about you give me some of that overpriced fruit?” He asked, his lime eyes staring deeply at Lutiel, who kept glancing to and fro at his basket and the old man.


    “Ahh, I know a pure soul when I see one,” the man uttered, glancing at the pale hand reaching towards one of the large apples beaming with bright yellow shades. At the same time as it fell towards the crinkly hands, the oldie instantly moved his hands inside the dark fabric, the fruit disappearing from the wafts of wind.


    “Wait! Where are you going?” He exclaimed frantically, indignant at the man beginning to return for the carriage.


    “What?” Perplexed, Lutiel voiced out as his body didn’t listen, looking back with a forced manner. “What are you doing?”


    “I can’t just leave you empty-handed, can I?” The man from the ground stood up, yet the height only differed vaguely. Clearer than ever, Lutiel stared at his grayish-pale face, wrinkled in every aspect. “Hold onto this.”


    Catching his right arm with both of his, the old man quickly moved his hand towards the palm of the human, tightening it hardly after hiding something inside.


    Lutiel’s widened eyes swiftly traveled down at his hand, having been released from the man’s grasp. Opening the palm, he briskly saw what lay there. An object clear of anything, to be precise. A handful of air dissipated into the unknown, mixing in with the winds while the man stared back at the twisted cloth.


    “There’s nothi-,” he tried to say, but the figure had already disappeared from the place, leaving behind no vestige, as though he simply dreamed of the encounter.


    Looking all around, all he could find were demons staring at him with an eerie attitude. At the same time, staring at the basket, the apples returned to their original number before he gave one away.


    ‘Wha? Huh?’ He couldn’t think of it, at least properly. Leaving a quarrel inside his head, he tried hard to envision the old man’s face, only for it to disappear the moment he remembered.


    However long it took him, no attempt came fruitful. ‘I should just get back already. I still have to get the coal,’ He mused, finally turning towards the carriage he could barely see through the ongoing heads around the pavement.


    Though, as he walked along the path where the vehicle stood, Lutiel’s mind constantly played ploys with him. The encounter was simply too weird for him to immediately forget it. ‘Is he another one of those robbers?’


    Quickly, he checked for his jacket, trying to find the seemingly unimportant coin they all reached for. And, taking his right hand out, there it was in its entirety as the man remembered. ‘But, what if he did something to me with some magic? I have to be more vigilant from now on.’


    Tossing it back to the pocket, he was already finished walking, opening the doors while the horses sang at his approach, alerting the coachman. “I’m back,” he said, only receiving a meek nod of the head as Rovier raised himself up from the little nap.


    Before he even knew it, the surroundings began to change as they went into the main road. As per usual, he saw familiar sights, on different streets. Dragging the clanging chains through the shoulders and backs, slaves pulled on their masters through the muddied roads.


    Moving bricks, beams, and boulders, tens of slaves were at work, either constructing or delivering more materials for construction, a rare few moving through the alleys with sacked ingredients.


    Staring at the scenes with a straight face, he kept to himself for a few moments, letting the scenery pass by without glaring at it so much.


    Travelling down the different streets and avenues, because they focused on the outskirts of the city, it was more of the same, only varying in frequency and the looks of the buildings, some more derelict than others.


    After a long while, going through more and more crude parts, they had finally gone out of the gates, nearing the shore Lutiel had previously seen from the top of the higher parts of the city. He stared at the lack of demons moving about, only for a vaguely familiar noise to drill in his ears. The clanging of metal against a hard material resounded in the place, covered solely by the loose, gray skies.


    The carriage halted completely, with nothing moving in the nearest background beyond the windows inside. Neighs filled up the space after their gradual descent, quickly calming down under a certain man’s hand.


    Promptly leaving everything inside on the seats, the man opened the doors with nothing in his arms. His hairs swaying on first contact, the wind grazed past his stature, but the clothes he wore made nearly all bearable.


    Walking off the mud road that gave no more ways to travel, near the cobble wall of foundations extending to the height where the carriage stood, he walked down the damp grass of the coast. In the purple eyes, ignoring the city’s base that went all the way towards the sea and beyond, a large expanse reflected itself.


    Although incomparable to the city’s port made from stone, glancing at the concoction of wood and lighter boulders, it was a sizable object nonetheless. In the far front, he could see a flock of smaller ships resting by on the calm waters. However, not all were doing so. Even further out, a ship larger than others floated on the waters, though not too far away from the docks.


    Bit by bit, his legs moved through the dirt, eventually arriving near the coarse sands of the shore. At the same time, it was the place he needed to get to from the beginning.


    Sparsely situated all around, large, black boulders with a bluish tint to them buried themselves inside the bleak sand intertwined with black fragments all around the shore, ones similar to the mountainous pile next the coastline on the left.


    Lay flat on the ground, they were nearly as long as half of a small ship, but what Lutiel caught most out of the sight was by far those that chipped away at them.


    Wielding rough, worn-out pickaxes, five human slaves stood around one side of the boulder, all connected by individual chains going towards a high, wooden pole behind them. Wearing clothes familiar to him, as he recalled his fight against his namesake, Lutiel watched as they shivered in the wind.