Memory Bonds

Harmoni left the hotel wall, keeping an eye out for someplace to sleep.

She looked around again, this time specifically looking for dragons. And now it seemed incredible that she hadn’t seen any before. The dragons came in many different sizes and colors. They had different numbers of horns in different patterns, and some had no horns at all. A few had sharp fangs bared. One didn’t even have any wings, just four legs and a serpent like body. A few had hair by their faces or tails. But all of them Harmoni could easily say were dragons.

OK. Fine. That was fine and normal.

She’d woken up in a massacred town with no memory of who she was, how she got there, or anything like that. She was on a very dry planet she might not even be from, with dragons, and a very limited amount of money.

That was fine.

That was a lie. But she’d already panicked three times today. If she was remembering correctly. She genuinely didn’t think she could respond that way again, her brain was panicked out. And anyway, she had things she needed to do. She couldn't do that if she was freaking out.

She had to get more money tomorrow. She had to look for an apprenticeship. The only other option she could think of was to curl up and slowly die, and she’d like to avoid that.

~~~

There was a stone building nearby. It was smaller than most of the buildings around it, with a larger yard space that was growing herbs. There were round windows, but they were hard to see into. A gold-colored metal formed a circle with little rods extending out that looked a bit like the sun, only little rods extended inwards too. It was that symbol that had drawn Harmoni to the building. That was the symbol of an alchemy workshop.

Harmoni wasn’t an expert on alchemy, but it was a familiar sight in a decidedly unfamiliar location. And she knew a little.

There were three ways to gain . . . supernatural abilities. Clerics, magic users, and alchemists all did what most people would consider impossible. Clerics gained their power from a god, through prayer. It was a little unpredictable, but the easiest way to get other worldly powers. Alchemists required certain materials or ingredients to get results. (Was that why all the herbs were growing out here? Harmoni didn’t think they used plants very often, but what did she know?) It required more work and preparation, but you knew what you were getting. There was an explanation for what you were getting, even if it didn’t always seem correct if you looked at it from a chemistry perspective. And magic was . . . somewhere between those two? There was something you did for results, but it definitely didn’t have a scientific explanation.

Harmoni was pretty sure that was how it went. She knew a bit, but she’d say she’d never been trained in any of the three. Based on the knowledge she had. If she had to get an apprenticeship, working for an alchemist would be very cool.

She . . . didn’t want to talk to a stranger. The events of yesterday hadn’t helped with that. But she would try, given the alternative.

She took a deep breath, and tried to stand up straight.

She walked inside. It was kind of dark inside, the only light coming from two round windows and a glowing green flask on the table. Despite the windows, with the darkness and the stone walls, it felt a bit like she was underground. The area in here was all one large room, but she could see a staircase going up, and one going down, at the other end.

There was a dwarf stirring a flask, wearing goggles and some sort of heat resistant gloves. There was also a dragon beside the dwarf. Only coming up about as high as the table, it was breathing a small stream of fire under the flask, like a living Bunsen burner.

As Harmoni took another step inside, the fire sputtered. It flared brightly before going out, and the dragon’s one visible eye widened slightly, before narrowing to something more like a glare.

Not a promising start. The dwarf turned to the dragon, but between the goggles and the dim light, Harmoni couldn’t hope to read the dwarf’s expression.

The dragon stayed at the table, watching over the top of it. The dwarf, on the other hand, went around the table, coming closer to Harmoni and raising the goggles.

The dragon, from what Harmoni could tell in the dim light, was dark green, with golden eyes. The difference was so great the eyes practically looked like they were glowing. She didn't think that was literal though.

The dwarf had reddish brown hair that was styled into braids along their head. Their eyes were brown too. Harmoni couldn’t hope to guess a gender, she didn’t know enough about dwarfs. This one had a beard, but it was definitely on the short side for a species known for having beards. Unlike their hair, they couldn’t style it. They were built like a box, but you could say that about most dwarfs. And there weren't any other obvious signifiers.

“Kid. Can I help you?” the dwarf asked.

Well, the voice was gruff, but at least they didn’t sound as angry as their dragon was.

“Maybe. I’m looking for an apprenticeship.”

“Oh.” The dwarf watched Harmoni with a hard to read expression. They had their hands on their hips, and Harmoni tried not to look at the large axe they had attached to their belt. “Sorry, but I’ve already taken an apprentice who’s started recently. I’m not training two at once.”

“Oh.” Harmoni clasped her hands behind her back, thumbs shifting slightly with her nerves. “Well. Thanks anyway.”

The dwarf didn’t answer, already going back to the table while the dragon watched Harmoni.

Harmoni walked backwards out the door before turning around.

Well. That could’ve gone better. She was hoping to find something she’d actually enjoy doing for an apprenticeship, but she might have to broaden her search. Eventually.

