Atzi awoke to the eurghing of buffalo.

  Forgetting where she was momentarily, she tried to stretch. Instead, she tipped. Atzi flailed with claw and tail trying to right herself. She hit the floor, face first.

  “Buweh…”

  The beads of her doorway rattled.

  Atzi sprung up, dusting herself off. “Yeah?” she called.

  “Atzi, is that really you?” a woman’s voice called.

  She couldn’t tell who it was, not quite, only that it sounded vaguely familiar. Someone she must have known, but who sounded different for some reason. “Yeah,” Atzi replied.

  “Can I come in?”

  “Uh… sure?”

  A human woman strolled in wearing a guard’s outfit, and Atzi worried she had been tricked by the perfidious law, before finally recognizing her face. Her childhood friend, Yasmine.

  Atzi clicked her claws together awkwardly. “Um… sorry, I couldn’t afford paper for a while, and uh…”

  Yasmine pulled her into a hug.

  Atzi wasn’t sure how to respond, so settled for awkwardly patting her on the back.

  “I thought you might’ve been dead!” Yasmine pulled out of the hug and looked Atzi in the eyes.

  “Sorry,” Atzi said, and meant it. It was nice to have someone miss her. Not try to kill her. Not dismiss her. Not tell her to go away. “Things didn’t really work out in Sostra.”

  Yasmine gave a sympathetic smile. “Hey, it’s okay. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

  If we talk about my life, she’ll find out I became a criminal. Atzi reached for the easiest thing to talk about. “How have things been here?”

  “Well, of course you’d have heard of what happened in Novae. Those poor folks. But I guess that’s not really ‘here’, sure felt like it though with how much things got shook up. Near the entire mage council left for Sostra a few days later,” Yasmine chattered. “It’s strange, but other than that, pretty peaceful? I sure hope the war doesn’t come here.”

  Atzi nodded. “Hopefully not. There’s a load of refugees in Sostra now, after that.”

  “A few passed through here, though most of them left already.” Yasmine opened the beads. “I need to do my rounds. But walk with me?”

  “Sure.” Atzi followed. “Everything’s not really changed much at all, huh?”

  Yasmine spun her hand. “Well, more than you’d think, less than you’d hope. Or maybe the other way around. After everyone completed their apprenticeships, well, just because we can do the work now doesn’t mean we’re in charge.”

  Atzi sighed. She didn’t get to say it last night, not with how much her mom stonewalled her, but that was the other reason Atzi had left home. “Yeah, I hated getting bossed around.”

  Yasmine laughed. “Going to have a tough time back here, then. That’s all the old folks want to do. That, and gossip while calling it ‘community’.”

  “They sound worse than before.”

  Atzi and Yasmine passed a few kids splashing muddy water at each other. The two of them had used to do that together, too.

  “So what exactly brings you back? You don’t have to say if you don’t want to…”

  Atzi looked away awkwardly. “You remember back when I could still write to you, that I’d gotten a big job lined up?”

  “Yeah, though you didn’t say what kind of job.” Yasmine looked curious. “What was it?”

  Atzi quickly dodged the question. “It didn’t go so well. Then I was pretty broke, totally broke really, for a while. Just getting by. I got offered something new, I was pretty excited. Then, you remember I talked about Cory?”

  “Oh, the girl you liked, yeah!”

  “...She and her new girlfriend tried to kill me. I ran away from Sostra just to survive.”

  Yasmine eyes went wide. “Water, Atzi.” Then her expression shifted to righteous anger. “Did you report it to the guards?”

  Atzi thought Yasmine looked properly guard-like, then. Do I tell her about the… no. But if I left out the worst parts, she’d definitely understand.

  She knew enough about the law to know every province in the Empire tracked criminals separately. Stuff only got passed around if it was really important. Unless she was really unlucky, Yasmine wouldn’t have heard about Atzi’s adventures.

  Atzi took a deep breath. “I helped her steal something valuable, first. The guards would have locked me up, too.”

