A rabbit formed of stone dashed past Wyn’s feet, the cracks along its body glowing gold. Deftly avoiding the humans on the street, it turned and shot into an alley, dashing out of sight. The crowd continued to walk on by as if nothing had happened. Wyn on the other hand, couldn’t help but gape.

  Corrin and Kei were no different, heads turned towards where the spirit beast had vanished. It wasn’t the first stone creature they’d seen, but it was just as shocking as the first time.

  “Seriously, what the hell is up with this city?” Corrin said to no one in particular.

  Wyn nodded vaguely, but his eyes had already moved onto the next wonder. Ahead in the river, attached to the side of the building was a huge wheel, spinning slowly with the force of the flow. He couldn’t begin to guess the purpose of such a strange contraption, but the sight was incredible.

  The main road of Titan’s Pass curved naturally with the land, flowing down into the valley and spreading out along the banks of the narrow river. Despite its natural feel, the road’s make was pristine, not cobblestone, but rather brick, tightly packed and made to allow easy travel for hand carts, which seemed to be popular. The road hugged the water’s edge, the only barrier a thick rope strung between wooden posts placed at regular intervals.

  The river seemed shallow—enough that Wyn could see a few children brave enough to stand the cold wading within its lazy currents.

  “First things first,” Kei said, interrupting his staring, “we need to find a place to stay. Let’s ask around and try to find an inn. I assume they get more expensive as you travel up the slopes, and I’d like to find a nice mid-range option.”

  “What makes you think that?” Wyn asked.

  Kei shrugged. “It’s just a guess. Higher locations tend to cost more, the view adds to the value.”

  Wyn glanced up at the mountains on either side, looming over the tops of the buildings. “I suppose I could understand that then. Well, let’s get to it.”

  They continued along the road, looking for inns while they walked deeper into the city. Wyn found himself enjoying it more than he’d expected. The city was lively, but not oppressive. Banners hung from the tops of buildings, catching the light breeze that travelled through the valley, carrying the fresh mountain air with it. The deeper they walked, the more the city opened up—small plazas appearing between blocks of homes, market stalls spilling onto side streets, ivy creeping up stone walls where the mountain tried to reclaim its space.

  And even beyond people, the city was alive. He noticed more of the stone creatures darting around—rats, rabbits, even a bird, living statues etched with gold. They were fascinating, for all he couldn’t discern their origin.

  They found an inn quickly once they started looking, a large, two story building situated just up from the river. The door was closed to trap in the heat, but a welcoming light shone through the windows, and the sign on the door spoke of open rooms.

  “Seems like a good place to start,” Kei said, pushing the door open.

  The main room of the inn was about half full, but it was a large room, so there were dozens of people sitting around circular wooden tables as they ate and drank, with a few women in aprons delivering food to and from the tables. Besides its size though, it seemed a mostly ordinary inn.

  Except for one thing.

  Towards the front, was a desk, behind which a shorter man wearing glasses was sitting, and trying to wave them over.

  Wyn couldn’t exactly see what his purpose was, as he wasn’t handling any of the tasks that seemed to relate to inn-work. Still, he was waving them over, so Wyn approached.

  “Hello sir,” he offered. “You work here, yes? We’re looking for lodging for the night and saw there are open rooms here?”

  The man sifted through some papers as he sat fully down in the chair he’d been leaning up from. “Wonderful, might I ask how long you plan to stay in Titan’s Pass?”

  “We’re looking to stay through the deep winter, but really we only need a room for the—”

  “Ah fantastic sir, fantastic. No, if you see here,” he flipped a paper around. “Here we have our traditional one night contract, with the rate right here at the bottom.”

  Wyn’s eyes bulged, it was an exorbitant price for an inn. He held up his hands. “That’s far too much, we’ll have to—”

  “Before you decide sir, please let me show you our other contracts.” He spun around three more papers. “Now see, here we have a two month contract with no option for renegotiation, and you can see the rate here, yes it’s less than half the price. But if you want something a little more flexible, we’ve got a two week contract here with renegotiation at the end, or a one month contract with a guaranteed price drop if you choose to resign for the next month at the end of term.”

  “Wait… what? Slow down.” Wyn looked at each of the papers, comparing the rates and trying to do math in his head. What kind of inn was this? Before he could say another word though, Kei stepped forward.

  “The one month mentions a ten to fifteen percent rate drop for the resign option, how is that determined exactly? Do we negotiate before signing? Or is it based on the market rate for a room in the city?”

  “It is typically based on the market rate,” the man nodded. “But if you wish to alter any terms of the contracts up front that can be discussed.”

  Kei pursed her lips. “If we were interested in getting two rooms for the duration of our stay, would that affect pricing at all?”

  “We don’t have any two room contracts available at this moment in time, so no you’d have to sign for them separately. That may change as the deep winter arrives though, in case you were considering our two week contract.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “You won’t mind if we shop around?”

  “Of course not,” the man smiled, tapping his quill gently against a blank sheet of paper. “I believe you’ll find our rates to be competitive throughout town. Though if you sign right now, I’ll add a meal clause to your contract, and you’ll be able to eat breakfast for free each morning for only a single copper more.”

  Kei hesitated, reaching for the two week contract, but she pulled her hand away. “I’m afraid we’ll have to decline for now, though we may be back.”

