by Pirateaba
“Don’t worry about your horses, or your wagon. I’ll see to it that no one tries to make off with either. You can rest assured—we’re past thievery and attacking each other here.”
He waved them on. Ceria sat back with a sigh as Erin drooped into the wagon seat beside her.
“I can’t give them clothing and food and stuff? But they need it!”
“If they knew we had a door that could open a portal back to Celum, they’d take it, Erin. I’m sorry, but we’re not going to be able to use it tonight. It’s too risky.”
“I almost want to give it to them.”
“That would be an unforgivable waste.”
Pisces glared at Erin, outraged at the very idea. She sighed, but nodded in agreement.
“Too bad. I guess I’ll stay with you. Maybe we can help fix stuff? I can clean—I’ve got a Skill. Or maybe I can cook? I guess we can’t go sightseeing. Everything’s in ruins!”
“It wasn’t once. There used to be quite a lot of buildings here.”
Ceria looked around at the ruined facades, wondering if she could see where the Adventurer’s Guild had stood. Yvlon was silent too. The last time they’d been here was an age ago, when they had all met to debate going into Liscor’s dungeon. Back then Calruz and Gerial had been alive and…
In the end, the Horns of Hammerad found themselves staying in a former inn now housing citizens alongside visitors. They had to sleep three to a room and Pisces found himself sharing a space with Termin and Ksmvr, much to his distaste. Termin opted to sleep in the stables, though, and Ksmvr agreed to go with him.
For the rest of the night Erin helped the innkeeper—an overworked, balding man who had a big scar on his right shoulder that was still healing—manage the inn. He nearly cried when he realized she could cook better than he could and happily surrendered his kitchen to her.
There wasn’t much Erin could make with what few supplies were available to the city, but she made some potatoes and deer meat into a filling stew for everyone and found herself serving a vast number of people. When word got out she could cook, more food came in with requests that she make it for this group of people, or feed this family.
In the end, Erin only got to rest with the others when it was long since dark. She sat on a table, wishing there was a place to take a bath or shower in the city and knowing there was not.
“I can’t thank you for your help. Your stew went down excellent and you fried that meat to perfection.”
Umbral complimented Erin. She raised a thumb up and smiled weakly.
“Happy to help. How have you all managed to survive like this?”
He looked tired, but determined.
“It hasn’t been easy. We had a lot of help, mainly from our city’s savior. Ylawes Byres and his Silver Swords.”
“Really?”
Erin saw Ylvon sit up a bit. The woman cleared her throat carefully.
“Will you tell us what happened?”
Umbral was only too happy to, and once the other citizens realized he was retelling the story they had to add their own accounts of what had happened, arguing with each other over the details.
The story was simple. After the Goblin attack, Esthelm had fallen into chaos. People had killed each other over scraps in the city and bands of thugs had fought with each other. The undead began rising since they hadn’t been buried and a second Goblin army had come to use them in some twisted scheme.
And then, Ylawes had come in, a literal knight in shining armor. He’d rallied the hearts of the people in the city and helped them fight back both undead and Goblins. With his help—and a timely rescue by a group of adventurers led by the other two members of his Gold-rank group, the Silver Swords, they’d fought the Goblin army off and begun rebuilding the city.
“Wow! Your brother is a hero!”
Erin whispered that to Yvlon as the citizens led them to a monument in the center of the city. It wasn’t a statue—that was coming, according to Umbral, but there was a plaque celebrating Ylawes and his party.
Yvlon stared at the plaque silently. She seemed…distant, to Erin. Not unhappy, but not aglow over her brother’s success either.
“He’s always been a hero. I admire him greatly, Erin. Although I wish he’d not risk his life like this.”
“I guess I understand that. But he did save everyone. And—hey, what’s that?”
There was a second monument next to the one for Ylawes. This one was a grave of all things. Erin didn’t know how she felt about someone being buried right in the center of the city, but she was struck as she stared at the plain tombstone.
“Flowers?”
The grave was blooming with flowers despite the hard soil. Erin stared at it, wondering who it was for. There was no inscription.
