Dual Representation

“Can you clarify what you mean by go out?” I asked. Lyla stared at me as if I were the idiot here. It turned out that in Chomaonian, as in the direct English translation, there were two ways to interpret her question. I was 99% certain she meant going out of the house literally, but I couldn’t leave any chance for a misunderstanding, which I had a feeling was a common occurrence with Lyla.

“Go outside the city. Are you losing your communication skills again?” She was the one who left things unclear.

“The city is already unsafe, and you want to get out?”

“We need fresh air.” She raised her bow. “Don’t worry. I will protect us both.” That only raised my chances of dying from a stray arrow.

“What about our literal job?”

“I asked Mr. Topaz yesterday. And he said that we could take today off.” Then, why was she only bringing it up now? Rather than waste energy arguing with her, I figured that accepting the invitation wouldn’t do any harm.

“What about Coyote?”

“She said she didn’t want to go outside yet.” She hadn’t exited the building since she arrived, but it wasn’t like there was any reason to force her to.

The main streets seemed deserted, especially when contrasted with the faint movements in the alleys. A few pedestrians still roamed those open, treasured pavements when we first entered the city and when we raided the food-distribution complex, but now only patrolling soldiers were left. Almost all the stores were closed, so why would anyone linger on the main street and risk trouble with the soldiers?

Lyla led me in the direction opposite the city gates. At first, I thought it was another one of her mistakes, but she wouldn’t listen to me and kept dragging me along by the hand. Obviously, she was stronger than me, so it was as if I was being strung along by a jet ski.

“Move slower! My legs are much shorter than yours!” I struggled to catch my breath. Lyla ignored my pleas and only ramped up her speed. Missteps and stumbles almost sent my face planting straight onto the ground.

The torture didn’t last long, and soon we reached the destination that Lyla had in mind: a small, unassuming store. Unlike the many other abandoned places that were joined to it, there was a welcoming ardor emanating from behind its front door. Lyla flung the door open and yanked me in.

The scene that greeted us was rows and rows of necklaces and bracelets displayed on shelves on both sides. A friendly-looking elderly woman under a cloak stood behind the counter with a peaceful smile on her face. The old lady squinted her eyes at us and spread her arms open dramatically.

“Welcome, customers. Look around for any charms that caught your fancy.”

I couldn’t stop curiosity from hijacking my mind. “Excuse me. Sorry if this sounds rude, but when was your last customer?”

“It was this young lady.” She pointed at Lyla. Young? Well, maybe by elf standards.

“You are laughing about my age, aren’t you?” Lyla narrowed her eyes at me.

“Do you hear me laughing?” I said. Then, I addressed the old woman again. “Besides this VERY YOUNG and VERY VERY pretty lady, when was the last customer?”

The woman just gazed at me in silence. By some miraculous association, memories wafted into my awareness of those instances in my past life when my computer froze up and crashed. “It’s okay if you don’t remember.” I didn’t want to spend the whole day waiting for her reply.

“No, I do remember. But I don’t know if the nice boys who bring food to me every day count as customers,” she said.

“I’m sure they do. They definitely bought a warm and fuzzy feeling every time they helped you,” Lyla said. What was she even talking about? In my befuddled state, I still sensed that I couldn’t let the conversation drift off more than it did.

“Anyway, do you recommend any charms in particular?” I tried to correct the course.

“Choose the one you like. One that can remind you of a fond memory.” I was actually hoping for more specific advice; maybe I should have followed my preferences from the get-go.

Lyla tapped me on the shoulder and guided my gaze to a pair of silver necklaces. One was in the shape of a bow; the other in the shape of an arrow.

“We can match,” Lyla said. I could feel the excitement in her voice, steps away from screaming and jumping uncontrollably.

“You should buy both of them.”

“No. Have you seen someone using only a bow or only an arrow? They have to be in pairs.” Lyla put on a cute face, like a little kid begging her parents for a gift (yes, the irony).

“But we are not a pair. Do you realize that this charm is designed for couples?” I glanced at the shopkeeper for confirmation.

“Oh, that might be it.” The old woman said. Shouldn’t you know this kind of stuff?

Lyla grimaced as if blasted by the sound of chalkboard scraping. “Then what should I do? There’s nothing worse than being seen as your romantic partner.” I tried my best to give Lyla’s words the most charitable interpretation. She had to be talking about our age difference.

I took a deep breath. “You could wear both necklaces at the same time.” A smile returned to Lyla’s face. She swiped the pair of necklaces and skipped towards the counter. Her enthusiasm was something that I couldn’t relate to. It was only a pair of cheap accessories. After helping Lyla put on both necklaces, the old woman reached under the counter to produce a hand mirror, which scattered the light from the lanterns to form ghostly patterns on the walls.

Lyla was practically beaming while she held the mirror at different angles. Watching her emphasized to me the wistful fact that I hadn’t seen my own face since I had arrived in this world. Deep down, maybe I didn’t want to confront my new appearance, a symbol that would ground me in this reality, but once the sight of this tool exposed my cowardice, any inclinations to run away evaporated quicker than water droplets in the desert.

