by Pirateaba
More than right, in fact. Perfect. Lyonette was in the kitchen, already spreading out food on the countertops. She turned to Erin, looking pleading.
“Can I help? Or at least watch? I’ve got the [Basic Cooking] skill now, actually. I’m still no good, but—”
Erin smiled at the other girl and put a hand on her arm. She grinned, and after a moment Lyonette smiled back. In her corner, Mrsha smiled too, and stared at the food as she waited for the right moment to pounce.
Erin grabbed a knife. She had a feeling she’d need to make a ton of food tonight.
“Let’s get cooking.”
—-
Klbkch walked up towards the inn on the hill outside the Liscor, ignoring the cold snow that crunched around his uncovered feet. The Antinium didn’t have much use for clothes, but they were aware of their bodies’ inability to regulate extreme temperatures. Thus, Klbkch kept moving and only stopped in front of the door.
He hesitated. It would be good to see Erin again. But there was so much to talk about! What should he say?
Greetings first. Klbkch knocked and then wondered if he should have brought a gift. Wasn’t that customary after a long time?
Too late now. The Antinium waited, hearts pounding a bit faster. He had so much that needed to be said, but perhaps it was Ryoka he should talk to? And yet, Erin was vital in so many ways…
After a moment, Klbkch realized no one had come to answer the door. He listened, and realized there was noise coming from inside. A lot of it.
Cautiously, Klbkch opened the door. A wave of sound, heat, and movement nearly overwhelmed his senses.
The inn was packed! Or at least, it was fuller than he had ever seen it. Klbkch walked into the room and saw Lyonette going from table to table with plates, carrying mugs, and Mrsha skulking between table legs, searching for scraps and occasionally stealing some from plates.
The room was filled with people Klbkch knew, and many people he didn’t. Griffon Hunt, the Halfseekers, and the Horns of Hammerad were occupying one section of the room, talking, arguing, laughing loudly. Across from them, a group of Humans and one Drake were eating, laughing and occasionally getting up to make some kind of speech. Klbkch was sure he’d never seen them in Liscor. Why was there a child with them? He was sitting with the female Drake.
And then—there was Selys, Krshia, a dark-skinned young woman he didn’t know and…Pawn? The Antinium looked up and paused when he saw Klbkch. He was sitting with the Gnoll and Drake—and Ksmvr, of all beings. Klbkch knew he shouldn’t have been surprised to see Ksmvr, but he hadn’t expected the two Antinium to be sitting together.
Ksmvr froze when he saw Klbkch, but Klbkch ignored him. He saw Zel Shivertail, making his way over to the table with the adventurers. The Drake froze when he saw Klbkch, and then kept walking, stiffly.
So many people. But where was Erin? Klbkch looked around and then saw her. She was coming out of the kitchen. He made towards her instantly.
“Erin.”
“Klbkch!”
She greeted him the instant she saw him. Erin beamed and hugged Klbkch—he hugged her back, gingerly.
“How have you been? No, wait—it’s good to see you! Do you want something to eat? Let me find you a place to sit!”
“Actually, Erin. I was hoping to converse with you about—”
“Sure, sure! But later, okay? I’ve got to keep serving—”
“Hey Erin!”
Some raised his voice. Klbkch saw a man get to his feet unsteadily. He waved in Erin’s direction.
“You have to give—show us again how to do the chant! The one with the [Witches]! We can’t decide how it should be performed.”
“Oh, that one? Just a second!”
Erin called out and smiled at Klbkch, looking distracted.
“That’s from Macbeth. It’s a play. Oh, wait, you don’t know what a play is. I’ll explain it in a bit—just wait and I’ll get Lyonette to bring you some fried bee!”
She ran off before Klbkch could say another word. Forlornly, the Antinium stood in place, staring around the room.
“Hey, Klb. Over here.”
Someone addressed him by name. Klbkch turned, and saw Relc sitting by himself at a table. The Drake grunted as Klbkch sat down. He had a huge bowl of corned beef in front of him, and three tankards. He drank from the fourth as Klbkch stared at him.
