When Seras and Luna walked inside their room, Lan left to find a healer for his fractured arm. Luckily, he didn’t need to go far to find one, as the same reason the guild was so small, there were only a handful of healers in town, and all of them spent their nights in the drunken cat.
Of course, it made it much harder to ignore the longing looks from the four young adventurers, although calling them young was odd as the oldest couldn’t have been too far from Lan in age. With an inward sigh, Lan looked over at them and smiled.
‘Good hunt?’
Nursing the wine that Lan had insisted she get to “sell the image”, Seras watched him tell his story, finding it more interesting than the stories he had told Luna.
Somehow, it made more sense to her that he would have gone through what he had or thought it was a good idea to do half of the things he had to get out than anything about Pen the, whoever.
Then there were the four lost pups he had wrapped around his words. It was clear to anyone with eyes that they were more than impressed, even if most tried to hide it. Well, the young men tried to hide it. On the other hand, the girl who really needed to get a grip was more obvious than the innkeeper’s daughter regarding where her mind was. Which made it a wonder that Lan somehow didn’t notice.
It was odd. Although Lan had shown a good deal of insight into many things, He seemed to have a blind spot regarding himself.
Seras watched him smile at a joke one of the young men made, and she wondered if that wasn’t the real key to his charm. Would the same effortless smile be as warm if he knew how easily it could sway others?
Seras knew it would have put her on guard if she had sensed anything more to his smile, as there was nothing more dangerous, which is why she had been raised to watch for things like that, but would others see it in the same way, she wondered.
No, as he checked to see how she was doing and grinned at her. Seras decided the same smile would have been spoiled by self-awareness.
‘Somehow, I avoided having anything important stabbed long enough to light the fire silk, catching the goblins’ fur and clothes on fire. But even then, they kept coming, so I had to get my butt up and keep at it. And when I was done, I collected the weapons and ears and walked into the tree line, only to turn and see an ambushing party sneaking into the clearing with a Goblin knight.’ Lan said, getting a gasp from the small group and a whistle from one of the other tables listening in.
‘No way.’ Arc, the leader of his nameless party, said. ‘Thirty goblins on your own. There is just no way.’
‘Arc! Don’t be rude,’ Evie said, slapping him on the arm.
‘No, it’s fine. I still sometimes don’t believe it myself, but I’ll tell you what the next time I am in town, I’ll let you have a look at my Kill Log at the guild.’ Lan smiled, which seemed to be all the proof the four needed as the four stared wide-eyed at him before getting a look in their eyes.
‘So, goblins might not be that bad,’ the group’s rogue voiced as Lan brought his mug up to drink.
‘I didn’t say that.’ He stopped, not liking the confidence the rogue had spoken with. ‘Make no mistake, if you let your guard down even with the smallest goblin, they will make you regret it. I am only sitting here because of some of the dumbest luck, quick thinking, and The Hunter’s Favour, not to mention my weapons and armour. Without that, I don’t think I could have even made it to the hollow…’ Lan added, thinking about all the Tales, wondering if that was all it took to make a hero.
Many of them had heroes who survived the impossible because of luck, quick thinking, and favour at one point or another.
Either way, his words seemed to reach the four, who nodded, and he saw Corbit smile at him before walking over.
‘Alright, let the Lady enjoy her wine in peace,’ he said, waving them off. ‘Thanks for that, Lad.’ The innkeeper smiled. ‘It seems like the goblin problem is getting bad, bad enough that we are getting those jobs, and I think that lot are thinking about taking one.
Lan looked over, suddenly feeling like he should join them before he checked himself. There was still a job to do.
The innkeeper laughed and slapped him on the back. ‘I know that look, but you can’t fight every battle, my boy.’
‘Right.’ Lan sighed. ‘So… the Sky Eater?’ he said, getting a grin from the innkeeper who, despite his words, was clearly happy to have someone new to tell this story.
‘Aye Lad, we fought on a day turned night by dragons, drakes, and wyverns’ wings. An endless sea of mouths that could consume everything as the Sky Eater devoured the sky.
Seeing that he had Lan’s attention, the man went on. ‘Ya see, the Sky Eater was a Dragon but not a noble thing like all true dragons. It was feral, and yet, somehow, it didn’t die when young. In fact, it grew until it could challenge and even eat true dragons, and then just kept on growing the damn thing. It got so large that the drakes and wyverns began to glide on the beat of its wings, first tens, then hundreds and thousands, and then even lesser dragons joined.
‘How do you hide from something like that?’ Corbit asked. ‘What do you do when earth drakes eat the very walls you try to hide behind, water wyverns drink all your motes, and the rest eat all you care about? You fight, and that is what we did. We fought so hard that the adventurers of three kingdoms almost went extinct, but we won.’ He said, his eyes shining with the victories of the past.
Lan had heard the Tale of the Sky Eater but never so candid or raw.
