The Wandering Inn_Volume 1

by Pirateaba

  “Not them!”

  The [Merchant] exclaims in a loud voice, and one of the guards shouts a warning. Surprisingly, every single shopkeeper on the street suddenly begins to scramble, shouting as they grab at their wares and try to get everything inside.

  The faeries fly down, laughing at the chaos as the man grabs at his magical rings and amulets, face suddenly hunted. Erin looks confused.

  “Hey wait, where are you going? I thought you were going to sell us that bad ring!”

  The man turns to us, looking frantic.

  “Look, we’ll do business when the Winter Sprites are gone, alright? If I keep my wares out in the open they’ll scatter my goods and chase away all my customers!”

  He rushes towards the nearest door, his guards grabbing the rest of his goods. Other shopkeepers do the same and the pedestrians scatter indoors as well, fearing the wrath of the fickle nuisances. In seconds, the street is deserted except for two humans and the faeries.

  Erin and I stare up at the faeries. They stare back as they hover in the air, watching us. One of them waves.

  —-

  After our short shopping trip in the market, the next place Erin and I decide to go is indoors, where the faeries can’t follow. And where we find ourselves is the Adventurer’s Guild. Erin and I stare around the big room as she whispers to me.

  “It looks sort of like Selys’s guild, but not, don’t you think? I mean, this place is bigger. A lot bigger.”

  I nod as I stare around the Adventurer’s Guild in Celum. This place is certainly a lot bigger, and the room has space for up to six receptionists at once, rather than the single desk for two in Liscor’s guild. I tap on the desk for the receptionist as I ask about hiring a team. She directs me towards the adventurers sitting in one corner of the room. Apparently, hiring an escort is done by contacting the adventurers directly, not through the guild here.

  I stare at the groups of adventurers sitting together. Some are Bronze-rank, most are, probably. And others are Silver-rank, whether individually or in teams. A lot of them look tired, cleaning their equipment after some mission, and others look like they’re just here to socialize.

  Damnit. Which group should I talk to? What’s the standard rate for hiring them? Can I trust a Silver-rank team? I know none of this.

  Neither does Erin, but she has an almost insultingly cavalier attitude towards this.

  “Let’s just ask them. If any of them say they can take us to Liscor, let’s try it!”

  “You want me to just walk over there and ask them about escort duty?”

  I hate talking to new people. I hate starting up conversations, and this is practically my worst nightmare. But Erin just shrugs at me. I grind my teeth.

  “What do you expect me to say? ‘Hey, we’re looking for a group of adventurers to escort us to Liscor. Know anyone who might be interested?’”

  “That sounds good. Why not?”

  I stare at Erin. Well, it might work.

  “You say it. I think it’s best if it comes from you.”

  Erin nods and begins walking over to the nearest table where two brawny warriors are sitting and drinking together. Halfway there she turns back and looks at me with a smile of realization.

  “You know who’d be great, Ryoka? The Horns of Hammerad! Why don’t we just ask them?”

  I blink. Oh. Of course. That would save costs or they could redirect us. I walk over towards Erin, but then one of the adventurers sitting at the table raises his voice?

  “The Horns of Hammerad? Aren’t they all dead?”

  Erin beams at them.

  “What? No! No, they’ve reformed, didn’t you hear? After they uh—they lost people at the Ruins in Liscor—”

  One of the men snorts. He’s in his late twenties by the looks of him, and he’s got day-old stubble on his face.

  “I heard about that disaster. Four adventuring teams dead and only a handful of survivors thanks to a bunch of incompetent Captains. You’re telling me someone’s stupid enough to keep the name after that? They should have quit being adventurers before they ever went on another mission.”

  I stop in my tracks and bite my lips. Erin pauses, and the smile on her face freezes. The second adventurer looks at his companion.

  “Who survived? I heard everyone got slaughtered down there.”

  “At least two made it out. The half-Elf and the Silver Captain.”

