Present Shopping

It had been a few weeks since Bryson had received the scroll from the robed figure. Over this period of time, he had a few more vision issues and headaches, but recently it seemed to have subsided. What’s more was the scroll he got. At first all Bryson could see was that it had some sort of magical text on it. But then slowly, Bryson began to understand it.

Honestly, he wasn’t actually sure why or how this happened. He didn’t study up on it, he couldn’t, and he had no idea how to start. But then one day, the words on the scroll just started making sense to him.

He still wasn’t sure what it was trying to say, he only understood small parts of the scroll. But the longer he had the scroll the more he naturally understood the words. He guessed that eventually he will understand the contents of the letter.

Bryson was sitting at the dinner table enjoying his breakfast. Thick cuts of bacon paired with a lovely pepper and mushroom omelet, along with a savoury broth and a slice of blueberry French toast with maple syrup on the side. Another apparent side effect Bryson has from his apparent powers was an increase in appetite.

Joining him for breakfast today were Sable, Gilles and their mother Duchess Lilith Coldwater. More often than not, the entire Coldwater family only ate together during dinner time. With busy schedules, often a few of the members are preoccupied with something else to join in on other meals.

As Duchess Coldwater was eating her meal, between bites she spoke, “We will be going to the city today.”

Gilles, who had been eating through a large stack of pancakes said mouth still stuffed, “We are?”

“Table manners.” Duchess Coldwater chided him.

Gilles quickly swallowed and asked, “We are?”

“Yes. We aren’t going into the city centre if that’s what you were wondering.” She said.

Gilles deflated slightly, disappointed.

Sable then asked, “Where are we going mother?”

“There is this lovely magic shop that has opened recently. The owner is said to be an amazing wizard, I think it would be nice to visit it.” She told him.

“Could I get a sword like Gareth?” Gilles asked excitedly.

“If you find one, then you can.” She replied, and Gilles grinned widely at that.

“However. You are only allowed to buy one thing each. So, choose wisely.” Duchess Coldwater stated.

The three nodded and continued to finish their respective breakfasts before they were to head out.

***

As the limousine parked outside of the new store Bryson noticed a few things. This store was located outside the city centre allowing it to be less cluttered and easier to locate and had a massive sign called Warrington Sprite. Of course, the downside of this is the area wasn’t as populated as the centre of the city. Nevertheless, this store seemed to be pretty successful.

Lilith guided the children into the store, they were accompanied by a half dozen guards, a standard. Upon entering the new store, they witnessed a massive three-story tall building, filled with various items littered about all on display for sale.

A man with a small beard and glasses walked out to greet the group entering.

“Duchess Coldwater! Thank you so much for visiting us. My name is Edvard Bo.” He said graciously, giving Lilith a great bow.

“Yes, well I have heard that you graduated from the Central Academy with flying colours and became quite the successful wizard.” Lilith commended.

“You are far too kind my Duchess. Your praise means everything.” Edvard thanked her, before looking over to the three Coldwater children.

“And you must be the Coldwater children. Please go ahead and explore, pick whatever you want. Take your time, the shop is closed to everybody but the Coldwaters today.” He said with a smile.

With a nod, Lady Coldwater turned toward the children, “Go along now, don’t forget. Only one item each.” She warned.

“Oh, I should mention, not everything is magical, there are some non-magical decorations and furniture around the place as well.” Edvard explained

The three all nodded and headed of to their own directions. Gilles went of toward the weapons area, Sable split off somewhere else and Bryson wandered over to the games section.

Bryson wandered around the aisles where the toys were, not exactly sure what he was going to get. He passed some custom-designed board game sets, a few other toy figures and some minorly enchanted items. Interestingly enough he was able to tell what was and what wasn’t magical. He could both see and feel the difference of the magic in each item, it was strange, he never felt this before. Deciding not to worry too much right now he continued to explore.

As he moved along the aisle browsing, he noticed a small deck of playing cards. Looking at it he could tell that it had nothing magical about it. It was a custom set of playing cards with each card’s symbol being based upon the Great Six Gods.

Looking at the packet that contained the cards it looked rather high quality, but being just a pack of playing cards, it still wasn’t anything special. Yet for some reason, it seemed extremely interesting to him.

I can only get one thing… why not. He thought as he picked up the pack of cards and headed back to the front. Arriving in the main area of the store he saw Gilles proudly waving about his new sword.

“What do you think Bryson?” He asked waving his sword about.

“That’s cool.” Bryson said staring at the blade. It was a rather wicked looking sword, with the blade stained red and white. The handle of the blade held some sort of green gemstone. Bryson could see the magic coming off the blade, while it wasn’t quite as powerful as Gareth’s blade it was impressive, nevertheless. Bryson genuinely thought it looked cool.

As Gilles was showing off his weapon, Duchess Coldwater called to them, “Are you two boys done? Come to the cash register and purchase them already.”

“Yes mother!” Gilles said as he sheathed his blade and handed it to Edvard.

As Gilles was doing so, Bryson noticed that Sable had finished buying her object. He saw her hide a small little box behind her dress, trying to hide it from sight not seeming to have noticed Bryson. Duchess Coldwater focused her attention on Bryson.

As Bryson walked toward the counter and handed Edvard his packet of cards.

“Is that all?” Lilith asked him.

“Yes mother.”

“Are you sure you don’t want something better?” She asked.

“Um well…” Bryson was about to say no, when he saw a over the counter a stuffed teddy bear in a glass container. The object emanated with some sort of strange magic.

“What about that?” He said pointing at the toy in the container.

Edvard looked at it in surprise, “Oh, I’m terribly sorry about this, but that is a custom made item already pre-ordered.”

Bryson blinked in response. As Bryson processed that information Lilith asked, “How much does it cost? I shall cover it.”

“No need mother. I would rather have this.” Bryson quickly said, indicating at the deck of cards. It would quite a headache if his mother strong-armed the shopkeeper.

“Very well then.” Lady Coldwater said after a moment.

After purchasing the items, they headed back to their limousine, Bryson turning back one last time to look at the strange stuffed toy before letting it go. It’s probably nothing. He thought, a second later a small headache passed through him for a small moment. Looking around in confusion, he shrugged and decided to let it go.