~Chapter 27~
"Here's your dinner," the bartender remarked as he set a plate of meat and veg on the table before Mae. "Want anything else, I'll start you a tab."
The bartender was a polite older Thay, but his generosity only extended to a single plate of food and a minor, yet helpful, discount on a room for a night. Not that Mae could blame him, what he offered was cheap, and she knew he still needed to make a living.
"Thank you," Mae replied as the bartender walked away.
The Inn's pub was crammed full of patrons and the seating was all communal with long tables and bench seating. Mae had found a semi-quiet spot at the end of the only sparsely occupied table, most likely due to the draft one caught whenever the door was opened, and this was a frequent occurrence, as more and more customers came in. She wasn't quite halfway through her meal when even her table was beginning to fill.
"Mind if I have a sit?" a woman questioned as she set down two mugs of a mead-like drink. "You should probably drink this. Makes the slop they feed you Adventuring types just a dash more edible."
Mae wasn't certain of what to make of the strange woman who sat across from her. She was buxom and wore a mix of leather and fabric armor, daggers and swords quite visible, sheathed in the various belts she had strapped about herself. She also wore a scarf like Ven, hers of navy blue with gold fringe, but her ears, tall, slender, pointed, and sticking straight up in the air, made at least half of her lineage apparent, the greyish undertone of her otherwise pale skin, revealing the other.
"I've no issue with you sitting, but you can keep the drink," Mae replied pushing at the bottom of the mug to move it back to the woman's side of the table.
"Don't or won't?"
"Don't," Mae answered, without it being a complete lie.
She had no issue with drinking amongst her trusted friends; strangers were a different matter though.
"Ah, come on," the woman groaned, "us Grens need to stick together! It's just an offer of acquaintanceship, least you can do is accept it."
"I'm not a Gren. No offering needed," Mae replied as she looked down at her plate and poked at the overcooked chunk of unknown meat, the sauce too over spiced to recognize the flavor.
"Huh? You're not from the Grenwood?"
"No."
"But your hat's a Gren hat."
"It was a gift."
"Oh! Right! Well, that makes sense. I suppose not every half-blood or one eighth blood, as is my case, is from the Gren, it's just a bit unusual is all."
"I'm not a half-blood or one eighth, as the case may be."
The woman tilted her head, the fringe of her headband making a chintzy tinkling sound as she stared.
"If you're not a part-blood then what are you?"
"Ech'latean," Mae replied, having learned how to deliver that particular convincing lie without so much as a twitch.
"Then what happened to your hair?"
Mae set down her skewer and looked up at the woman with the slender nose, small lips, and large, round rose-pink eyes.
"Alchemy accident. Two years ago. Salvaged what I could, been growing it out ever since."
Mae didn't have any other explanation for the blond ends of her hair, the navy-blue dye having long since washed out.
"Oh, well, that explains that too," the woman replied, "but it doesn't explain what you're doing all alone in a place like this."
"I'm eating or I was." Mae snickered as she stared down at her plate.
"I'm telling you the drink will help," the woman insisted, pushing the mug back towards her.
Mae didn't appreciate how pushy the woman was being and regardless of accepting the mug or not, she wasn't about to drink the contents, especially after the incident with the shady Galron earlier in the day.
"IF I accept, will you stop with the questions?"
The woman seemed just as confused as before, as if no one had ever been disinterested in her company or a free drink.
"Not much of a talker then?"
Mae grimaced.
"Fine, fine, less questions, more conversation," she remarked and scowled as Mae pushed the mug back once again before reaching and taking the other mug, with her off hand.
If there was something sketchy going on, the woman should react, perhaps spill the tainted drink or kick up a fuss about not taking what was offered. But in the Game of Mugs, there was a dance to be done and it was always best to pick the mug with your most dominate hand. This was an easy way to throw off would be opponents, and the woman's shift in position was a good indicator that she'd taken the bait.
Setting the mug next to her plate, Mae dropped her hands below the table, and swapped the skewer into her left hand. While Mae may not have been very good at fighting, she knew enough about strategy to line up for surprise attacks and quick escapes.
"Look, you're not the friendly sort, I get it. Truth be I was just hoping for a bit of company. As you can see there not be many of our kind in here that aren't for hire."
"There are more than just the two of us?" Mae cocked her brow and looked around. "I'm pretty certain it's only the two of us, and my spear tends to keep the ruffians at bay."
