14 Chapter 13 - Old Friends

The old man lived simply. There was basically no furniture in the house, only a couple of cushioned seats and the walls seemed to be mostly bare. The main room when they entered the house had a fireplace along the back wall and the room had one other door besides the exit. The old man led them through it and all it appeared to be was a dingy looking kitchen. There were a couple of dishes on the counter but besides that, there was only dust. The man opened on of the cabinets and pulled out a bottle of brown liquor.

"Care for some?" He asked, eyeing the duo.

"No thank you sir." Archer replied respectfully.

Grunting, the man puts a glass into Shuiens outstretched hand. The man heads into the main room and settles into a chair, it gave a loud creak as he eased into the seat. He was very content with his drink as he put it to his lips, almost forgetting that Archer and Shuien were present. After removing the glass, he turned his eyes to the duo and glanced at Archer and asking Shuien, "How did you come across a young pup like this? Thought you the better kind than to go messing with youngins."

Grimacing at his comment, the master threw a glare at the grizzly man and he retorted back, "You should take heed of who your talking about Jacobi."

Jacobi lifted his drink back up to his lips, while looking back into Shuiens eyes. After a couple of gulps, the man stood up to face Shuien. He was without a doubt taller than Archer and his build was bigger than Archer by far. "His mother must have had a fun time birthing him." Archer couldn't help but think as he looked at the man a little closer. Although old, this wasn't a fight Archer would want. Once Jacobi was close enought to the master for his belly to poke Shuien in the bottom of his ribs, he wrapped his arms around Shuien, lifting him up. Archer began to draw Spada, but halted and they began to spin.

"ITS SO NICE TO SEE YOU SHUIEN!! How long has it been?!"

After a second glance, Jacobi was beaming. It was hard to see through his mangled grayish/blonde beard, but he appeared happy. His yellow teeth were clearly showing. Sliding the sword back into its sheath, Archer gazed as he watched the interaction.

"ERM.. OWW! PUT ME DOWN YOU OAF!"

Shuien put his right hand on the Jacobi's shoulder to push him away. After letting Master Shuien go, Jacobi noticed Shuien holding his shoulder. The wound underneath his coat appeared to have split slightly and drops of blood began to drip to the floor. Archer rushed forward to grab the master, but luckily the tough guy held his footing. Carefully removing his coat, the bandages were obviously done for. Jacobi left the room and came back a few moments later with the bottle of liquor and some bandages.

It took some time to remove the bandages that were stuck to the wound, but Jacobi was able to remove them without opening the wound anymore than it already had. He pulled a rag from his pocket and balled it up. Sliding it into Shuiens mouth, who accepted it, Jacobi took the cap off of the bottle and doused the wound with it. The old master grunted and his jaw muscles clenched as he bit down into the rag.

After applying the bandages to the wound, Jacobi finished what he was doing and Shuien finally relaxed. Removing the rag, Shuien said, "You certainly haven't lost your touch."

Ignoring his comment, "What the hell did this?" Jacobi's eyes were locked onto the slight blood spots seeping back through the rags from where the teeth had pierced the skin.

Archer squatted down into the corner of the room as Shuien began to recite what had occurred the last few days. The master intentionally left out Archer being the prince and only proceeded to tell of the actions that had happened. The ground splitting, the king dying, the creatures they saw, and how they escaped. He pawned Archer off as a villager he had come across on his way out of the city.

Jacobi didn't say anything for a long while, he sipped on his glass and messed with his mangled beard. Finally, he broke the silence, "I hear of similar happening elsewhere also, it wasn't just Draconvale. The kingdom of Puraloke sent a distress messenger to the local villages and requested assistance. A couple of our men went, but that's it. I can only assume the same is happening."

"I was under the impression everything was sealed away within the one stone under Draconvale. But I've heard rumors of there being more, I just didn't expect them to be true." Shuien said.

"Well I don't have a definite answer for you, my friend. All I know is what I've already passed on to you."

Archer soaked up the knowledge, but he was done with the conversation as it steered away from the problem at hand. They had begun to recount past stories from their days bounty hunting. Archer stood up and walked towards the door, "Sir, I'll be back. I'm gonna have a look around." After receiving the nod of acknowledgment, he stepped outside. The sun had begun to set and the streets that were busy earlier now seemed quiet. He walked down the street and observed everything his eyes could rest on. It looked so different compared to what he grew up seeing .The luxurious housing he always saw from his window wasn't anywhere nearby within this village. Walking over to the well, he sat down on the stone. He fiddled with the rope a little, plucking at the fibers with his fingernails. Then there was music. It was a faster tune than what was usually played in the castle and the melody made Archer wanna swing his body in a way he had never felt before. Almost as though entranced, he began making his way towards the sound.

The source of the noise came from the inside of a nicer looking house compared to the rest of the village. Walking up the steps and reaching for the handle, the door swung outward, hitting Archer in the face. Holding his nose he looked up and was amazed, the woman who stood before him was stunning. Ignoring the pain in his nose, he stood up straight, puffing his chest slightly.

