The Last Inn

by Rachel Gay

  “Are you rethinking going to the city?” Miles asked, and Erin frowned at the hopeful tone in his voice.

  That hope quickly died when Kota shook his head and said, “No, why?”

  “Well, you said a couple of passengers...”

  “Yes, you and the pig lady,” Kota said.

  “Oh.” Miles blinked and they were sure that he had completely forgotten about the pig.

  Erin breathed a sigh of relief, but knowing that could easily mean Kota planned to just run off again she said, “While you were gone, we noticed something in Sollis’s journal.”

  She showed him the passages, which Kota looked at with a wooden expression while she explained how they thought whatever Sollis had been looking for might be connected to a cure.

  Kota examined the sun and moon emblem, personally thinking that the jotted notes were so vague they could refer to anything.

  “Miles said he thought it might be worth looking into,” Erin said, as if sensing his hesitation. “Right?”

  Kota looked up at Miles and saw that they both knew what the vampire was trying to do. Miles smiled and shrugged, completely unashamed. Kota looked at Erin, completely oblivious to the gesture as she turned pages and kept pointing out passages that referred to Sollis’s search.

  Kota placed a hand on the journal to stop her and smiled. “Then I can keep working for you?”

  “Partner,” Erin corrected. “But only if Miles agrees to be the one to break the news to Dad.”

  They both turned on the vampire, whose smile quickly faded. “Oh, dear. Can’t I just go back out in the sun?”

  Miles Report II

  [The following report has been recovered from File Codename: Northern Sun]

  Talia,

  Sometimes I believe that you have the worst timing. Really, the one time you step out of the office and you miss me. Someone would almost believe you planned it that way.

  Sorry that I couldn't wait around for you to get back from whatever it is you do, but it seems someone is eager to get me out of the city. The Madame is overplaying her hand again. No doubt she hopes a trip to the mountains will put me out of the way for the rest of the winter, but I’m afraid I will have to disappoint her.

  I noticed that your weather mage stepped out as well. Probably for the best. I can’t afford another strike on my record at the moment, but I think I left a clear enough message sprayed across the floor of his workroom. If he has any sense, he will stay out of my way until these burns heal, and even then I better not hear any of that “weather is unpredictable” nonsense again.

  I left the Circa sorceress with the wizards. They said they should be able to undo whatever spell she’s under after a little trial and error, but you may want to keep an eye on them all the same. The woman does not waste time, and unless the chief is looking to start a petting zoo he may not like what he finds. Once they figure it out, you will need to send one of the wizards to Circa to take care of the others.

  [Omitted: address of the guardian of the sorceress’s victims]

  The man has trust issues, especially when magic is involved. That’s the main reason I chose him to look after the woman’s “pets,” but whoever you send is going to have an interesting time. I suggest Douglas.

  Too bad it won’t help with that other problem. From what the wizards who were willing to talk to me said, it sounds like her spell is probably just a twist on some generic one. Apparently, even that’s complicated enough to undo, yet more proof that magic is not worth the effort. I suppose you were right about looking into other options until we can get some cooperation on the other end.

  I found the other reports. Made for some interesting reading, but are you sure? Some of these witnesses sound as if they could not identify a wolf if it sat in front of them and howled the tune to “The Soldier’s Dandelion.” There are at least six that claim to have seen it at night, so those can be tossed out, as well as the one from Circa. I met the man, and he would have a hard time seeing anything if it wasn't in the bottom of his glass.

  Only three of them sound close enough to be our mark. I put them under the basket of apples on your desk. Got them for free on my ride back to the city, and I know how much you love apples. Those three should be enough to give me something to look into while I’m tracking down this hatter.

  If you find anything else, send it to my com. Use the Barren code, just to be safe. Oh, and sorry about the drawings on those papers, I hope they weren’t important. Be a dear and scrap them for me, would you? Unless you get bored and want something to look into, of course.

