“Shall we go to Little Delhoon first? Or start somewhere else?” Madison asked, brushing a piece of golden hair out of her face. “We have about four hours to play and then we need to start on our way so we don’t get caught out after sundown.”
“I miss home,” Lora said, softly. “I vote Little Delhoon for some brunch.”
I patted my horse’s neck. “That sounds good to me.”
We headed to the right, down the main road and had to stop several times for children running, people crossing, vendors shouting for us to try a bite, or finally chickens barging out in front of us to peck at whatever it was they could see but I could not.
“Shoo!” Madison said with the wave of her hand and the birds bowled over and out of the way as if by a blast of wind. I laughed as they shrieked and flipped end over end.
It was apparent when we arrived at the Little Delhoon section. A pair of unicorns grazed in a small corral, both white and stunning. I would have loved to pet them but it was bad manners to touch another person’s unicorn without permission.
Another indicator was very few women wore dresses, and a large phoenix sat perched on a stand outside a shop. The sign above read: Kurney’s Enchanted Goods
“I want to stop in here,” I said, pulling my horse over to a post.
“I’m starving, Vis,” Legacy complained, giving me sad eyes.
“Just for a minute. You all can go ahead and get us a table. Send me a note on where you choose to eat.” I wondered if this place would have an item I could use against Senica or the other vampires. Even if it was simply something to detect them.
“I’ll stay with her,” Bindy said.
The others rode ahead and I dismounted. Bindy followed me into Kurney’s and a bell rang when the door opened. The phoenix flew in right after us and landed on another perch by a desk near the back. It called loudly and watched us with keen awareness. A man stepped out from a darkened doorway, pushing his glasses higher on his nose. “Hello, how are you ladies today?” His white and gray hair was disheveled and balding on the top. Although he was old, likely very old, his body still looked strong.
“We are well, thank you,” I answered, stepping over to a ceiling-high shelf with small cubbies that held an item or two each. There were hundreds of things ranging from jewels, crowns, necklaces, a floating rose, to skulls, human and animal alike, bottles of potions, a human hand in a jar of liquid, a bottle of what looked like blood and much more.
The Phoenix flew again, this time it landed on another perch right next to me. It cocked its head to the side and cooed, watching me intently. “Hello,” I said slowly, reaching for it. “May I pet your phoenix?”
“Yes,” the old man said, folding his arms. “It’s quite interesting he’s approached you. He usually doesn’t like strangers.”
I stroked his silky smooth feathers and he cooed again and then he hopped from his perch onto my shoulder. I was a little startled at the suddenness of his jump and the old man laughed. “Seems you’ve made a new friend, Marlow.” The old man looked at me a little longer and I wasn’t sure what he was trying to see. “There must be something special about you.”
“She has a way with animals,” Bindy said.
The old man tapped his shoulder and the bird Marlow flew over to his shoulder. “It would seem so. Is there something you’re looking for today?”
Peeking over at Bindy I wondered how much I should say. I’d agreed with the princes when we decided not to tell any of the professors or headmaster about the blood drinkers. But Bindy was neither of those two things, I didn’t think she’d tell if I asked her to keep it quiet. “Yes, but I’m not entirely sure what the item will be. I’m looking for something that can be used to detect if someone perhaps looks human but is not entirely human, if that makes sense.”
Bindy stood with her arms crossed and if she was caught off guard by my question, she didn’t show it.
“It makes perfect sense,” he said and tapped a finger on his clean-shaven chin. “I’m not sure I have anything that specific. An orb that glows when someone wishes you harm, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
I chuckled. “I’m afraid it would always be glowing.”
He smiled at that. “Perhaps if I knew exactly what type of being you were talking about. There are few I can think of.”
I gently chewed on the inside of my cheek wondering if I should say. “The Collweyans call them vampires.”
He blinked a few times before speaking. “I’m sorry I don’t have an item that would detect one of those.” He paused. “Are there rumors of one here?”
“You know of them?” I didn’t want to alarm him but I was curious that he knew what I was talking about.
“I’ve heard some of the Collweyans talk but none have mentioned one here.”
I shouldn’t have said anything, this was sure to cause panic in the city. I had to do something to recover. “Oh, no rumors of one here of course. It’s not cold enough and they can’t go in the sun. It’s for a class project. We are doing reports on a creature from the North and I chose the blood drinkers. I thought I could impress my
