Hall of Games [ REWRITE ] | The Varya Chronicles #1

Chapter Thirty-Five

The Eyrian man left them outside an old inn. A rusted sign swung from a thin chain, proclaiming its name—Sunrise Inn. The inn looked nothing like the sunrise, rather like a place burned down and then rebuilt from scraps.

"Akata Veda." The old man tipped his hat at them and rode off.

"Akata Veda," Zoroth replied, but the man was gone.

"What does that mean?" Cadence asked.

"In Moskavan, it means 'May you seek the right path'. Eyrianese utilizes simple lexical and semantic features unlike Moskavan. If you let me pick my favorite language, Eyrianese comes second, with my native tongue being the first."

"What is your native tongue? Roaring?"

"Oh, I wish." He chuckled. "I speak the Ancient Tongue. It doesn't have a name. A name serves as a restriction. When you name something, you're setting a boundary for it which it cannot cross. Ancients do not believe in names, but as we grow closer to humans, we've adapted their culture into ours."

Zoroth pushed the door open, breaking off the handle in the process. He casually threw it aside, and entered the inn, whistling.

The inn was crowded with people who had come to witness the festivities. Zoroth paved a way for her to pass by jostling through the crowd and stamped his mark at the counter.

"A room for two," he said in a deep voice.

The woman frowned at him, then her gaze fell onto Cadence.

"She yeh daughter?"

"Aye," Zoroth replied. "Traveled far teh see party. One night, how much?"

"One silver," the woman said. "Only few rooms left. Yeh have only one bed, is that fine?"

"Aye." Zoroth passed the woman the coin Cadence had given him earlier in the morning.

One bed only? Cadence stared the Zoroth in horror as he accepted the key. Dewas knew how old this Ancient was, and he was a male!

"Second floor, last room on the left."

"Thank you." Zoroth tipped his hat at her and lumbered up the flimsy stairs. Cadence had to run in order to catch up with him.

"A bed," he announced. "After a long day is a blessing."

He unlocked the door, kicked it open and stomped in with such force he knocked a spider from the ceiling. Zoroth swiped off his hat, shrugged off his cloak and unfurled his wings just as Cadence closed the door. Zoroth stretched like a cat after bathing in the sun then made a dash for the bed.

"Are you really that tired?" Cadence asked.

"I'm still healing." His answer came out muffled as his head was buried in the pillow. "Wounds from Celestium take longer to heal. Did I mention I hate Celestium?"