A garnet necklace carved into the shape of a flame caught my eye. It disturbed the dormant memories that were waiting to be called upon, but I knew I had to dip into the past gradually, in order to fully accept what had transpired that night, when the unforgiving fire consumed the fake inn, along with the sinful creature howling for mercy.

The connection of my choice to that tragic night was plain for Lyla to notice. She shifted uneasily, gauging my expression. This was the most sensibility she had shown, and her face revealed her genuine worries. I handed the necklace to her with a smile and turned around. She put it on me without a word.

Finally, steeling my heart to prepare for such a simple act, as if I were Medusa, I gazed into the hand mirror. The round face contour and dark red hair didn’t intrigue me as much as I expected. My eyes met those of my reflection. The irises were dark brown.

“This charm can aid you in encounters with fire,” the old woman said. In true narcissistic fashion, I gazed at my face for five more minutes. None of the despair that I feared came to me. This was the first moment I acknowledged my presence in this world and the power the world had over me. Astonishingly, the wild chaos of existence was lighter than I imagined.

Lyla and I both ended up buying the necklaces we chose, overpaying with a gold coin, funded by the pouch Zeroc gave me. Right as we were leaving, I noticed a necklace with a yellow gemstone, sparkling with a mystical quality.

“What is that?” I asked the shopkeeper.

“A topaz charm. It is designed to bring luck.”

I thought about getting it for my employer but quickly dispelled the thought. He doesn’t need this. A strange confidence in the merchant manifested in my mind, for no particular reason at all.

With the detour of our trip over, we could finally move on to the main event. The gate guards granted us passage outside immediately, probably Zeroc ordered them to treat us well. My mind returned to the image of him giving orders to the commander. How could he have so much power over the soldiers? Was he merely wielding the authority of Topaz, who was a representative from the capital?

Lyla still refused to tell me our destination. She could well be leading me to a secluded spot to dispose of my body, but then I would be so impressed with her unprecedented foresight that I would let it slide. Dying by her hands, that idea didn’t scare me much; it was too outlandish to be plausible, even though she literally directed her bow at me. Twice.

The lush plains between the forest and the city walls seemed more open than I had remembered. The world really seemed different when you weren’t threatened with a weapon. We strolled in a direction parallel to the forest; since the city was round, that meant we strayed further from the wall.

“Is that the forest where we met the shifter?” I broke the silence with a question.

“No, look at the road. We came from the forest at the end of that path.” She stopped to indicate the path far behind us, one that sprouted from the city gate and bent in the opposite direction, disappearing behind a hill. Her words resonated with my memories: the wagon carrying us was travelling on that road when I awakened.

We continued our journey for about five more minutes. Atop a slope, a tower emerged into view close to the forest, mainly constructed with stone bricks, reinforced by wooden pillars. Tall tents and stone huts gathered around the foot of the tower, and I could faintly see people bustling around the compound. Lyla stopped and took a reinvigorating breath.

“Here we are,” Lyla said. “One of the royal outposts in the country.”

“Why are we here?”

“To take a look.”

“Of what?”

Lyla didn’t answer. I glanced at her hoping to get a clue about her intentions. Her eyes were alight with a fierce resolve. Following her gaze, I noticed an archery range in the compound. What looked to be soldiers in the distance were practicing their aim.

“There will be an archer certification exam in two weeks. Any non-demon applicants are welcome. I… I think I will take part.” Lyla’s declaration filled my heart with warmth. I had never witnessed determination this pure, only in fiction, that I doubted its existence. People who actually had goals and weren’t strung along by survival or greed.

“I support you,” I said. It was the only reply that was appropriate. Fully aware of Lyla’s shortcomings in archery, that shouldn’t have any power over her dream. My facial muscles started to sore from holding the smile, as a headache reared its ugly head, all the while I held back the whispers skulking at the back of my mind, forecasting future outcomes that weren’t useful to know. Those vile comments waving the flag of reality were once intended for myself, but now sniffing out a new potential patsy, so I had to shut them down and away.

“I wanted someone to keep me accountable. That’s why I brought you here today,” Lyla said on our way back to the city. Only half of my attention was listening to her explanation. A change of subject was necessary for me to recover.

“It is weird to have an outpost in the middle of nowhere.”

“There’s a dragon living in the forest.”

“Dragon?”

Lyla explained that a dragon had claimed the forest long after the city was built. The king was wary of the development. Dragons usually wouldn’t attack humans unprovoked, but if some fool dared to enter its domain, who knew how the dragon would react. The strength of that dragon was unknown, but powerful dragons could destroy multiple cities. The outpost served as a base of operations for royal knights to monitor the forest and as a test center for combat skills.

The heavy tone of this new information immersed me in thought. We headed back to the city, steering clear of any other touchy subjects on the way.