Black Blood

-B2- Chapter 61

'We need to make a stop in Runcast,' Novak concludes with his nose behind the map, while his horse continues to walk calmly and Alisha holds onto him.

'You've got to be kidding me,' I blurt out, looking at him with a very dissatisfied expression. His red eyes lift from the map before he looks at me with a slight grin.

'We need to get some food. The road between Runcast and the nymphs passes by Moonwater Lake. What's in between, we don't know; I've never been there, and the stories vary greatly.' I sigh and roll my eyes heavenward to the black raven, clumsily flying above us.

The black wings struggle to control the wind for an extended period, but in the past two days since our departure, it has improved significantly.

When we started, Elien refused to rest, too stubborn to get the hang of flying. When he did rest, he would sit at the back of my horse. After falling off the horse three times and crashing twice while flying, he finally gave in. Now, he regularly lands on my horse, rests for a while or sleeps, and then takes to the air again.

'Runcast is still exciting, a new culture and people,' Alisha smiles enthusiastically. I slowly shake my head in her direction.

'Runcast is a pigsty,' I express my disapproval, wrinkling my nose at the terrible smell of that filthy city.

I only look away from Alisha's disapproving face when Elien lands in front of me on the saddle with some flapping. He shakes his wings out and then tucks them in neatly to sit comfortably.

'I'll be prepared for disappointment,' Alisha shrugs.

'Then brace yourself,' Novak replies as he folds the map and tucks it back into his pocket.

Thanks to our lack of water, the last half day to Runcast has felt endless. The long green fields offer nothing but grass and sheep without a shepherd. The sea is too far, and the city is too close.

I'm almost relieved when I see that crooked, overgrown, and unstable wall. With one final push, we gallop the horses toward the unguarded gate, with Elien flying above us. The wooden doors are even more decrepit than during our last visit months ago. Planks are missing, it's beginning to rot, and there are holes on each side.

Elien transforms back before he pushes open the door with a doubtful look. Alisha, too, seems to have lost her optimism at the sight of the nearly falling-apart doors.

'Still so optimistic?' I grin before leading my horse into the stinking city. I had hoped that the smell of death, excrement, and dampness would be less this time, but my hope quickly fades.

'What's this smell?' Elien asks, covering his nose with his sleeve.

'Humans,' Novak replies before we merge into the endless evening crowd in Runcast.

Just like last time, hundreds of people walk through the narrow, filthy streets of the city in the evening. The streets are littered with garbage and urine. Half-naked women lurk, eyeing potential male customers for the night, standing on every corner.

With a sidelong glance at Elien beside me, I see him staring in bewilderment at every half-naked woman, each of whom extends an inviting hand to him.

'Why do those women have so little clothing on?' I hear him ask Novak.

'Those women sell their bodies for a night to men,' Elien nods before another man angrily shouts at me because my horse nearly steps on his foot.

The horses are parked in the same overcrowded green field on the other side of the city before we collectively make our way through the crowd.

'Are you sure it's safe to eat here?' Alisha asks before apologizing to another woman she bumped into for the umpteenth time.

'No,' I reply as I shove a man aside and squeeze into an alleyway. Irritated to the core, I look at Novak.

'Where should we go?' Without saying anything, Novak grabs my hand and pulls me further into the alley, towards the end. Alisha and Elien follow with difficulty to the narrow door at the end.

'This isn't the same as last time,' I remark, thinking of Dumbert's death. A grin has appeared on Novak's face before he knocks the closed door exactly five times.

For a while, nothing happens, and Alisha, Elien, and I look at each other in confusion. Then, there's a continuous shuffling sound from behind the wooden door, which is opened slightly.

A man, no taller than a young child, with a dirty beard and mustache, sticks his head through the door.

'What do you want?' the man's raspy voice asks.

I look at Alisha in bewilderment, and she shrugs.

'Beer, whiskey, and chicken, Kameroet,' Novak orders, and the man's thick eyebrows shoot up before he opens the door with a crack.

Before us appears a very long, narrow, and empty corridor that seems to lead to nothing but another door. The small man walks ahead of us into the corridor.

'Aye, close the door, mate,' he calls without looking. Elien slowly closes the door.

'What is this?' I ask Elien softly as he walks ahead of us while the man opens the door at the end of the corridor, and a faint sound of people reaches us.

'A secret tavern. After the war ended, outsiders of Livas sought refuge in the ruined Runcast, thinking that nothing would ever happen here again. Over the years, some left, others stayed. Those who stayed have their own groups here, and some even have secret taverns to keep the dirty and drunk people out.' At the end of Novak's story, we also reach the end of the corridor.

Only then is it clear that the corridor leads to a stone staircase leading down. The sound of people talking and music is loud enough to recognize.

The small man walks ahead of us down the stairs, opens the iron lock on the handle, and throws open the wooden door.

Loud violin and flute music fills the warm cellar, lit only by fireplaces and candles, which you can still distinctly smell and hear. You can see just enough to notice the diversity of people. Men and women of all ages sit at small square tables with large glasses of beer and plates of half-eaten chicken, talking.

'Nancy, get the chicken at the bar. Aye, you know where to be,' the man says before turning and walking away.

'How many times have you been here?' I ask Novak in amazement.

'Once, years ago,' he shrugs before heading to the bar, and I'm left behind with Alisha and Elien.

'A table it is, then,' Alisha sighs, clearly feeling out of place. I have to search for the last available spot before my eye falls on the table all the way to the left at the back, which is empty.

I quickly make my way to the table.

'Hey, fuck you!' I look up, thinking the man's voice is directed at me. The really ugly man, dressed in traveler's clothing with a sword on the table, points at Elien.

'Fuck you,' Elien replies before taking a seat at the table without saying anything else.

'Who is that?' I ask in surprise as he sits.

'No idea, stole his fish at the market weeks ago,' he replies.

With my head in my hands, I realize how much I need whiskey. Novak seems to understand that and returns with a huge plate of chicken, a massive jug of beer, glasses, and a glass of whiskey.

'Thank the gods,' I mutter as I down half the glass.