  The man’s smile faded just a tad. “Of course, I will hope to see you soon.”

  They walked out of the inn, a faint bell chiming as the door opened and closed behind them.

  “That was odd,” Wyn noted. “Are contracts like that normal in the city?”

  Kei shook her head. “For a single room in an inn that was a bit extreme. I could understand more if they were packed, but they didn’t seem particularly busy to me.”

  “It smelled off,” Corrin agreed. “I didn’t like the way that guy was looking at us. Let’s try another one.”

  With agreement, they walked off again.

  Searching for another inn, Wyn observed several other oddities of Titan’s Pass. The first of which was something he picked out as they passed more and more people in the streets. It seemed as though some of them had a trinket hanging from their necks. Once he’d noticed, he’d begun to see them everywhere, and realized they weren’t just trinkets, but masks, carved from wood and painted in various colors. He wasn’t sure, but he wrote it off as a fashion thing, or perhaps a charm that was popular in the city.

  What caught his eye far more noticeably though, was a strange type of spirit which floated through the air that he had never seen before.

  At first, seeing them only in crowds or from a slight distance, he had brushed them off as normal spirits, but when one drifted by his face, he got a good look and his eyes widened.

  Though it seemed constructed from stone, much like the strange animals which roamed the city, the spirit’s surface was polished and smooth, without the jagged cracks which adorned their surface. Instead, gold ran in smooth lines along its concentric ring-like structure, which formed disconnected pyramids on both top and bottom.

  What is that thing Eia? He asked his companion.

  Her response came through just as wide-eyed as he was though. I have no idea. It feels like… links? Or perhaps connections?

  Bonds? He wondered.

  No, more like contracts.

  Realization dawned in his mind. Ah, if Hutong is the spirit of contracts, I would imagine they’re minor contract spirits. What a strange, strange appearance.

  I have to agree.

  “Alright, inn number two,” Kei said confidently as they approached a new door. “I’ve got a good feeling about this one.”

  This time, Wyn held the door open for the two of them as they stepped inside. Larger than the first one, this inn opened up into a grand hall, with high ceilings and an ornately designed second floor balcony overlooking the entrance. Though there were no guests in sight, he could hear chatter coming from a room around the corner, and he assumed that was where they would be located, while the front hall had been turned into much more of a reception space.

  Though she gawked for a moment as well, Kei recovered quicker than either of the two of them and stayed on mission, heading straight for the corner of the room, where another man stood behind a desk, though this one was more of a counter.

  “Excuse me sir, we’re looking for two rooms for the night? Do you have anything available?”

  The man looked past her and met Wyn’s eyes. “Is this one with you sir?” He asked, a strange smile on his face.

  “Um, yes. We would be needing two rooms please.”

  “I understand sir. Well, we would be more than happy to accommodate the two of you,” he gestured to Wyn and Corrin. “And I have a few standard contracts here if you’d like to examine them. We have a one week, three week, and one month option, along with free handcart service if you need it.”

  Wyn frowned. “You mean, the three of us, right?”

  “Oh,” the man’s smile fell. “No, I’m sorry sir. You’ll have to find other lodging for your servant. While I’m sure she’s well trained, we don’t allow her kind near the other guests. It’s just common sense you see? They’re the enemy.”

  Wyn felt his blood grow hot in an instant. He reached for his belt, but his sword wasn’t there. “The hell do you mean her—”

  “Stop!” Kei shouted.

  Wyn and Corrin both froze. Corrin was mid-step towards the man, ready to throw down, and Wyn could feel the air growing dangerous around him as his muscles tensed.

  He looked over at Kei, and though her eyes were hidden, he could see her hands clenching her dress tightly. Despite that, she wasn’t shaking with fear, not like the time before.

  “It’s fine. Let’s just go.”

  “But—” Corrin started to protest, but caught himself. He shot a glare at the man, pointing. “You’re lucky you damn bastard. She’s nicer than I am.”

  Kei turned to the man with a strained smile. “I’m sorry about them sir, have a nice day.”

  Then she grabbed their arms and pulled them back into the streets.

  Corrin kicked the inn with his boot and spit on the ground. “You shouldn’t have stopped me Kei, I’d have shoved those words right back down his throat.”

  She sighed, smoothing out her dress. “And get us in trouble on our first day here? Corrin, if you stop to fight everyone that says something about me from here on out, we’ll never make it to Taravast.”

  Wyn calmed his breathing. “She’s… she’s right Corrin. Petty shit like that doesn’t matter. Not from random people like him.”

  Corrin grumbled as he kicked the building again.

  Wyn set his hand on Kei’s shoulder, speaking softly. “But listen, if you ever want us to do something about it? Just say the word. You won’t have to tell us twice.”

  Kei smiled at that, placing her hand on Wyn’s. “Thank you Wyn. But it’s fine. Things like that? Well, I’m afraid I’ve gotten quite used to it by now. It’s not going to get better the further east we travel.”

  Wyn smiled. “Keep a positive attitude about it, Corrin and I will smack the heads of anybody that tries to start something.”

  “Oh I know,” she laughed. “But how about for now we focus on finding an inn alright?”

  “Well we can cross that one off the list,” Corrin said. He kicked the building again. “So, where to next?”