She walked over to the window the next morning and watched the sun rise. Well, sort of. The sun was rising in the east, and this window was facing north, so she only kind of saw it, but watching the colors was fun either way.
There were elves walking around on the street, but none of them looked up this time, so she wasn’t being gawked at. After watching the street fill with colors, she got dressed and went downstairs.
Her friends were already at the table talking to the innkeeper. She sat down next to Rose and smiled at everyone.
“What were you up to, child?” Barika asked.
“Watching the sunrise,” Anna replied.
“You were wearing clothes this time, weren’t you?” Lyreen asked.
“No, why?” Anna replied. The others just looked at her.
“We’re sorry if you get any complaints. We can’t keep her in her dress,” Lyreen said.
“Who’s going to complain about me being naked?” Anna asked.
“Wives everywhere!” Elaine replied.
“Oh, them, yeah, sorry,” Anna said. The innkeeper just smiled.
“You’ll find us to be less jealous than humans are,” she said.
“Really, then what’s wrong with Lyreen? She looks like she’d going to fight any woman that even looks at Voekeer,” Anna said.
Lyreen looked horrified, but the innkeeper just laughed.
“She’s just young. She’ll grow out of it in a few centuries,” she said. The innkeeper took a sharp breath. “Oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I know you won’t be around then,” she added.
“It’s fine. I’m immortal,” Anna replied.
“Anna! That’s a secret!” Lyreen said.
“I know, but it’s my secret, and what if I see her in, like, five hundred years? I’d rather just tell her now so it’s not a shock then,” Anna replied.
“You all can quit looking like that. She’s not the first immortal I’ve ever met,” the innkeeper said.
“Really?” Voekeer asked.
“Yes, young man, I have. I do run an inn on one of the main roads through the great forest,” the innkeeper replied.
“Right, sorry,” Voekeer said.
“You’ve been away from home for a while, haven’t you?” the innkeeper asked.
“Six years,” Voekeer replied.
“Runaway?” the innkeeper asked. Voekeer clammed up. “From an old-fashioned village where everyone just does what their parents do, and you wanted to do something else. Father wouldn’t listen, and mother wouldn’t step in. Felt like you were trapped, so you ran. Something like that, right?” the innkeeper asked.
“Nailed it,” Elaine replied.
“Hey!” Voekeer said.
“Don’t worry. I’ve seen hundreds of you pass through here. Listen, my grandparents were like that. Came from a family of singers, and let me tell you, I can’t carry a tune with both hands. Lucky for me, they kicked it when I was four hundred, so I took the coin they were going to use to send me to music school and bought this place. Best thing I ever did,” the innkeeper said.
“What about your parents?” Lyreen asked.
“Off in some traveling music show. Who knows when they’ll be back, if ever,” the innkeeper replied.
“How old are you?” Voekeer asked.
“Eight hundred. How about you?” the innkeeper replied.
“Twenty-one,” Voekeer said.
“Well, there goes my plan for the night,” the innkeeper replied.
“Excuse you!” Lyreen said.
“Don’t worry, honey. You would have been invited,” the innkeeper replied. She laughed at Lyreen and Voekeer’s faces before getting up and swishing away.
“I like her,” Elaine said.
“Aye, a fine lass,” Thokri added.
“So, what’s for breakfast?” Anna asked.
“Bacon and eggs, child. We know how much you like that,” Barika replied.
“Yay!” Anna said.
“Would you two get that look off your faces. She was just fucking with you,” Elaine said.
“How can you know that?!” Lyreen asked.
“Because we turned in our keys,” Elaine replied. Lyreen blinked and looked away.
“Oh,” she said.
“Yeah,” Elaine replied.
“So, are we going to go check on the wagon?” Anna asked.
“It’s already out front, and that fat rabbit has already been begging for table scraps,” Barika replied.
“How much did he end up with this time?” Anna asked.
“After nearly swooning from his cuteness, the innkeeper brought him in the back to eat from a bin of scraps. We haven’t seen him since,” Elaine replied.
“So, I’ll have to roll him out again,” Anna said.
“Aye,” Thokri replied.
They were brought a huge breakfast, and after spending far longer than usual, both eating and teasing each other, they got ready to leave.
That’s got to be the best inn ever! I don’t know what the others have been so worried about. Elves are great!
