by Quil Carter
“True or not, no snow would be wonderful,” Ben said. “I don’t want to be stuck in another blizzard, the rain storms are bad enough.”
After another hour of following the road, they came across the small, unassuming inn that Gorat had marked for them. It was two levels and made out of dark wood. Welcoming smoke billowed out of a chimney pipe on its pointed roof, and a brightly-painted sign hung from chains over the awning that covered a deck. There were even snowflowers lining the front of the inn, in ceramic clay pots.
As Ben walked closer he could see the sign read Finlyn’s Hearth.
“Seems cozy, let’s go in,” Malagant said, hitching his horse to a nearby post. Not a moment later the door swung open, and a small little creature came running out of the inn. Ben took a step back, just a bit cautious of the speeding thing. It took him a moment to realize it was a little daraphin child.
The small boy was only half Ben’s height. He had white hair tinged with light blue, and parts of his skin seemed to be too. He also had small spotted fins on his forearms and gills on his neck. He was dressed in a green tunic and trousers.
“That’s my job! That’s my job!” he said, his voice was high and squeaky.
Malagant retracted his hands immediately as the boy ran to him. He took the reins from Malagant’s hand and started to tie his horse.
“Oh, for the love of Daran, get back in the house!” a voice said from the doorway. Ben looked over and saw the first full-grown daraphin he had ever seen up close.
He also had white-blue hair, but it was curly, and an unimpressed expression on his clean-shaven face. Like the smaller one, he had fins on his arms but they were covered by a long-sleeved brown jerkin, though you could see the imprints of them through the leather. He looked to be in his mid-twenties – for a sea-elf he wasn’t that bad-looking.
“No! Mum said this was my job now, Sorah!” the little daraphin protested, but Sorah was having none of it. He grabbed the boy by the tunic collar and gave him a small shove inside and closed the door; the kid howled.
Sorah the daraphin chuckled, before turning around quickly as if he had forgotten why he was there.
“Sorry about that, Maki’s a bit of an eegit.” Sorah gave them a welcoming smile and inclined his head.
“He could help; he wasn’t bothering us,” Malagant said, returning the smile as he finished tying his horse.
“Oh, you seem like friendly folk, no doubt. Nice Alcovians. We’ve been having trouble with Serpents lately. We’re refusing them entry to our tavern area and they’re getting to be a pain in the ass. I don’t want him near them.” Sorah cleared his throat. “Pardon my language, this isn’t the place to talk of business matters. Welcome to Finlyn’s Hearth, my family’s inn. My name is Sorah Finlyn, that little bastard is my younger brother Maki. My mother and father are just inside and would be happy to accommodate you with some rooms for the evening. Or is it just some tuck you’re looking for? Actually don’t answer, the rain is harsh as it is, come inside.”
The elf certainly did seem like a friendly one at that. The three of them exchanged amused glances before following the daraphin inside.
The warmth inside was wonderful and the air smelled of freshly baked bread. It looked like the typical inn he had seen on their journeys. Lit with oil lamps and supplemented by the glow of the fireplace. It had comfortable chairs lining the fireplace off to the left in the tavern section of the inn, and rows of tables and benches in front.
They walked into the tavern area and saw two older daraphins eating at one of the tables. Maki was beside them with a miserable look and a tear-stained face.
“Coidog!” he shouted at his brother, before receiving a well-aimed swat on the butt by his father. He ran up the stairs crying.
“Oh, Alcovians, thank Daran,” the older daraphin sighed when he spotted them. “Grab some food, it is horrible out there. How long have you been on the road? Actually pay no mind, you don’t have to answer that, just tell me to shut up if it is your wish. Bad times, I know.”
“No worries, kind sir.” Malagant inclined his head and the three of them took a seat at the table next to the family. “We’re heading to Arasbor to see family. I’m Menniker of Leer, the blond one is Tee of Galan, and his brother Korbin of Galan.”
