Chapter 31

Nico bundled his cloak around him as he took a seat at an empty table. Lotus sat opposite him. Her eyes darted to every corner, her hands were constantly moving. She was incredibly nervous which was in turn making him nervous. Arboros was a turbulent city full of unhinged people. The few who were also sitting within the Inn had a look about them, they were just as dangerous as he was. Or Talia. Killers were adept at recognizing each other.

"Are you sure this one will be safe?" She whispered urgently as she eyed the waitresses. The women tending tables were wearing commoner dresses, dull brown and white colors draped over dirty bodies. They were supposed to be in the upper districts yet all he saw was poverty and strife.

"No. I'm not sure of anything right now. But Arboros is one of the only large cities that may have enough supplies to see us through the plains and up towards the dwarven mountains. We have no choice but to try our luck here." He rest his hand on the hilt of his dagger which was hidden beneath his dark cloak. He wasn't as skilled as Talia at slaughtering but he knew his way around a knife.

"Do you think we could get what we need tomorrow? I don't want to stay here more than tonight. This city feels like death. And not in a good way. Gods that sounds odd doesn't it? I can't explain it." She tapped her fingers on the table as she continued to study the Inn closely. He knew what she meant. The city felt like the undead, artificially alive.

"I don't know, we'll have to see. We'll try to be fast, I don't want to risk discovery. Now if they'd just bring us some damn food we could get to bed and sleep through the night." He watched the waitresses with growing ire. He was tired, sore, and more than a little hungry. He didn't like being away from Talia's side for too long. Or maybe it was more like he didn't like being alone for too long.

"Maybe you can sleep but those men back there keep giving us a look that I just can't trust means well. Their eyes are... Glowing." Lotus pointed behind him to a dark corner. He turned his head slightly to peer at them from the corner of his eye. She was right, three men with glowing eyes sat at a round table with full mugs of beer resting in front of them. They didn't touch the mugs or the now cold food that was also sitting there. They stared intently back at him, not a single one blinked the entire time he studied them. With a slow shudder he turned back to Lotus.

"Maybe we should move on up the way." He stood, grabbed her by her arm, and then lead her back out into the streets. Wherever they had gone there was always someone giving off a vibe that screamed 'danger' to him. He wished Talia were with him. He never feared with her by his side, no enemy was too powerful for her. But if multiple men were to attack him and Lotus they would likely struggle to survive.

"At this rate we'll never find a place to eat and rest." Lotus followed behind him with dragging feet. He could hear her stomach gurgling in anger much like his own. He bit back a sharp remark, she wasn't experienced in the world as he was. She didn't know just how dangerous the city could get. She didn't know about the demons. She had a lot to learn.

"If we don't so be it. So long as we live to morning we can gather what we can find and be on our way. Living is a lot better than sleeping in this instance." He eyed the street up and down for Inns that they hadn't already tried. There was no higher to go unless they wanted to end up at the castle doors. There was nothing left.

"I don't know if I could even sleep in this city... These people have odd eyes. I've never seen people with glowing eyes. Except Talia maybe when she's angry." Nico stopped suddenly with a slight smirk.

"Do you not know? I mean... Really?" She was a mage after all. How could she not know?

"Know what?" She asked incredulously with pouty lips. He sighed,

"Mages have glowing eyes. Although the truth is that creatures with mana have the ability to make their eyes glow. If they're consuming mana their eyes will glow. Talia's always using mana so her eyes will always have a slight glow." His own eyes would glow if the used magic. He thought it was common knowledge but it seemed learning was on a decline throughout the world.

"No freaking way so does that mean mine do too?" She sounded all too excited. Had he not explained it well? He continued to walk down the street with a heavier sigh. The night was already wearing on too damn long.

"How many people tonight have you seen with glowing eyes?" Their conversation was bothering him. Glowing eyes weren't unnatural. But a high concentration of them in Arboros might just be. Lotus huffed as she shuffled after him.

"I don't know. I just see people watching us with glowing eyes at every Inn we stop at. So what? Maybe they're just using mana all the time like Talia." She panted as she continued to follow his quickening pace. His heart was starting to thrum a little faster as he looked in every alley way and watched every shadow.

"Talia uses mana to enhance her movement speed and agility, else she'd be a lot slower and a lot louder. I doubt any humans would use it for that purpose. Not to mention that most humans don't have a mana reserve deep enough to use it all day every day. No... Either not all of them are human or there's something else going on within this city." He should have paid closer attention. He wasn't we behind the ears any longer, why had this caught him off guard?

"So... What is it then? They could all be magi like me, maybe they feel threatened by your presence. I mean you do have this... Feel about you. Anyone capable of using mana can likely feel it." He had to admit she was right, he knew anyone who served Hephatus had the same aura about them. Spend enough time around them and one could feel it.

"Even if that is the truth it still means we're in danger. Usually it takes a lot longer to get pegged for an assassin than on the first night. Within the first few minutes no less. No, something doesn't feel right. We should have just passed this city by, Arboros is not the citadel of light any longer." He turned back down the street, he'd already made up his mind to find Talia and the dwarves to insist they leave immediately. His instincts warned that there was trouble nearby and he had no intentions of facing it so near to a castle full of guards.

"Where are they then?" Lotus jogged after him. She watched the streets carefully, suddenly she was acutely aware of Nico's discomfort. She felt like eyes were following them, though these ones weren't glowing. She stuck closely to Nico, Talia had warned her she may have to kill but suddenly she wasn't so sure she wanted the opportunity to arrive where she would have to.

