Jorish walked alongside Traves, his eyes devouring the scenery and its details. As they got close enough to notice the details of the city, Jorish slowed down, flabbergasted. The city they were approaching, which he learned to be called Wolnosci from Traves’ rambling, felt so different from the sun-touched cities. Jorish turned towards Traves asking.

“Is that… their capital or something?”

“Nope! I would say it is a larger city, but it is not the capital of the free cities!”

Jorish froze, trying to process what he had just heard. His eyes quickly scanned Wolnosci. It lacked an eye, which made sense as the hallmark of the sun-touched cities. Instead, it was surrounded with massive stone walls that dwarfed even the walls of the capital, Slenham. Jorish knew that the walls in the sun-touched cities were created to stop monsters from harassing the city, with the more troublesome kind dealt with by the eye of the city.

“What… monsters are those walls meant to keep out.”

“Oh, the worst monsters of all, friend.” Traves smiled. “Humans.”

Getting closer, Jorish noticed groups of guards walking all around the gate, alongside groups of people leaving or entering the city. Approaching even closer, a guard approached them. He had a slight tan, his skin slightly brighter than Anise. Traves smiled, slowing down until the guard caught up, he spoke. “May your life be free, honored guard.”

The guard stopped in surprise, as he replied instinctively. “And may your road be clear, traveler.”

The guard, finally recovering from his momentary shock, smiled as he asked. “I suppose you know of the protocol. Do you have a permit to enter the city, or would you like to apply for one?”

Traves smiled, taking out a small paper out of his pocket. Jorish glanced at the paper, noting how sturdy it seemed. They use such papers for things like that? Jorish wondered, thinking about the sun-touched cities. Books were one of the few things that they had, and they were not cheap. He had worked for so long to afford his treasure. Jorish thought as he clutched his book in his pocket.

The guard looked at the permit, as he took a small glass sphere which glowed for a few seconds before it turned dark. The guard put the glass artifact down as he handed Traves back his permit. “Take care in your travels, Traves.”

Traves nodded as they walked toward the gate. Jorish looked at Traves in confusion as he asked. “Does he know you?”

Traves shook his head as he explained. “No, but those permits are not simply an entrance ticket. They store many information about you, that's how they can both check if the permit is not a forgery, and even better, check if that was your permit and not something you stole.”

Jorish walked behind Traves quietly as they entered the city. He felt embarrassed at both his lack of knowledge, as well as how primitive his home is appearing to be at every moment. Traves, sensing his dilemma, clapped his shoulder as he spoke.

“No need to feel bad about it, Jorish! The free cities have been around for much longer than the sun-touched cities. And they face completely different dangers and circumstances. I do not think many sane people would try to invade the sun-touched cities, for many reasons.”

Jorish nodded. Entering the city, Jorish looked at the stone buildings that were scattered all around, noting the orderly fashion of the pavements. Jorish felt familiar heat all around his body, comforting him, before his face turned into disbelief.

“They… don’t have cooling here?”

Cail turned, replying to him. “Well, I would say that the cooling artifacts in the sun-touched cities are very brilliant, and very efficient energy-wise. Even then, they are very expensive to maintain and keep functional. The biggest difference is that in the sun-touched cities, the city cannot function without the cooling, which barely lowers the temperature to more survivable levels. Here, it is not needed as much. The way they absorb the heat and convert that into cooling is very…” Cail rambled on, interrupted by Traves.

“Gah Jorish, I beg you. If you get him to start another topic, next year you will be putting flowers to a stone here saying: ‘here lies Traves, died from boredom.’ ”

Jorish snickered as they followed Traves. He didn’t need to ask to know what they were about to do. Traves was mysterious at times, yet sometimes, he could be easier to read than a child. What would he do in any city they visit? Some damn food of course! Jorish lips parted, excited to find out what he was going to eat. Well, I guess Cail wasn’t completely wrong when he talked about how Traves’ bad habits rub on you.

Minutes later, they found themselves in an unremarkable shop that was almost hidden in the hallways of the city. Its inside felt cozy, if a bit cramped. They sat down as an old man walked toward them. “Traves! Its been a while.”

Traves smiled, replying. “Almost a year since my last visit, wasn’t it? You doing good, Nadim?”

Nadim smiled, slight exhaustion apparent in his voice. “Well, we are getting by. You know how things are. So, the usual for you and Cail?” Cail nodded, smiling, before adding. “Make it more mild for our friends here, they came from the sun-touched cities.”

“Yes, I can see that. Well, your friends are my friends!” Nadim’s smile widened as he retreated to the kitchen.

Traves explained, before either of Anise or Jorish could ask. “Well, he is an old friend. Every time I went around this area, I made sure to eat here. He is a nice guy, and his food is top notch! He has been serving in this spot for almost forty years.” Traves’ face went a bit nostalgic and sullen as he continued. “He refuses to raise his prices, even though his food could fetch much more. He refuses any assistances or loans I offered him. He always says he wants his food to be available to all. However with this location, not many know about it. And even if they did, he could only do so much on his own at his age.”

Jorish could feel the bitterness in Traves’ voice as he sighed. Minutes later, the old man approached them with dishes as he explained. “Friend, I truly appreciate how much you want to help me. But this is truly my dream, this place has been my life. You have already done so much for me, I can’t ask for anymore.”

Traves sighed again, as Nadim put the dishes down, smiling, before going back to the kitchen. Jorish looked at the dish in front of him, as its smell hit him. He felt shock, almost tasting the dish from its smell. A light red sauce gently waved, flakes of herbs on top. Like meteors, pieces of meat sank in the gentle red sea. To the side, thin slices of flat bread laid. Their external skin perfected, dark when it must, light when not. Jorish had not tasted it, yet he could feel its crunch before he did.