  Next time I’m in the city, you can call in a few favors of your own.

  Miles

  Entry 47: Fall Rush

  The day after Miles left the inn, Erin and Kota met the first of the “fall rush” he had told them about nearly a month ago. In ones, twos, or groups of as many as ten at a time, travelers passed through the small town, often staying a night or more at the Last Inn. Most of them proved to be traders, and were willing enough to do what business they could in town before moving on to the capital or toward the coast. The rest came and went for other reasons, but after what happened with the wayfarers, Erin found that she did not want to ask any questions.

  They came from every direction, dressed in outlandish clothes and speaking with strange accents, but no one was heading north with winter coming on. Those willing to talk told Erin about blizzards in the north, and the highest mountain villages that were already snowed in for the rest of the year.

  With all of these people coming and going, Erin and Kota went back to their agreed routine with Erin watching the inn by day and Kota at night. While Erin kept busy enough, she noticed that most mornings Kota would leave a note for her telling about guests that arrived in the late hours of the night or who had left so early in the morning that the sun had not risen yet.

  They had enough money to pay off the rent for the month, and Erin thought the look on Mayor Geld’s face when she gave him the money well worth it, with even enough left over to feed all of these people and themselves.

  Unfortunately, they had little time for anything else. Erin could barely start reading Sollis’s journal before someone else would walk in, or they would have to fix whatever the guests had broken this time. She knew Kota hadn’t looked at it, and more than once wondered if he even cared. It was his curse they were trying to break, but every time she tried to bring it up with him he would make some kind of excuse to go running off or try to change the subject.

  At least he handled the barrage of people surprisingly well. When Erin asked him about it once, he shrugged and said, “It’s not like they’re going to be around long enough to notice anything. Everyone’s trying to get somewhere else.”

  She supposed that made enough sense. People passed through town, they didn’t stay there. Kota must have been unique in that he actually set out with the place as his destination, and not just a stop on the way to somewhere else.

  That is, until the hunter arrived.

  One night, a band of men with swords at their side arrived on the front step of the inn. Erin thought Kota might pass out when she opened the door and welcomed them in, but he hovered around the door to the kitchen where he could listen to what they said as she asked, “Staying the night?”

  “I guess,” one of the men said, his disdain obvious both from his tone and the contemptuous look he threw at the room. “This the only inn in town?”

  “Yes,” Erin said, and for once wished it wasn’t. She would have been glad to tell these guys they could go somewhere else.

  “Figures,” one of the others muttered.

  They paid, after more grumbling, and settled around the tables right in the center of the room. The rest of the guests took one look at them and either moved further into the corners or decided to turn in for the night.

  Erin went back into the kitchen with Kota to get the sandwiches and drinks which they had not asked for so much as demanded.

  “Do I have to l
et them stay?” Erin groaned. Two minutes in the room with the men had not improved her initial impression. They smelled, like they hadn’t bathed or showered in weeks.

  “They might cause more problems if you don’t,” Kota said. He put together the last of the sandwiches and put them all on a platter. “They’ll leave soon enough.”

  “But what if these are the hunters Geld hired?” Erin whispered.

  Kota actually laughed at the idea, the sound surprising Erin for more than one reason. He helped her carry the food and drinks out to the table in time to see the door open again and let in another group, this one of young men from the town.

  “Ah, the patrol,” Kota said, sounding less certain now.

  This was not the first time people from town had stopped by the inn. While they weren’t looking for rooms, they were willing to buy some food once word of Kota’s cooking got around. As an extra bonus, they could get a good look at the latest strangers and get some new fuel for the town’s gossip mill. Building on Miles’s idea to let the townspeople get used to Kota, Erin usually dragged him out and tried to encourage him to chat and get to know them. This made for some awkward talk when the regulars on the town patrol started talking about the “beast,” but otherwise Erin thought things seemed to be going well.

