“It's the Samurai Three Thousand. Nice, huh?”
I glided my fingers over the engravings that decorated the shell-like exterior.
Becky glanced at the price tag. “This is way too expensive.” She grabbed the vest from my hands and shoved it back at the clerk.
He disappeared again and returned with another. This disk was more of an oval shape with a delicate blue stone in the shape of a lightning bolt. I cautiously touched the gem and flinched as the new vest appeared in my arms. It didn't resemble the Samurai Three Thousand, but it still looked pretty awesome. The name “Black Bolt” and the number five were engraved on top of the vest's surface.
“Try it on,” Becky said after she glanced at the tag.
The vest fitted perfectly, covering all the important areas, and didn't smell like stale sweat, like the one I'd practiced in yesterday.
Sammy ─ who'd been on her own mission ─ found us as I was adjusting the straps. “That's really nice, Elena.”
“How does it fit?” Becky asked.
“I actually feel safe.”
They both giggled.
“We'll take it. Can I drop off mine in three weeks for a cleaning?” Becky asked. The clerk assured her it would be fine.
As he disappeared, something behind Becky caught my eye.
I gasped.
“Cool huh?” Becky stood right beside me.
“I'm going to check the latest gear,” Sammy said, and squeezed past us.
“Is this armor for dragons?” I asked as we investigated the racks further.
“Yes,” Becky said. “This section is for the Night Villains. They have to make the armor with special steel because of the acid they breathe. That one at the top is vereautiful. If I had a Night Villain I would buy him that.” She pointed at a shiny silver torso and head armor hanging above our heads.
We were so engrossed we ended up walking the entire section.
There was gear for Moon-Bolts, Sun-Blasts and even Snow dragons. By the size of the harness, the Snow dragon was indeed not as big as the others. They came in all the colors of the rainbow and were a variety of different designs. We found Sammy by the Fire-Tail section purring over a black number with silver spiky studs.
“This would look freaky with my brass color, right?” Sammy looked at Becky for approval.
“For the first time you might be right, Sammy.”
We paid for the vest, which was transformed back into the oval disc shape object, and I picked up a pack of playing cards from a small basket by the register. Becky grabbed a pack, winked at me, and tossed it in with the vest.
I glanced at my watch: five to three. Jeez, time flew when you shopped with friends.
We caught the tram and reached the woods a couple minutes after three.
“I said three, Rebecca Johnson.”
“Oh you can be glad that it's a couple of minutes and not half an hour. Six hours was hardly enough.”
He grinned. “Did you enjoy your shopping?”
“Yes, thank you, Master,” I said, and climbed into the carriage. Words couldn't have described how I felt at that moment. I pulled the safety belt over my shoulder, feeling a bit drained from our trip, but giddy from my new purchases.
I felt sorry for Master Longwei. He had no choice but to listen to Becky babbling about shopping. She even tried to throw in a couple of fashion tips, which made me and Sammy have tosuppress our laughter so we wouldn’t offend.
I fell on my bed when we finally made it back to our room, immobile.
Becky opened the pack of cards and handed me one. “It's all the famous people throughout the years. A lot of the young boys and girls collect them.”
Sammy mumbled something as she picked at a packet of crisps, and delft into it as if she hadn’t seen food for days.
On one card was a picture of a guy named Theodore Verona, whoever that was. I turned it around and all his stats were listed on the back, like a baseball card. He’d lived in the thirteenth century and wore the title of a knight. They had his number of kills with his victories at the Annual Games. He had slain one thousand and five dragons.
Becky handed me a second card. It depicted a woman by the name of Delilah. She was a Fire-Tail dragon and must've been the oldest of them all because she celebrated her fourteen thousandth birthday nineteen years-ago. It said King Albert had thrown her a huge party. A third card depicted Sir Chan Wei-Ling, also a dragon, and the General of King Albert's court.
I froze as I stared blankly at the last one and my mouth fell open. “Are you serious?” I showed Sammy a card of her brother.
“He's the Rubicon, Elena. That card is extremely rare. You can exchange it for at least ten cards.”
I guess I still didn't get how famous Blake was.
“He hates going to town, it's a big mess,” she explained.
“Really?”
"He's usually in disguise but always get caught by one of the locals," Sammy said.
“At times I pity him,” Becky admitted.
I looked at his picture. A strange sadness shone through his eyes. “Can I ask you guys a question? Where does Master Longwei get the money to pay for our little trips?”
“Dragonia is loaded. The parents whose children are not born with the mark pay plenty of money to get them in, which cover situations like these,” Becky explained, while she helped me unpack the shopping bags.
“Master Longwei allows them inside Dragonia without the mark?”
“It's not written anywhere that you have to ascend to claim a dragon,” Sammy answered.
“Just because one person has done it, doesn't mean all of them can,” Becky countered.
“Wait, you actually mean somebody claimed a dragon that didn't have an extra ability?”
They only nodded since “Mystical Song”, a T.V series, had started and the conversation ended there.
I lay back on my bed, too tired for another teen drama and drifted away with Sammy's hyena laughter echoing noisily in the background. A huge emptiness filled my heart. I wished that I could have shared this day with Dad. Thinking back on the last 48 hours my new reality started to kick in. I rolled over as a tear escaped and landed softly on the pillow. I would never share anything with him ever again.
Chapter Ten
We found the most amazing burgers at the buffet later that night. Becky tried her luck again with the next riddle. That girl could not get enough greasy food. To my surprise I knew the answer to this one as well. I didn’t get it as fast as the last time but I was impressed that I had gotten it at all. It was fire, but I kept the answer to myself because Sammy wasn’t too fond of greasy food.
That night I felt dead tired again, but for some reason I still struggled to fall asleep. Blake had been on my mind a lot throughout the day. I had seen him during dinner sitting alone at a table, looking deep in thought. There was a hard look to his face as he mixed the food on his plate methodically, as if he could find the answers to all his problems in his French fries. He'd eventually given up on the food and dismantled the lantern sitting on the table to play with the glowing embers. That was how I had come up with the answer to the riddle. When I finally fell asleep, I dreamt of him. I'd taken Tabitha's place next to him at the table. He had reached into my hair, pulled my face to his and gave me one of those long and hard passionate kisses. I feared waking, feared leaving him. Lost in the passion of the moment my dream suddenly turned very odd.
Blake disappeared, and I stood alone on top of a grassy hill. For the love of blueberries where am I?
I had no idea how I’d gotten there. I looked around me perplexed because nothing seemed familiar. If this dream was an indication of my current state of mind, I was in trouble. Onward was a massive expanse of forest. Its tall trees and mass of fauna and flora, hiding who-knows-what, made it harder to breathe. As I started to walk across the hill I noticed a dark-haired woman waiting for me on the other side. It felt like it took forever to reach her. At first I thought it was Julia, but the closer I got, the more I realized it was a stranger.