by Pirateaba
Lyon had a moment to spare around midday, which made her pause and sigh in relief. Normally she’d be sorting the things she’d had bought from the city—the Gnoll Runner usually carried it up on a sled about now.
Since that fateful day when Mrsha had fallen into the dungeon—the day Lyonette thought of as a near disaster and the rest of the city thought of as a momentous occasion where a new route into the dungeon had been found—she’d been sort of unbanned from entering the city.
It was tricky. Lyonette was fairly certain that if she went through the gates, no one would stop her. The Drake [Guardsmen] certainly wouldn’t, although she wasn’t sure if the Gnolls would. Zel Shivertail’s influence had granted her some kind of pardon, but Lyon didn’t want to test it unless totally necessary, so she just sent shopping lists into the city with coin when she needed food or supplies.
Now she bought directly from Krshia, and the Gnoll came over sometimes to talk with and teach Mrsha. She rarely said much to Lyon, but she had taken a greater interest in the young Gnoll, although she’d said that she didn’t have time to teach the young Gnoll much. And as Lyonette had learned, none of the other Gnolls were willing to get near Mrsha, much less teach her.
After a little while spent resting and then more time outside, playing catch with Mrsha and letting her run about after a small ball like a dog—although this one threw the ball back—Lyonette went back inside to fix a small problem she had.
It was that she had too much food. Ironic, that. Lyon bought in bulk now, in order to feed her guests. She had the funds for it—the adventurers and Zel paid a lot to stay here and none of them were tight with their coin. But there was a finite amount of room in the kitchen pantries to accommodate all the things Lyon bought, and she wondered if there was other space in the inn.
Zel found Lyon as she was opening a room she barely knew existed. He peeked over her shoulder as she stared into a supply closet.
“What’s that?”
She whirled, jumping in surprise.
“You scared me!”
“Sorry.”
He smiled at her without exposing his teeth. Zel sat down tiredly as Lyonette peered inside the closet.
“I think this is some kind of…well, it’s too small to be a proper storage place. I wonder why it’s here. Oh, are you done with your tasks in the city?”
“For today. But there’s going to be a lot more, if all the [Message] spells I’ve been receiving are any clue. I’ve had to talk with Zevarra, the local heads of all the Guilds…it’s a mess.”
Zel sighed. Lyonette wanted to go get him some tea or something stronger, but she’d spotted a small crack along the floorboards. She peered at it suspiciously.
“Is this…because of the Antinium? The new ones, I mean?”
Lyonette didn’t know much about the new Antinium that had sent Liscor into a frenzy, but she knew the one with the blue chitin had helped save Mrsha. That made Lyon trust her at least, but she had also heard the stories of the Antinium Wars and was uneasy about this sudden development. As was, it seemed, the continent.
“Yes. All the cities want to know what’s going on. They’re arguing, and it’s getting very political with Ilvriss around. But I’m also meeting to discuss the issue with the Goblin Lord and this dungeon.”
“Are you part of this city? I mean, do you live here or…?”
“No, but I feel responsible. And I try to help where I can, so I do. It’s a pain, though. Drakes can’t do anything without arguing over it endlessly, and like I said, when it gets political…”
“A lot of Human kingdoms are like that too. Or so I’ve heard.”
“Hah! At least there they don’t declare war on each other when council member insults the Captain of the Watch’s tail. Or do they?”
“It can get pretty bad.”
Lyonette grinned ruefully as she shifted things aside. Yes, the hairline crack was there, and on purpose. She had a feeling she knew what it was and tried to pull things out of the way.
There was a sack of flour and other miscellaneous objects piled up on top of it. Zel came over and helped Lyonette shift everything out of the small space. She smiled at him.
“Thank you. Now, what’s this…?”
There was a trapdoor in the small closet. No, not a closet, but an entrance. Lyonette pulled at the ring and after a moment the trapdoor came up.
“What’s this? A basement?”
