Pizza delivery, part XV

As we strode into town, people stopped to watch. They actually stopped.

Though I guess I couldn't blame them, since we were quite a sight.

I wore my dragon scale armor, and Brend held his dragon bone staff. Rafferty's new bow made from one of the dragon's horns was unstrung in a bag hanging over his shoulder. Seamus had a new knife made from a dragon claw. Lorcan's prize was one of the dragon's eyes, kept in a clear crystal amulet around his neck. When I'd asked about it, Lorcan merely shrugged and mentioned that few things could sneak up on a dragon.

And Callan? He'd claimed the dragon's teeth.

We made our way to the market, where the band quickly separated.

"Follow Brend, laddy." Callan said, resting a hand on my shoulder before leaving. Brend nodded, and we began walking.

Studying the various wares, I couldn't help but frown. "Why didn't we resupply using the wizard's haze?"

"The haze is useful for a lot of things, but sometimes it's best to barter in person." Brend said, shifting to avoid a girl leading her cow. "In addition, the market is an excellent place to hear the current news and rumors."

"Why would rumors be useful?" I asked.

"They often carry some grain of truth. Many adventurers gain their fortune by having followed the right rumor." Brend paused before a wooden building. There didn't seem to be anything special about the building, other then a sign painted with a staff sputtering magic hanging above the door.

Turning to me, Brend motioned toward the building. “Welcome to the wizard's guild.”

"Why come here?" I asked as we headed toward the door. Since Brend was an apprentice wizard, I suppose that could explain why we were here.

Upon reaching the door, Brend knocked on it with his staff twice, then thrice more. The door swung open, and we entered.

The inside was well lit with glowing orbs of light drifting near the ceiling. The large room had no other doors that I could see, nor any other way out. There was a single comfortable chair in the center of the room, where a woman sat with a shadowy staff resting on her lap.

"Brend O'Nolan, who is your companion?" The woman's voice was soft, though there was a note of disapproval to it.

"Mistress Orla, this Mister Alex. He was pulled into our realm when someone hijacked one of my spells."

The woman tilted her head, and lifted her staff. A thread of navy magic slipped through the air to encircle me. It spun around me, until it got close to my delivery bag and vanished.

"The boy has a wraith with him." Mistress Orla's voice rose, and she stood.

"Powerful magic." Smoky's voice filled my mind, along with a sense of hunger. I rested my fist against the top of the bag.

"You're not coming out." I whispered, giving the bag a glare.

"Come, and explain yourselves." Mistress Orla said, and I looked up to find that a hallway had appeared in the far wall. Brend started forward, and I followed, wondering just what we were going to tell this woman.