“Yes. It’s the strangest thing.”
Umbral explained when Erin and the others returned to the inn and asked about it.
“It marks, well, a young woman. A…hero, I suppose. She fought and died fighting the Goblins. And she was…Human. I think. That’s what Ylawes said, and so we buried her as such. Her and the Goblins who fought for her.”
“Goblins?”
“They fought against their kind. And the undead. Don’t ask me why. But if it hadn’t been for them killing that damned skeleton with the purple eyes, I don’t know what would have happened.”
Umbral didn’t notice the way all the adventurers and Erin went quiet at this. He shook his head after Yvlon asked him whether Ylawes was still in the city.
“He went north, after leaving a group of those adventurers to help guard the city. Lazy pigs they are, too, not helping at all unless there’s a monster about. Not like Sir Ylawes.”
“Did he say why he went?”
“He was looking for his sister. Some adventurer—Yvlon Byres. Apparently he heard she was wounded and came south looking for her.”
Erin bit her lip, but Yvlon just thanked Umbral and changed the topic.
“Do you think we’ll get to Liscor tomorrow?”
Erin asked Termin before they all went to sleep. The wagon driver nodded, yawning and grinning at her.
“We’ll get there before nightfall, don’t you worry. I plan on having myself a good rest before heading back north. Maybe I can supply these folks with food and supplies? I reckon I could make a good profit. I don’t suppose you have room for me and my horses in your inn, do you?”
Erin smiled widely at Termin. She gave him a quick hug, making the old man blush.
“Of course I’ve got room! I’ll have to figure out where to put Erma and Fox, though. Maybe Klbkch can build me a stable? I can’t wait to get back.”
As everyone retired to their rooms, Erin wondered if she should ask Yvlon about her brother. But Yvlon wasn’t in the mood for talk, and so Ceria eyed the bed, trying to figure out if she and Ceria and Yvlon could all squeeze in or if someone was getting the floor.
As they all squeezed in together, Erin whispered to Ceria.
“Ceria?”
“What is it, Erin?”
“Are the people here going to be okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Ylawes is gone. What if the Goblins come back?”
“They’ll fight.”
That came from Yvlon. Her voice was calm, distant, bordering on the verge of sleep.
“They survived two battles with Goblins. Every citizen in the city will have levelled from that. People will have gained classes, levelled up, learned to fight…if a city doesn’t fall, it gets stronger from each disaster.”
“Oh. That’s good.”
After a while Ceria spoke to Erin.
“Do you think Lyonette survived without you?”
Erin shifted uncomfortably—sleeping with someone else in the bed was not normal for her, but the other two women were used to company when necessary. She started to shrug and stopped before she shouldered Ceria in the face.
“She might. I just hope all the walls are standing when I get there. Oh we
ll. Once I’m back, everything’s going to be a-okay!”
With that in mind, Erin went to sleep. The next day, the Horns of Hammerad set out for Liscor. They arrived just before evening as the sun was beginning to set.
—-
When Lyonette woke up, she knew today was going to be a busy day. That was because all of her days were busy now. But she didn’t groan or stay asleep. She just got up, smiled as she pulled the blanket over Mrsha and the Gnoll curled up into a ball, and got to work.
Now that the Wandering Inn was busy, Lyonette found that being an innkeeper, or standing in for one, was a ton of work. Rather, she’d realized how hard just keeping an inn afloat was before now, but now she worked from dawn to dusk without pause just to keep everything running.
The first thing Lyonette did was haul water from the stream. She did it before the sun had risen in the sky, swearing as she hauled the heavy buckets up the slippery, snowy hill into the inn. And then she went down and did it again.
Her new guests drank a lot of water. And while Lyonette could melt snow, it was faster to haul buckets up to get a good supply going. Then she had to rekindle the fire before she could start cooking and that took time too.
And then of course there was actual cooking. Lyonette sweated over food for the morning, but eventually made a big pot of pasta and sausage to go along with the assorted eggs, ham, and fried potatoes and boiled greens for breakfast.
