As Gwen and the brothers walked down the central road of the town of Stoneroost, Tristan gave Gwen a tour. He pointed out the bakery that produced his favorite bread and the fishmonger where the best salted fish was sold.
After a short time, the trio arrived at a pair of buildings sitting further apart from their neighbors than the others. A large plume of smoke rose from the chimney of the building closest to the river. On the front of this building was a sign with a hammer and anvil. Underneath the image was the word blacksmith.
Entering the store, Gwen was met by a small storefront that took up about an eighth of the entire building's area. Gazing around She was amazed with the variety of different wares that were displayed around the tiny storefront. There were two displays of fishing weights, one for nets and the other for rods. The right wall was covered in horseshoes of varying sizes. The rest of the space was filled with different kinds of tools, blades, and even some weapons.
As the adventurer trio entered the shop, a boy of about fifteen years of age approached them. "Welcome to Master Cyrene's blacksmith shop. I am her apprentice, John. How can I assist you today?"
"Hello John. We have come to speak to your master about a certain topic. Would you mind informing her? Helga sent us over," Gabriel responded to the boy.
"Ah, Madame Helga. I see." The boy smiled at the mention of the name. "My master is currently busy forging, but she should be able to meet with you shortly. I will go inform her."
After a fifteen-minute wait, the door behind the counter opened. Out from the door walked a tall, muscular woman. This woman had dark olive skin and appeared to be of middle eastern descent. The most striking part of this woman besides her well-toned muscles was the eyepatch that covered her left eye.
"I am Cyrene the town blacksmith. My apprentice told me that Helga sent you to see me." She turned her eye to focus on Gwen. "I can see that you are a new Displaced young Miss."
"Yes, I am," Gwen answered nervously. "Do you happen to know of any way to return to one's own world? Even a tiny clue would be amazing."
Cyrene paused for a moment, a troubled look filling her single eye.
"My apologies, young miss. While I am also Displaced, I never had any intention of returning to the place I came from. I lack any information that could be of use to you."
Gwen glanced down at her feet, heartbroken. Her single lead on a way home shattered in a single sentence. She simply stood there, slowly comprehending the immensity of the blacksmith's words. Her hands shaking form the shock, Gwen felt the corners of her eyes begin to moisten. She realized that she might never again see her family. Her family would soon be looking everywhere for her, but they would never find her.
Gwen was listless. Lost in her own inner turmoil, all she could do was follow the two brothers out of the shop. She barely registered when Gabriel reminded Cyrene to visit Helga more often.
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As the group walked around the town, an old man approaches them. He had a long, relatively well-kempt beard and a bald head. The old man walked with a limp, leaning on a gnarled cane in his right hand.
"Oh, you must be Displaced young lady." the old man grinned. "You would probably like to go visit the Magician's Keep."
This sudden interaction snapped Gwen out of her stupor.
"What is the Magician's Keep?" Gwen asked quizzically, looking at her newfound companions for input. The two young men looked back at her with just as much confusion.
"When I was a young man, my father told me that if I were ever to run into a Displaced, looking to return home that I should direct them to the Magician's Keep for answers. Supposedly it is the last place in which dragons lived. It is also supposed to be the home of a magician. I would lead you there myself, but these old legs aren't what they used to be."
"Anyhow," the old man continued, "It is about an hour's ride down the main road toward the capital and then down a smaller path until you see the Keep."
Gwen thanked the old man, and the trio continued their way around town.
"I know you have been so kind to me," Gwen started.
"Yes," Gabriel cut her off, "We will accompany you to the Magician's Keep. It is on the way to the capital, and I'm certain my brother and I want to see this resting place of the last dragon. Who knows, there may be some interesting artifacts there that will fetch a price on the market at the Capital."
Gwen was so relieved that the two kind boys, who had helped her so much, would be accompanying her on her. She had been agonizing over what to do once they decided to leave her on her own.
"Thank you both so, so much!" Gwen exclaimed in excitement.
"We'll depart tomorrow as planned," Gabriel continued.
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With the knowledge of the Magician's Keep, the trio set off towards their destination. According to what the old man had said, it was an hour down the main road that led towards the capital city. Gwen rode with Gabriel. She clung to him, worried about falling off the horse.
The trio rode in silence for the duration of the hour. On their left, branching off the main road, were the remains of what appeared to have once been a well-made fork in the road disappearing into the forest.
"I assume that this is what the old man spoke of," Gabriel guessed.
"We will just have to follow it and find out." Tristan asserted.
The group started down the stretch of old road. Once the old road reached the forest it turned into a trail that was barely distinguishable from the surrounding greenery. The forest had reclaimed the pathway in its entirety.
Gwen and the boys rode down what they assumed to be the path to the Magician's Keep. The trees quickly surrounded the party. The path was overgrown.
After thirty minutes of riding, Gabriel broke the silence. "Are we sure that this Magician's Keep even exists? We have never heard anyone else in town mention this mysterious magician and what we are following could easily just be an animal path."
"I am sure that old man was telling the truth. He did not appear to be lying. You do not have to be cynical of everything," Tristan replied. "Sometimes you just have to put your trust in someone."
"You are simply too trusting," Gabriel rebutted. "Even if the old man was telling the truth, he could quite easily have misremembered the directions. He said his father told him when he was younger. The magician might not even still be alive at this point."
"Are we lost?" Gwen asked hesitantly. The boys' arguing raising her concerns. If this truly were a dead end, then she would have lost her last clue on how to return home.
"Let us continue a while further. If we still cannot find this Magician's Keep in two hours, we will turn back," Tristan said making the final decision.
With the decision made, the group travelled onward toward the Magician's Keep.