I didn’t know what was going to happen at the festival, and no unlikely sort of inspiration struck me, so I tried to account for all options. If the threat would be enough to destroy the whole town, then anything I did would be a waste of time. In that case, I decided that the best plan was to see if I could escape beforehand.

In the town, there were four streets that led to the main plaza, two of them branching off towards the residential area, and one spiraling to the temple. The last one came from the west and cut through, ending up at a guard post to the south.

Most likely, anyone entering with foul intentions would avoid the guard post at all costs, and would also not want to pass by the temple. That left the two main roads, one of which passed right by my farm.

I continued my walk along the field, coming at last to a crossroads where a large wooden sign showed that the two roads eventually met up, with the most frequented direction being from a town to the north. That’s where I would make my escape if it was needed. I set up a small post right by it, with a little trail leading back to the main road. I placed some supplies and vital equipment near it, as well as a map of the local area. Afterwards, I circled the land around our farm. Small gales were all over the remote fields at the end of town, of which ours was one. Wind elementals were not normally dangerous, but something or someone had been affecting them lately. Looking over the field, I saw one pick up a pile of rubbish and raise it high into the sky, then let it fall again. They moved into and around each other, threatening to crack the posts that me and my uncle had set up.

There was only a week until Marcus’ exam. Him and I had gone over the notes, but he’d been too lazy to properly learn them. We’d argued a bit over it, and he went home early. I hated him at that moment, but I hated myself for not being there when he needed me. Hitting the training dummy until my arm was sore and my breath sounded like a storm, I pictured that old man from my dreams, and plunging my sword deep in him, again and again, until I couldn’t even see my arm.

Going through town to find the genera store, I saw people milling to and forth. It really was the busiest month of the year. A couple argued near a vegetable stall and some bard decried the underground army of creatures that many said was going to attack our kingdom despite a weary alliance. A rackety cart passed me by as I entered the general store.

“Hellooo,” I said, peaking into the shop. “I’d like to buy some spell formulae.”

“Good eve young man. How may I help you?” I took that to assume he hadn’t heard me. “I said,” I began.

“I heard you the first time rascal. We don’t sell those to anyone underage.”

“Underage,” I muttered. “But I’m nearly thirteen.”

“Rules are rules. I can’t go helping any old kid.” I was just about to start protesting when he kept talking. “However, if you can do me a favor, I might be able to bend the rules ever so slightly. What do you say?”

“Hmm, it depends surely.”

“Oh, don’t you worry about it, it’ll only be a minute,” he said, reaching into his desk and taking out a parcel. “You just have to take this parcel and bring it to this here place,” he said, taking out a map of the city and scribbling down an address. It was right there in the residential area. “Bring that there boy, and I’ll help you out. One hand washes the other, right?”

“I... don’t know,” I said, still thinking. I prayed internally for any memories to come up, but nothing happened. That man was so suspicious, I had to be sure there was no other option before doing something like that.

“Tell you what, sir.” I tapped lightly on his desk, to get his attention since he had started arranging his wares. “I’ll come back later,” I said, then stopped to turn back a bit. “If you still need me, that is.”

“Humph, I’m only trying to do you a favor, no need to get rowdy. Now off you go. I’ve got costumers waiting,” he said, ushering me out the door.

I made my way back slowly, taking in the view of the preparations as I strolled towards the farm. My mind kept going back to my interaction with the storekeeper.

I could honestly say that it hadn’t gone quite as I had planned. I was going to wait for at least something to go of off, since there were no clear signs regarding the danger I would be in, and it wasn’t like there was no chance for Marcus to pass his test given that he now had the questions. Having the answers would have been ideal, of course, but Mr. Solomon most likely had them memorized instead of written down somewhere, so that would have been a fruitless search.

Getting back to the farm, I found Marcus’ stuff placed around my room, and could hear him having a conversation with my uncle downstairs. I looked out the window just in time to see the Amrita nearing one of our leftmost fields.

It looked even more menacing than usual, its jaw was wide open, exposing rows of sharp teeth, with a long tongue that wiped around the air like a blade. There were some animals in the world that most people agreed were pretty safe as far as monsters went, and looks were usually not a factor considered.

Its six legs were split in two at the end, and it walked with a weird scurry that made it seem like a patient in a hospital ward. It looked like of insect-like, if insects were the size of a small house. Every so often, it neared a cow, and it would lick its puffy lips voraciously, causing the animal to run off in a panic. I poured myself a glass of water as I watched the scared animal spin around in an absolute frenzy.

Still, the fact that no one had yet died from that entity prancing around outside meant that the town guard could twiddle their thumbs until Marcus’ death. I shook my head regretfully. As I was about to get up from my seat by the windowsil to refill my water, I heard my uncle shout something from downstairs. I ran off from window, just as one of its many eyes turned right towards me.