Fire Breath
The Forbidden City

The arrival of foreigners attracted the attention of the residents of the city. Sabina and Aiden were greeted with curious gazes from the people they passed by. Taking advantage of this, Aiden tried to approach one of the nearby men who was transporting wooden beams in front of an old stone house.

"Excuse me, is this town really a Forbidden Dark City?" ask Aiden.

But instead of answering, the man seemed angry and disturbed. Irritatedly the man again lifted the large wooden block on his back, then passed away without answering. Aiden gawked confused by the unfriendly act, yet he had not given up. He went to someone else who was nearby. Unfortunately, this incident repeated. That person had even passed before Aiden had a chance to say anything.

"Everyone seems to be avoiding us" Aiden told Sabina. "They just observe us from afar and refuse to be approached" Aiden continued.

Sabina circulated her gaze to look at the eyes of the people who were staring at her. None of them had friendly faces, as if Sabina and Aiden were uninvited guests.

"Let's take this city first" Sabina decided.

Aiden also said. Both of them walked around the place. A stone footpath connects the streets of the city. All the buildings there were made of gray stone with wooden roofs that looked worn out. In the middle of the city there is a field with a large well that looks old. The sides of the well were filled with spider jarring.

Somehow Sabina was interested in seeing the well closer. He walked across the field to the old well. The people around looked at him and now started whispering strangely. Suddenly Sabina's hand was gripped by someone. Sabina turned her head and saw a middle-aged woman looking at her sharply.

"Follow me" said the woman.

Sabina who was confused looked at Aiden. The young man gestured a nod to Sabina, telling her to follow the middle-aged woman. Sabina according. They also walked along following the woman.

Sabina and Aiden were taken into the narrow alleys of the city. The path they passed by was unpleasant and also very dark because the sunlight was blocked by the building on his left right. After a while of walking, the woman then stopped at a small stone house in the corner of the alley. The wooden door looks worn and a little reot. The woman opened it and told Sabina and Aiden to go inside.

"Who are y'all? What are you doing in this town?" the middle-aged woman's sergeant after closing the door.

"My name is Aiden, and this is Sabina. We're from a town east of the Centaur forest. We are on our way to search for the Forbidden Dark City" Aiden said.

"We don't call this village by that name. Only outsiders would call this place that way. Do you know why they call it the Forbidden Dark City?" the old woman's sergeant.

Sabina and Aiden fell silent unable to answer. Aiden just shook his head in response.

"That's because this city is forbidden to be visited by outsiders. What are you guys looking for here?" The woman asked again.

"We... uh.. need a lamentation of banshee…?" aiden said he was not sure. He himself did not know if such a thing could be 'taken'. Isn't that a kind of sound? How to take a sound and store it in a gold teapot. Aiden doesn't even have a gold teapot.

"Sit down, you" said the woman, now in a more friendly tone.

Sabina and Aiden. They sat around the wooden table, while Nora came down from Sabina's embrace and then coiled comfortably on the front porch cloth.

"For a long time no newcomers have said that" the woman said. "My name is Roberta, I'm one of the few old people who still survive in this city. Riverdale. That's the name of this city actually. It used to be a city full of people and many tourists who came here because we have a well of requests in the middle of the square."

"Firm request? What was I going to go to?" sabina asked opening her voice.

Roberta nodded. "That age is a miracle in this city. The water in the well used to cure all diseases and poisons. Then whoever makes a wish there will also be granted. The well is like a gift to us. Even so, the inhabitants of this city were not greedy. We only use the well appropriately, only in very precarious moments and there is no hope. The rest we always take care of the well and let it become an icon of this city.

"Unfortunately things aren't always pleasant. The news of the well was known to the settlers and outsiders. They all flocked to this city and began to drain the grace in the well. Their petitions were gradually evil and hateful. From then on, the well of our pleas began to change.

"The well no longer has clear water. Every time we take the water, only mud and dirt get. Moreover, every night the well began to emit heart-wrenching cries. Some people are reported missing every time the sound appears. Initially only a few migrants, gradually so many people were lost around the well, including the townspeople.

"Since then our city has been known as the Forbidden Dark City. No more brave people coming here. Even we the residents began to be aware of every newcomer because of bad memories of their greed to damage the well of our request," explained Roberta at length.

Aiden and Sabina watched the explanation carefully. They never knew that this old city turned out to have a sad dark history.

"Was the sound of crying at night the lamentation of the banshee?" ask Aiden later.

"really so. I don't know since when the well was inhabited by banshee. Some say that the well-keeper fairies have been drowned in the darkness because so many evil pleas were made there. There are also those who say that the banshee is the souls of people who died unjustly due to the pleas of the bad people in front of the well. No one knows for sure, but obviously now our town is haunted by banshees every night. No one dares to go out at night" Roberta explained.

"Then how do I get that banshee lament? We even had to keep it in a gold teapot" Aiden asked for advice.

"I don't know, young man. But your words bring me hope. You might be able to stop that ghost. Didn't you come here to hunt him down?" Roberta asked back.

"That's.. uh.." replied Aiden stuttering.

"of course. If we have to hunt him down, we will" Sabina later said. Somehow, Sabina was sure that she would soon find him. 

***