Zel and Lyon stared down the dark steps leading down into, yes, a basement of all things! Lyon was amazed—she took a few hesistant steps down and then had to cast the [Light] spell. It was one of the few she’d been taught as a child and it illuminated the very big, very empty basement.
“I had no idea this was here!”
“You didn’t?”
The Drake general walked down the steps, staring at the empty stone room. He pointed.
“Look, there’s places to store grain, shelves…this place is huge! Why hasn’t it been used?”
“I didn’t know about it! And Erin—I don’t know if she did either.”
“Erin? That’s the innkeeper who owns this place, isn’t it? Why didn’t she know about the basement?”
“I don’t think she knew. Or if she did, she might have forgot.”
“I can’t say I’m too impressed with this innkeeper of yours.”
Zel frowned as he stared around the basement. He looked sideways at Lyonette.
“She seems not to care about leaving you—and Mrsha—alone for so long, and with no coin or help, no less!”
“She does care! She’s just—distracted. And she gets into trouble, sometimes. I think she just found something—or got into a problem—and couldn’t come back. I mean, she cares a lot even if she does weird things…”
Lyonette tried to defend Erin, although she realized her arguments were less than compelling. Zel frowned, unhappy.
“I’d like to have a word with her when she gets back. She is coming back, isn’t she?”
“That’s what Selys said. Um, would you mind if I asked you to help carry some stuff down here?”
“I would be happy to help. And you can tell me more about this strange Human.”
In the end, Lyonette told Zel about Erin while they carried a good amount of foodstuffs and supplies down into the basement. He snorted when he heard about her antics with the sleigh, Toren, and all of the other incredible and insane things Erin had done.
“I’ve fought alongside people like that. Distracted geniuses, prodigies without common sense…they tend to win some battles spectacularly and get torn apart in skirmishes they should easily win. I try not to have them in positions of command if I can. They’re not reliable in a pinch.”
“Well…she did save me. And though I was horrible to her, she never gave up on me.”
“That’s a redeeming trait, not an excuse.”
Lyon didn’t have an answer to that. In the end, they closed the basement trap door and only opened it when they realized Mrsha was trapped down in there.
“I told you not to play around!”
Lyon scolded Mrsha as the Gnoll raced back upstairs. Mrsha flattened her ears, but then glanced towards the door and sniffed at the air. Lyon put her hands on her hips.
“Hungry? I guess I should start making dinner, then! Everyone’s going to be coming back and probably starving after fighting monsters in the dungeon for so long.”
“Stressed out, too. It’s a hard job they have. This dungeon is filled with traps and rooms that keep changing. Even if they can bypass some of that and get into a new area, the way down is treacherous and there’s no easy escape. They need to take things carefully and meanwhile a bunch of inexperienced adventurers are going in and getting themselves killed or finding trouble.”
Zel explained the issue to Mrsha and Lyonette as she brought him a mug of ale. He drank at it as Mrsha kept sniffing the air. Lyon was about to ask what was wrong when Mrsha suddenly sat up on her chair and howled.
It was sudden
and made Lyon drop the mug. Zel was on his feet in a second. He stared out the window carefully, back against the wall.
“Mrsha, what is it, what’s wrong?”
Lyonette bent to Mrsha, but the Gnoll was suddenly filled with excitement. She hopped on the table and howled again, louder.
“It’s no monster. She’s not afraid.”
Zel relaxed as he observed Mrsha. Lyonette covered her ears—indoors the howling was insanely loud! Then he heard a distant howl from the city.
“Is that…Krshia?”
The other Gnoll had taught Mrsha how to howl, in some sort of Gnoll method of communicating. Lyonette didn’t know if it was the other Gnoll’s voice, but the instant Mrsha heard it she stopped howling.
“What was all that about?”
Lyon had no idea. She bent over the shards of the mug, picking them up gingerly, when she heard voices from outside.
“Oh? Are they back already?”
She started towards the door. But it was flung open before she could reach it. Mrsha leapt off the table and barrelled through it. Lyon heard a shout, a female voice, and then—laughter.