  Yasmine looked around. This early in the morning, there weren’t many people about, but she still grabbed Atzi by the claw and pulled her off the pathway. “What!” she seethed, keeping her voice to a strained whisper. “Why would you- did she trick you into doing it?”

  “She made it seem like we’d be running away together, like it was a good idea.” Atzi looked up guiltily. “Forget it. I was an idiot.”

  “Wow.” Yasmine blinked. “Well, you are an idiot for breaking the law just because of a pretty face. But you don’t deserve that. It must have been rough for you.”

  Atzi nodded rapidly. Finally, someone who understood her!

  Yasmine sighed. “You know, there was a time I thought I should follow your example. See the world. Maybe Sostra so we could meet up, maybe somewhere else to set my own path. I ended up staying here, though.” She smiled. “And I’m glad I did. And hey, now that you’re back too, you can relax.”

  “I hope so. I’m not sure what to do about money, though.” Atzi curled her tail.

  Yasmine hummed. “Most of the good jobs are taken, as you’d expect. But maybe you could get a job at the inn mom works at?”

  When Atzi was growing up, Therese was often too busy to look after her, while her father frequently vanished because of ‘important visions of the future’ the shamans had to deal with. So, because they were friends anyway, Yasmine’s mom ended up looking after Atzi a lot. “At the inn? I guess I could try that.”

  “It’s the same old place you remember, but different ‘cuz old man Pickett died, then some woman nobody knew rolled into town and bought the place before he was even buried.”

  “Well, I could try. I mean, there’s not much else, is there? Mom’s never gonna train me, and I ran away during that apprenticeship, so that’s definitely out.”

  Yasmine stopped the conversation to shoo a buffalo off a bridge, before coming back. “Best avoid your old boss, if I was you. You remember how angry Bilge would get when you worked for him. Imagine how he is, now.”

  Atzi winced. “Let’s not tell him I’m back.”

  “I won’t, but there’s no way someone else doesn’t mention it to him.”

  Atzi groaned.

  The two continued to talk. Atzi was thankful Yasmine was so chatty, excited to talk about small things that had happened back home like they were remotely important. It made it easier to avoid talking about her own life, or lack thereof.

  Yasmine even bought Atzi breakfast from one of the few food carts in Pomaria - most people cooked at home. It was a greasy stick of ‘buffalo eggs’. Atzi of course knew buffalo didn’t lay eggs, and that it was just a name. A lesson learned when she was nine. The breaded and boiled treat was delicious.

  After they ate, Yasmine said she had to go off to sit in a stuffy watchtower for a few hours, and left Atzi with nothing to do but head to the inn.

  The inn was separated into multiple buildings, similar to Atzi’s home. The two main rooms of the inn, the front and kitchen, were made of wood, whereas every ‘room’ available was a rectangular straw hut in a row of such huts.

  Atzi opened the door to the front of the inn.

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  The first person she spotted was the human woman at the counter. It wasn’t that Atzi was attracted to her. Well, not entirely because of that. Rather, the inn’s new owner was clearly wealthy, openly displaying her jewelry. Owning an inn pays that well if people actually visit it, huh? Her sharp face had a bored, almost sleepy expression as it pushed into her palm.

  The second person she spotted was Yasmine’s mom sweeping the floor, facing away from Atzi.

  The woman had obviously aged. In the nine years Atzi had been gone, Yasmine’s mom gained a lot of wrinkles and lost several inches of height to a hunch. Still, she swept the floor vigorously.

  Atzi didn’t want to disturb her, as Yasmine’s mom had a way of suddenly coming up with work Atzi didn’t want to do. Something about ‘teaching responsibility.’ I’m plenty responsible! So she stepped past gingerly, trying to not draw too much attention to herself as she made her way up to the inn owner to ask for a job.

  Yasmine’s mom bellowed.

  A broom swung towards Atzi.

  A faceful of bristles slapped her.

  Atzi yelped.

  “Who’s sneaking up on an old lady like that, I ought to- Atzi?”

  Atzi swept away the broom from her face, laughing awkwardly. “Yep, th-that’s me. Um… Yasmine said the inn was looking for people to work here?”

