A Hero With/Out Time

Chapter 14: Their luck. (Part 1)

Chapter 14: Their luck.

My head hurt. Water... I needed water. I rose from the thin mattress and looked around. There was a pitcher of water and cup sitting by me as if waiting. I drunk from it greedily and sat still until the pain began to pass. To be honest I couldn't remember much of what happened last night. Images and moments ran through my head but they felt disjointed to where I was now. Yep, I had way too much to drink. The demons kept feeding them to me. Their alcohol was nice though, mellow with a powerful aftertaste that fizzled in your mouth. It was more addicting the more you drank. Though right now the thought of it made me want to puke.

Another mattress laid next to mine on the floor. The blankets had been haphazardly thrown aside. Whoever had slept next to me was gone, it was probably Ardent. I had to wonder if he was okay, he had drunk even more than me and done some pretty weird things. I walked out the room sliding the door across. A small passage led me into the dining area. Taylor was seated at the table alone eating what looked like bread and soup.

"Good morning," I yawned and sat opposite of her. "Is there any for me?"

She avoided my eyes and focused on her soup pointing instead, "Over there."

I stood up and saw the pot, helping myself to the flavourful liquid. This time I sat beside Taylor and without word began to eat. She made no effort to speak and instead seemed like she was eluding me. Thinking back we had danced together last night but I was pretty sure that was all. Parts of the dance we did have to get quite close to each other. I began to get self-conscious. Reminder to self, don't drink too much.

"Last night was fun," I said eventually.

"Yeah it was...," Taylor mumbled.

"Ardent went a little wild."

"The fireworks were nice."

"...." I turned and looked at her directly, "Did I do something?"

"No," she faced away. That totally meant I did something. The scary thing was, what had I done to make her act like that? A part of me really didn't want to know.

"Haha," I laughed poorly and focused back on my breakfast.

"Sorry," the word was said so quietly I barely heard her.

"What?"

"Last night was a lot of fun," her hair covered her face. "It wasn't like me so I just can't talk to you right now."

"Right, no problem," I said plainly. Inside however I was screaming. Really just what happened!? "I'm going to head outside...."

I left Taylor and exited the house. We were staying in Servius' home. It was newly built and made for him when he became an adult. The man himself was nowhere to be found. I walked outside and enjoyed the light rays of sun streaming down through the trees. The specs of light lit up the village like a tapestry. There were a lot less people mingling about than yesterday even though it was near noon. It would seem there quite a lot of people still recovering from last night.

"Yo Rain boy," a man's voice called to me. I turned to source of the sound. It was the four armed man from yesterday. A memory of him and I drinking together entered my mind. Him with four cups in each hand and me keeping up with him with two. "Good morning to you."

"Good morning," I replied in kind. "You recovered quickly."

He laughed powerfully, "Years of experience my boy. If you're looking for the Master Wizard he is being cared for in Ms Ula's home. The man is not faring well from last night."

"So that's where he is," I said. "He should be fine."

"Are you doing much today boy?"

I shook my head, "Nothing planned." I did want to search the forest for clues about Axel's assailants but without Ardent or Taylor I wouldn't get anywhere fast.