Ning felt a little conflicted about buying this woman’s shop now. He couldn’t take away from her what she considered a child.

“It’s a nice name,” he said. “Although, it would seem that I now have to go look for a place for my shop elsewhere. You wouldn’t happen to know where one would be, would you?”

The woman shook her head.

“I see,” Ning said. “Thank you though. Thank you for the sword and the story. Good night.”

He turned away. As he walked down the steps, he heard the woman call him.

“Young man, stop!” Ning paused his steps and turned around. “Yes?” he asked. “Did you need something? I didn’t forget to pay, right?”

“No, you’ve paid,” the woman said. “I wanted to ask something.”

“Sure, ask away,” Ning said.

“Do you want a job?” the old woman asked.

Ning was taken aback for a second. “I’m sorry?”

“A job,” the woman asked again. “In my shop.”

“I am hoping to open a shop so I don’t exactly have to listen to others,” Ning said. “So I’m not interested in a job.”

“It’s less of a job, and I won’t be your boss,” the woman said. “I employ you to take care of my shop. You do everything you want the way you want. You sell what you want. You keep what you earn.”

“I only ask for 150 Fire Coins a month as rent, and that the name of the shop not be changed at all. How is that?”

Ning thought for a moment. “Can I employ other people too?” he asked.

“Yes,” the woman said. “Any and all staff will be yours to handle.”

Ning still rubbed his chin as if considering the proposition. “Why me?” he asked.

The woman shrugged. “I’m too old for this, and the shop barely sells anything. But I can’t just let go of my husband’s dream and rarely do I find something that has the same philosophy as him. So, I’m taking my chances,” she said. “Plus you seem to know what you’re doing with the weapons. So, do you accept or not?”

“I accept,” Ning said. “I don’t see any point why I shouldn’t.”

“Good,” the woman said. “You can start in the morning.”

Ning smiled back. “I thought I could choose when to start?” he asked.

The woman smiled again. “Cheeky little bastard! Fine, come when you want to during the day. I will have the papers ready to employ you,” she said. “Don’t forget to come.”

“I won’t,” Ning said. “I will come as soon as I can.”

Having found a shop for himself this early, he left back for his tavern. Everything else, he could find in the coming days.

* * * * *

Hadden walked in a field of white, surrounded by hazy faces that walked past him. He looked at the faces and thought he recognized them, but each time he tried to focus on who exactly it was, the face changed.

He couldn’t remember what the previous face was. This was normal. A cat walked past him, barking as it did so. He moved past and felt the heat from a fire to the side that snuffed when he looked at it. He couldn’t remember why it was so cold.

He floated, legless, as he hovered through the field. Up front, he saw a set of stairs that he needed to go up the tavern.

He stepped on the stairs, one leg at a time, making sure to place all 4 legs on the steps properly. He walked up the mountain cliff, walking past the trees surrounding him.

As he went up, he saw someone holding a sword in his hand. He felt scared. The man was going to shoot a bow.

Then the ground beneath him vanished as he plunged from the sky, directly into a river below.

The cold splash of water woke up Hadden and he realized he truly was in the water. His head filled with confusion and terror before the will to survive took over.

He swam upward, trying to surface. He was only used to swimming in rivers, and the river near his village was never this deep. This was terrifying.

He came upward and found the water undulating, waves crashing on him before he could even surface. Even when he did surface, he couldn’t stay above water for more than a second as another wave pushed him down.

The waves seemed to be coming from all directions. His breath was running and he had swallowed some salty water. If this continued, he was going to die.

Die. The same as his family.

Was he not going to live on? Was he going to die too? Was his destiny to die, drowning somewhere?

Something grabbed him from outside, pulling him up. As he left the water, he took a deep, long breath, taking in as much air as he could. When he did, the water in his lungs agitated him and he coughed.

He coughed out a mouthful of water before the rest came as spits. As he gasped for breaths, a voice spoke from in front of him.

“Tell me all the alphabet!” Ning’s voice came to Hadden.

“What?” Hadden asked before he finally saw Ning in front of him. He held him by his shirt, his legs dangling on top of raging waters that didn’t seem to calm. The splashes from below could reach him all the way up here.

“Teacher! What are you doing?” he shouted at Ning. “You’re trying to kill me!”

“No,” Ning said. “I’m trying to teach you how to read.”

“No! Take me away! I don’t want to die!” Hadden shouted.

“You won’t,” Ning said. “As long as you tell me the alphabet.”

“The… the alphabets?” he asked. “Uhh…”

His mind worked to remember the thing he remembered yesterday. He struggled and finally remembered some of it. He started reciting the alphabet to Ning, but unfortunately, he couldn’t remember it all.

“Try again!” Ning said. And then he let him drop into the ocean once more.