Viribus had a large market place, but Zell hadn’t come here for the shops. She was here for a retrieval quest; it had a high payment, nine hundred sixty-five perplexsum. The retrieval was probably some nobles’ lost pet; hopefully, no one had found it yet. If she were successful, the perplexsum would last her a while, and she could finely buy new spellbooks.

Zell only had one spellbook, and even though she had memorized every word in it, she would not trade it in for a different one.

Zell spotted a female Elf like herself; finally, someone she could talk to. “Excuse me, ma’am,” the woman looked at her in surprise. “Do you know the way to Dell Manor?” the woman scoffed.

“Everyone here knows of it, and most of us will work there before we die. You will find it at the end of the road, not that you should want to go there.”

“What do you mean?”

“Myra!” a voice from inside the store called. 

“I must leave,” she smiled, then started the Elven farewell. “May the day be with you.”

“May the night never come,” Zell replied with the ending, but the woman added another verse. 

“If it does, the light will keep you,” she nodded and left. Zell wondered why she had spoken so strangely. 

Zell continued down the road. Soon the stores stopped, and houses began. Zell passed twenty or so houses before they too stopped. She kept walking but saw nothing; it felt like she was going too far from the town. She decided to walk until she could no longer see the houses when she looked back. 

When the houses were no more than a dot, she started seeing fields and hovels for workers to live in. Soon she saw a vast manor made out of black stone. The closer she got to it, the more workers there were. Zell could see glowing nona marks on many of the people. Some of the people even had them on their faces, a cruelty in itself. They would always be owned. Even if they were set free, no one would ever have anything to do with them. She could feel her temper rising, but what could she do about it.

The manor didn’t have a standard fence. In its place on either side was a neatly trimmed hedge. It was twice as tall as Zell, maybe even taller.  It looked like they went all the way around to the back. There was probably a nice garden there, many nobles like gardens, not that they ever worked in them. Zell walked up the steps to the door. It had ebony knockers with three ferocious lions carved into each one. 

As Zell picked up the knockers, she heard an old voice that sounded like sandpaper. It made her feel sick. “I wouldn’t go in there, only death follows,” Zell quickly dropped the knockers to look for the grotesque voice. She cringed at the sound of the knockers as they banged against the door. “It’s too late now!” The voice cackled. Zell had spotted the source of the cruel laughter. It was an old lady, at any rate, she was right; It was too late to turn back. She had knocked, and the doors were opening. 

A handsome young man had opened the door. He had golden-brown eyes and dusty hair. 

“May I help you, madam?” he said, his voice sounded sweet like honey. He gestured with his hand, and she couldn’t help but see the magical tattoo on his inner forearm visibly glowing through his clothes. It marked him as a nona. He was still an owned man. Zell knew how they were treated and the things they were made to do. It was hard not to when a vast majority of your people were nonas. Her heart ached for them. She didn’t like people who tried to own others. She vowed to herself that she would try to help, But what could she do even if she used the reward money to free them, more than likely their owner would use that money to buy more nonas. She would save one or two only to put three or more back in their place.

“Umm,” Zell started. She had been distracted. “Please, call me Zell. What is your name?” She said, trying to be polite. 

“I’m Marcus, but I need to know what you are doing here, mada-” He stopped himself. “Um, Zell,” He finished.

“Oh, yes, I’m here for the retrieval quest,” Zell said as she pulled a small black book out of her trousers. She flipped to the last marked page. It was marked with a seal, approving her for the job; the details were written beside it. She handed the book to Marcus.

“Oh,” at that moment, she got the feeling that Marcus did not want her to be here. He straightened up and got a pained look on his face. “Do you have magic?” he asked in a solemn tone. He looked like he was debating if he should say more.

“Why, is it a requirement?” She said, not caring if it was, though they should’ve put that in the request.

“Uh, yes, it is,” he said nervously. “But y-”

“Marcus, who is at the door!” another voice came. Marcus had looked like he was going to warn her of something. She wondered what it was. Marcus looked at Zell, then motioned for her to come in. 

“This is Madam Zell. She has come for your request Sir Vandell,” Marcus said.

“And does she have magic?” Vandell questioned.

“I do not know. She has not answered yet,” Marcus replied. Then he looked at Zell as if to ask her. Zell cleared her throat to bring Vandell’s attention back to her, then walked up to him with her hand out to shake. Vandell looked greasy in all meanings of the word.

“Why yes, I do, but why do I need it?” She questioned. Vandell ignored her hand and nodded at Marcus.

“I will get some tea, make yourself comfortable” Marcus gestured to an armchair before leaving the room. Vandell sat down, Zell did the same. It was soft and reminded her of when she was young.

“So-” Zell started, but Vandell put a finger up, telling her to wait, he looked displeased. Vandell picked up a book and started flipping through it. This was some kind of a power move noble’s seemed to make when they saw she was an Elf; it was a big reason she usually did not work for them.

Zell was getting fed up and was about to leave when Marcus came back in with tea. He gave it to Vandell then made Zell a cup.

“How would you like it?”

“However is fine,” he put somethings in the tea, stirred it, then gave it to her. Marcus stood behind and to the side of Vandell, straight and tall. He looked forward at nothing like a good nona should. Zell grimaced, remembering when that was her job.

“It is rude not to drink one’s tea,” it was Vandell. Zell turned to look at him.

“And It’s impolite to ignore a guest,” she sipped her tea. It was sweet and by far the best she had ever had.

“Marcus does not only make the best tea, but he also keeps prying ears away,” Vandells smile made her feel sick. “I believe you wanted to know why you would need magic?” she nodded. “To find my Zhoron.”

“Ok, so what is Zhoron? Is it a magic weapon, or is it a lost pet?” She asked, ready to get on with it. Zell looked to Marcus, he still looked like he wanted to warn her of something, but he didn’t dare. She still wanted to know what the warning was but looked back to Vandell.

“Zhoron is neither. He is a pain in my side. I want you to bring him to me. I prefer alive, but if necessary, bring him to me dead.” 

“I’ll bring him alive.”

“Good,” Zell sipped her tea before continuing.

“I have to ask, what did he do?”

“You don’t have to ask, but I will tell you. It stole something from me, and I want it back,”

“What did he steal?”

“That is of no consequence to you.”

“But it could help.”

“You’re just nosy like all elves are, go find him, and perhaps you could learn for yourself.” 

“Ok, thank you,” her tone was clipped. “Do you have any information for me?” 

“Yes,” Vandell took a piece of parchment out of the book he had and handed it to her. It had a colored drawing of a young Elf on it. He had raven black hair, long pointed ears, deep blue eyes, and a black scarf. 

“One of my nona’s told me its shirt ripped, and it saw it has some scars on its back.”

“And of course you don’t know where those came from,” the question was pointed, though owners were not supposed to leave scars on their nonas, no one ever enforced that law.

“I do not,” he seemed bored. “There is not much more information. Do you have any more questions?”

“I do, but will you answer them?”

“Ask your questions or get out, I have no time for elves like you.”

“Where do I start looking for him?”

“Marcus will show you what direction it went. In fact, Marcus can answer all your questions. Then you can leave to start looking for it, Marcus,” Vandell nodded at him, and the talk was over.