"The attitude couldn't hurt much either," the woman said offering out her hand palm up. "Names Ilu'cefon of house Onsenia. Don't let the name fool you though, we are Gren outcasts like the rest of Sola's discarded trash."
"Not a fan of the Evleshian's false Goddess?"
Ilu'cefon snorted as she lowered her hand, "Ha! There's not an unresentful soul in the whole of the Gren towards that Dreaming, self-righteous, waste of cosmic power. You know why she hides in Jonelle? Because there be a mob of outcasts waiting to try her out like a fancy robe at a dress-up party. A few centuries of bouncing around inside unlawful hosts ought to change the way she treats us Gren. Suppose you can't imagine what it's like being bound to an Aspect that refuses to let you take vows. Not enough of Ech'latean in me to know what a neutral races choice would be like. Do yourself a favor, when you pick, if you pick, choose one of the other options."
"Sola refuses to let you take vows; why?"
"What do you mean why? If you aren't a pureblood Evleshian, to her you're no better than mud. Pureblood anything is a step up from that, but her people are the standard of perfection the rest of us fall so incredibly short of. You grow up under a rock or something?"
"Something."
"So, you have a name?"
"Elahemé Foedari."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Ela or is it Mae for your casual? I don't want to seem too informal this early on in our relationship, but I really prefer being called Fon. Ilu sounds weird, as if my parents weren't expecting me to make it through my first winter, and Cefon sounds like I'm having something pointed out to me, 'SEE! FON!'" she exclaimed as she pointed to nothing at the wall and then sat down with a huff. "Pretty sure my mother was drunk when she named me."
Picking up the mug she had tried to force on Mae, Fon began to chug back its contents.
"Mae. I prefer Mae," she replied, her initial concerns now pushed aside, opting to believe the oddly jubilant, near full-blooded Evleshian woman's tale of not wanting to sit alone.
A few minutes later the bartender arrived and set an identical plate of food before Fon.
"Adventurer?" Mae questioned.
"Mercenary, but yeah, still an adventurer at heart. You seem pretty young, new to the game?" Fon questioned in return before digging in.
"Yeah, fresh badge, rank one, but I only really got it for the travel perks."
Fon grinned and laughed, "No kidding, that's how I started out too! I'm still only rank 2, but I just got hired on by the Distich Mercenary Band. I fly out of here tomorrow for a job."
"Where to?"
"Not sure yet. Won't find out until the morning."
"Seems an odd thing," Mae remarked as she finished her dinner.
"Not really. I go where I'm told and get paid when the jobs done. The boss sets up the flights and you get whatever's next in the lineup. Makes things fair. No favoritism. Sometimes the guys at the top get stuck with grunt work, and sometimes the lowbies get to make a name for themselves. I prefer the solo jobs, but I've been stuck a couple of times waiting around for others to show up. But it keeps things interesting. If you got your discipline training finished, Distich Band will give you a shot too, which is more than most, and the pays good and regular."
"I'll keep that in mind, but you'll have to excuse me for now. I've got a bath token, and limited time before they close up for the night."
"Oh sweet! Maybe I'll see you down there. Enjoy your night, Mae!"
"Likewise, Fon."
Mae made a hasty retreat to her room where Hidai was clumped up on the floor, the room barely large enough for him and the bed, forcing him to sit up just so she could open the door and come inside. Before sitting down for her own dinner, she had made the trip across the city and purchased a fresh Antufet leg for Hidai. And while she was enjoying her own food, he had devoured his, the large bone still sticking out of his mouth.
Mae opted to skip the bath, not wanting to run into Fon, her overtly friendly nature coming across a bit too forceful for her liking. Fon's pointing out that they were the only two women at the pub for food alone, also didn't make the dimly lit walk to and from the bath all that inviting.
Morning found Mae sleeping on top of Hidai, curled into the tiny room that cost 20 chura for the night, which wasn't much of a bargain given the age and discomfort of the wafer-thin mattress, shared facilities, and a window with a broken latch.
The first sun was just starting to rise, when she opened her eyes and stretched out ready for the day and the excruciatingly long flight ahead. She had already calculated the flight times and knew that if she didn't want to get stuck for a night in Cahldin Town, she had to be at the tower within the first hour of the business day, which was still over an hour away. Taking her time, Mae got ready for the day, enjoying the solitude of the early morning bath, followed by a discounted breakfast in the pub.
