"Wait, before you go. As you will represent the Rugarith clan, you must stay here until the battle. Valzun will take you to your room. If you need anything, you can call him," he says as he beckons to the butler to come over and give them the keys to the rooms.
After receiving the keys and saying goodbye to their host, our heroes, led by Valzun, leave the room and walk towards the elevator.
"Your suite is on the 25th floor," he says as they press the button.
Once the elevator stops, they come out of it and, five doors later, they finally arrive.
"This is where you will stay. As you can see, there are two bedrooms, one with a king-size bed and the other with double beds. I'll leave you the keys here. Do you need anything?
"I have a question," Eva says as she enters one of the bedrooms. "Isn't this an Auction House? This looks more like a hotel. Why are there so many rooms?"
And she' s absolutely right. The room reminds a lot of typical hotel rooms. In fact, Eva, when she approached one of the bedrooms, there was a towel, bathrobe, and gel and shampoo, as a courtesy.
"Rugarith clan," reads Eva on one of the shampoo bottles.
"Well, that's because some of the rooms are for the clan members, and the others are for our clients. As you may know, our Auction House is quite well-known. Many outsiders from far away come so that they can assist in our auctions. So, we also provide with hotel services," explains Valzun. "By the way, if you are interested in participating, auctions are held on floors 4th, 8th, 15th, and 20th. All the information is in this brochure," says as he hands them it.
Leah picks it up and sees that every floor is dedicated to one specialty. The 4th is all about magic: from books with spells to a huge variety of ingredients for potions. The 8th is all about war and battle: here you can find the rarest weapons and armors, as well as books about martial arts and poison. The 15th floor is a miscellaneous one, that people call 'Collections': any object that you can imagine is being auctioned there, even the rarest.
The last one, the 20th, is a bit different. What is being auctioned here are special... services: espionage, murder, and even slaves, despite the fact that the Alliance of Races prohibits the purchase and sale of slaves. However, as long as a profit can be made from it, these kinds of activities will never cease. In any case, this is Dhismar, the city has its own laws, the law of the streets.
"Okay, thank you," says Leah as she walks him to the door. Then, she approaches to Eva and Lucien and asks, "What do you want to do now?"
"We can go where the auctions are held. I know you want to see the 4th floor, and I would like to go to the 8th and the 15th," suggests Eva.
"We should also go to the 20th," says Lucien and then, he turns to Eva. "I know you don't like it, but there we may find information about the Celnaer Fortress. Who knows, we might even find a job or two to get money."
"Fine," reluctantly accepts Eva.
They leave all the bags and get ready to explore the building.
When they approach the elevator, suddenly, they hear a voice calling them: "Hey, wait!... uff!... you three! Wait!"
The trio turns around to see who was calling them and what they see surprises them. It turns out that who had called them was a woman with the most striking clothes one can imagine: neon fuchsia trousers, a black sweatshirt and a yellow phosphorous jacket to match her military boots, also yellow phosphorous.
The woman comes panting, and when she is a few steps away she stops and bends down to try to catch some air. Her dark hair covers her face.
"Uf, madre mía[1]... I'm really in bad shape... uf," she says.
Our heroes keep staring at her trying to figure it out who is she and what does she want from them. She raises and keeps breathing with difficulties.
"Bien[2]... my name is Isabel, and I was looking for you. Are you the ones who help Valzun to fight the Shaktila, right?"
"Wait... are you a human?" asks Eva.
"Si[3], any problem?"
"No at all. It's just that is strange to find a human at this side of the magic border," says Leah.
"That's because I'm a changeling," says Isabel.
"That is odd. The last recorded of a changeling happened a hundred years ago. The fairies sign the agreement condemning the exchange of human babies," says Lucien with confusion
Isabel approaches one of the mirrors of the wall and five seconds later says, "No, I'm still young and guapa[4]."
Leah and Eva laugh.
"Why were you looking for us?" asks curious Leah.
"Oh, si. I was looking for you because I want to join your team," says Isabel with a big smile.