Her heart stopped and then began to beat faster in her chest. Lyon heard a female voice, a young woman’s voice, laughing, and Mrsha’s excited noises.
“Mrsha! Calm down. It’s good to see you! Please get off. Please?”
Lyonette saw a shape in the door. She walked forwards slowly, and then saw a young woman standing in the light. Erin Solstice beamed as she walked into her inn, holding Mrsha in her arms. She blinked when she saw Lyonette, and blinked twice at Zel, but then smiled at Lyon.
“I’m back! Hey Lyon, did you miss me?”
The girl, the [Princess] and [Barmaid] and single living employee of the Wandering Inn, stared at Erin in silence for a moment. Then her eyes filled with tears and she flung herself at Erin and hugged her fiercely. And as Erin yelped in surprise and the adventurers and wagon driver accompanying her exclaimed, and the Drake general inside laid eyes on the owner of the inn for the first time, word began to spread.
—-
At first it came with the howling outside the city. Few Drakes heard it, but the Gnolls raised their heads. And they heard the howl coming from Krshia, and knew.
One of the Gnolls on duty mentioned it to Relc, who flipped a table and upset the card game he was losing badly at.
“Erin’s back! Hey! Call the game off! Erin’s back! Where’s Klb?”
It spread to the Watch Captain, who sighed, put her head in her claws, and groaned.
“This is all I need.”
It was already in the marketplace. Selys jumped up and down excitedly as Krshia smiled.
“She’s back!”
Across the street, a young Drake nearly knocked over an entire display he was helping his uncle with.
“Erin’s back!? I have so much to show her!”
Lism grumbled as he watched his nephew sprint off.
“It’s just one more damn Human. Who cares?”
The Antinium cared. Pawn, Belgrade, Bird, Anand, and Garry all heard the news as one of the Workers delivered it. They unanimously elected Pawn, the only free member of their group, to go above and see her at once.
“And bring back food. Please?”
“I will. And I will be sure to petition Klbkch that we all might go visit her!”
Of course, Klbkch already knew Erin was back. He’d known the instant she passed into the floodplains around Liscor. He sighed as he stood in his small room and looked up towards the ceiling.
She was back.
“I take it this is good news?”
Xrn studied Klbkch as they sat across from one another. He nodded at her.
“Yes. Very good news. A Human girl—the innkeeper I had told you about—has returned to the city. I am afraid we must put off your discussion so that I might greet her.”
“You astonish me.”
The other Antinium’s voice was frankly shocked.
“You would put aside a conversation between us—the reason the Hives have sent their delegation here in the first place—for a single Human girl?”
“Oh yes. Because she is important.”
“Really?”
“Yes. And her presence here means…well, I believe things are going to become interesting once again.”
Xrn looked at him askance.
“You mean they aren’t already?”
“Not yet.”
“You have visitors from four Hives, a Drake [General]—Zel Shivertail no less—in the city, a Lord of the Wall and a new dungeon plus two Gold-rank teams and Humans streaming into the city while a Goblin Lord roams the countryside. And this Human is what you think will make things interesting?”
“Yes.”
Klbkch smiled. He looked up towards the surface, and wondered, for the first time in a long while, what would happen next.
“She’s back. Erin Solstice is finally back.”
3.33
Erin Solstice had returned. That phrase meant little to most people living in or around Liscor. The vast majority of Drakes, Gnolls, and newly arrived Humans did not know this young woman. They would not have cared about her returning if they did.
But it was curious that in a city that housed over ten thousand souls above ground and almost the same number underneath how many people did know of Erin Solstice. And yet, that knowledge wasn’t consistent among species. Few Drakes knew. And of those that did, only a handful were friends with Erin.
More of the Gnolls knew of the girl, if only by name. But most had never met her. They simply understood of her existence in the larger framework of ambitions, triumphs, and failures that was part of their tribe’s struggle to justify their place in the city. The Silverfang Gnolls heard the howl, but they let their leader decide what would happen next. She was still the one in charge, even if much of her authority had been lost.
