They Come
When the elf woke up, he didn’t know for how long he had slept.
His head was aching, there was a ringing sound in his hears, his limbs felt heavy, it was as if he had not rested at all.
The lighting in the room was dark – as an inn refurbished from a prison, it was almost impossible to distinguish between day and night inside the rooms of the Mercenary’s Home.
But in this familiar environment, there was a foreign presence.
“You’re awake?” In the darkness, came Cain’s smooth voice, “The door wasn’t locked, so I came in.”
The sound of flint striking, followed by the piercing candlelight.
Ellen instinctively raised his hand to block it, but before that, a piece of cool cloth was placed on his forehead.
“Best not to move,” Cain sat down next to him, “unless you want to feel worse.”
“So this is the so called ‘hang-over’…” Ellen closed his eyes, muttering.
“As the first time drinking, you’re adapting fairly well.”
“How long did I sleep?”
“It’s not even evening.”
Upon hearing the word ‘evening’, the elf struggled to sit up, “Duke Elmond… should apply for a country wide search warrant –“
“It’s done.” The knight reached out to push him back down, “The duke is currently under investigation by the Holy Order of Paladins, for worshiping an evil cult and performing secret rituals in his home. They didn’t find his person, but the evidence of blood magic was really present. Right now the duke’s manor is full of servants from the Queen and the Church. I don’t think he would reveal himself for some time.”
The knight smiled, and continued, “Of course, he’s also charged with murder, child trafficking, and the unsuccessful kidnapping of a n.o.ble. – I sent the Queen a letter using your seal, hope you don’t mind”
“Cain?”
“Hm?”
“Goodnight.” The elf speedily fell back onto his pillow, covered his eyes with the cloth; his breath evened out soon afterwards.
The knight watched quietly for a moment, then blew out the candle.
“Goodnight, Ellen.”
When the elf woke up again, it was because of the sound of light cat like scratching at his door.
It seemed his hearing had returned, his head no longer ached.
The elf got up to open the door, sunlight filtered into the room through the windows in the hall.
The young siren crouched in front of the door, he lifted his head after hearing the sound of the door opening, face full of innocence he said, “Cain said not to disturb you, but I was hungry.”
Hearing that, the knight who was standing to one side let out a long sigh of lament.
“You’ve already cleared out all my travel rations.”
“Those were trophies that you should have offered to me as the victor.”
“… I call you out on a duel. No magic allowed, a warrior should solve the problems with a sword honorably!”
“Sword? Foolish human, do you want to compare sizes or stamina?”
“… That’s not what that means! Pull your pants back up!”
“Wait a moment.” The elf closed the door laughingly, leaving the arguing knight and siren outside.
The market of the “Golden Capital” Elvira was situated just outside the boundary between the lower city and the city proper, relying on the nearby harbor to supply a large number of goods, it had reverted back to its prosperous state soon after the civil war.
Here, status and t.i.tles do not matter, all the merchants care about was whether the clients could pay the suitable amount. Thus even though the elf’s appearance might attract some curious gazes, it did not cause any sort of commotion. – Exotically dressed travelers were too common, many observers had already automatically considered the pointy ears as some sort of new fashion trend. Enterprising stall owners, had probably already started to consider releasing a series of dwarf or ogre costume sets.
Facing this type of large crowd, the siren was a very nervous at first, but soon he was attracted by the dazzling goods on display, and started to look around without a care.
‘h.e.l.lo Robin’ was a small modest stall in the corner near the lower city, but the regulars know, that the city’s tastiest b.u.t.tered bread and honey wine* could be found here.
Ellen frowned when he heard the words honey wine, but Cain immediately guaranteed, that it was basically just a sweet drink, and will definitely not cause a hangover.
Soft bread baked to perfection, paired with melting b.u.t.ter, with just one small bite the warm and rich flavor will spread through mouth. The warmed honey wine was not too sweet, and had an elusive aftertaste of flowers.**
The young siren certainly didn’t have this sort of appreciation for the pursuit of delicious food, in the blink of an eye he had already finished his own breakfast, and was eyeing the basket of a street vender. In the next moment he ran back, carrying the unscaled and un-gutted fish, with its fins still attached, sandwiching it between two pieces of bread, he started eating it with gusto.
“It tastes better cooked.” He said, after swallowing his self-made raw fish sandwich, “Humans do come up with some good ideas once in a while.”
“I thank you for your appreciation on behalf of humanity.” Cain rolled his eyes, pointing to the fountain in the middle of the market, “Underneath the angel statue, there’s a stall that sells grilled fish, remember not to pay more than half his asking price.”
As the siren weaved through the crowd on his way back with a fish kabob in his mouth, a few sailors sat down in front of their table at the ‘Robin’. The knight turned his head, saying something to the elf, the two then looked at each other and laughed together.
The knight’s expression when looking at the elf contained a familiar gentleness.
The young siren vaguely remember, it seemed like a long time ago, that someone also looked at him with the same expression.
“Don’t trust humans.” By the siren’s ears, Duke Elmond’s voice said clearly.
The boy jumped in fright, turning to look around, but he couldn’t find anything.
“Don’t trust humans,” the voice continued, “have you forgotten?”
But Cain saved me.
“So what? The one who took you from the sea, didn’t he save you as well?”
That’s different. Humans and humans are different.
“They’re all the same,” Duke Elmond smiled, “remember, the one who gave you that promise, how he treated you. That sailor –“
Sailor…
It was as if that word had opened a floodgate of fear.
The siren started to shake uncontrollably.
They’re coming they’re here –
Stumbling the young man pushed away the people surrounding him, running towards the elf.
“Ellen!” He shouted “Run! They –“
The youth raised his hand, a cloud of black mist spread out amongst the crowd, the people closest – the sailors fell to the ground, wailing soundlessly.
Following the chaos, the boy disappeared from sight.
“Luckily it’s just a fear spell,” the knight turned the fallen sailor over and lifted his eyelids, sighing, “You go first. I’ll take care of this then meet up with you.”