A dark-haired hibrid boy appeared; he was dressed in a white chef’s coat. He grabbed several ceramic bowls from beside the fireplace hearth and started spooning in stew.
“Good Alcovian names,” the daraphin sighed, before shaking his head. “My burdens, my apologies. The Serpents have been rampant in these parts. No idea why but they’re out in troves. We’ve banned them from our property. Nothing but finks, godless pykes. We’ve put our feet down, we’ll have none of it.”
Malagant’s face turned as stormy as the weather outside; his hands tensed around the table cloth. “We’ve been dodging them on the road too. How many?” he asked.
The older daraphin looked exasperated. “We’ve been dealing with four, though there are others. Alone, no accalites, thank Daran. I swear – I swear on the scythes if I didn’t love Alcove I would take my family back to Darancove where it’s safer.” He made a face, almost the same face Sorah had made when he realized he was speaking too freely. “Are you spending the night?”
Malagant nodded, taking a bowl of soup from the hibrid boy. “Just a night. We will be leaving first light.”
The daraphin nodded and got up. “We will talk business after you eat. My son knows basic healing, for the dark-haired one if he needs it.”
Ben looked up, his mouth full of food. He heard Teal snort back a laugh. No matter what he still couldn’t shake always looking ill. The dark circles under his eyes never seemed to leave, nor his gaunt appearance.
“No he’s fine. Got attacked by a jare a while back, but it’s healed well,” Malagant said, then he got up. “Let’s get our business out of the way now and I’ll eat once it’s done. It won’t take long.”
After Malagant left the tavern area of the inn, Sorah came in. He sat down at the same table as Ben and Teal and started munching on a piece of bread.
“I lit a fire for you in your room. A magical one, I’ve been practicing,” he said, drumming his fingers up against the wooden bench. “Anything else you need, just say. Would you like me to bring your bags in off the horses?”
“Thank you, but we would rather ourselves after,” Ben said with a nod. Teal was starting to slink down in his seat a little bit. Even with all the elves he had met since they started travelling he still didn’t like being around too many elves at once.
“How long has your family been here for?” Ben asked
“Oh, ten years now, I think? When I was still a minnow,” Sorah said. “It’s a nice place, out of the way. But only being around your family drives you a bit crazy sometimes. It’s always nice to have company my age. Would you care for a game of Urchin’s Cradle after?”
“You’ll have to teach us how to play, but sure,” Ben replied with a smile. Sorah’s face lit up and as Ben continued to eat he noticed Sorah was staring at him like he had just descended from Cilandil.
Not long after, Malagant joined them. “I got us a good deal. Poor elf was just happy to have some nice travellers for a change,” he said, sliding his bowl of soup back towards himself.
“I’ll give you some coin for it later,” Teal said, but Malagant waved him off.
“Korivander gave us enough coin to ride gold-plated destriers to Newvark, with enough left over to retire on. We don’t need to worry.”
“Really?” Ben was surprised but it made sense. Korivander was a king after all, of course he would be rich and, of course, he would want to help them along their way.
Malagant nodded. “It will get us a good ship to Garas at least. One that, with luck, won’t sink. I’m hoping Commander Creed still has his boat.”
They all ate and afterwards settled down beside the fire. Eventually Sorah joined them with a stack of cards and started to teach them how to pla
y Urchin’s Cradle, apparently a very popular game in Darancove. Malagant knew how to play of course, and soon Teal and Ben were sitting back, watching the two go toe-to-toe in a heated battle between Alcove and Darancove. Sorah seemed absolutely starved for conversation with anyone who wasn’t a part of his family; and as he played the card game with Malagant, he started giving him the dreamy-eyed look he’d previously given Ben.
After an hour of playing there was suddenly a whinny from a horse outside. Immediately a blue and white blur flew down the stairs and opened the door. Maki was at it again.
Malagant stood up. Ben was surprised to see a strange, almost fierce, expression on his face.
Malagant quickly walked towards the window; Ben saw his jaw tighten.