It was a lot of food, but she now had many guests. And as Mrsha thumped down the stairs Lyonette saw the first of her guests come down now.
“Good morning, Mister Shivertail!”
“I told you to call me Zel. Mister and Shivertail aren’t my name at all.”
Zel Shivertail smiled at Lyonette. He sniffed the air and his tail twitched appreciatively. Mrsha’s was thumping the floorboards.
“Is breakfast ready? Don’t hurry on my account.”
“No, it’s ready! We’ve got pasta, fried potatoes, ham, eggs—Mrsha! Stay out of the kitchen!”
The Drake laughed.
“I’ll have some pasta for breakfast, why not? But first I need to use the restroom. Excuse me.”
“Oh—sure!”
Lyonette half-turned as she grabbed Mrsha to stop the Gnoll from running into the kitchen. Mrsha looked disappointed as Lyonette sat her at a table and got plates, utensils, and cups for both her and Zel.
“You sit, understand? You can eat with Zel—after you wash your paws!”
The young woman put no plate out for herself. She knew her other guests would be coming down the stairs soon, now that the smell of food was in the air. She just hoped she’d made enough!
Zel walked back into the inn with a gust of fresh air. Lyonette realized she’d forgotten to refill a bucket with water to wash with, and hurried to do that. She no longer questioned Erin anymore—
Lyonette corrected herself. She no longer questioned Erin just for being someone not born of royalty, but she had to wonder if the other girl had ever anticipated actually having guests in her inn.
Erin had a wonderfully large inn, magnificently crafted with glass windows no less, but it was missing some essential parts.
For instance, more than one outhouse. If there were more than four people living in the inn, having at least two seemed essential to Lyon, but Erin had never mentioned it. Plus, the outhouses were hardly big enough for some of her guests!
Poor Moore the half-Giant had had to find his own place to do his business for the first day, until Lyonette had talked to Pawn. The second outhouse was no bigger, but the third, temporary one was and Moore was quite happy with it.
There were nine private rooms in the inn, a very large number, but just enough for all the adventurers plus Zel, Lyon and Mrsha to sleep in if Mrsha and Lyon shared the same bed. Now that Lyon’s inn was full of guests, she found that once one person woke up, they’d all be up within the hour.
“Good morning!”
Lyonette called out as the first sleepy person tromped downstairs, lured by the food Zel and Mrsha were happily devouring together. Jelaqua Ivirith smiled slowly at Lyonette, and the girl smiled back, despite the slight chill she got when she saw that the Selphid’s host body had a bloodless open gash on her cheek.
“Good morning, Lyonette. Please don’t mind the injury. I know it’s distracting, but I didn’t have time to fix it last night.”
“Oh—it’s no problem! Would you like to have something to eat? We’ve got pasta, eggs, bacon, bread, potatoes, ham—”
“All that? I’ll have a portion of ham, then. With potatoes on the side. And can I get some of that honeyed milk? And some more honey on the side?”
“Right away!”
Lyonette bustled into the kitchen, calling out greetings as more adventurers descended. Some, like Seborn, and Ulrien greeted her quietly, but others were grumpier in the morning. Revi, and Typhenous looked upset to be awake; Halrac just looked grumpy.
“Good morning, Miss Lyon.”
Moore was always polite. Lyon smiled up at him and told him what was on the menu.
“Anything you can have the most of, Miss Lyon. I try not to be picky.”
That was one of the reasons why she needed so much food. Moore being half-Giant meant he ate three times as much as any of her other diners, hence her extensive preparations. But he never complained no matter what he ate; indeed, he was always polite, always seemingly grateful for the care Lyonette took to make sure he was fully fed.
Another thing Lyonette had noticed was each one of her guest’s personalities, their likes and dislikes, but also how they functioned as a group.
Griffon Hunt reminded her of the groups of elite soldiers she’d seen relaxing off duty in the palace or on the streets. Halrac and Ulrien were professionals, Halrac grumpy, Ulrien quiet and serious. Revi and Typhenous were typical mages in a sense, somewhat arrogant and condescending, not to mention picky when it came to relaxing, but equally competent at their job.