And the Humans? It could be said that of all the adventurers, the ones that mattered knew Erin. Two Gold-rank teams heard the news. One group was merely interested and wondered if their place in the inn would be compromised. But the others were surprised to see one of their members, Halrac, smile.
Less than a hundred people above ground knew Erin’s face. But below the earth, the Antinium knew her name. Even if they had never seen her before, every Worker, and now every Soldier knew her. Because she was significant. She had spoken to the Queen. She had made some Individual, and she was known to the Hive’s Revalantor. She was special.
But Zel Shivertail knew none of that. All he had were his eyes, the few things he had heard about Erin, and the things he had seen. The things that she had left behind. His understanding of her was formed by absence, by seeing what she had not done and the people who knew her.
So he stopped in the center of the inn, the Wandering Inn, and saw Erin Solstice return. He heard her laughing, and then her exclamation as Lyon rushed at her.
“Whoa! Hey, Lyon! Lyonette? It’s good to see you but—are you crying?”
“You’re back!”
“I am, I am. But could you let me go? And Mrsha—”
The innkeeper was caught between the young Gnoll with white fur who was climbing all over her, and the young woman who was almost beside herself with emotion. Fear, relief, surprise—
More people crowded the doorway. A half-Elf helped pry the Gnoll off of Erin while Lyonette let go and sheepishly stepped back.
“I’m sorry. It’s just—you’re back!”
“Yeah, I am. Thanks, Ceria. And—wow, who’s this?”
The girl came further into the inn and saw Zel. She looked at Lyon and the girl hurriedly explained.
“That’s one of my—your guests! He’s staying here.”
“Guests? I have guests? You mean people are sleeping upstairs? Who?”
“Not right now—there’s actually two groups of adventurers sleeping upstairs at the moment. Every room is full—”
“What? You mean there’s no space for us?”
A male voice shouted from outside the inn, sounding outraged. The speaker stomped into the room, a Human young man in dirty robes.
“Calm down Pisces. There might be space—we could sleep in the common room. And even if there’s not, there’s plenty of room in the city. Probably.”
A female Human, a warrior by the looks of her, wearing light leather armor walked in after that. Zel noted her gear—worn material, but ill-fitting on her. Probably a new purchase. And the young man and half-Elf’s robes marked them as mages. Adventurers?
Then someone else followed the group into the inn. An ant-like creature with an armored blackish-brown carapace and three arms. Zel’s claws clenched together before he made himself loosen his grip.
Antinium. The thing made Zel want to leave, or start a fight. But he held himself back. Why was one here?
“Pardon me Captain, Erin, but Termin is asking where his horses can be rested. Is there a stable nearby?”
“A stable? Why would I have that?”
“Most inns have a stables, Erin.”
“Really? Oh yeah! Um. No, I don’t have one Ksmvr. I guess Termin’s going to have to put his horses in the city. Sorry!”
“I will convey that to him with tact.”
The Antinium walked back out. Zel couldn’t believe what he’d heard. That Antinium had a name? And it was—an adventurer?
Nothing made sense. But now the young woman was approaching him with a smile. Zel took a few steps and met her in the center of the room.
“Good evening, Miss. My apologies, I don’t believe we’ve met. My name is Zel Shivertail.”
Erin stared up at the tall Drake, blinking a few times at him.
“Whoa. You’re tall. Um. Hi. I’m Erin Solstice. I sort of own this inn, but I’ve been gone…wait, did you say Shivertail? Are you related to Selys?”
Zel’s nonexistent eyebrows rose.
“You know my niece?”
“Yeah, she’s one of my friends! That’s so weird!”
Erin stared round-eyed at Zel for a moment, and then came back to the topic at hand. She coughed a bit nervously. Zel realized he was looming a bit and tried not to. This young woman seemed, well, a lot like what he’d expected.