“Serpents,” Malagant almost snarled. At the same time they heard a squeal coming from outside. Everyone shot out of their seats, and as they sped to the door Maki came in crying. He ran to his mother who picked him up.
“That elf kicked me!” He buried his face into his mother’s shoulder and sobbed.
Malagant clenched his fists; he stopped Sorah who was already starting to walk out the door.
“Let me take care of this,” Malagant said quietly to Sorah, though the daraphin father had already disappeared outside.
Sorah looked at Malagant surprised. “This is our family’s inn, our problem. Please… we–”
But Malagant had already turned and left through the door; Teal and Ben trailed.
The daraphin father, introduced as Gaidus, was on the deck, arguing with four Serpent knights.
“You can’t deny us, seaslug. We’re royal knights of your king,” an Alcovian elf dressed in the usual knight garb said. Behind him the other three were standing with their black horses; their hands over their swords in a threatening manner.
“I can and I will!” Gaidus shouted, slamming his foot. “Get off my property. I can deny entry to my own home!”
“I’m sorry, is there a problem?” Malagant said, his voice seething with anger. Ben started to feel uneasy; at least Malagant was smart enough to sheath his sword. They had been purposely avoiding any interactions with the Serpent knights partly because of this. Malagant had endured a lot from them; they had once been his brothers. He held a personal grudge against all Serpent knights and he wasn’t going to be rational with them, this Ben knew.
Ben stood behind Malagant, Teal to his right, both of them ready to draw their swords.
“Unless you want to see what colour your insides are, I suggest you stay out of this.” The Serpent stalked up to Malagant and got right into his face. They stared at each other nose-to-nose, but Malagant stood his ground and kept his stance. He glared right back, even leaning in so their noses were actually touching.
“You would be dead before you even drew your blade,” Malagant said back, his voice held a calm levelness to it that only accentuated how intimidating he looked. He wasn’t standing down and he wouldn’t. Even if the Serpents all pulled swords on them Ben knew Malagant would stand tall.
“Are you threatening a knight of the realm?” the Serpent growled, his brown eyes narrowed as they stared into Malagant’s own.
As Malagant leaned in closer, the Serpent’s head moved back just slightly.
“No threat,” Malagant said in a hushed whisper, “just a promise.”
The Serpent shook his head and finally broke his gaze. “Bad move, my friend.” He glanced over to the other knights. “Arrest him.”
“What, no!?” Ben exclaimed. He turned to the inn owner, whose face had gone pale.
“No… you can stay, just let the lad go,” Gaidus pleaded.
To their surprise, Malagant threw his sword and scabbard down. “I’ll go peacefully.”
Ben gaped at him. He watched helplessly as one of the Serpents picked up his ruby-pommeled sword.
“Are those two tree-cats with you?” one asked.
Malagant shook his head. “I travel alone.”
Malagant turned around and raised his head; he locked eyes with Ben and Teal and gave them a knowing wink. This didn’t really make Ben feel better though; he had no idea what his friend was doing, or if he was doing the right thing.
As the knight tied Malagant’s hands, all of them watching helplessly, Ben’s fingers found his pendant, hidden under his jerkin.
“What the hell are you doing? Can you at least wink if you have a gods-damn-plan? Are we supposed to follow you?”
Malagant gave him another wink and nodded; his eyes looked up at the sky. Before he could give them any more signals though the Serpent knight pushed them away.
“I suggest you learn some hospitality, seaslug,” the Serpent said to the inn keeper.
Gaidus, who just looked lost and hopeless, gave a slight nod.
“You’re just going to let them take him?” Sorah said angrily as they led Malagant away. Ben could relate. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, what he was letting the Serpents do. Was Malagant crazy? He trusted Malagant, more than he probably trusted himself, and he’d said he had a plan. But what that was, was beyond Ben. Even more beyond him was what Malagant expected him and Teal to do. What was stopping them from slicing Malagant’s throat as soon as they got back to their camp?
When the last black and red cloak disappeared down the road, Ben could hear Sorah swear angrily at his father. “Is this how it fucking is now, Father?”
