29 Chapter 29 The Circus Is Coming to Town

Airow woke up and realized he couldn't ever remember sleeping before. Turning his head, he saw Grey, Guit, Cherry and Argen all still asleep. Sitting up, he looked around, and found they were in a large room. With a sniff, he knew immediately they were in Bob's Inn. This was the only place where the smell of whiskey was in the air.

Climbing to his feet, he saw that there was a table already prepared with food on it, for them to eat breakfast. He couldn't stomach the thought of eating and turned away from it, but stopped short when Bob stepped out of the shadows in the corner.

"I will need for you to pay for the girl."

"Oh, right," said Airow, reaching into his pouch for the coins. "Do you know where everyone else went?"

Bob raised an eyebrow, "Of course I know."

Airow rubbing his head and then chuckled. "Never mind, I don't want to have to pay for that answer."

Bob chuckled. "It's fine. I don't mind giving you this information on the house. The guild master, Omen brought you guys here, and said that he was taking everyone else to his guild. It's located on the northern end of the town, where the least amount of damage is."

"You wouldn't happen to have any other types of food?" he asked, glancing back at the table.

"I do, but it wouldn't be included in the free stuff I agreed to provide. It's not easy to come by."

"How much would it be?" he asked, wondering if he talked to Grey about it, if she would be okay with him buying manna.

"It would be a silver piece a meal. I believe you angels only eat once a day."

"That's true. I will have to speak with Grey about it. Thank you."

Bob nodded, then taking the coins Airow had given him, he stepped back into the shadows and disappeared.

"Mmm, something smells tasty," said Cherry, sitting up. She looked in her mid-teens, maybe fifteen? She spied the table of food and jumped up with a gasp of delight.

Guit woke next, rolling from his bed with a huff, and joined her at the table.

"What's going on?" asked Grey, rubbing her head as if she had a headache.

"I believe Guit and Cherry are having a contest to see who can stuff the most pancake into their mouths," said Argen, rolling over and pulling his blanket over his head.

"After everyone eats, we should head over to the guild and meet the guild master," said Airow, sitting back down on the edge of his bed.

"Would that be Blaze or Wes?" asked Grey sitting up.

"No, Bob said the man's name was Omen."

"Great, one more name to keep up with," she muttered, pulling her boots on and heading over to the table.

"Grey," started Airow, standing up as she turned back.

"Yes?"

"Would it be alright if I bought some manna from Bob? He said it would cost a silver a day…"

She looked at him for a moment, then slapped herself in the face. "That's why you haven't been wanting to eat! I'm so stupid!"

"No, I can survive on this food, it's just…"

"No, Airow, you are miserable. You've been craving manna every since we got stuck down here. Of course, you can have it. As long as we have the coin, you may always have it."

"Thank you," he said, trying not to hit his chest in salute to her.

Cherry was watching them curiously, licking the syrup from her fork. "What's manna?"

"It's the food of the angels. They don't really eat anything else," explained Guit, scooping some scrambled eggs onto his plate.

"Why not?" she asked, grabbing another slice of bacon.

"I don't know."

"We can eat other things, it's just that the other foods don't taste as good to us," explained Grey.

Cherry accepted that answer, then helped Guit pull Argen from his bed so he could eat before they left to head over to the guild.

The town was slowly being cleaned up by the people that had returned after the mayhem of the dragonfly hybrid. The guild was no different, as scorch marks marred the side of the building. Stepping inside, the five of them were greeted with an open floor plan, dotted with many tables. Tired looking people milled around, discussing what still needed to be done, and who was going to do it.

A tall man with brown hair and gray eyes, wearing robes stepped up to them.

"Ah, you're awake. I want to thank you for the help with the dragonfly yesterday."

"You must be Omen?" asked Grey.

"I am."

"We've been chasing after elder demons all over the place. The monster that attacked the city yesterday was created by one," said Argen.

"Demons?" asked Omen, raising an eyebrow. "You must be joking. Those things haven't come into this forest in a long time. We only have werewolves and the occasional hybrid creature. I believe there is nature magic going awry here in the forest somewhere and am waiting for my people to find the source so we can take care of it."

"Did those people in the caravan make it alright?" asked Airow.

"Yes, they hid during the fight, and only came out after you all had succumbed to exhaustion."

"I am sorry that you don't believe us, but I assure you that it is true," said Grey, as he turned back towards her.

"I find it hard to believe that a demon would visit our town, and leave all of you alive, laying on the ground."

"What are they doing?" asked Guit, pointing to the end of the great room.

They all turned to see a group, including Shiv, Wes, Blaze, and Crow, all sparring with each other.

"They are working hard to train themselves. I don't mind who joins them, if you want? It looked like you could all use it, after seeing the aftereffects of yesterday."

"I don't think I like you very much," said Argen, moving past him and sitting down at a table near the sparring.

Omen shrugged and moved back over to his people to join their discussion.

"It wouldn't hurt for us to train some. We might be able to learn a few new techniques to go up against any more of those things." Grey looked over at them thoughtfully.

"I'm worried that if we don't immediately head out to deal with these demons, they will be able to create more of those things. If we go right now, we might be able to fight them without their creature creations," said Airow, with a frown.

"And if we have to go up against two demons and another one of those monsters?" said Grey.

"You are right. We must train. They might not let us live next time," gave in Airow with a nod.