Anna gave her key back to the innkeeper in exchange for a sleeping Lord Emerald. The wagon was out front just like she’d been told, so she handed the fat rabbit to Rose and climbed up on the drivers bench next to Thokri. She took the reins, gave them a flick, and the horses started off at a walk.
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She guided them onto the street, setting off at an easy pace. Everyone in the town seemed to be moving at a relaxed pace, as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Everyone smiled and waved at her, though she did smile and wave in the first place. They rode out of town and back onto the main road, heading northwest towards the dwarven mountain once more.
A few days later, she pulled into a set of cottages early. It was raining so hard that she could hardly see in front of her face and had to use a few of her eyes to make sure they didn’t ride off the road.
Good thing my dream friends can see though anything. We would have had to stop on the side of the road if not!
Her friends rushed into one of the cottages while she took care of the wagon and the horses. Tentacles sprouted from the ground and helped her undo the harness and then lead them into the barn. She looked around the barn and didn’t see anything to dry them off with, so she put extra straw in each of their stalls.
The tentacles had made sure that the wagon was as watertight as it could be, and one of them held a waterproof sack filled with rations. She’d nudge them mentally to do this while she took care of the horses, and they nudged her back that they had finished. She had no way to really describe how it worked. There was nothing in a normal person’s experience that even came close to it.
Just another way I’m weird.
The tentacle tossed her the sack and disappeared along with the rest of them. They weren’t affected by the rain. Neither was she for that matter, but she didn’t see a point in keeping them in this world where they might get spotted by other travelers.
I don’t feel like explaining everything to more people again.
Her friends had told her all long that her powers were nothing like magic or divine power or anything else really. They also caused a strange nervous feeling in others, as if something horrible was watching them whenever she summoned anything, though you had to be near whatever had appeared.
She walked into the cottage and stopped near the door. Her friends were all naked with their clothes strung up near a large fire that someone, probably Thokri, had built in the fireplace. She dropped the sack next to her and steam started to rise from her body. She was dry within moments and casually walked over to sit on one of the beds. The others looked at her for a moment.
“It’s warm in here. You’ll be fine,” she said, knowing what they wanted her to do.
“But what if someone else come in?” Lyreen asked.
“You’ll be fine!” Anna replied, not really wanting to put everyone else’s wet clothes on.
Lyreen huffed but didn’t pester. She knew Anna was possibly the most stubborn person in the world, and the more she asked her to do something she didn’t want to, the more likely she was to suffer from some horrifying practical joke in the next few days.
Voekeer got up and went over to the sack Anna had dropped. He picked it up and opened it, looking at the contents as he walked back over to the bed they were sitting on. He took out a few smoked sausages before tossing the sack to Barika who had held out her hand. She caught it and fished out a few chunks of dried meat before tossing it to Thokri. It went around the room before she got it.
She took out more food than the others combined and started munching away. The others looked at her for a moment and at the pile of food on her lap, but they didn’t say anything. One by one, they went to put their clothes back on, and after a few hours, the rain died down.
“I think it’s safe to head our own cottage now,” Voekeer said.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Elaine said.
One by one, her friends got up and left the cottage, leaving her alone once more. Well, not exactly alone. Lord Emerald was there, but he was currently lounging next to the fire. She got undressed, figuring that no one was around anyway, and her belt was still a little damp and needed to be emptied to dry properly. If she heated it up too much, it would get hard and brittle.
She emptied each pouch and set her things on her dress which was laid out on her bed. She hung the belt near the fireplace, but not too close, and then went back to her things.
Oh, gross! All the bandages are wet, and something leaked on them!
One of the wax seals had melted on a vial of pain relief potions. She bundled them up and tossed them into the fire.
No saving that. Oh well, I have more in the wagon. Next time, I’ll just hang my clothes to dry and use my power on my hair.
She cleaned out the pouch and then went through the others. Luckily, that was the only vial that had spilled.
Oh, good, the candy is safe. That could have been bad.
She was wiping off the tins of foot cream when the door sprang open, and a few armed elves sprang into the room. They were all drenched and miserable looking. She stood up, and the lead elf swung his bow around and pointed it at her, drawing an arrow to his cheek. She put her hands up and smirked at him. “You know, men usually buy me a drink before they try to stick something in me,” she said. The elf turned bright red and put his bow down. “Let me go put some more wood on the fire. You all need to get out of those clothes and warm up,” Anna said.
