False Serenity II

As Brodin and Lucian walked up to the entrance of the town, Lucian saw a massive statue of what looked like a single bull's horn that pointed to the sky. It was right next to a large arch that marked the entrance where the road ran through. The statue was pure while with what looked like cracks on it that had a red hue on it. 

One would think they were more than just cracks, but rather veins. 

Lucian stopped in front of it, "Hm..." he said, "A Horn with veins....huh, Hornvein." 

"Let's go." Brodin said as he walked past the arch 

Lucian followed him, walking next to Brodin down the street, "Okay." He said as he looked around, "Nice-looking town, clean, big, and quiet." 

"Yes." Brodin said, "It's something alright. Be on guard, we're in uncharted territory." 

Lucian nodded, "Yea....." 

He didn't feel anything off so far. He knew that they were now within the boundaries of potential enemies and he shouldn't be too careless. Some part of him asked himself why he was so willing to do whatever the Sect tells him to do, like a lapdog. But he dismissed those thoughts, he had to do whatever it takes to get back to his home, no matter how long it took. For now, he'll play nice with Lunaris, despite him trying to escape their grasp. 

As they walked, Lucian noticed some people walking out of some buildings and making their way down the street. They had weirdly calm expressions on their faces, something that immediately unsettled Lucian, it was not something he was used to. 

Normally, any other person he'd seen so far in this world had any other expression, not whatever this was. This calm expression was odd; it seemed almost forced and Lucian could instantly see through it. 

"Brodin..." Lucian whispered

"I know." Brodin said, "I see it too. But pay no mind, don't attract attention to yourself." 

As they turned a corner, they were called out by someone. 

"Hey, you two!" a loud and raspy voice said

The two of them stopped, turning around to see an old man walking up to them, limping along as he held onto his cane. The old man had long and raggedy gray hair, a bushy white beard, and wore nothing but grey robes. He was hunched over, struggling to even reach the two; Lucian was able to tell that this man was much older than Brodin, who was already a visibly aged man. The man's skin was pale and wrinkly, his eyes were light grey, the light fading from them. 

While he held the cane with one hand, he had a long smoking pipe in the other one, huffing down whatever he had on it as he exhaled smoke through his lips. This was quite surprising, considering the old man was visibly in a very pitiful condition. 

Lucian frowned, "Yea?" He said as the old man walked up to them

The Old Man looked at them, blowing smoke at them, "Who're you?" 

Brodin waved the smoke away, "We're just travelers, looking for work." He said with a serious look on his face

"Yea, that we are." Lucian crossed his arms, "Don't blow smoke on our faces, old man." 

The Old Man coughed as he raised an eyebrow, "You ought to show your elders some respect, you whippersnapper." He said, "You don't have manners at all, I tell ya. This generation is absolutely doomed..." 

Brodin raised his eyebrow, not saying a word. The Old Man huffed more from the pipe as he looked at Lucian who had an annoyed scowl on his face. 

Without saying another word, the Old Man blew another cloud at Lucian's face. 

"I'm not blowing smoke in your face, am I?" Lucian grumbled as he waved the smoke away, "What do you want? You got work for us?" 

"No." The Old Man said, "You ought to leave this place, yer not welcomed here." 

Brodin crossed his arms, "Why is that?" 

"Because I say so." The Old Man said as he began to limp away, "Ye damned foreigners. I ought to whip you into shape, ya hear me!!" 

The Old man crossed the street, making his way to the other side, and merely walked away, grumbling to himself and huffing more smoke from the pipe. 

Lucian blinked, "What the fuck just happened?" 

"Hm." Brodin said, "Well-" 

"Hello there!" A cheerful voice said, "Welcome to Hornvein!" 

They turned around to see a young woman approach them with a bright smile on her face, two men followed her behind who had neutral but calm looks on their faces. The woman was short, petite, and had a pretty face. She had long auburn hair that was tied to a ponytail and her eyes were a nice shade of green. The two men were identical; pale skin, black hair, and brown eyes. They were the same size too so Lucian assumed they were twins. 