  “Ceria Springwalker and Yvlon Byres? I wouldn’t join a group with those two even if they were the last team on the continent. Anyone stupid enough to work with them is going to get killed like their last groups.”

  Don’t punch them. I know that. Erin’s voice is flat.

  “They’re both great adventurers. They’re my friends.”

  The two men shake their heads at her.

  “They’re idiots and cowards who got good folk who trusted them killed.”

  “You might think they’re on your side, but mark my words, girl. Trust them and you’ll end up with an arrow in your back.”

  They don’t even bother lowering their voices. People at other tables look up as they hear the two men begin to argue with Erin.

  “That’s not true! Ceria’s really brave! So is Yvlon!”

  “The half-Elf? I bet she turned and ran the instant she got into trouble. She’s a coward. Calruz was the only real fighter in the Horns of Hammerad.”

  “Take that back!”

  Erin’s getting mad, and I’m eying the two men seated at their table. They look a lot tougher than the adventurers Erin got into a fight with at her inn. And they’re just talking, not sexually harassing anyone.

  But my blood is still boiling. The Horns of Hammerad don’t deserve this. They were all brave, and I could tell them that, but what would be the point? The two sneering men clearly don’t want to listen; the best thing I could do is kick them both in the face.

  I could start a fight—

  But I close my hand and feel the stumps of my fingers. No. Not here. Not now. We need the help of some adventurers, even if it’s not them.

  I put my hand on Erin’s shoulder. She’s tense and glaring.

  “Come on, Erin. Let’s talk to someone else.”

  “If you want real protection, Miss, you’d best ask us or a real Silver-rank team. Not a bunch of half-wits that can’t even slay a few undead.”

  I have to drag Erin backwards. She glares at me, but I manage to pull her back successfully. Five steps. Then I run into someone.

  “Oh, sorr—”

  I pause as I stare into a familiar, beat-up face. An adventurer pauses with four of his buddies as they walk towards the receptionist’s desk. All of them look beat-upon; the result of a bar fight they were on the losing end of.

  The lead adventurer certainly recognizes me.

  He takes one look at Erin and begins edging towards the door. Too late. As my grip slackens, Erin pulls herself away. She walks back over to the table with the two adventurers and smiles at them as she puts her hands on the edge of the table.

  “You should take back what you said about Ceria and Yvlon. They’re my friends and they did everything they could to keep everyone else alive.”

  “We said exactly what everyone else was thinking, Miss. The Horns of Hammerad—both past and old—are a team of fools.”

  Erin takes a deep breath. Her eyes are wide and she gives them a big smile.

  “Okay. Fine. If that’s the way it’s gonna be then—table flip attack!”

  On the whole, I sometimes wonder if Erin’s the more violent one between the two of us.

  —-

  “Well, now we’re banned from the Adventurer’s Guild. At least for a while.”

  I sigh as Erin and I stump along down the street, followed by a cloud of faeries. I’m resigned to them by this point. They fly after us, laughing about the fight. Erin walks behind me, frowning.

  “I don’t regret a thing! Those guys were jerks!”

  “Yeah, they were. But now they won’t help us i
f we need to get back to Liscor.”

  “So? We’ll just get the Horns of Hammerad to do it. Ceria and Pisces and Yvlon and Ksmvr can probably defend us against anything we run up against.”

  “Maybe. But we don’t know where they are. I can try and make a trip to Albez—or put the word out I’m looking for them in other cities, but it’ll take longer.”

  “That’s fine.”

  Erin nods, and I glance up at the faeries flying overhead. They look…slightly bored, actually. They’re still laughing and one of them is dropping a steady stream of powdery snowflakes into my eyes, but the rest are just following along, quiet for once.

  Huh. I guess even faeries get bored. I shrug and keep walking.

  “I’m going to do another delivery—to another city probably. I’ll be back tonight unless something comes up. You okay until then?”

  “I’m gonna blow something up.”

  I grin.