Jorish glanced at Traves’ and Anise’s dishes, Anise’s was not too different from his, and Traves’ was a shade darker than his. He was about to get back to his food until he decided to turn to Cail. His eyes widened in shock, the dish was almost the same, except for one part. What is that… inferno? Thought Jorish as he stared at the explosive crimson in Cail’s dish. Jorish felt pain looking at his dish, prompting him to focus on his own.

Grabbing a piece of bread, Jorish dipped it in the sauce, grabbing a piece of meat. The chicken, done to perfection, almost collapsed into shreds as he grabbed it. Powering through the temperature of the dish due to his body, Jorish snickered thinking of how pointless he was using it. Of course, the first thing someone does after becoming resistant to heat is just eat hot food without waiting. Right.

Putting the food in his mouth, Jorish was forced out of his thoughts as he felt as if someone slapped him. As the meat and sauce touched his mouth, they exploded into endless flavors and spices. The influx of which caused him to freeze, unable to process the many tastes hitting him at once. A moment later, Jorish felt as if a flame was burning his tongue. It was not temperature, it was simply spicy.

Jorish felt as if he fell into a dilemma, this is so good, yet it hurts so much to eat it! Every moment, he would fight against his own self, debating every bite. The burn was rising, yet his enjoyment rose as well. Pain and flavor mixed as he went through his dish.

Gulping his food and the cup of milk, the owner had been nice enough to provide, Jorish turned around looking at everyone else’s reactions. He looked at Anise, seemingly suffering more than he did. It made sense, my body reduces heat as a side effect, I guess it might make sense why I feel slightly less spiciness from the food. He turned to Traves, who ate in satisfaction, not showing any more or less emotion as he usually did.

Finally he turned to Cail, Cail was cruising through his dish, eating bite after bite, his lips almost leaving his face, smiling. Jorish would’ve thought he was having the time of his life if not for the fact that he was sweating, his brows so furrowed, sniffing his nose every few seconds. He looked as if he had fought for his life, for days. Jorish forced his curiosity down, forcing himself not to look at his dish. If Traves saw me look at Cail’s dish, and forced me to eat from that… That would be the end of me!

The group continued eating in silence, either too affected or too involved in eating to stop. Suddenly, they were interrupted by loud footsteps outside the restaurants. Moments later, a thin man entered, guiding in a man dressed in formal blue clothing. The well-dressed man had short black hair, his eyes, sharp, almost informing the world that it was beneath him. The skinny man spoke.

“Sir, this is the place I told you about! That was where I had that food, believe me!”

The well-dressed man squinted, scanning the room with his eyes before saying. “Fine, I will check things myself.”

The skinny man suddenly turned towards Traves and his group, shouting at them. “Did you not hear what he said? Scram.”

Jorish paused for a moment as he turned to Traves, who kept eating, ignoring the shouting man. The man got more agitated, walking closer, wanting to push Traves. Traves turned his head, looking at the man as a glint of crimson shone in his eyes, causing him to step back shuddering.

The well-dressed man frowned as he spoke. “Do you have any idea who I am? Guards, arrest those people!!”

Jorish looked at Traves again, as guards pouring in from outside. He wasn’t scared of that man or the guards as much as he was from Traves’ actions. Surprisingly, Traves neither got outside to confront the man without causing issues to the restaurant, nor did he apologize and try to remedy things. He just shrugged his shoulders as he saw the guards walking in. Jorish’s face turned ugly as he could almost read what was on Traves’ mind when he saw a slight smile appearing on his face.

‘Oh! I haven’t been arrested for a while! This will be fun! Haha.’. No, don’t haha me, Damn you Traves! Cursed Jorish under his breath as Traves’ voice could almost be heard in his head. Jorish sighed, shrugging his shoulders as he waited to be arrested. He wasn’t going to defy Traves’s decision, and he knew that they were in no danger in reality. Unless they had a dragon there… or seven.

The guards started with Traves, quietly and calmly tying his hands up as they saw him not resisting. As they proceeded, moving towards the rest of the group, another voice from outside interrupted them.

“Halt!” another well-dressed man entered, wearing black clothings. The guards, seeing the man, froze. The blue-clothed man frowned as he spoke. “Fredek, what do you want? Why are you interfering in my private matters?”

Fredek smiled as he spoke. “It is you who is interfering with my matters, you are arresting my guests! Who had broken no rules.”

“Your guests? Are you trying to tell me that those people, that you were no where near, this ragtag of a group were your guests?”

Fredek’s smile turned into a deep frown as he spoke, sternly. “Are you implying that I was lying, Martin? I cannot take such accusations lightly. If you continue to continue such blathering, I will have to take you to court to fight it out!”

Martin grunted as he turned the skinny man. “This was just a waste of time, lets go!”

Martin turned, leaving the restaurant as the guards untied Traves, wearing confused looks when a hint of disappointment flashed on Traves’ face. Jorish’s face twitched seeing that. You wanted to be arrested that badly, huh?

Finally, Fredek walked toward the group, bowing lightly. “Your life be free, Foreigners. I apologize, but issues seems to happen often, things can be a bit iffy at those days. It might be best to stay clear of trouble friends.”

Traves looked at Fredek, regaining his smile. “I thank you for your help, I am Traves, and those are my companions.”

Fredek looked at their group as he smiled, saying.

“Well, allow me to introduce myself. I am minister Fredek. I apologize again for your trouble, and I welcome you to the free city of Wolnosci!”