  The two groups quickly fell into talking while they demolished the platter of sandwiches between them, and it did not take long before the baker’s son asked the question that Erin had been dying to know.

  “So, are you here after the beast that’s been running around?”

  “What beast would that be, a rabbit?” one of the men asked, and his friends were quick to laugh.

  “No, a giant wolf monster, with a big scar over its eye,” one of the patrol said, gesturing at the wrong side of his face. Kota started to correct him, but Erin elbowed him.

  “Oh, another one?” the swordsman grinned and leaned back in his chair. “Let me guess, you haven’t seen it since?”

  “Well, no,” the baker’s son admitted. “We think the patrols are scaring it off, honestly. Probably hiding out in the forest, waiting to take out anyone that comes near its den.”

  “Yeah, right. You know how many people claim to have seen some monster wolf? And every time it just so happens to ‘disappear’ whenever someone looks into it. We don’t chase ghosts, right boys?”

  There was agreement from around the table, along with a “not on the rate your man pays” thrown in.

  “See?” Kota murmured to Erin before he stepped up to refill one of the glasses. “Need anything else, guys?”

  “I’d like to hear a bit more about this wolf.”

  Everyone’s head turned toward the door, where a tall, broad shouldered man nearly filled the frame. He walked in with a strange, loping gait that reminded Erin more of how a cat walked than a person. An unstrung bow in his hand and the quiver of arrows on his back next to his bag were sign enough without the look that Kota gave her as well.

  The hunter smiled and added, “A room would be nice, too.”

  Entry 48: Tracking

  One of the swordsmen sitting around the table looked up at the hunter and said, “You really believe there’s some kind of monster wolf running around?”

  The man shrugged, the arrows in his quiver rattling at the gesture. “Like you said, the story’s been getting around, right? Seems like most of the villages I’ve been to lately have somebody who has claimed to see the thing.”

  He started to pull up a chair but stopped and looked at Kota and Erin with a questioning look. Kota immediately pressed the hair down over his left eye while pretending to be occupied with cleaning off the other tables.

  “Right, you mind if I ask you a few questions about the room later?” he said to Erin.

  “Er, sure,” Erin said. She hesitated and then asked, “What do you mean, other villages have been talking about the wolf? I mean, what are the chances it’s the same one?”

  The hunter put his stuff down and took a seat. “Well, it would be different if people just talked about a big wolf, wouldn’t it? Wolves are common enough, and villagers love a good werewolf story.”

  “I saw it though,” the baker’s boy interrupted. “Running right through town, bigger than me and Tommy here together.”

  “That’s not saying much,” one of the swordsmen said with a chuckle. “So you admit it yourself, this is probably just some animal desperate for food. Speaking of which...”

  He looked at the empty platter and back at Erin, with a pointed stare. Kota, seeing a chance to escape from the room, quickly said, “I’ll make some more then, shall I?”

  As he bent over the table, the hunter replied, “If it’s a normal wolf, then why is it that every eyewitness claims the beast has some kind of marking on its face?”

  Kota straightened up and resisted the urge to make sure his left eye was still covered.

  “What’s so special about a scar?” one of the men asked as Kota started back toward the kitchen. He gave Erin a reassuring smile, but she could see that the platter shook in his hands.

  “Not a scar,” the hunter corrected. “A mark, red and orange like a sun or a flame. Show me the blade that could leave a mark like that.”

  “That’s right,” the baker’s son said. “Who told you about that?”

  “No one had to,” the hunter declared. “I saw it myself, in the far mountains back at the beginning of the year. I’ve been tracking it ever since.”

  Erin looked for Kota, but he had already disappeared into the kitchen.

  “You’re telling me you’ve been chasing the beast for nearly a year?” The swordsmen laughed, and one of them said, “Not much of a tracker then are you?”

  The hunter placidly stared at them until the laughter died away on its own and then said, “Not chasing. Just keeping tabs on it. Not much use killing it if I’m not going to be paid, right?”