They argued a lot. Revi usually had a different opinion than Halrac, and the other two members had their own opinions. But Griffon Hunt settled their arguments by collective vote and for all their dysfunction, they were one solid team when it came to fighting.
The Halfseekers on the other hand were more like friends, and far more accepting of each other’s opinions. They had to be, Lyonette supposed. They were all outcasts in some way.
“Thank you for the food, Miss Lyon.”
Seborn nodded to her as she brought over his plate of eggs and bacon, and two pitchers of water. He drank as much as Moore ate, to keep his aquatic parts hydrated.
“No problem. Would you like more honey?”
“Please!”
Revi and Jelaqua raised their hands and then stared at each other. Jelaqua smiled and Revi looked away.
Honey was a very popular treat among all of Lyon’s guests. With Lyon too as well; sweet things were a luxury and she loved a bit of honey with bread, or in her milk, or with almost anything, really. But Jelaqua liked honey more than anyone but Mrsha and Revi. She claimed Selphids loved the stuff on Baleros.
Revi just had a sweet tooth. Lyonette came over to their table with a small gravy boat full of honey and smiled at the four adventurers.
“Everyone doing okay?”
“We’re quite happy, thank you.”
Ulrien gave her a rare smile which made Lyonette beam. Halrac just grunted and Typhenous blinked and scowled at his plate. Lyonette hesitated, and then asked a question that had kept her up last night.
“I hate to ask, but…is it Griffin Hunt or Griffon Hunt?”
“Huh?”
They looked at her. Lyon blushed a bit.
“It’s just—I’ve heard your name several times, but I kept wondering if it was spelled, uh Griffin or…”
It was Halrac who answered, with an even rarer smile. His was ironic.
“You have a good ear. We’re Griffon Hunt. Not Griffin as in the beast. We’re named after a breed of dog used for hunting, which i
s what we specialize in.”
“Really? I didn’t know that.”
Revi leaned over the table, staring at Halrac.
“But you and Ulrien used to hunt actual Griffins.”
“Yeah. But we’re named after the dog?”
“Why in the name of silk would you do that? No one I know thinks you’re named Griffon Hunt!”
“It’s a play on words. I didn’t come up with it.”
All eyes turned to Ulrien. He raised his hands.
“Not me. It was another member of our group.”
“Who?”
“She’s dead. It doesn’t matter.”
Halrac scowled, and that was it for the conversation for the day, Lyonette knew. She let the adventurers talk and troop out of the inn while she went over to the Halfseekers with a jug of milk.
“Anyone want more milk? Or honey with that? How about seconds?”
“I think we’re good, thank you Lyon.”
Jelaqua smiled again, and Lyon beamed. It made her happy that the adventurers actually smiled while staying here. She knew she had never smiled during breakfast when she was young, only complained about the food.
But both groups of adventurers were happy here. Halrac especially—he and the team of Griffon Hunt were pleased not to be spending so much coin—she’d heard him talking about how they were getting better service for a fraction of the cost ‘that damned Drake’ had charged. And the Halfseekers were happy to find an inn where they weren’t treated with suspicion or fear.
But a good inn was in the end just a place where they could be safe and sleep. Within twenty minutes of sitting down, all the adventurers were ready to go. They trooped out the doors, headed for the city or the dungeon and Lyonette cleaned up. Mrsha carried some plates too—mainly to lick them when she thought Lyon wasn’t looking—and Zel carried his dishes and Mrsha’s to the kitchen, despite Lyonette objecting.
“I’ll be heading into the city too. Would you like me to drop off a list of anything you need bought?”
“Thank you, but I think I’m good for today!”
He nodded and went out into the cold. Lyonette shivered a bit, and then got back to cleaning.
Washing dishes and getting the kitchen ready was another exhausting task. At least she only had to make food for Mrsha and herself for lunch. Sometimes she had to feed everyone then as well, which was very tiring.