“Noisy, isn’t it?”
“It is unusual. I did not expect to see you here.”
“Why? Because I’m a Goblin-hating jerk?”
“Yes. Did Erin react negatively towards your presence?”
“I think she was too busy to get mad.”
The Drake stared moodily at his food.
“She said hi. And she didn’t kick me out. I guess that’s good, right?”
Klbkch nodded. There was so much sound here! He was used to noisy taverns and inns—it was practically their only state of being. But not here. This was different. And he wasn’t sure he liked it.
“Bee? Someone wanted—oh, hello Klbkch!”
Lyonette bustled over, a bee on a plate. She handed it to Klbkch and turned back to the kitchen. The Antinium stared at the bee, and realized he was hungry. As he ate, he spoke to Relc.
“You seem morose. Why? You being allowed to stay here seems to be a positive thing.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Relc picked at his food. Klbkch crunched one of the bee’s legs in his mandibles, savoring the honey and butter coated onto the insect.
“It’s just…I feel like we’re not her guests, anymore, y’know? I mean, we’re guests here and we pay and get fed—and this is good grub, but we’re not her guests anymore. We’re just guests.”
“I see.”
Klbkch looked around the room. He looked at countless faces, all of whom knew Erin by name, and felt a sense of isolation in his chest.
“I feel the same way.”
“See? It’s not just me!”
Relc drained his mug. He waved for Lyonette to bring him another—and had to keep on waving because Lyonette was busy.
“I guess we didn’t know what we had. But remember when Erin was just by herself? We could come in at any time and she’d be sitting with us…”
“It was pleasant.”
Klbkch nodded as he tore pieces off of his bee. Relc smiled.
“Hah. Remember the pasta?”
“I do.”
“And now—well, now I can look over and see old man Zel sitting right there. Zel Shivertail. The Tidebreaker himself. Eating in this inn. It’s crazy.”
Klbkch nodded silently. He knew that Relc knew of his past history. Klbkch was as famous as Zel. More famous. At least among his own kind. But the extent of that fame was diluted among other races. Relc had only known him as Klbkch the Slayer at first. It was not the same.
“And over there—two teams of Gold-rank adventurers. Gold-rank. You barely see them in the best inns in big cities, and there are two staying here. I could take any one of them on by myself, of course—”
“Of course. Understand I merely say this to act as a friend, not because I believe your combat skills are that advanced.”
“—Shut up, Klb. But I mean, look at them.”
Relc lapsed into silence. Then he dug into his bowl with a spoon and munched down some beef. He wiped at his mouth, looking dispirited.
“Reminds me of when I was back in the army. It reminds me…nah, never mind. I just sorta feel like I’m out of shape, y’know?”
Klbkch nodded.
“I understand your sentiments.”
“I don’t. But I feel out of place and very worthless.”
The two looked over as Olesm collapsed into a seat next to them. The smaller Drake looked despondent as his light blue trail curled up around his chair leg. He slumped forwards onto the table, holding a nearly-empty mug in one claw. Olesm stared at the two guardsmen.
“Mind if I sit here?”
“Go ahead.”
“You appear to be
sitting already.”
“Thanks.”
The Drake sighed, long and loud. Relc poked him with a claw.
“What’s eating you?”
“I wanted to talk to Erin, but she’s busy. And there are so many people here—I feel like I’m not important anymore. I mean, to her. Not that I thought I was—I just want to talk to her, okay?”
“Join the club.”
“Indeed.”
The three sat in silence. The food was good, the company was acceptable, but Erin wasn’t here. Or rather, she was close, but too busy.
After a while, Klbkch spoke.
“It is unseemly to sit and be depressed because of Erin’s good fortune. I believe we should mingle and enjoy ourselves. We will be able to converse with her in time.”
“Mingle? And do what?”
Relc looked annoyed. Klbkch stood up.
“Let us find out.”