  He grinned and the other men nodded. Erin noticed that the members of the town patrol were staring at him with outright awe, which grew even greater as he changed the subject and began to tell about his exploits, such as how he slew the fire-breathing ram that had terrorized a group of shepherds in the uplands.

  The hunter could tell a story, that was for sure. He knew just when to lower his voice to get the others to lean in, or to bellow a line that sent at least one of the boys flying backwards in his chair. It did not take long before the entire room had gathered around to listen in, and Erin only knew that Kota had returned at all when she took a sandwich from the refilled platter.

  After the tale of the “Stalking Terror” of Ninea, the town patrol suddenly remembered that they needed to go, and even the swordsmen seemed subdued as they and the other guests retreated to their rooms for what would no doubt be a sleepless night. Soon the room seemed darker and quieter than ever, making the howling wind outside that much more noticeable.

  Erin already knew she would have a hard time going out at night after that one as she began to gather the plates and dishes. She nearly dropped the whole lot when the hunter suddenly spoke out of the quiet.

  “I meant to ask, how much for a room?”

  “For one night?” she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

  “That works. Tomorrow I’ll make an arrangement with your mayor to pay for the rest of my stay.” The hunter followed Erin to the desk, where he exchanged the money for a room key. “Have you seen the wolf?”

  “Er...” Erin struggled for too long to remember if she should have seen it or not. “No, no I don’t think so. I saw the cannishift a few months ago, but it was, um...”

  “Yes, the mayor told me about that in his letter. He thought it might be the same thing this time,” the hunter said. To Erin’s surprise, he looked over in the corner behind the desk and said, “What about you, have you seen it?”

  Kota shifted in the shadows, the movement alerting Erin that he was even there. “Can’t say that I have. I was going to tell you, Erin, I could handle the dishes if you want to
go to bed. I think it’s my shift now.”

  “Right, of course,” Erin said, but she suspected that Kota had really been hiding. “So, Mr..”

  “Terra,” the hunter said. He smiled and rubbed his jaw. “And you two are Erin Smith and Koda, right? The mayor said you two ran the inn.”

  “Kota,” Kota corrected, surprised that the mayor had even got it that close. “So you’re the hunter Madame Elzwig told the mayor about?”

  “Ah, so that’s how he heard of me!” Terra laughed and ran a hand through his short, dark hair. “I wondered, I don’t normally work this area. But yes, I have helped the Judge with a few jobs, when the Empire bounty hunters couldn’t be called in. I don’t charge as much as they do, as long as the work’s good.”

  “Good?” Erin asked.

  “You know, fun, a challenge. Take this wolf. One look at that mark, and I knew I should keep an eye on this thing. This is going to be interesting.”

  Kota sighed and said, “I’m afraid so.”

  He showed Terra up to his room while Erin put the money away in the lockbox. When she went back to her room, she could hear Kota pacing the floor of the common room, back and forth. By the time she fell asleep, she could still hear him, back and forth and back and forth, with no sign of stopping soon.

  Entry 49: Lay of the Land

  The hunter, Terra, made no noise as he left his room and walked down the hall. No one else seemed to be moving at this hour, and the snoring coming from the last room on the left more than covered his footsteps on the stairs.

  That did not stop Kota from looking around, half-rising from his seat at one of the tables by the window.

  “Can I help you?” he asked, trying to block Terra’s view of the table.

  The hunter stopped and stared. “What is that?”

  He walked closer and the small, dusty gray animal perched on the table disappeared with a twitch of its nose.

  “That was, uh...”

  Terra bent over to see if it had disappeared underneath the table and noticed the nearly empty saucer of milk. Putting two and two together with a speed that frightened Kota, he straightened up and said, “That was a house spirit!”

  Kota saw the wisp of gray near the top of the stairs and looked back at the hunter. With a shrug he said, “I call him Voi.”