"Perfect! Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye, it was an honour for me to be chosen to accompany you, gentleman, miladies. I wish you a good return." said radiant Edwin, but with a thread of sadness in his voice.
***
On the way home, the trio stopped to buy some sweets and supplies for Ambra and Adamas's further studies, and for the latter, Ambra explicitly asked "Mom, I would like some new books to study what I read at the tower, can I go?"
Alice nodding gave her a pouch, telling her not to be too late, while Ambra thanked her mother and immediately went in search of interesting shops.
Well, where do I go now?
I don't know the western area of the commercial district well... never mind, I'll do it somehow.
After a 10-minute walk, she arrived at the business district, and after another 10 minutes, at the west area where the magic shops were present.
Ambra continued to search in different stores, practically all the ones she could find, without finding anything interesting to read.
Ugh, I can't find anything. Is it possible that there are no books on magic in a magic shop?!
As she cursed, a stray cat approached her, arousing interest in its particular midnight blue coat, dotted with white dots that look like stars.
It was not so strange to find animals with peculiar variations -since the 'First Eclipse' brought not only geographical changes to the continent, as floating islands or marine places where you can breathe normally, but also different effects on the latter's flora and fauna, both in the color and in the morphological structure of the creatures- but for Ambra it was the first time she had seen this type of coloring.
*Meow~ *
After some rehearsals from Ambra to caress him, and he who refused her touch, but rubbed on her legs, the cat went into a nearby alley very lazily, as if he wanted Ambra to follow him.
What do I do, follow him? It's very cute! I want to stroke~!
but while she was thinking this, her face didn't show the slightest bit of emotion!
Having made the decision to follow him, she walked towards the alley, noticing that the cat was waiting for her at the end of the alley.
As she began to walk, she noticed that the noises in the background of the street chatter were fading, but she didn't give much weight to the thing.
Reaching the Cat, Ambra noticed that she didn't hear anymore the chatter in the streets, making her first recoil and then worry about the situation.
This is no longer normal... fuck, it must be magic, and a very powerful one! I had read that to use the magic of sound you must have studied the variations, so that means it's very powerful.
As she thought of a solution, Ambra kept her gaze fixed on the cat, which stared back at her with its golden eyes.
"Sorry Sir. Cat, were you who canceled the sounds?" Ambra asked with a stoic face
What the hell I am asking a cat...
The cat meowed, and an instant later he found himself in front of Ambra, throwing a paw at her forehead. Ambra, without even realizing what had happened, fainted.
***
Ambra woke up from a start, in a room not clearly visible due to the absence of light.
What the fuc- Where am I?
Ambra was agitated: the smell of a wet and dusty environment, as well as poor visibility made her stressed about the situation.
Taking courage, she tried to rise from the ground and, groping, approached what looked like a table with five seats available; as soon as she touched the table, two flames lit behind 2 out of five marble seats: a yellowish flame stood behind a throne, while the second flame, poprora, behind another one.
"Wow, what's this place...mh?" she stopped at the end, realizing some images on the walls behind each seat.
The most visible were two bas-reliefs, very bright thanks to some colored lines: both images represent a bird each, in yellow is represented an owl in the foreground with the wings wide open, resting on a completely spherical stone; in purple is represented, instead, a crow, whose elegant profile was accentuated by a rectangular figure in the background that resembled a book.
It has a captivating know, Ambra nods to her thought.
She wandered around the room for a few minutes, not finding anything interesting belonging to three other unlit bas-reliefs, representing a bull, a frog and a dove.
I didn't find anything... okay, meanwhile I sit down and then I think about something about the situation, Ambra snorted as she sat at the crow's seat.
As soon as she sat down, Ambra felt a stabbing pain on her back, so loud that she screamed in pain, as if a fiery shape were imprinted on her skin.
The process lasted a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity.
After the pain was over, Ambra rushed to her feet, drying the tears, sweat and massaging herself in pain; removing the shoulder pad of her dress, she noticed that a drawing had appeared on her back, but she did not understand what it represented.
Oh my God, what is this drawing? I was cursed for sat d...
She couldn't even finish the thought, which fainted again.
***
"-ss"
"-iss"
"Miss!"
She woke up in the previous alley, with a woman next to her trying to wake her up.
Why am I here?
Immediately a terrible headache afflicted her.
Where's the cat? The room of the 5 seats, the flames and the pictures?
"Are you alright? I saw you from the beginning of the alley as you fainted and I worried!" said the agitated woman.
Did she just see me faint? Hmm... I should have been there for a few minutes, it's not possible, unless...
Was it all a dream?
Ambra answered by nodding as she massaged her temples.
"Phew~, what happened to you? Do you often faint?"
Reluctant to answer a woman whose name she did not know, Ambra said: "Excuse me... Who are you?"
"Oh my~, you're right! Excuse me! My name is Nywel Ghyul, I was shopping when I saw you slumping to the ground, I got scared!" she said in a tone of voice too loud, to which Ambra clung her ears.
"What's your name, unconscious girl?" she asked with a radiant smile.
"I'm Ambra Tural." she answered briefly and concisely.
During the answer, Ambra noticed the figure of the woman: long and black ravenous curly hair, two large blue eyes like the sea and fleshy lips in the shape of a heart.
The unstuck long-sleeved shirt highlighted the abundant breast, but covered the arms up to the wrists.
A long skirt completed the clothing.
She was a beautiful woman, but..
It's very thin... even the skin color is very faded...?
"Can you get up?" Nywer asked handing a hand, breaking Ambra's thoughts.
The two continued to chat, or rather, Nywer talking and Ambra listening, as they left the alley.
Hm... 12:30, I'll take a carriage, or I'll be late.
Ambra, noticing the time from the bell tower in the distance, realized that it was late and had to return home.
The two then exchanged a quick greeting.
"Please be careful when you come back. For several months there have been bad people kidnapping young women!" said the woman, who presented herself with the name Nywer.
"Okay, thank you Nywer for your care" said Ambra in a friendly tone, but always with a zero expression.
***
Tural's House
Arriving home, Ambra took off her shoes, put on her slippers for the house and went straight to the kitchen, as it was lunch time, but to her surprise she noticed that only her mother Alice, who was cooking, and her younger brother Adamas, who was reading a book on geometry in diagrams.
"Oh! Welcome back honey, bought something interesting?" Alice said, noticing her daughter on the side of the kitchen door.
"Ah! Yeah... I mean, no! I didn't find anything." Ambra said as if she had been brought back to reality by her mother's words.
Immediately afterwards, looking around, she asked: "Where's dad? Hasn't he finished at the store yet?" Ambra asked, and Alice, stop cutting carrots, replied "Oh, darling, no, papa hasn't finished the repairs to the Commander's magic staff yet, he said to eat without him".
"Mh-mh" Ambra said without thinking too much, then went to the upper-floor bathroom, closed the door and undressed, turning his back to the mirror.
Shit, but it wasn't just a dream...?