“Just the usual,” answered Marina, from her seat. “I don’t like the other colored fancy drinks more than the blue stuff.”
“Right away then, Marina the Siren,” responded the bartender.
Vaeludar sat down next to her. He unstrapped the sword and placed it beneath the stool he was sitting on. As he was sitting down, he could feel his wings and tail about to burst wide open. His robe was stuck to a nail that wasn’t hammered all the way into the wooden ground.
Taking extreme procuration to make sure no one was looking, Vaeludar quickly used a figure claw to cut part of the robe and be seating back in regular position without anyone taking notice.
Just then, the bartender was walking back, holding a pint of a blue colored drink.
Vaeludar couldn’t tell what kind of drink it was because it looked so blue. He had never seen a drink colored in blue. Yet he couldn’t think of drinking that blue juice into his own throat or take a small taste of it.
“Here you go: the Siren’s Delight, served on the house,” said the bartender, placing the pint in front of Marina.
“Thank you,” said Marina, smiling. The Siren held the pint with two hands, took seven long sips before placing it back on the counter that was now a half full. “Just the way I like it: stirred and not shaken.”
The bartender turned his gaze toward Vaeludar who had his attention on Marina’s drink. Then the bartender turned toward Marina who was just jugging two giant gulps. “Who’s your boyfriend?” he asked, jokingly.
Vaeludar quickly turned to the bartender with a stern look. “Boyfriend? How did you come up with that idea? Marina and I are—”
“He happens to be the creature that killed that Minotaur: Vaeludar,” answered Marina.
“Doesn’t look like a fighter,” said the bartender, turning back to Vaeludar. “He looks more like those spoiled rich boys who try to rip off princesses.”
“Excuse me,” said Vaeludar, raising his right arm up and showed his hand covered in the red dragon scales. “What do you say to this, hm?”
The bartender didn’t look convinced.
Vaeludar kept his arm raised and had his hand erupted in a great menacing red flame that covered his dragon-formed hand. “What do you think of this?”
The bartender still didn’t show any sign of any convincing. He was staring with no interest in Vaeludar.
“Not convinced, huh? I guess I am going have to take this to the next level.”
Vaeludar stood up and walked to an open area three steps away. He spread out his arms and readied for an awesome show. The claws of his wings ripped through the white robe, and his wings flew wide open.
The robe burst into sparks before magically returning into a towel-looking cloth. Vaeludar revealed his true colors: his human-dragon form. “What do you say my true form now?” asked Vaeludar.
Now the bartender raised his eyebrows at Vaeludar’s sudden appearance. He seemed he was convinced Vaeludar was the one who killed the Minotaur.
“You’re quite the talk around these parts,” said the bartender, smiling. “Your name is on everyone’s lips. You do look younger than I thought you’d be.”
“Killing a single creature shouldn’t make me popular around this island,” said Vaeludar, grabbing the folded cloth and placing it around his body and turning back into a nobleman. “It was a Minotaur, but a rare creature. I thought they were supposed to be only lurking around dangerous forests. In the distant past, I’ve heard only three were left.”
“Really? I heard there were seven,” said Marina, finishing the pint of that bluish drink.
“I heard they were hooking up with real cows,” joked the bartender.
Marina laughed while Vaeludar remained silent.
“What’s the matter? Can’t take a joke?”
“I could barely find it funny at all,” stated Vaeludar. “In fact, I lack some humor, so don’t try to make me laugh at something I don’t find entertaining. From now on, don’t tell any jokes to me because I won’t take a laugh because my hands can’t hold a laugh.”
Marina laughed at that.
“Even though I am not able to laugh, I can make other people laugh,” said Vaeludar, getting up, grabbing the sword and tying it around his chest, and walking to the door. “Now I need to be going. Marina, I’m sure you know how to get back, ‘cause I do, by flying in the sky. I think it’s time for me to go back to the Dragons.”
“Wait, Vaeludar,” said Marina. “You’re not going anywhere without me. Remember, I’m a princess here. So wherever I go, you must go.”
“Very well, your Highness,” said Vaeludar, sarcastically.
“Don’t insult the princess,” said the bartender.
“That’s alright,” said Marina, walking towards Vaeludar. “He wouldn’t be my boyfriend if he was so insulting.”
BOY-WHAT!? Vaeludar had fireworks exploding in his mind. Did this Siren just say “boyfriend” right next to him? She was agreeing with the bartender that Vaeludar was her boyfriend. They didn’t even kissed yet alone confessed their love. So how could they be called boyfriend and girlfriend if they didn’t show their love first?
“Come on, I want to show you more,” said Marina, grabbing Vaeludar’s hand again.
“Here we go again,” said Vaeludar.
They both exited the bar and went back outside. Into the crowd they went again. Marina led Vaeludar to the third level of the city. Here on the third level, there were lots of noblemen and ladies dressed in the finest, silkiest, shiniest, and most expensive clothes. There were mostly hunters on this level. The streets were paved in cement, restaurants in the form of houses, big-sized style mansions more stylish than Geraldus’s house. The noblemen and the noblewoman all walked in sidewalks while horse-riding carriages roamed in the streets.
Unlike the forth level, this level was not crowded but when it came to crossing the street, they had to look both ways before they crossed. The noble people had their faces