  Yasmine’s mom hit her over the head with the broom.

  “Bugeh!”

  “Stupid girl! Who told you that you could just come back after all that time away?! You stopped writing to Yasmine! You made her sad! And me! Where’s my letters, hmmm? I practically raised you!”

  Atzi sniffed. “I couldn’t afford paper for a while.”

  The old woman’s expression softened. “I see.” She looked over at the still unengaged woman at the counter, before back at Atzi. “And you won’t be a troublemaker anymore, right?”

  “I’m not a troublemaker…”

  “You reek of trouble, girl. I swear the world will collapse one day, and it will be your fault.”

  No it won’t! And if it does it won’t be my fault! Atzi hung her head. “Sorry, I just wanted some work…”

  Yasmine’s mom held out her broom.

  Atzi flinched, before realizing she wasn’t about to be hit over the head again.

  “Well?” Yasmine’s mom asked.

  “Eh? Oh!” She tentatively took the broom in both claws. She wiggled it a bit. “Um, where needs sweeped?”

  “Everywhere.”

  “Everywhere…?”

  Yasmine’s mom sighed. “Just do as you’re told.”

  Atzi groaned. Great. Maybe one day I can own the inn and live a cushy life in a comfy chair.

  While Atzi swept half-heartedly, Yasmine’s mom went up to the front desk.

  “Yes?” the inn owner asked.

  “Girl needs a job.”

  The owner yawned. “You are enough of a servant at the-”

  “No! I may work for you but I’m tired of doing everything by myself all the time! She needs a job, and I need a break.”

  The owner tapped the counter with a long fingernail. “Then, this will come from your pay…?”

  “I’d sooner quit!” Yasmine’s mom shouted.

  Atzi kept her head down and swept.

  Yasmine’s mom continued ranting, punctuating her statements by pounding the desk. “Look here you lazy stuffed shirt. You know you can’t keep this place running without me. Or if you don’t, you’re dumber than you look.”

  Atzi blinked. Wow, she’s really sticking up for me.

  “If you don’t hire her, I quit. If you take it out of my pay, I quit.”

  The woman sighed, like it was one big bother. “Is that any way to talk to your boss?” She paused. “Fine.”

  The owner looked up at Atzi, who was currently trying and failing to sweep up an annoying hair. “You’re hired. Four bronze a week.”

  Yasmine’s mom shouted. “That’s outrageous! Five bronze a week. I know each customer ends up paying more than that a night, anyway.”

  The innkeeper rested her head on the desk. “Fine. Fine.”

  Five in a week, this is barely more than I was getting after things fell apart in Sostra. I guess stuff is more expensive there, though.

  “C’mon girl, I’m taking you to the kitchen!”

  -

  “Not like that you idiot girl! Put your shoulders into it!”

  “I am!” Atzi had been tricked into more sweeping.

  Yasmine’s mom stole the broom, snatching it directly out of Atzi’s claws. “Watch me for a minute!”

  Yasmine’s mom made extremely fast motions, rolling her shoulders and flicking her wrists at the same time. It kicked up a lot of dirt when she did, but she kept doing it until everything was collected against the wall in a matter of minutes. Then she started sweeping it into a pan.

  “There! Now grab the pots and help me prepare dinner!”

  -

  “Chop the onions!”

  -

  “Dump the dirty water in the river!”

  -

  “Sweep the empty guest rooms while it cooks!”

  -

  "Nobody else has a problem drooling! Stop making excuses!"

  -

  “Deliver the meals! And be polite to the guests!”

  -

  It was only a few hours of work, and Atzi already felt like quitting. She held her tongue though, knowing she needed this job. She came up to the last guest room where she had to deliver a meal. She knocked on the door - the only straw huts in the village with doors, because people from other places expected them.

  The door opened. The most attractive-

  Attract-

  Pretty.

  Atzi drooled.

  The impossibly attractive lizard woman, red scales shining like rubies, took the bowl of soup from Atzi’s claw. “Thank you,” she said, voice perfect.

  Pretty.

  She closed the door.