Relc exchanged glances with Olesm, but then they stood and entered the party. And it was a party.
“Look at this door! Look at this door!”
Five minutes later, Relc was drunk, laughing, and having the time of his life. He was throwing pieces of bread through the door—which had been laid flat on the ground—into Octavia’s shop, trying to land it in Wesle’s mouth. Thus, he was actually tossing the bits of bread down onto the door’s entrance, whereupon they flew out of the doors sideways, aiming for Wesle as he lay on the floor in front of the enchanted door.
The physics involved created a far trickier game than normal, and the others crowded around the door were laughing.
“Stop getting making a mess in my shop!”
Octavia was shouting at Relc, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“You play so well! Have you been practicing?”
Olesm was dueling Pawn in one corner, and Typhenous, Ulrien and several other people were busy learning the game or playing it as well. Klbkch, standing to one side and eating his sixth bee, saw Erin move over to the game as if attracted by a magnet.
“Hey, I didn’t know you wanted to learn how to play, Lyonette!”
The girl blushed as she carefully placed pieces on the board. Her opponent, Krshia, was thinking hard as she scratched Mrsha by the ears. The Gnoll sat next to her, nibbling on some cheese, her belly round and full.
“Why don’t I teach you all how to play Go sometime? It’d be great!”
Erin was talking to Olesm and Pawn as Klbkch came over. Olesm looked confused.
“Go?”
“It’s a board game! Even more complex than chess! And it’s simple to make—well, sort of simple! I bet we could get a [Carpenter] to fix up a board for us in less than an hour!”
Erin shouted as she tried to explain the game. Olesm and Pawn crowded around Erin, and Klbkch couldn’t help but draw closer to listen too. Erin tried to share the general details of the game, but it was impossible to share everything in the noisy room.
“Later! We can do it later! I know how to play Shogi too…but I can’t remember what all the kanji on the pieces looks like so it’d be weird. But right now—does anyone want to play a game?”
“Me! Oh, me!”
Olesm practically begged Erin for the first game, and Pawn the second. Klbkch found himself playing Erin—but at the same time as she took on Typhenous and Olesm again.
And then—the party kept going. Some people had to sleep earlier, like Mrsha who was carried upstairs by Krshia, and others, like Jasi, left with her younger brother Grev because it was late. But no matter how many people left, Klbkch found that Erin was always talking to someone.
It was true, what Relc had said. Erin was no longer just his friend. Klbkch found that knowledge slightly painful.
He ran into Zel just once. The Drake had avoided him and all the other Antiniium, choosing to hang out with the Humans, or other drakes in the room. But they bumped into each other while going to the bar for another drink.
“Zel Shivertail. Please excuse me.”
The Drake [General] stared at Klbkch with open hostility.
“Why do you know a Human [Innkeeper], Slayer?”
“I could ask you the same question. Coincidence, perhaps?”
“She seems like a decent enough Human, as they go. Foolish, young…but we were all young once. At least, I was. What I don’t understand is why she’d ever befriend the Antinium.”
Klbkch shifted. He was armed with his swords of course, but he had no desire to fight here. Especially because he would die in an instant. Well, it wasn’t the death that bothered him, but the time it would take to revive.
“I do not wish to engage in hostilities here.”
“I won’t break the truce. But I don’t have to pretend to like you.”
Zel turned and walked away. Klbkch let him go. After a while, the Revalantor walked out of the inn, leaving some coins behind on a table for Erin. He stood outside on the snowy hilltop and decided to wait.
—-
Lyonette had never been busier, and in a way, never been happier than tonight. She was running about, serving tables, acting like a common peasant in short. But this peasant was leveling. And this peasant was liked.
By Drakes. By Gnolls. By the Antinium, even. Some part of Lyon still thought of Drakes as warmongering monsters, and Gnolls as overgrown dogs. But it was a part of her that Lyon knew was stupid. When she had been starving, a Drake, Olesm, had brought her food. And she loved Mrsha.
