Chapter 28

They arrived at the Trader's Inn just as the sun dipped into the horizon. Alex's feet ached and her legs felt like they were turning into jelly. She had insisted on taking no more breaks for the remainder of the day, thinking only of the soft, warm bed that surely awaited her.

Despite the late hour, the trading post was bustling. Alex noticed other buildings that lined the only other road in this so called village. From what Adamend said, those buildings would all be shops. Since this place was more like a trading post than an actual village, Alex figured it made sense the shops would stay open a little later.

Alex was so focused on what was around her that she forgot to pay attention to where she was going. She felt a hard tug on her shoulder and fell back into a solid chest. Looking up, she found Koa's green eyes staring back. His face was mostly hidden by the hood he had pulled up when they entered the village. But nothing could hide those beautiful eyes.

"Do you intend on sleeping in the middle of the road like this? Your eyes and mouth open to catch flies?" Koa lightly shoved Alex forward, pushing her through a wooden door. Too tired to think of a witty come back, Alex just stumbled her way to a front desk where Adamend appeared to be preparing accommodations.

Koa stood just behind Alex, which made her feel a bit uncomfortable. After all, Koa never stood behind. In fact, he always led.

"Alright, I have the key to our room. I also have ordered baths for all three of us. Koa, your bath will be ready in 10 minutes." Adamend handed Koa the key and his pack. Koa simply nodded and turned to the stairs.

Alex made a face at Koa's back before pushing herself up and attempting to follow. She felt a tug on her arm, however, pulling her back. Adamend stood behind her with a bright, although tired, smile.

"Come, my dear, let Koa take our bags to the room. You and I can grab a table and order some food."

Adamend led Alex in the opposite direction of the stairs, down a short hallway. The hall ended at the entrance of a tavern. To Alex's dismay, the place was packed, and not with just humans and elves. There were dwarves, beast-men, creatures that looked like demons with their horns and pointed teeth. For the first time it hit Alex. She was very far from home.

Adamend placed his hand on the small of Alex's back and led her to an empty table in the middle of the chaos. He pulled out a chair for her and encouraged her to sit. It wasn't long before a handsome looking woman approached their table wearing an apron, her hair tied back in a messy bun.

"Tonight ya've got a choice of mutton stew or roasted pork." The woman had a husky voice with a thick accent that Alex was unfamiliar with. It was something like Irish but more guttural, like Arabic. It sounded a bit strange.

"Ah, yes, I'd like the roasted pork." Adamend responded in a pleasant voice and looked to Alex.

"Oh, uh, pork, I guess?"

The woman grunted and made to leave. "Oh, and I would like a meal sent to our room please. No meat or fish."

"I'll see what's there fer ye." The woman then turned and left.

The food arrived surprisingly quick and tasted better than she anticipated. She gobbled her food down quick. Stopping only to take the occasional drink of juice Adamend had sent over in place or ale.

"You were obviously hungry." Adamend laughed softly as he watched Alex. She used her arm as a napkin to wipe her face and looked back at the wizard.

"The food here is pretty good. Way better than I thought it would be."

"Hmm, what were you expecting?" Adamend took a swig of his ale.

"I don't know, something weird that I never heard of. Or maybe something with eyes?"

"You have quite the imagination. Although, maybe not so different than Koa's." Adamend took a final swig of his ale before standing up. Alex followed suit. With the tavern becoming even busier, Alex bumped into a number of bodies as she attempted to make her way back to the front desk and to the stairs that would lead her to her room. It was this bumping and jostling that caused Alex to fall to the floor, nearly getting trampled. She tried to get back up, but there were so many bodies much bigger than her that her every attempt failed.

Crawling on all fours looking for a clearing, Alex noticed something shining. Curious, she made her way closer. At first she thought it might be a coin, but as she crawled her way over to the object she realized it was shaped like the wing of a butterfly. Alex reached out to pick it up and felt a crunching pain in her hand. Some giant of a man and managed to step on her hand. She jerked her hand back in pain and felt something sticking to the bottom of it. Turing her hand over Alex saw the shiny wing stuck to her.