  “Guh?!” Atzi suddenly realized she was standing there, drooling like an idiot. She wiped her poison away. Who is she? Did she like my tail? Is the soup good enough? If it is, I made it!

  Atzi debated knocking on the door again, before deciding she didn’t want to look weird. Plenty of time to get to know her future wife as long as she worked at the inn.

  She whistled happily as she returned to the kitchen.

  “Now clean the cookware! And then sweep the floor again!”

  Atzi groaned.

  -

  “Good job, we’ve managed to do half the day’s work.”

  Atzi’s whined. “Half?”

  They cleaned the entire place again.

  Atzi was at least excited as she prepared dinner, the beautiful lizard woman on her mind. I’ll make her even better food, and then she’ll see how great I am!

  Only to learn she had only paid for one meal a day, instead of two.

  Atzi wept.

  -

  If there was one good part, Yasmine’s mom had made sure they made extra food, and they each got a share. Atzi ate hers quickly, famished from a hard day’s work.

  Yasmine’s mom ate slowly, and after a few bites, said, “I’m full. You want the rest?”

  Atzi blinked. “Uh, yeah. I do.”

  She finished her second serving, ending her first day back home full of soup.

  “Get some rest. We start again tomorrow morning, just after dawn.”

  Atzi nodded, then slinked back home.

  She was bored. Full, and bored, and waiting for the chance to meet the beautiful inn guest again.

  As soon as Atzi arrived home, Therese hurried out of her hut, clutching various papers in her claws. She looked at Atzi and asked, “Why isn’t the place cleaned?”

  That’s the first thing you ask?! “Yasmine helped me get a job. I spent the whole day cleaning elsewhere.” Atzi huffed.

  “Are you still going to clean here?”

  Atzi clenched her claws. “I’m just home! I don’t even know where the broom is.”

  “If you don’t want to clean then you’ll need to pay rent.”

  Atzi’s tail drooped. “I get five bronze a week.”

  Her mom nodded. “Then three bronze a week sounds fair in rent.” She hurried off, to head wherever she was going with all the papers so late at night. Probably the Pomarian council huts.

  Atzi wondered where her dad was. She shouted after Therese, “Hey, where’s dad?”

  Therese shouted back, “Shaman!”

  Atzi grumbled, and trudged back to her room.

  Maybe I could run away a second time… but this time with a beautiful woman.

  Atzi dreamed of a life with the red-scaled guest.

  ===

  The next morning, Atzi vaguely wondered what was going on with the festival back in Sostra. It was the day of the actual godscouncil meeting, and she knew for a fact that was when people would party the hardest. She would have, anyway.

  She sighed and made her way back to the inn. As she did so, she noticed a messenger running his way through the town.

  “Artaxtian royals attacked by necromancers yesterday evening! No word from Sostra, city locked down!”

  Atzi looked in the direction of the cities she had left behind. They weren’t visible so far away, especially not with the tall trees that grew in the swampier parts, but she had only just been there. Could have still been there, if not for… What was going on?

  She curled her tail around her leg. Is this because of the war? She tried to not let it worry her. It wasn’t like she could do anything about it, anyway.

  So she went back to her boring life.

  -

  After working another half the day away, Atzi wiped away the grime that had built up on her scales. Haven’t even had a chance to bathe yet. Oh no, what if she thinks I smell bad… I need to visit the mud spring for sure. Despite her worries, she happily bounced her way to deliver a meal to her new soon-to-be girlfriend. Today was a 'dinner' day instead of a 'lunch' day for the beautiful lizard woman, the evening sun resting in the sky.

  The thundering boom of an explosion cracked through the air.

  Atzi dropped to the ground in a panic as it rumbled. The bowl of soup she’d been carrying flew through the air, before splashing into the marshwater. It’s not my fault!

  When the rumbling stopped, she rapidly looked around for any sign of what caused it.

  Atzi stared into the distance.

  A cloud of fire and ash rose directly upward. Its mushroom shape was the same as the one she had seen rising over Novae.

  It bloomed far above the tall treeline of the distant center of the Empire.

  That… was where Sostra was.