  “That sounds like fun. Just try not to piss Octavia off too much, okay?”

  I try to drop Erin off at the [Alchemist]’s shop, but to my surprise Octavia herself runs out, waving one of her arms at me as if it’s a club.

  “Ryoka? Ryoka!”

  Erin walks happily into the shop as the stitch-girl confronts me. Octavia looks stressed out, sort of understandable given that she’s going to be babysitting Erin all day today. Again.

  “Hey Octavia, Erin wants to blow something up.”

  The young woman’s dark skinned face goes pale as she looks back at Erin in her shop. I feel a bit bad, so I try to reassure her.

  “She probably won’t. She’s looking forwards to experimenting with new food recipes, Octavia.”

  “Absolutely not! Do you know how much she’s cost me already? One day was in our agreement. I could see two days, maybe three in light of our past arrangements and for future business’s sake, but four? Erin’s already cost me a small fortune in ingredients, not to mention all the time I could be making my own potions. If I’ve got to keep helping her out I insist on some kind of reimbursement. I know we had a bargain, but this—”

  I have to take a step back as Octavia shouts and waves her hands at me. Looks like she’s hit the end of her patience. Damn. What should I do?

  I hesitate, then take the most expedient course of action. Octavia’s ranting slows and stops dead as I start pulling gold coins out of the bag at my side. From the looks of it, it shouldn’t be able to hold all the gold that’s in there, but it’s magical. There’s a massive book inside as well, and that still amazes me.

  “Fine. I get it. Here’s more money for Erin, okay?”

  I pour the gold into Octavia’s hands as the [Alchemist] gapes at me. Twenty golden coins—pretty darn heavy and glittering in the light, wink up at the girl as she looks from the money to me.

  Twenty gold coins. Yes, it’s a lot, but it’s only a fraction of the money I got from Teriarch. And by the way Octavia goes silent, it’s a lot more than she thought she’d get.

  “So. Is there a problem with Erin?”

  “Erin? What? Of course not!”

  Octavia beams.

  “Erin, my favorite customer. I’d be happy to—let me just say that as long as she wants to keep working with me, I’d be delighted to help out. Her achievements really are stellar, and let me tell you that I think she’s onto a real breakthrough—”

  “Glad to hear it. Just get her whatever she wants, Octavia.”

  I let the [Alchemist] practically skip back into her shop and walk off, shaking my head. The faeries follow me, half imitating my shaking head motion, the other half debating whether it would be more enjoyable to watch Erin blow something up in the shop.

  I don’t know. I’m glad that Erin’s happy, and I’m fine with leaving her alone to cause havoc in Octavia’s shop. She’ll probably be fine with Octavia to stop her from doing something too insane.

  But—

  I’m just a bit tired. At the end of my rope, you could say. It’s not that I don’t have anything to do; I’ve got too much to do.

  Time to go on another delivery. I start walking in the direction of the Runner’s Guild again. I might not be feeling at the top of my game, but at least I can always count on running to take the stress away.

  —-

  “I’m looking for a delivery to another city, but I can’t find any requests. Do you have any?”

  The receptionist in the Runner’s Guild looks up at me and frowns. She taps one finger against her lips and nods at last.

  “We…have the daily letter delivery for Wales if you’re interested.”

  Her hesitation is warranted. No one likes that delivery. I make a face.

  “Nothing else?”

  “Nothing. Sorry Miss Ryoka.”

  The [Receptionist] shrinks back slightly in her seat as I stare at her. After a minute I nod.

  “Fine. Give me that delivery.”

  —-

  I run through the snow, and then onto harder, slippery ground that’s been frozen over and not thawed. I frown and run back into the snow. It might be more constricting, but thanks to Erin’s soup that I took another drink of before I left, it’s easier to run through the grass underneath the snow than the slippery road.

  I’m doing the bulk letter delivery to Wales. It’s…well, it’s not exactly anything to write home about. Or anywhere else for that matter.