Lucian nodded, "Hello." He said

"Who might you two be?" the woman said as she stopped in front of them

"I'm Devin." Brodin said as he gestured at Lucian, "This is my Nephew, Roy." 

"Ah." The Woman said, "I'm Stasia, It is wonderful to meet you~" 

Brodin nodded, "Likewise." He said, "We are merely travelers looking for work, we were hoping you would have some for the next week." 

Stasia nodded, "Of course, of course~" She said with a smile, "But may I ask something, Devin?" 

"Yes." Brodin said

"What kind of Traveler wears that kind of Military uniform?" Stasia said as she gestured at Brodin's grey militaristic uniform, "If I recall correctly, that's from the Steel Kingdom, right????" 

Lucian nearly grimaced; that was the third of the Free Kingdoms he had heard of. So far it's been the Bull Kingdom, Simian Kingdom, and now it was the Steel Kingdom. He didn't know much about the country he was in and now he's hearing more countries be mentioned. He'd try not to focus too much on them, considering he shouldn't worry about them. 

Brodin nodded, "I used to be a member of the Steel Army back in my youth." Brodin said, "As you can see, I am no longer that young." 

Stasia nodded, "Ah, I see, I see." She said as she gestured at Lucian, "And what's his story? Your Nephew?" 

"His mother died in a swimming accident and his father is a deadbeat. My sister made me promise to take care of his good-for-nothing son." Brodin said, "And here we are, I managed to convince him to get a job with me." 

"Ah...." Stasia said, "I see....." 

She looked at Lucian, her eyes scanning him up and down. 

Lucian nodded, "Sup." 

"Well, I would love to personally welcome you to Hornvein." Stasia said, "We always take kindly to visitors and strangers~~" 

Brodin nodded, "I appreciate it greatly. As does Roy." He said

"That's right." Lucian said, "Thanks." 

"Well, we have some rules here." Stasia said, "Firstly, if you want to find a job, I'd start tomorrow. If you want, go to the Inn right down the street, it's called the Nose Ring. Rest all you need, in the morning, you'd find your job while socializing in the Markets, eh?" 

"Very well." Brodin said, "Thank you." 

"Tell the owner of the Inn that I sent you, he'll take care of you. No charge." Stasia said with a smile, "Please, make yourself as comfortable as you want." 

Lucian nodded, "Thanks, that's very kind of you." he said

"Oh, and don't mind Ol' Greybeard." Stasia said, "He's been the Town Grouch for 10 years straight, he's harmless. He likes to smoke his pipe, though~" 

"We'll be on our way then, come nephew." Brodin said as he began to walk past them

"Of course, Uncle." Lucian said as he followed

The moment he passed Stasia, the woman merely gave him a calm side eye, almost as if she was watching them. This didn't go unnoticed by Lucian, who was a bit unsettled by this. 

After a couple of minutes of walking, making their way to the inn that she had sent them to, Lucian walked closer to Brodin. 

"That was a bit too weird, no?" He whispered low enough for only them to hear

Brodin nodded, "Stay on guard." He said

"This whole Inn thing reeks." Lucian said, "I say we shouldn't do it." 

"It's clearly a setup." Brodin said, "Let's see how it plays out. We cannot rouse suspicions. You know our objective." 

Lucian nodded as he drifted a bit further from him, "Okay, whatever you say, Uncle." He said as they passed a couple of people down the stone street, "Guess we'll find what we're looking for soon, a reliable job." 

As they walked, Lucian felt a cold shiver down his back, stopping him in his tracks. This was his body reacting to something in the air. This was similar to how his body was reacting to the presence of the Royal Wyvern back at the bridge. 

He looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. 

"Another Wyvern????" He thought to himself, "No.....it's something else...." 

Something deep down was telling him that stepping foot in this town was one of the biggest mistakes he had made. And the fact that everything looked fine on the surface bothered him greatly. He had already decided that something shady going on and he wasn't so sure if they'd find out what so soon. 

"Tch...." He muttered, "What the hell are we getting ourselves into?" 

"Some bullshit, I bet."