The Song of Aurea

The Land of Beginnings Pt. III (Continued)

The band plays a quick, upbeat song. There's a fat dwarf playing a crooked flute, an elvish woman doing wonders with the rhythm using only a hollow wooden block and an old, elegant man whose fingers threaten to tear the strings of his mandolin apart. Somehow their combined chaos drugs me with their sound 'till I'm bobbing my head along with them in my seat. Rael does not move. He only glares with a faint smile.

"Enjoying the music?" he asks in his raspy, yet clear voice.

"Always," I reply.

"Do you play anything?"

"Do you?"

Rael shakes his head 'no' and glances over at an empty table behind an open velvet curtain for the hundredth time.

"What are you looking at?"

He replies with only a wave of his hand and a wholesome swig from his tankard. Ghendri looks up at me from his place in my lap with a concerned look. Something's wrong, and he can feel it too.

"Rael," I say, but he does not stir, "Rael!"

He looks up.

"Is something wrong?"

"The other dragon knights," he says, "Including Master Raine are gone. And I can't sense them anywhere nearby."

"You can sense people?" I ask, leaning forward and wrapping my hands around my mug.

"Occasionally. Especially if they have dragon or demon heritage or relation."

"Well what does it mean for us if they're not here?"

"It means I've not the money to pay for my- our room. Raine was to pay them."

I feel my eyes flash with a short gleam of orange magic and I catch myself from crushing my wooden cup to bits. Slowly but surely, the half a cup of ale in my belly is getting to me and I'm now quick to passion. I never could hold my alcohol like my mother could. I'm a lightweight like my father.

"Then let's get some," I huff after inhaling a deep, frustrated breath.

"Xsio dout dask, Raine," he exclaims, almost guiltily, before chugging his entire mug and slamming it against the table.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing, finish your ale. We need to find him. And if we can't, we need quick work."

There's a long pause as I stare at the bronze liquid in front of me, my left eye beginning to twitch slightly.

"I'm not wasting 5 silver pieces, Ashworth. Drink up or pay up."

"Why would you-"

"Because I thought Raine would be here by now."

And with that, Rael turns and pushes the door open, walking out into the moonlit night. Beginning to panic, I stand up, Ghendri jumping off of my lap and onto the table with a yelp. He looks at me, surprised, as I chug the whole tankard in one swift movement, some of the ale spilling onto the vest Rael gave to me. It dribbles off as if it were spilt on marble, but there's not time to appreciate the fine weaving. Ghendri jumps in my bag and I run towards the door where I find Rael talking to Kasai in an unknown language. His dragon looks panicked.

"I like your cat," says an elvish girl, a head shorter than Rael and staring at me with huge hazel eyes, "My name's Elanya."