The Flame Keeper

Chapter 20

After Matilda reluctantly fished out her coin pouch and slapped a few gold coins on the table—the clerk pouted in mock anger after only seeing one earlier—the clerk wasted no time instructing us to find "The Egg", as she called it.

"The what now?" Ken raised a brow at the name, no doubt envisioning a round egg that hovered humorously in his imagination.

"Oh, I forgot that you're not from around here," she said sheepishly. "If you take a left outside the tavern and raise your head, you should see a house with an almost egg-like shape at the top. My good friend has a strange taste for architecture, for a lack of words"

An egg-like shape... My eyes lit up as a drawer opened in my mind, recalling the distinct house I had seen earlier, rusted pipes, and peculiar mechanical devices that ran along the walls, beating life into it. Of course, strange wouldn't be an appropriate description for the house since as far as the eye could see were houses and buildings that adorned a similar design, parts of the structure jutting out at unconventional areas, and the color palette an eccentric mixture of tone-downed cool and warm hues.

"Strange houses often hold even stranger secrets," Matilda muttered, standing up from her chair. "Let's go while the day is still young."

Ken stood up as well, trying to salvage the last bits of soup that stuck to the bowl.

"Wait!" the clerk called. "Have you forgotten your payment?"

"Our payment?" Matilda turned around slowly, her amber eyes a blaze that set everything in its path aflame. "I gave you five gold, and besides, we know where to find the guide."

She shrugged, the sly smile creeping onto her face, and rapped the wrinkled bill that lay on the table. "I never said I didn't appreciate your kindness. But, that soup wasn't free."

Matilda's eyes narrowed even more, her breathing a venomous stab against the air and her feet shifting to a stance poised for the worst. But the clerk just leaned back against the chair, a vacant gaze in her eyes as she tapped the paper impatiently like the ticking of a restless clock.

"How much?" Matilda's voice seeped through her gritted teeth.

"Only three silvers," she said and Matilda begrudgingly dug into her coin pouch, slapping the coins against the clerk's extended palm.

"Pleasure doing business," she flashed a grin, revealing a set of perfectly polished teeth that almost glistened under the light. "Oh, wait! One more thing."

"One more thing?" Just when I thought Matilda's eyes couldn't narrow anymore, she whipped her head around with such speed that I was nearly knocked off and cast a gaze that would have made flowers wither and beasts cower.

Of course, the clerk was none of those, and she fiddled with the coins before looking up at Matilda with that mischievous smile, behind which was a cunning tongue that worked its magic with words. "If you get annoyed by his babbling, just tell him Marion sent you."

With a wary gaze at Marion, Matilda headed out the door, Ken following close behind.

"Wallace, let's go," His voice trailing through the door.

I set down the unfinished bowl of soup reluctantly, my mouth still tingling from the euphoric flavors that tickled my tastebuds, and I bound out the door after the two. The day had yet to be born as sparkling dots of light littered the black canvas stretching across the sky, and only occasionally did we pass by anyone. Some of whom we did scampered past us like mice tracking down a crumb of bread, while others bowed their heads, not bothering to bat an eye at us.

Under the dim glow of streetlights, I got a better glimpse at the strange architecture of various houses and buildings smooshed together beside the street. Winding pipes, twisting wires, and mangled ladders wrapped themselves around the peeling walls like creeping vines, and on top of one house was an olive, circular column that puffed large clouds of water vapor out of a pipe that twisted and turned around itself.