“Get inside, Sorah,” Gaidus said sadly. He turned and walked back through the inn door, not even able to look Ben and Teal in the eye.
“We’ll follow them; we’ll get him out. I know where they are,” Sorah said to Ben, his blue eyes were blazing with anger.
Teal turned away from the road; he still looked concerned but not nearly as panicked as Ben had expected him to be. “Menniker wants us to find him after dark, he has a plan,” Teal said slowly. “I think I know what he’s doing. If you know where they are, Sorah, you’ll need to tell us.”
“What is his damn plan? He should’ve just let them stay, we have bigger things to worry about,” Ben said bitterly. He started to walk inside but Teal grabbed his shoulder.
Teal glanced at Sorah and dropped his voice. “If we killed them in front of the inn, it would be on their heads. They would be in trouble when the other Serpents found four bodies on their property,” Teal said quietly, so only Ben could hear him. “If we do it away from the inn, it won’t be traced back to an inn keeper’s family.”
Ben pursed his lips. It made sense but he still didn’t like it.
With his mind racing in circles and a fire smouldering inside of his chest, Ben walked into the inn and started up the stairs. He looked in all of the rooms until he found the one with a fire in the fireplace. Like Sorah had said, it was magically made, cracking without the need for wood.
Ben threw his sword down and resisted the urge to kick it across the room.
“He’s a damn idiot!” Ben snapped. Teal recoiled under his sudden burst of anger.
“Don’t we have better things to do than risk our lives going on a killing spree?” he raged.
Teal closed the door and leaned up against it. “You wouldn’t understand.”
Ben’s ears went hot, another wave of anger rushed through him. “Understand? Understand! Malagant is bound, being led away to a Serpent camp without his sword, his crossbow, or anything! For what? For us to rescue? I don’t understand? We need to save Elron not appease his hatred for knights!”
“You know, we had lives before I brought you here,” Teal suddenly snapped, his voice holding an anger to it that Ben had rarely seen – and had never seen directed at him. “Just like if I ever saw Keleon I would want you to help me kill him.”
“That’s different,” Ben said lowly, turning away from him.
“How? Malagant’s barely said anything about his time with the Knights of Alcove. How do you know it’s different?”
Ben’s mouth twitched; he walked towards the window and looked out of it.
“He’s mentioned T
hierry and Tiercel and a few others. Did he ever say what happened to them? We just know he was unable to keep them from being brainwashed, but we have no idea what he went through when your brother and his priests overthrew the military.”
Okay, Teal, you’ve made your point, Ben said angrily to himself but he said nothing out loud.
“My family died, his knight brothers are out murdering, raping, pillaging, and aiding in the destruction of our home. Which he just witnessed through them threatening and bullying an innocent peaceful family trying to survive post-war,” Teal said. “We helped him kill a few of them when we first met him–”
“It’s not like how it was then, Teal,” Ben said. “Things are a lot more complicated now. We can’t be as careless as we were then.”
“He’s not being careless – he’s making sure the Serpents stop bothering an innocent family,” Teal said, the anger leaving his voice.
“He’s not doing it for the family. He’s doing it because he hates the Serpents. Just call a spade a spade, Teal.”
Ben shook his head and looked out the window. He watched the rain fall down on the shingled roof of the deck in front of him, and the woods further on. The horses’ prints were still fresh down below, slowly filling with rain water.
“Then maybe it doesn’t matter what Malagant’s reasons are.” Ben felt Teal’s hand on his shoulder. “Mel’s done a lot for us and we owe him a great deal. We can do this for him, can’t we?”
Ben let out an unimpressed noise but nodded. “Yeah, we can. We can help him kill his friends, even if this is incredibly reckless.”
“That a boy.” Teal patted his shoulder. Ben turned around and started walking out of the room.
“Where are you going? We got another good hour before night falls,” Teal said.
“Getting directions from Sorah,” Ben replied, exiting the room. He heard the padding of footsteps as Teal followed behind him.