And she also loved this inn. There was electricity in the air that night, a charged room that kept everyone up long, long into the night. In fact, it was closer to morning when the last people staggered out and the adventurers went upstairs—or down into the basement—to sleep.
Lyonette found herself dozing at one of the tables, trying to pile dishes while her eyelids drooped. Erin yawned as she made her way over.
“You sleep. I sleep. Tomorrow we’ll…”
The sentence never finished. Erin just sort of wandered off.
“Here.”
Someone took the plates away. Lyonette looked up and saw Zel smiling at her.
“You’re awake?”
She said it stupidly. Zel grinned.
“What can I say? I like parties, and I’m used to staying up days without sleep.”
“Oh.”
Lyonette turned and looked upstairs. It seemed like a long way to go. Zel chuckled.
“Need a tail? Or—claw? What is it you Humans say, a hand?”
“Something like that.”
The girl grinned at Zel as she saw, out of the corner of her eye, Erin wandering into the kitchen. The Drake frowned as he looked in that direction.
“Is she going to sleep there?”
“She used to.”
Sure enough, the two heard a thump and then faint snoring as Erin immediately fell asleep. Zel shook his head and Lyon grinned.
“She’s a good…good…”
“So you say.”
He started helping Lyonette towards the stairs. But she paused as she put her foot on the first step.
“Something’s happening. Something is…weird…”
Zel paused. Then he frowned.
“Yes. I can feel it too.”
He turned. Lyonette shivered, and looked towards the fire. But it was still hot—and she realized she wasn’t shivering in cold, but rather trembling. The room was shaking.
“What…?”
“Earthquake?”
Zel looked around, ushering Lyonette towards a table. She stumbled towards it, but then realized something was wrong.
“No—look!”
She cried out as she pointed towards the walls. Zel turned and swore. The walls were trembling as well, and—glowing.
“What in the name of the Ancestors is happening?”
Lyonette held onto a table as she heard voices from above. People were waking back up, and stumbling around. She turned, and tried to run for the stairs.
“Mrsha!”
The light grew stronger. Lyonette cried out in
fear, and then, suddenly, everything stopped. It was as if the world had been pushing, shaking as it moved towards something. But now the world had reached its conclusion. The inn returned to normal. The walls grew dark and still.
But it was not the same inn of a moment ago. Lyonette’s legs shook as she steadied herself on the staircase railing for support. She stood up, and stared around the room. Zel stared back.
“What—what happened? I feel…”
Something was different. It was in the air, in the walls, even in the ground. The atmosphere in the inn suddenly felt charged to Lyonette. Zel just stared at her, uncomprehending.
“Why did the shaking stop?”
“I don’t know. But can’t you feel that?”
He shook his head.
“Feel what?”
Lyonette stared at him. He couldn’t feel it, but she could. Untrained as she was, she could feel it in every particle she breathed, every step she took as she walked across the floor of the inn. She raised her hand and concentrated.
“[Light].”
An orb of light drifted upwards from her hand. It glowed deep blue, and then shifted to a murky green; the color of the ocean depths that she had seen only once before. It was just an orb of light—
But it was far larger than it should be. As the ball of light flew upwards, it expanded, turning into a sphere, a tiny blue planet of its own. And more orbs of light rose upwards as well, from the ground, the tables, hovering in the air, a constellation of slowly shifting lights.
“What is it?”
Zel stared wide-eyed at the lights. He looked back at Lyonette, but she was pale-faced too. She had never cast a spell like this before. This—was closer to [Illumination], a spell far beyond her. But all she had cast was [Light].
“What is it? How is this happening?”
“I don’t know. But I can feel it. It’s…everywhere.”
“What is?”
Lyonette held one of the softly glowing orbs out. It turned pure white, and she breathed the words.
“Magic.”
—-
And she woke up, in the moments before the sun rose. Erin sat up as Lyonette and Zel stood in the common room. She stared at the glowing lights floating in her inn, and heard the words, the words that thundered in her mind.