"I'm not certain. There's a few places I think she'd go..." He paused for a moment as he clutched at his chest. Lotus ran into him with a slight 'oof' before stumbling back to look at him in shocked curiosity.

"Nico..?" Her heart was racing in her chest. His eyes were clamped shut and his skin was more pale than usual. She reached out but he hissed just before her fingers could graze his skin.

"Talia...!" His teeth were clenched as if he were in agony. What had happened? Had someone shot him with an arrow? Stabbed him when she wasn't looking?

"What's going on?" She pulled on his cloak sleeve only for him to collapse to his knees. She pulled on him more urgently. She felt like danger was closing in swiftly. She wasn't a fighter, she'd never had to fight for her life before. Steal, lie, cheat, sure. But not kill. She thought she could do it for survival but she wasn't so sure any more.

"I don't know! I feel like I'm burning up and drowning all at once. My chest is on fire!" He'd never felt anything like it, even when she was on the brink of death. Why was he feeling it now? He needed to hurry. He gave no thought as he changed his form to that of the raven and took to the skies. He barely even heard Lotus's screams of terror as he left her.

XXXXX

Talia poked at the bowl of vegetable water with a sad frown. More boiled onions and peppers. She was going to die of starvation long before Nico brought any decent food. The emptier her stomach got the more annoyed she became. Annoyed and tired. Yet even in her state of exhaustion she couldn't bring herself to sleep, something was bugging her. She couldn't place a finger on it yet but she was certain that the fading night would bring trouble.

"You should eat." Grimor had already cleaned up his bowl. He was just about ready to slide into his sleeping bag. She swirled around her vegetable tea with a frown. She wanted to eat but the smell of it stirred her stomach in the worst possible way.

"I might eat it in the morning. It's just as gross hot as it is cold so what's the difference?" She set it aside before leaning back onto her bed. Reezara curled deeper into her side with a small sigh before drifting to sleep again. Now it was only her and Grimor who were left awake.

"I can't wait for better food. Actually I can't wait till I get home again. Soft honeyed breads, juicy tender steaks and roasts, cold and sweet meads and ales to my hearts content. I'll put on all the weight I've lost on this gods forsaken trip." He sounded wistful as he finished getting comfortable. Talia closed her eye and took a deep steadying breath. Even with his comforting tired voice droning on she couldn't shake the nervousness inside her. Was it because she was in Hephatus's decrepit temple? She hadn't been so nervous earlier, so that didn't seem to fit.

"Don't talk to me about food right now. I may just be hungry enough to eat you." He chuckled at her attempt towards humor. She rubbed Reezara's back with her fingers. The minutes passed slowly and before long Grimor was snoring slightly. With a sigh she decided to get up and wander the halls. It wasn't the best way to deal with her growing dread but it would give her something to do. She slid a dagger into its sheath before making her way out the heavy doors and into the empty halls.

As she meandered she ran her fingers across the wood. Everything was too familiar. She could tell exactly where she was just by the feel of the floor beneath her feet and the walls beneath her fingertips. Gathering rooms, worship rooms, sleeping chambers, a library, a reading room, there was a little space for everything a soul could need.

At the library she poked her head in to take a cautionary sniff. It used to smell like cured leather and aged paper. Now it smelled like mildew and rot. Were there even any books left? She moved on with a sigh. No amount of walking was calming her.

"Come to bed. You're exhausted." Reezara urged with a mental yawn. Talia closed her eye as she leaned against the wall. How could she? Her mind wouldn't stop twisting her thoughts in a vicious cycle.

"I will soon I promise." She wasn't sure if she could uphold the promise but she could at least hold the little dragon through the night. She decided to take a look outside first before she made her way back to the main sleeping quarters. She hadn't been alerted to anything out of the ordinary nearby but that didn't mean something wasn't sneaking under her radar. She was too cautious to just go to bed without at least checking.

She stepped out the entrance and into the night with a quiet sigh. Looking up to the sky she saw both moons illuminating the world gently as they always did. The distant stars were still glittering softly and not a cloud was in sight. Everything was perfectly calm. Too calm. Too quiet. She looked up and down the muddy dirt road but not a single creature stirred in the darkness. Her stomach churned and electric tingles raced up her spine and across her skin. She shivered before sliding quietly back into the shadows of the temple. Something was very wrong.

"Get the dwarves up... Something's not right." She urged Reezara as she hid in the shadows. At first nothing happened, the night remained serene and silent. But as the minutes slipped by she could hear a feint noise.

"Shhh... Thump... Shhh... Thump" She froze, her blood even froze as she listened carefully. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on picking out any strange living creatures nearby but nothing popped out at her.

"Ha.. Haha... Hahaha..." She stopped breathing as deep guttural laughter started. Peering out she slid back outside to try and find out who or what was going suddenly insane in the night. Whatever it was she couldn't let it get inside. Slowly she laid her hand on the hilt of the dagger belted to her thigh. She didn't make it far before she noticed glowing purple eyes floating nearly eight feet above her and just in front of her. Before she could jump back the creature roared,

"Dragon Rider!" It's thunderous voice rattled her skull. Or maybe it was his tree-trunk like arm slamming into her ribs and throwing her back into the temple. Either way one moment she was staring into devilish purple eyes and the next she was vomiting blood into a pile of dirt, wooden ruble, and dust.