  Bulk delivery. Just like the post office, letters are taken in and a huge bag full of them is sent off with a City Runner each day to the other cities. It’s a standard delivery, and since it’s so easy, it pays next to nothing.

  I haven’t done it since I started working as a Runner. Where did all the big deliveries go? Do people just not need anything during the winter months? No, that can’t be true. Must just be a slow day.

  But, like always, I’m not alone. A cloud of faeries flies around me, watching me with heavy-lidded eyes as I run at a good pace through the snow. But all the faces of the faeries aren’t filled with their usual calculated expressions of glee or anticipation. Instead, they all look bored.

  It’s actually sort of bugging me. I glance around at the faeries. Some are frowning, and I rarely see them do that. Why haven’t they gone to bother someone else? But then one flying furthest from me speaks, and I hear her voice clearly over the rushing wind.

  “No. This is boring. I don’t want to do it anymore.”

  That’s odd. I stare at the faerie who said that. She has a very unhappy expression on her face. She flies into the center of the herd of faeries and raises her voice as she points at me.

  “You’re boring now. Boring. Mortal, do something interesting.”

  “I’m no one’s monkey. Get lost.”

  I wave at the faerie as she flies around me. She blows ice fragments into my face, making me curse and nearly trip as she shouts at the other faeries.

  “See? She does naught! I won’t follow anymore. Not even if a Wyvern flew down and dragged her screaming into the air!”

  All the faeries look up hopefully. So do I. Nothing. The faerie makes a disgusted sound.

  “I am done. There are other places to be, other mortals to watch and bother. Not her.”

  That sounds completely fine to me. Why wouldn’t the faeries go annoy someone else if I’m not entertaining them? They’ve done so before.

  But this time, the faerie’s words seem to have a lot more significance to them. The other faeries exchange looks, and then begin to argue overhead.

  “But she wants—”

  “Nae, I don’t care as well! We’ve done this too long!”

  “Yeah! She went to the Dragon and nothing happened!”

  “I’m going!”

  “Me too!”

  “I’m staying. No. Wait. I’m going too!”

  “Let’s go bother a King! Or a Queen!”

  “I want to eat berries in the jungle!”

  The faeries…begin flying away. They flutter upwards in a storm of flashing wings and movement. I stare up at them, my
heart beating out of my chest for some reason.

  They’re going? Forever? Or will they come back? What they said—

  I don’t mind. Not at all. If the Frost Faeries leave me alone, no one will be happier than I…

  I stumble on something in the snow. When I raise my foot, I see blood. Cut my skin on a bit of rock. Damn.

  Then I look up, and they’re gone. The sky is clear, and the faeries—

  The Frost Faeries are gone. The winter they brought remains, but the magic has left. I feel empty. Relieved?

  No. Not relieved. They’re gone, and I don’t know why.

  I turn back to my run. Don’t think about it. Why would they do that? What did they mean? How was I boring? Was it something I did? What was so wrong about the game of riddles with Teriarch?

  A flash of liquid ice to my left. My head snaps around so fast I hear a crick.

  They’re not all gone. I see a pale blue shape flying in the air beside me. A Frost Faerie, easily keeping pace with me as I run through the snowy landscape.

  One of them is still following. Just one, flying up and to my right, sitting in the air as her wings beat disproportionately slowly to the speed she’s going. Just one.

  For some reason, the tension in my heart eases. I feel a bit lighter, although I don’t know why. I stare at the faerie and nearly trip again. She waves at me and grins.

  Why is she here? I open my mouth to ask, and then see something to my right. Something closing in fast.

  Instantly, I reach for a potion at my belt and slow as I fixate on that, forgetting completely about the faerie. I see a blur—something racing through the snow, and—is that laughter? And I see a pale, pinched face, and catch a glimpse of someone for just one second before she’s past me, speeding down the frozen road at a pace I could never match.

  I come to a dead stop in the snow, my feet melting the snow I stand on as I stare at the already distant figure running past me, towards another city.