The cock had crowed its first when Siem’s eyes flew open. Turning her head to where Eldana lay, she found her struggling within bed covers.
“Eldana,” Siem called as she grasped Eldana by the shoulders and attempted to shake her awake. Siem shook harder, and Eldana opened her eyes with a start. She gasped and sat up. She watched her friend heave and pant for breath.
After a while, when Eldana had regained her breath Siem asked, “Another one?”
Eldana nodded.
“We made a deadly mistake. We forgot to put a protection spell over our minds before falling asleep,” Siem said.
“We could not help it,” Eldana replied. “We were all spent.”
“You would be dead by now, if not for the magic in this place,” Siem observed.
Eldana sighed. “I think it is time to move.”
Eldana conjured a ball of flame with her mind and let it float in the middle of the room. The room was flooded with bright yellow light, and as its features came into illumination, Eldana noticed some things that were not there the night before.
“Woah,” she pointed towards the two brown rucksacks made with leather hide huddled together at the far end of the wall.
Eldana and Siem swung their legs out of bed and stepped out. Tentatively, Siem reached out and cast a search spell.
“Reiena,” the magician whispered, before visibly relaxing. “There’s nothing capable of danger in them,” she reported.
Eldana grabbed one of the rucksacks and opened it. Then smiled as her eyes took in its contents.
“We’re set for the perils in our journey!”
Siem cocked her brows inquisitively.
“Supplies, there’s a dagger, dried biscuits, dried meat, spices, salt, a can, and a robe, which probably has some spell over it...”
Siem smiled. “Indeed. The universe finds opportunities in our present difficulties to smile at us.”
Eldana closed the rucksack and dropped it beside the second one. “We ought to start getting ready,” she told Siem.
The girls made sure to have a bath, not solely for the sake of cleanliness, but for the magically induced, refreshing feeling they got afterward.
“What a way to start the day,” Eldana said when she was done.
Soon they were fully dressed. Eldana had her hair packed and tied in a bun. She wore her rune-covered robe and her sword was strapped to her back. Siem had a quiver full of arrows strapped to her back, her retractable bow in a pouch on her belt, and an ornate dagger, which she kept hidden in her boots.
The cock had crowed the second time when there was a knock on their door.
“Hermon?” Siem called.
“Unfortunately, not,” a familiar voice replied.
“Techle?” Eldana asked.
“Greetings,” Techle replied. “Can I come in?”
“Oh, sure,” Eldana said, moving towards the door.
She unlatched the door, then opened it to reveal a smiling Techle.
“I trust you had a pleasant rest?” Techle asked, walking into the room.
“More pleasant than we’ve had in several days,” Siem replied.
“Good,” He looked around the room and spotted the rucksacks. “I see you’ve found the supplies you requested.”
“Yes. Blessings on you.” Eldana replied.
“It is not much,” Techle said “But it has the rudimentary things that you will need on your journey.”
“Are the others ready?” Siem asked.
“I suppose so,” Techle replied. “This place is tailored to meet the specific needs of its guests. If you need to be awake by the first light of dawn, you will be.
“Now,” Techle’s face turned serious, “I don’t know the details about your journey, but I feel it’s a very serious one. There are horses outside, fine and strong breeds. They’ll take you wherever you want to go. I’ll advise that you keep your senses keen. Not all is as it seems in this world.”
“Thank you, Techle,” Eldana said. “How can I ever repay you?”
Techle smiled. “Like I said the tavern does not accrue debts. Just be safe.”
Eldana and Siem nodded. They each picked up a rucksack, and giving Techle one final farewell glance, nodded to indicate their readiness. Techle replied with a nod of his own, and a line of light began to burn on the wall until a door frame was formed. Then the section of the wall cut out by the frame of light grew translucent until there was nothing there but the dark blue of dawn.
Eldana and Siem exchanged looks. Then they walked through the doorway and into the silent morning.
The morning was cold. The visible puffs of breath coming out from the nostrils of the horses were testament enough. There was a trio of men, sitting in a small circle, close to where the horses stood. The cloaks they had on rendered them unobtrusive, but they did more than that.
“Isn’t this marvellous?” one of them asked.
“What is, Mikko?” Hermon asked.
“These cloaks,” Mikko replied. “I mean, it is so cold out here, yet I feel nothing.”
“You know, the weakling is right. I do not feel a thing, not even a bite of cold,” D’rmas said.
“Hey,” Mikko warned. “I’ve told you to quit calling me a weakling.”
D’rmas laughed tauntingly. He had begun calling Mikko a weakling since the magician had drunk himself into a stupor last night and lost an arm wrestle to D’rmas.
“Hermon, please remind your dear friend here that losing an arm wrestle when you are heavily drunk does not make you a weakling,” Mikko said.
A small smile appeared on Hermon’s face. “I do not know about this, Mikko. I just want to be left out of this, whatever it is,” he said. Hermon was sure that Mikko would not see the last of D’rmas taunts unless he were to oblige the warrior to a duel.
After a span of silence, Mikko conjured a ball of flame and let it float in their middle.
“What’s that for?” Hermon asked.
“I do not know,” Mikko replied. “We cannot just sit here, waiting in the dark.”
“Of course we can, and we will,” D’rmas stated. “Your magic ball will attract the attention of unfriendlies, if it has not already.”
“Fine,” Mikko said. With a snap of his fingers, the light went out. “How much more time do you reckon the