With Hidai and her gear comfortably stowed away, she checked out of the inn and made her way up the street towards the Caridon Tower. She was enjoying the early morning air and the leisurely pace of her stroll when her ears were accosted by the shrill of familiarity.
"Mae!" Fon's high pitched voice came from behind her.
Stopping, Mae turned to see Fon running in her direction on wooden sandals, while wearing a heavy looking pack. She was taller than she seemed when sitting, her height all in her legs, and while she wasn't as tall as Ven, her ears made up the difference with a couple inches to spare. It was difficult for Mae to judge her age since she acted like a teenager, had the body of a grown woman, and her voice belonged to a choir girl; rather pleasant when she wasn't screeching.
"Good morning Fon."
"Morning! Seems I missed you at the bath last night," Fon remarked, sounding a bit dejected.
"I ended up skipping it until this morning. I had hoped you would have made the same decision after catching how poorly lit the stairwells and hallways were."
"You're a bit on the paranoid side, aren't you?"
"Perhaps, but caution keeps me alive," Mae replied as she returned to walking.
"But, if you're too cautious you might miss out on something fun!"
"I'll have plenty of time for fun once I get to where I'm going. Until then, staying alive is my only priority, much to the detriment of others."
"You know, you look really young, but you sound a lot like my mother," Fon remarked while walking with her.
"Not surprising. I'm afraid recent years have aged me."
"Had it tough?"
"Life altering."
"So, where you headed?"
"The tower. I've a flight of my own to catch."
"That's great! We can walk together!" Fon exclaimed with a bright smile. "But if you're traveling, aren't you missing something?"
"Like what?"
Fon leaned closer to her and cupped her mouth towards Mae.
"Your gear," she whispered as she pointed to the bag on her back with her other hand.
"I maybe fresh in my certification, but I'm not quite that fresh. It's being handled. All I must do is catch my flight. So, it seems to me that you're the one missing something actually."
"Oh? What did I miss?"
"Apparently the benefits of a storage orb."
When they reached the tower, Mae went to the flight desk and paid for the flight to Vaughn which required a swap in Cahldin. Barring any complications at the transfer, the flight would take just over sixteen hours, and required her badge to purchase as she would be crossing several borders while in flight.
She had been keeping an eye on Fon, but once she entered the tower and began the long walk up the ramp to the top, she lost sight of her speaking to a male Cyno outside.
When she reached the top of the tower, a carriage was pulled forward along the suspension rails, and a well-rested caridon was brought from its stable. While the carriage was basically a cushioned box with doors on either side, designed for two average people, four small, or one Aucron, it was cleverly designed and while more luxurious than coach seating on a commercial flight, it wasn't quite a private jet, Yet to Mae, it couldn't have been better.
Showing her ticket to the flight master, she watched as the caridon, equipped with a yolk, was walked forward beneath the carriage, until yolk caught into the latching mechanism. Workers then quickly locked the carriage into place and fastened down the necessary safety straps, as the flight master lead her over to the creature's side, unlocked and opened the door, and dropped a stool down for her.
Once the flight master had helped Mae into the carriage, he walked out of view and one of the workers took his place at the door.
"It's a seven-and-a-half-hour flight to Cahldin tower. You can find snacks and drinks beneath your bench. Please refrain from throwing anything out of the windows including relief bags. They are to be stowed in the bin with all other trash beneath the other bench. In case of emergency, you will find levitation stones in the compartment above your head. To open the door, push down, pull, and then lift on the latch. It is not recommended for you to jump from the windows unless absolutely necessary. Once the caridon is in flight, it will not stop until it has reached its destination but may alter its course to avoid unforeseen weather formations. Currently the flight path to Cahldin tower is clear, and it not expected to change. Enjoy your flight, miss," the worker explained as he stowed the stool, shut and locked the door, while the flight master, using large colored placards set the caridons path.
"Chains, release!" the flight master called out and with the sound of chains clattering to the stone floor, the caridon walked forward, the carriage shifting as its holds came free from the end of the rails. "Launch!"
The command given, the caridon moved forward picking up speed, spreading its enormous wings as it exited the tower and leapt from the protruding balcony with a thunderous flap.
Mae watched as the city of Sap'letor shrunk away in the distance and her long day of silent, relaxing flights began.