Hope?

“So, you’re new huh? Mind if I ask what your story is?” Jordan asked as they walked over to the main hall.

“My story?” Mina replied.

“Yeah, all the people here have their own story. I don’t know all of them, but I know Vasilis used to be a tailor and armor smith for the royal military, and Agapi was a nurse. I don’t know much about most of the others, and all I know about you is that I haven’t seen you till now. You ok with sharing?” Jordan asked.

“Well, I’m… I’m Uraina’s chosen one I guess.” Mina explained.

“Her chosen one?”

“Yeah. They used the summoning circle here to summon me.”

“Summoning circle? Wait, you mean the magic that they brought here last week was a summoning spell?” Jordan asked as they entered the main hall. His words gave Mina pause.

“They brought the magic circle here? They told me that they found some powerful ancient magic here that let them summon me.” Mina said, and Jordan let out a scoff.

“Yeah, no, this place is about as magic free as a floating island gets.” Jordan said. “They probably managed to get their hands on one of those new summoning magic kits somehow. It’s powerful, yes, but it’s definitely not ancient. I think I heard that some mage developed it around 5 or something years ago, and it’s been spreading around the world to all the different kingdoms.”

Mina was stunned. The thing that summoned her here WASN’T an ancient magic circle that these people had somehow managed to find? It was something people could just, get their hands on? If the magic that summoned her wasn’t this special ancient magic, then did that mean that she wasn’t a chosen one? Had these people lied to her and just tricked her into being some sort of soldier? But she had powers, actual magic powers that were different from normal magic, that were stronger than normal magic. She had powers like Uraina, so what-

“I’ll bet they didn’t even tell you how you could get back home.” Jordan remarked.

“What?!” Mina exclaimed, her worries instantly forgotten in favor of focusing on this new information. She might be able to go home?

“From your reaction, sounds like they didn’t.” Jordan remarked, a touch of frustration in his voice.

“No. They said that I probably wont ever be able to go home. You’re saying I can?” She asked, and Jordan nodded. “How?”

“Well, from what I’ve heard, it’s different for everyone who gets summoned. You need to complete a task of some kind, though what it is depends on something to do with your summoning. The summoning is based on one of the gods, so I think its something to do with that.” Jordan explained.

“Uraina!” Mina suddenly exclaimed. “Athan said that I was summoned as a chosen one of Uraina, so maybe she has something to do with it?”

“That would make sense…” Jordan said ponderingly. “Tell you what, why don’t we ask her?”

“Ask, Uraina? We can just, talk to a goddess?” Mina questioned, and Jordan gave her a ‘kinda’ gesture.

“Not exactly, at least I’m not sure seeing as I’m not a priest.” Jordan said. “But if your summoning has something to do with Uraina, then maybe if we go to one of her shrines she’ll be able to tell you something.”

“Seriously!? Then come on, let’s go!” Mina exclaimed as she turned to rush out the building, only for Jordan to stop her with a hand on her shoulder.

“Hold your horses there Mina, we cant just up and go. My fiterolta I took here can only handle one person, and it’s not like we can just go to a shrine completely unannounced.” Jordan explained. “Tell you what, why don’t we meet up again tomorrow night at about this same time. I’ll bring a fiterolta that can carry 2, and I’ll bring you to a shrine. Sound good?”

“Oh, ok.” Mina said somewhat disappointedly. Then, a realization struck her. “Wait, how will I be able to tell what time I should meet you? There aren’t any clocks or anything around here.”

…

“Ah, right… I uh, forgot about that…” Jordan said somewhat awkwardly. “I’ve traveled around a fair bit, and most other kingdoms have clocks, so I sometimes forget my home doesn’t have any… You know what, here.”

Jordan then dug around in his coat for a moment before producing a small bronze wrist watch with dark brown leather straps and handing it to her.

“Alright, do you know how to read one of these?” Jordan asked, and Mina nodded. “Ok, in that case why don’t you meet me at about 11:20 tomorrow night, behind this building we’re in?”

“Alright.” Mina said with a nod.

“Alright, that’s good then.” Jordan said with a smile. He then went over to the sink, grabbed a nearby cup, and poured her a glass of water which he handed her. “Now, why don’t you go get some sleep for tomorrow, you shouldn’t be up this late anyways.”

“Ok, thank you Mr. Jordan.” Mina said, and Jordan smiled.

“No need for the Mr. kid. But remember, these guys don’t like to acknowledge the fact that I own the place, so keep our conversation and that watch a secret, ok?” Jordan said sternly, though he was still smiling.

“Alright, see you tomorrow.”

And with that, Mina skipped off back to the dorms with her cup of water. Suddenly, she felt hopeful. While there wasn’t any guarantee, suddenly she felt she had a chance of heading home.

Behind her, Jordan smiled as she skipped off. Then once she left, he turned to the rest of the building.

“Well then, seeing as she came from the other building, I’m going to assume that building is just the sleeping quarters. That means this building almost certainly holds the summoning circle.” He said to himself.

…

“And?”

…

“Maybe, but it’s not like I could have gotten away with it if I didn’t. It doesn’t matter if I lied, I’m doing what I have to do. Besides, I’ll bet these Anaktités people told her nothing but lies.”

…

“She’s a kid, 12 at most. Kids that age can rarely be trusted to know what their own favorite food is, never mind important stuff like this. Besides, after tomorrow, she’ll be begging to follow my lead no matter where I take her.”

…

“I think I’ll keep that piece of information to myself. Now stop distracting me, I have some ‘ancient’ magic to destroy. Seriously, everyone knows this stuff is recent, all she’d have to do is talk to any mage that keeps up with the times to know that this stuff is all new.”

And so, Jordan made his way into the back of the hall to the back rooms, having easily infiltrated the home base of the Anaktités with no one the wiser.