It’s noon and the snow in the peaceful village has already been cleaned up or melted away. Before I search for Albert, I decide to take care of me. I sell the fish in a bundle for twenty coins and a coin per seashell ending up with twenty-six coins. Twenty-five will be spent on the room. I offer the last coin to the innkeeper as a tip. I cook up and devour my seaweed for lunch at the center fire before finding the armorsmith.

What might have been a mighty combatant back in the day was currently a cumbersome man. He stood in front of the armory shop by a display of varying weapons. After he sees me approaching him, he says as he scans the display, “I’ve got the perfect thing for you.”

“No thank you,” I say and he pauses.

“In that case what is it? Need something specially made?”

“No sorry. I’ve got a problem.”

He frowns, but he’s willing to hear me out. I inform him about how impossible it is to take off this chest plate. Albert advises me to wait as he seeks something in his stall. He places a small box on top of the stall then opens it. Inside the box are many unusual pieces of glass. He instructs me to stand still as he looks at the plate through different glass shards. After what feels like forever or about ten to fifteen minutes he puts down a glass.

“Hmm… I see.”

“What is it? I really hope you’ve got good news. I really need to get rid of this thing. If you’d like I could give it to you. Then you can take it to the Freymoor Kingdom yourself. They’ll probably reward you in return.”

Albert shook his head slowly, “I don’t know how you got into this mess but I’m afraid to have to tell you this. You’re dealing with magic here. I can’t do a thing about this. You need to get to an alchemist right away. Your life might depend on it.”

I believe him. I never wanted to be involved with magic. You typically have to perform some kind of sacrifice to manage it. Before he puts his box away, I ask if he could take a look at my sword or as other people might be seeing it the ‘harpoon.’

He inspects it as quickly as he can. “There’s nothing odd about your harpoon. You must go promptly. Go to Herman. He’s the best alchemist around, and he lives in Wellspring.”

“Alright. If I have to but is there anything else I could do instead? I’d like to get rid of this thing as fast as possible.”

“No there’s nothing you’ll be able to do unless you know a thing about magic.”

I frown at the thought of the travel but at least I’m going home.

I thank him for the help and apologize because I have no coins to spare him. My life might be in danger in many ways that I can not understand, but I really don’t want to travel at night.

By Cristina Collazo