“That sounds like a rather daunting task. Your guardian doesn’t seem the type that’s easy to find a gift for.”
Jahrra nodded grimly. She just assumed it was a sign that perhaps she didn’t know him as well as she thought but now she felt a little better. A spirit stone would be perfect. After all, she had a piece of him hanging around her neck, why shouldn’t he have a piece of her, well, a piece of her essence?
Grinning, Jahrra pulled the stony scale out from beneath her shirt. She never took it off, not since leaving Oescienne. She knew it was silly, but she felt it stood as a reminder that no matter how domineering Jaax may be on occasion, she could still stand up to him.
Torrell shifted forward as their carriage turned a corner, bringing Jahrra’s attention back to the present.
“What’s that?” Now it was her turn to be curious.
Jahrra smiled and thrust the glittering scale forward.
“This is my charm. A scale from Jaax’s toe. I managed to break it off when I was eleven.”
Torrell’s eyes widened. “Are you serious? How did you manage that?”
Although Torrell had finally managed to speak with Jaax the last time she was over it was still a far cry from being openly friendly with him.
Jahrra laughed. “It was his own fault. He didn’t visit me often as a child, but one time when he paid us a visit he insisted on testing my fighting skills. Of course, I’d had no training whatsoever, but he demanded that I spar with him anyway. The fact that I managed to remove this scale was a marvel.”
Torrell sat there, gaping, but after a few moments she shook away her disbelief and said, “You never told us that story!”
At first she looked a little perturbed, but after a moment she leaned forward again. “May I get a closer look?”
Jahrra nodded and leaned forward, pulling the necklace away from her neck once again.
Torrell narrowed her eyes and looked closely at it. “I never realized how beautiful dragons’ scales were,” she said quietly.
Jahrra nodded. “Like polished granite, with many different flecks of color.”
Torrell swallowed and sighed.
“I think this might be much better than a spirit stone. Anyone can get a spirit stone made, but acquiring a dragon’s scale?” She shook her head.
Leaning back against her seat, Jahrra smiled and said, “Well, since I already have a dragon scale I would like to get a spirit stone. Do you know where they make them?”
“You’re lucky you’re in Lidien. I know of one shop where you can get one made but it could be expensive, depending on what type of metal you get it set in.”
Jahrra swallowed. She had a small fortune resting at the bottom of her bag at that very moment. But would it be enough to purchase a spirit stone worthy of a dragon?
“I might have enough saved from my winnings,” she admitted eventually, grinning insecurely at Torrell.
“Huh,” Torrell answered, crossing her arms in mock annoyance. “I think you just might.”
“So, where’s this shop of yours?”
Torrell flashed her best grin and turned to give the driver directions.
For the remainder of the day the two young women wended their way through the city, taking their time as they searched out the shop that crafted and sold spirit stones. As they walked or rode in one of the many carts for hire, Jahrra thought about what she would use to create the stone. Torrell had explained the process as best she could but Jahrra was still unclear on how the stone was actually formed. The elves who created the stones did so by combining certain ingredients and heating them in a cauldron, using a specific amount of magic to aid them. Whatever part of a person that was to be crafted into the spirit stone would be added only when directed by the one mixing the potion and adding the ingredients.
Jahrra asked Torrell that if a bigger piece of a person should be thrown in, would it result in a bigger stone. Torrell told her no but oftentimes warriors would come home from battles after losing an appendage and would hang on to it to create a spirit stone from it for their families and loved ones. The thought of someone throwing a finger or an arm into the magic cauldron, especially after keeping it on their person for who knew how long, made Jahrra shiver in disgust. Yet, it seemed a good way to do away with such an important part of oneself.
“I don’t think I could spit in the cauldron,” Jahrra mused as they walked past the University buildings, now relatively quiet for the weekend. “It seems more of an insult than a charm.”
Torrell nodded.
“The stones created in that manner cost the least, so they are the most popular.” The dark haired girl grinned and crinkled her nose. “Though they don’t turn out as pretty.”
“What about a fingernail?” Jahrra queried, holding her hands out before her.
Torrell shook her head as she stepped around a group of street performers. “Not your best feature.”
Jahrra screwed up her mouth. She was right about that. She tended to keep her fingernails short; made it easier to wield a sword and a bow.
“Well, what would you suggest?”
Torrell stopped on the walkway that ran parallel to the busy street. She looked Jahrra up and down.
“Your hair.”
Jahrra pulled her braid over her shoulder and studied the tufted end. She shrugged.
“It would be the easiest and least painful.”
“And not the most expensive, but prettier than spit,” Torrell said with a wink. “But blood is the best to use.”
Jahrra lifted a brow in question.
Torrell took a breath. “The stone crafters say blood makes the spirit stones that are richest in color and with the highest level of hardness. It is also thought that, because you use blood and blood comes from the heart, they contain the most spirit of the person the blood was taken from.”
Torrell shrugged and Jahrra digested what she’d told her. Grimacing, she lifted her hand and looked at it.
“How much blood do they take, and how do they get it?”
Torrell barked out a laugh. “Don’t look so terrified! They only prick your finger and take a drop or two, honestly. You should see your face!”
Jahrra crinkled her nose, disgruntled at her friend’s humor. “I can handle that,” she said at last, then grinned and proclaimed, “my blood it is!”
Torrell returned the grin and they continued on down the road. They passed a few more tall buildings and then Torrell led them down a wide alley that served more as a street for the tiny shops on either side. It was a bit darker than the main road, but it was quieter too.
“Most of the shops down here deal in magical merchandise,” Torrell said. “Those with the gift of magic prefer a quieter place to work so any time you go out seeking magic, you’ll find it in the quietest alleys and corners of the city.”
Jahrra nodded, grateful to her friend and her seemingly unending wealth of knowledge about Lidien. A crooked signpost on the corner of the sidewalk showed the name of the narrow lane: Tynne Alley. Strange smells, though not all of them unpleasant, tickled Jahrra’s nose as they moved deeper into the space between the buildings. A few of the shops had animal guardians stretched out before the stoop or perching upon a specially crafted branch.
Jahrra gawked in awe, recognizing many of the creatures Hroombra had taught her about as a child. In front of a shop with a sign that read Elixirs for the Unusual Malady, a jehranin stretched out upon a rough mat, its belly upturned as it wiggled to scratch its back, purring in a strange cadence that was similar to birdsong. A few doors down at a shop that supplied herbs, a cape bird sat quietly dozing on a twisted branch protruding from a stand. Jahrra didn’t see it at first, for it had taken on the colors of the window display right behind it. A quick twitch and the fluid motion of its leg whipping out to scratch at an itch near its eye was what gave it away.