Part 4

Once the door shut to the private office, Sirene removed her hood, and sat down in the guest chair. The Customs Officer began to look through the documents.

“I need to verify the documents and fill out some blank entries, so I’ll ask you some questions, ma’am.”

“By all means.”

“Name and occupation?”

“Sirene Ignitis, wandering mage.”

“Date of birth?”

“Hm. Winter of... Ironhand 7499?”

The Customs Officer looked up. “You’re how old?” he asked incredulously. Sirene merely raised her eyebrows. He sighed and moved on to the next question. “Purpose of visit?”

“His Imperial majesty requires my services.”

“Length of stay?”

“Until my services are no longer required.”

“Everything looks good so far, ma’am.” the Customs Officer said. “I just need to verify your magical mastery for legal purposes.”

“That will be a problem.” Sirene replied. “I’m the Reaper Mage, perhaps you’ve heard of me?”

The Customs Officer looked up from the documents. “Oh? Oh. Ooooh. Well, what do I write down then? I get the feeling the reaction orbs would set off alarms.”

“You have no idea how right you are. Write down ‘Death/Time Magic’.”

The Customs Officer finished off the documents and stamped the Visa. “Enjoy your stay in Tel Hazan, Ms. Ignitis.” he said, opening the door.

“Thank you, Officer.” she replied, and left the building. The Emperor had given her quite the conundrum indeed. Where to start? Perhaps at the beginning, she mused. She set off down the dusty road out of the city. She wasn’t in a hurry after all, why would she be? She had all the time in the world.