~~~

The bakery was really busy. There were all sorts of costumers. The gnome at front was standing on a box to see everything better. She took orders, swatted away anyone who got too close, shoved coffee or food into people’s hands, and scribbled things down in a language Harmoni didn’t understand.

“Apprenticeship? Sorry dearie. Noneed for help and noplans toretire. And when Ifinallydo, myfamilycan takeover. And untilthen they can gettheirhands out of mybusiness.” She turned to the ceiling, opening her hands towards it. “Hearthat? Youjustwait till I drop dead!”

One of the customers shuffled a little further away.

~~~

The zenny running some sort of taxi service with his huge dragon shook his head before Harmoni even asked.

“We run on dragon power here."

~~~

The human didn’t look up from his paperwork, stacks of it on the desk. “Now why would I need an apprentice? And I only hire people who are adults, which you’re clearly not. So shoo.”

~~~

“This hotel was designed for imps. Your diet wouldn’t be compatible.”

~~~

“An apprenticeship?” the human in the tech store asked. “Aren’t you a little young for that? What about school?”

“I was home-schooled.”

Did this city even have a school? If it did, it wasn’t well labelled.

The human rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “How old are you?” His eyes flicked towards her ears before he added, in a more tired tone, “In a number I’ll understand.”

“Um . . . about fifteen.”

The man sighed, slumping slightly. Evidently that was the wrong answer. “Sorry kid, but I don’t believe anyone who stopped getting an education at fifteen, or earlier, is ready to handle this stuff.” He waved a hand at the technology on display behind him.

She wanted to be angry. This was the second time she'd been told she was too young to work, but evidently old enough to pay. And if Harmoni was fifteen in human terms, that meant she was actually thirty years old, and that was a lot of time to get an education.

Unfortunately, she didn’t know much about technology, didn’t even recognize everything on the wall. So that clearly wasn’t where her teacher’s priorities had been. If this man wanted someone with prior knowledge, that wasn't her, and she wouldn’t be able to bluff her way through.

She wanted to be angry. Really, she was just stressed.

~~~

The elf in the clothing store looked at Harmoni like he’d never seen a human before. “Listen . . . small person, we already have an apprentice here. How about . . . you just take a lollipop and go home to your parents?”

Harmoni got the distinct feeling he had a hard time telling the difference between a teenager and a five-year-old. She took a lollipop anyway.

~~~

Harmoni sat by a fountain at the edge of the city. Luckily, she wouldn’t get in trouble for drinking from the fountain. It seemed dragons did that more often than people, but she’d seen a couple people drink from it at as well.

Having drank some water already, she also splashed some on her face, cooling herself down.

This was the second day looking for an apprenticeship. She’d bought some food yesterday, and she suspected she’d have to do so again today.

The city wasn’t as big as you’d find on planets like Morivon or Jurona, but it was still big. There were still a lot more places she could check, so no reason to give up hope. But if anything, the place was too big. She didn't have time to check every shop and business. She wondered if there was a more efficient way to search.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a scream. A human woman came running in from the desert. People outside turned towards her, and one or two actually peered out their open windows.

Harmoni’s heart skipped a beat for a moment, but she quickly realized this was not the direction she’d come in from, so the woman had probably not seen the slaughtered town to the East.

“What is it?” a zenny asked.

“I just saw a monstrous creature,” the woman managed, breathing heavily. Her pupils were round as well. “It looked like it was made out of slime. Like . . . like it had just climbed out of a swamp.”

The zenny waved a hand, almost dismissive, and said, “Oh, you saw the slime man.”

What?

The woman slowly stood up straight, her breath steadying. “You . . . know about it?”

Yeah, that summed up Harmoni’s thoughts.

The zenny nodded, slightly before she finished talking, like he was impatient. Well, zennies could see five seconds into the future. Harmoni didn’t understand how it worked, but it probably did make you impatient.

“I heard he used to look like a normal human man. But he was . . . a figurative slime ball, so a cleric cursed him to be literally slimy.”

Another woman, leaning out of a window on the second floor to eavesdrop, wrinkled her nose. “I met him, and believe me, he deserved it.”

The three kept talking, but Harmoni essentially stopped listening. She had a lot to take care of, and this didn’t seem relevant.