Firebolt(29)

Inside, the sight took my breath away. Swords, axes, fighting hammers, whips—even the one with the long chain and ball at the end—and a variety of shields were displayed on rows of shelves that made my mouth drop.

Plenty of little boys admired the swords, with their little hands tucked behind their backs. They made me smile as I realized it didn't matter where you grew up, every boy dreamt about being a knight.

We walked past two boys sparring playfully. One of the boys pretended to be a knight, the other one a dragon, and not just any dragon─ the Rubicon.

Becky, thankfully, took me straight to the vest section.

“Rebecca Johnson, how is your mother doing?” the clerk asked.

While she gave me her famous eye roll, she flashed the clerk her beautiful smile. “Oh, she's fine. I'm looking for a vest for my friend. Her name is Elena.”

The clerk's shoulder-to-hip scrutiny made me uncomfortable.

He turned around and disappeared into the back.

“He has a thing for my mom.” Her lack of excitement was obvious.

“What does your father think about that?”

“He died when I was really little,” she said nonchalantly.

“I'm so sorry, Becky.” I always say the wrong stuff.

“It's cool, Elena. Besides I never knew him.”

I thanked my lucky stars when the bearded man returned with a small black disk and handed it to me for inspection. I turned to Becky and scrunched up my face with confusion. Reaching out for the small disc she pressed the small green gem located in the center and put it back on the counter. In five seconds, the disk was gone, and in its place was an impressive black vest.

I picked it up and stared at it. The vest was light with quilted padding on the inside and a rock-hard exterior.

“What is it?” Becky asked, leaning over my shoulder to take a better look.

“It's the Samurai Three Thousand. Nice, huh?”

I glided my fingers over the engravings that decorated the shell-like exterior.

Becky glanced at the price tag. “This is way too expensive.” She grabbed the vest from my hands and shoved it back at the clerk.

He disappeared again and returned with another. This disk was more of an oval shape with a delicate blue stone in the shape of a lightning bolt. I cautiously touched the gem and flinched as the new vest appeared in my arms. It didn't resemble the Samurai Three Thousand, but it still looked pretty awesome. The name “Black Bolt” and the number five were engraved on top of the vest's surface.

“Try it on,” Becky said after she glanced at the tag.

The vest fitted perfectly, covering all the important areas, and didn't smell like stale sweat, like the one I'd practiced in yesterday.

Sammy ─ who'd been on her own mission ─ found us as I was adjusting the straps. “That's really nice, Elena.”

“How does it fit?” Becky asked.

“I actually feel safe.”

They both giggled.

“We'll take it. Can I drop off mine in three weeks for a cleaning?” Becky asked. The clerk assured her it would be fine.

As he disappeared, something behind Becky caught my eye.

I gasped.

“Cool huh?” Becky stood right beside me.

“I'm going to check the latest gear,” Sammy said, and squeezed past us.

“Is this armor for dragons?” I asked as we investigated the racks further.

“Yes,” Becky said. “This section is for the Night Villains. They have to make the armor with special steel because of the acid they breathe. That one at the top is vereautiful. If I had a Night Villain I would buy him that.” She pointed at a shiny silver torso and head armor hanging above our heads.

We were so engrossed we ended up walking the entire section.

There was gear for Moon-Bolts, Sun-Blasts and even Snow dragons. By the size of the harness, the Snow dragon was indeed not as big as the others. They came in all the colors of the rainbow and were a variety of different designs. We found Sammy by the Fire-Tail section purring over a black number with silver spiky studs.

“This would look freaky with my brass color, right?” Sammy looked at Becky for approval.

“For the first time you might be right, Sammy.”

We paid for the vest, which was transformed back into the oval disc shape object, and I picked up a pack of playing cards from a small basket by the register. Becky grabbed a pack, winked at me, and tossed it in with the vest.

I glanced at my watch: five to three. Jeez, time flew when you shopped with friends.

We caught the tram and reached the woods a couple minutes after three.

“I said three, Rebecca Johnson.”

“Oh you can be glad that it's a couple of minutes and not half an hour. Six hours was hardly enough.”

He grinned. “Did you enjoy your shopping?”