17 Someone Old, Someone New

The person's name was Tatiana Springheart and she is an elf.

Tatiana was travelling through a human kingdom, on a journey to discover more information about herself and where she came from before she was an elf. Coco had met her almost a century ago but her last known whereabouts placed her in the Elk Forest, the home of the Elves Alliance.

There were many more details included in the letter but Vy did not have time to read them. She put the letter away in the chest and focused on setting up her store. Knowing that there was someone she could look for to talk to make her feel better and more confident.

As the days passed by quickly, the Harvest Festival was in full swing. More food stalls were set up and there were more travellers coming into the town. Carole needed Vy's assistance more and it was the perfect arrangement as Rodrick had closed his store for the festival.

"Rodrick was saying that this was one of the few occasions where he could take a break from his shop and enjoy the festive atmosphere," Vy explained to Carole.

"Oh I see, if you want to go and enjoy the festivities, I won't stop you. You have not seen it before after all."

Vy smiled, she knew Carole meant well but she needed the help.

"It's alright, I can feel the energy from the festivities from here. Oh, but I do want to have a look at the antique stalls if that's alright."

Carole nodded, "Of course."

She looked around in the store, it was lunchtime and there were not as many customers for the moment. "Why don't you go and have a look now? Just come back within an hour and it should be fine."

Vy looked up, "Are you sure."

"Yes. Don't worry about me, I managed before you came along so I will be fine. Now go on," Carole replied.

Vy smiled and thanked Carole with a hug before she made her way towards the antique stalls. The stalls were hidden in the corner of the market, next to the jewellers. Vy looked through the items carefully and swiftly, not wanting to waste any precious time.

-Dotty, do you see anything that has the particles?-

\u003cScanning environment\u003e

\u003cNo particles found.\u003e

-We'll keep looking then.-

Vy moved on to the next store that mainly sold old books. As she looked through the books herself, she picked up one that caught her interest. Flipping through the pages, Dotty's search for the stall was complete.

\u003cParticles detected.\u003e

-Where? Lead me to it.-

\u003cTurning on visual particle viewer\u003e

Within an instant, Vy noticed her vision was enhanced. As she turned to look around the stall, she noticed glowing particles of light coming from a bookshelf not too far from where she was standing. She walked over and the closer she got to it, the brighter the light. When she stood in front of the shelf, the light was absorbed into her.

\u003cParticles absorbed.\u003e

-I guess you need more than that to evolve. Let's keep looking. Dotty, keep the visual particle viewer on.-

\u003cNoted on that, Vy\u003e

Vy moved on to the Antique stall next and was looking through its wares. There were a couple of antiques that were surrounded by light particles. As soon as she came into close contact with it, Dotty absorbed the particles. One of the items that were surrounded by the particles, turned out to be a piece of vintage jewellery. It was a brooch with a huge gemstone as a centrepiece. But the colour was dull and dusty.

The shopkeeper noticed Vy looking at it intently and approached her.

"How may I help you, Miss?"

"Oh, may I know how much this is," Vy asked politely.

The shopkeeper had a quick glance at the brooch and thought nothing of it. He had gotten it from a bulk sale from a merchant and was looking to get rid of it quickly.

"If you're keen on it, I'll sell it to you for 10 coppers."

Vy thought about it and agreed to the deal. She paid the shopkeeper and put the brooch in her pouch and continued on to the next stall. The second stall had a few items with the particles which Dotty promptly absorbed. As Vy approached the final store, she noticed that there was a particular object that was surrounded by a lot more particles.

She went forward to have a look and it turned out to be a vintage book. It was super dusty and the words were faded. But the cover of the leather-bound book was moulded in the shape of a dragon head. Dotty promptly absorbed the particles but the book seemed to draw her in the more she looked at it.

She picked up the book and looked for the shopkeeper. Vy saw a man cleaning up a wine cup inside and the stall and approached him.

"Pardon me, are you the storekeeper?"

"Why yes, I am," the young man said as he turned around.

He was stunned for a few moments by Vy's beauty but he quickly regained his composure and asked her how he could help her.

"I would like to purchase this book. May I know how much it would be," Vy held out the book to the shopkeeper.

The young man took a quick look at the book and replied, "3 coppers will do."

Vy felt that the price was fair and paid him on the spot and went on her way.

"Wait, are you the girl from the inn? I bumped into you there the other night," the shopkeeper caught up to Vy and asked.

Vy turned back and raised an eyebrow, "Is that just something you say to pick up a girl or the actual truth?"

The young man grinned, "No, I probably would have said something more charming. But we met on the second floor, didn't we? You were coming out of your room and I bumped into you?"

The man was right, they did meet. It happened on her first day in town after she had left her belongings in her room, she had decided to step out for a quick walk around town. She had bumped into him.

"Oh, yes, now I remember. Yes, we did," Vy replied.

The young man nodded and reached out his hand for a handshake, "Name's Nestor, Nestor Pollock."

Vy shook his hand, "I'm Vyrena, Vyrena Blackfire. It's nice to meet you but I've got to go. See you around."

Before he could keep her any further, she disappeared into the crowd. Nestor didn't think much of it. When they first met at the inn; he was drunk and could barely remember anything. He remembered little of how she looked but noted that she smelled like the smoked wood of the forest. Her charcoal black hair was different from most of the girls in town.

When she approached him in the store, he did not recognize her immediately. Her clothes were different but the hair colour helped him to identify her.

-At least I know her name now.- he thought to himself.

Vyrena made her way back to her stall to put away the things she had bought before heading over to Carole's stall. To her surprise, there was a large group of people crowding around her stall. Vy could hear heated voices getting louder and louder. She pushed her way through the crowd to see Carole arguing with Walron.