The elves just stared at her for a moment, so she put her hands down, went over to the fire, and started to stack wood on it before taking the iron tube and blowing on it ‘till the fresh wood caught.
Oh, wait, I shouldn’t have bent over in front of them. That’s what Elaine told me.
She straightened back up and turned around to find the elves stripping off their wet clothing. Their wet packs were lined up next to the door as well as their armor. A few of them hesitated at their underclothing, but after taking another look at her, off it came. There was only one woman amongst them. The other nine were men.
It’s a patrol. Probably rangers. I hope they spend the night. Voekeer really wanted to meet rangers!
An older elf walked over. It was hard to tell with elves, but he carried himself differently than the others, so she guessed he must be their leader.
“Sorry about that. It’s their first time out, and everyone’s jumpy,” he said.
“It’s fine. I was just as surprised as he. We’ve been traveling through your forest for months, and you’re the first people to join us in these cottages,” Anna replied.
“It’s not our way to intrude,” he replied.
“I know. There are two elves in my party. We’re adventurers. Anyway, they told me about that,” Anna said. He laughed.
“Elven adventurers with humans. They must be young. Well, it’s none of my business. I hope you don’t mind us intruding,” he said.
“I don’t mind. This place is for everyone, and it’s not like there isn’t plenty of room,” Anna replied.
She looked around the large around, and even with the elves buzzing around, it didn’t seem crowded. They hung up their clothing and started to unpack their packs. She went back to her things spread out on her dress and started to wipe them off again.
“Are you a healer?” one of the elves asked.
“No, I just make potions and creams,” Anna replied.
“You hear that, Corym! She makes creams!” the elf shouted. Another elf made a rude gesture in return. Anna eyed both elves.
“His looks fine to me, but yours is kind of short,” she said, looking right at the first elf’s manhood.
Don’t laugh. Oh, don’t laugh. You’ll ruin it. Hold it in, girl! Do it!
The other elves burst into laughter.
“I’m sure it’s just cold. Yeah, that must be it,” Anna added.
The elf scurried away from her quickly. She finally burst into a good belly laugh, earning herself a glare from the first elf.
“Oh, and if anyone does need that kind of cream, I have a few tins of it,” Anna said. No one took her up on her offer.
She finished cleaning and drying her things and went to get her belt. Once she oiled it, she repacked it, folded her dress, and set it on the end of the bed.
“Aren’t you getting dressed?” the elf woman asked.
“No,” Anna replied, sprawling on the bed. Lord Emerald hopped up next to her, and she pulled him next to her.
She fell asleep instantly, as always. It was late, and she wanted to spend time in her dream world while she got the chance. She would be awake most of the time they spent in the wilds on watch.
She woke up the next morning still surrounded by elves. She slipped out of bed and got dressed. The older elf opened his eyes and looked at her. She smiled, made like she was eating, and pointed at the door. The older elf shouted loudly for the others to get up, causing them to spill out of their racks.
She left the cottage during the pandemonium and went to check on the wagon. The ground was squishy, and the mud squelched between her toes as she walked. She undid the back flap on the wagon and peered inside. There was some water, but not enough to worry about. She opened the flap the rest of the way and then went to the front to open that one.
“How is it?” the older elf asked.
“Some water got in, but our stuff is mostly waterproof, so nothing is ruined, though it might smell weird if we don’t get it in the sun soon,” Anna replied. She squished her toes in the mud for a moment.
“I think we’ll just have to deal with it later,” she added.
“We’ll have to get back on patrol soon,” the older elf said.
“I was just kidding about the cream, but I do have balm for sore feet,” Anna said.
“I appreciate the thought, but we have our own,” he replied.
“Are you going to eat with us?” Anna asked. He shook his head no.
“Can’t I’m afraid,” he replied.
“Oh, okay,” Anna said.
The rangers were out of the cottage and down the road before her friends got up.
She cleaned up the cottage, hooked up the horses, and cleaned out the barn before splitting more wood. Her friends joined her towards the end, and when they finished, they left.
I shouldn’t tell the others. I think Voekeer would be sad he didn’t get to meet them.