"Oh no!! I'm so sorry.." she kept pleading over and over again.

Archer shrugged his shoulders slightly, trying to nonchalantly brush off the pain "I've dealt with worse."

"Can I buy you a drink? I feel terrible for what this. Its the least I can do." The lady pulled a rag from her pocket to hand to Archer, but luckily enough there was no blood and the stars began to clear quickly from Archers head.

Archer pondered it, for he had never been offered this before. "I mean, the sun is going down and we aren't traveling at night," he thought himself. Finally he accepted her offer and followed her as she motioned to the barstools around the counter. He was able to catch a better look at the woman as she stepped into the room. She had auburn hair that was just past her shoulder blades and it was pulled back into a ponytail. She had a long baby blue dress on that stretched just past her knees. Underneath that she wore black hose that meshed with her black, low heels she had on. She turned around to face Archer, her eyes matching the blue of her dress.

"My name is Haven. What can I get you to drink?" she asked, looking into Archers' unwavering eyes.

He felt weird. He didn't recall seeing somebody so beautiful in his life. He kept catching himself staring and despite his hardest efforts to stop, he couldn't seem to. "This has to be the closest thing to an angel I've ever seen," he thought to himself.

"Sir."

Snapping back to reality, he awkwardly smiled at her. "Hey, sorry. I was.. urmm.. lost in thought."

"No worries, it happens more than you think.." she trailed off, leaving the rest of that statement alone. "I had asked you what you like to drink," she stated again, trying not to laugh at this point

Not wanted to sound dumb due to his inexperience, "Surprise me."

"Oh, ballsy I see." She laughed and turned to make his drink. Looking around the room, Archer found the source of the music. It was two men, one plating a flute and the other playing a lute. He began bobbing his head to their music, noticing the somewhat empty tavern. Besides the performers, Haven and himself, they only other people were a couple sitting in the corner at their own table. They walls to the building had a faint glow, the grains of the wood seemed like deep shadows etched into the walls.

"Your surprise as requested, sir."

Turning his attention back to the hostess, he noticed a fairly large mug in front of him. "My name is Archer, I appreciate it." He raised his mug up slightly in her direction and began to drink, after polishing about half of it did he notice the taste. It was bitter, but it had a strange sweet after taste to it. It was actually really good. He turned the mug up to polish the rest of it. With the mug empty, he thanked her again.

"I really appreciate that. It was quite delicious. Where did you learn to make this?" Archer asked, he looked away from the hostess, somewhat lost in thought while listening to the melody that was still playing.

Noticing that Archers attention was waning from her, she frowned a little, "I learned how to make this in Puraloke."

Remembering what Jacobi said earlier, his interest was peaked at the sound of the kingdom. "You're quite a ways from there, aren't you? What brings you to a little town like this in the middle of no where?"

Shrugging her shoulders slightly and looking around, "Adventure. Life was a bit anticlimactic back home. So I decided to branch out and actually experience a little bit of life."

"I understand that.. Lucky you" Archer caught himself mumbling. After the words escaped his lips, guilt gripped his stomach as he remembered his father. Casting the thought aside, Archer asked, "Where are we at right now compared to the other kingdoms?"

She stopped what she was doing for a moment as she seemed to ponder something. "Well your quite a ways from Draconvale. That's a few day journey at the least. Puraloke is probably closest. When you head out of Hammerstone, you head southwest till you get to the water, from there you can spot the kingdom, the means of how to get there is your own problem though."

She continued, "Monafawn is in the exact opposite direction from here. Its past the far side of Draconvale, towards the northeast, just past The Splintered Fields. And then you can imagine that the next two are to the northwest and south east." She pulled out a piece of parchment and scribbled, showing the kingdoms layouts. Four of the kingdoms were on each corner of the sountry while Draconvale resided in the center.

"Thats good to know. I appreciate that information, very much."

Looking up again to slightly smile at Haven, Archer found himself entranced with Havens face all over again. He noticed his head was beginning to swirl and he lost coherent control of what he was doing in that moment. Staggering a little in his chair, he felt support from under his shoulder as Haven went to grab him.

-BLACK-

*Archer is holding Havens hand and walking to the floor, or at least he thinks its Haven. He feels his muscles burning as the melody of the music bounced around the inside of his skull.*

-BLACK-

*Haven is murmering something in his ear while they danced, causing his body to warm up despite not being able to make out what she was saying. Her smell was intoxicating.*

-BLACK-

*He's in a room, upstairs probably. He feels beyond tired, but he can't sleep due to his lips being pressed against Haven's. She reaches up and removed the straps of her dress and it drops to the floor exposing her breast and the black hose that accented the tan completion of her skin.*

-BLACK -

*His hands squeeze flesh as he feels pressure around his waist. He realizes he's on his back, his hands on her waist as she moaned. "What is happening right now?" The feeling was indescribable as his mind continued to wane in and out.*

-BLACK-

*His stomach clenches tight as he lets out a yell. Havens nails dig into Archers chest as appeared to yell in unison with him. As relief takes over his body, he fades back to the black for good.*