The Hollow Turtle
Bonnibel adjusted the hood of her cloak to make sure it was covering her face. She walked quickly through the grimy streets, her solid leather boots splashing in the odd puddle of filth. She looked up briefly towards the sky at the yellow and orange plates of some long dead turtle that filtered the sunlight and cast everything in a sickly amber glow.
She clutched her belt purse tightly as she made her way to a very particular store. The outside was explicitly unremarkable. The building was little more than a plywood shack with a tin roof tucked between two nondescript warehouses. Upon entering however, Bonnibel found herself in a room far larger than she could have ever imagined. It was filled with towering shelves upon shelves of strange artefacts and ingredients.
She walked down one aisle filled with exotic furs and scrolls. She accidentally brushed against one pelt and had to jump backwards quickly to avoid getting slashed by a tiger’s paw. Bonnibel drew her cloak closer to herself and hurried to find the store owner. When she finally reached the end of the aisle, she found the shopkeeper standing behind a dark wooden counter cleaning a silver chalice with a light blue cloth.
“Are you Askel?” Bonnibel asked.
The shopkeeper paused and put down the chalice and cloth away somewhere behind the counter.
“It depends. What do you want?”
“I’m here to buy a rare manuscript,” Bonnibel unhooked her bag of coins from her belt and dropped it on the counter, “A little birdie told me you have a first edition copy of the memoirs of Carborough the Lifegiver. I’d like to take it off your hands.”
The shopkeeper paused for a moment and looked into the bag. He stuck a long bony finger into the soft canvas pouch and pushed the golden coins back and forth a few times before closing it.
“Zelig, go fetch what the lady wants,” he said with a clap of his hands. A small manticore swooped down from one of the shelves and landed on the counter with a small dusty leather tomb clutched between his paws.
“I want to inspect the book before I buy it.”
“Yes, yes of course, here take it.”
Bonnibel opened the book and started skimming, looking for the page that would unlock the secrets that could make her dream a reality. Her hand paused in the middle of flipping a page when she felt the edge of a cold iron knife press against the skin directly beneath her chin.
“You’re going to leave the book and the money on the counter right here and walk out of my store very slowly. This enchanted knife is going to follow you until you’re on streets and gone from the city. I would suggest you forget about this place and get on with your life,” the shopkeeper said in a low whisper.
Bonnibel stiffened and kicked herself for falling into such a predictable trap. Her mind raced to find a way to outsmart the aquamarine troll in front of her, but she was at a loss for what to do. Seeing no other way out of the situation, she started backing away from the desk slowly. She thought of the various hidden weapons strapped to her arms and legs but couldn’t think of a way to use them without the knife slashing into her neck.
“That’s right lady just keep walking. Zelig, go put this book back wherever you fou-” a small gust brushed his scraggly hair sideways before the troll’s entire head slowly slid off his neck and hit the floor at his feet. The knife at Bonnibel’s neck fell to the ground, clattering on the slate floor.
Bonnibel was stunned speechless and froze where she stood. A thin wisp of a girl with black hair tied up into a loose, messy braid appeared out of thin air next to her. In one hand, she lazily held a massive, red axe. Blood dripped from its edge and pooled at Bonnibel’s feet. The girl chuckled and poked Bonnibel’s nose with her free hand.
“I think the appropriate response is ‘Thank you’. Geeze, you should’ve seen yourself waltzing around this city with that huge bag of dosh,” the girl held up her hand to stall Bonnibel’s protests, “Even a blind thief could have noticed the bulge it made in that tacky cloak of yours. You’re lucky I decided to tail you here out of the goodness of my heart. I knew someone was gonna try to gank it from you.”
Before Bonnibel could respond a small coal black crocodile, slithered out of a hole in the side of the counter. As he stood up on his hind legs he began to expand in size. He soon towered over the two of them and looked down at the slain troll with cold, reptilian eyes.
“How dare you slay my minion! I am Askel the Collector and I will not be trifled with,” he said, flexing a pair of spiked cosmic gauntlets. He fired a blast of mystic energy at the pair of tall girls.
The black haired girl roughly wrapped an arm around Bonnibel’s thin waist and pulled her backwards to dodge the blast. She released Bonnibel and brandished her axe in front of her, preparing to attack. Bonnibel pulled out the pair of long knives that were strapped to her forearms and sized up the new threat. The girl looked over at Bonnibel and flashed her a wolfish grin.
“By the way, the name’s Marceline. Marceline the Vampire Queen.”