The innkeeper smiled. ‘You know I saw your Guildmaster that day. Killed three dragons, he did. Not drakes or wyverns, but dragons. The last he did on his own, too.’ Corbit looked like he was picturing it. ‘Course, I killed two wyverns on my own and more drakes than I can count with my party. But he was something to see. The avatar of The Hunter, we called him that day. “The Wild Hunter.”’ Corbit grinned at that. ‘And now he has an army.’ The innkeeper looked at Lan. ‘I feel sorry for the one who has called the guilds down upon themselves.’
Listening to the tale, Lan wondered if he looked as doe-eyed as Ark and the others had been. And judging by Corbit’s smile, he must have been.
‘Anyway. Thanks for letting this old man relive his glory.’ He said before turning to Seras. ‘My Lady.’ He bowed before heading to the bar.
‘That one knows how to make an exit.’ Seras noted before looking to Lan. ‘How is Luna?’
Lan closed his eyes, allowing his mind to slip into Tyr’s, finding her flying in lazy circles around a sleeping Luna who was still holding on to his Light Stone.
‘Sound asleep.’ Lan smile. Even if leaving her alone seemed counterintuitive to keeping her safe, Lan could be in the room in a heartbeat and with the jump on anyone dumb enough to try anything.
Lan turned to Seras, who looked at her wine as if interrogating it. ‘So, seeing as our time together is coming to an end, and you never said it. Why did you choose to save Luna.’ Lan asked, remembering to keep his voice low enough that the other tables wouldn’t hear, even with their improved hearing.
Seras leaned in, her head inches from Lan’s. ‘Well, even though my life path meant it would never be so, I had always dreamed of being a mother.’ Seras said, and Lan sat back as the idea washed over him, making him feel bad for doubting her intentions. Then, he saw the slightest twitch at the corner of her lips.
‘Did… you of all people… just make a joke.’ Lan mused, even if he was a little miffed that he had fallen for it.
Seras smiled then with more pride than he thought she would have taken from the act.
‘If it makes you feel better, you can think of it as me showing you just how gullible you are.’ She teased, her smile gaining a playful edge, and Lan guessed that even the people of Leeto had a sense of humour deep down somewhere.
‘I would rather believe that you are secretly the world’s greatest jester.’ Lan huffed with mock indignation before both laughed.
As the end neared, joking seemed a little easier, even to the stubborn woman.
‘As for the real reason…’ she paused, running her finger along the rim of her glass. ‘It could have been many things. Maybe I had a change of heart and saw the light. Maybe a voice told me to do it?’ she said, bringing up one of the misconceptions about the Hunter’s Mark and, judging by the look in her eye, intentionally too, before she seemed to get serious. ‘It was how she would look at me. No matter what was being done to her or even if it was me doing it. Luna would always look for me to save her.’
Seras stopped, looking at Lan. ‘I have seen people beg for mercy, and I had always seen it as them failing to overcome their pain like the rest of us had, but she wasn’t blindly looking for mercy wherever she could find it. No, she was looking to me to save her, and every day I didn’t come to her aid, I felt like I was betraying her and myself when her hope turned to confused anguish.’
Seras picked up her glass of wine. ‘Everyone deserves the chance to overcome their pain, but the pain she suffered was not to better her or from failing. And so if no one else was even going to give her the chance to, then I would, even if I have to carry that pain myself.’ Seras said, her eyes smouldering with determination, and Lan saw the woman he had been travelling with for a day as if for the first time.
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Seras took a drink of her wine, with every bit the dexterity of a noble, before tilting her head to look at him.
‘What about you?’
‘Me? You know why I am here,’ Lan smiled.
‘No,’ Seras shook her head. ‘I mean, Luna looks at you like you are the greatest hero ever to walk a Tale. Why not come with us?’ she asked, her eyes scanning him for an answer before he knew it himself.
For a moment, Lan really considered it, the feeling that he needed to do more about the summoned heroes mixing with the simplicity of having a tangible figure that needed his help playing in his mind before rational thought won out.
Smiling, Lan shook his head.
‘The Campaign?’ Seras asked flatly, and Lan nodded.
‘There won’t be anywhere safe if we can’t stop the threat, and we need every last body for the fight,’ Lan said, deciding to leave out the role he was meant to play or the fact that a Summoned Hero was behind it.
‘Then make sure you save the world, Landrin Cross or you will break her heart.’ She said, the warning seeming to say more than the words themselves.
After that, the two drank with a new sense of understanding between them.
The next day, Lan watched after Luna as Seras met with her contact.
Sitting with his feet up, Lan absent-mindedly turned the pages of his Tome when Luna started to wake, sitting up before the effects of insufficient sleep and then too much sleep hit her. Luna clamped her hands over her mouth, her face going pale as she looked to Lan, who jumped to his feet, causing his tome to fly across the room before it vanished.
‘What? No, wait!’
Five minutes later, Lan sat on the edge of the small fountain with Luna, and although she hadn’t thrown up, the cooler air that the misting fountain offered seemed to do the trick as her colour improved.
‘Sorry…’ Luna said in a small voice as she fidgeted with his light stone.
‘Don’t be,’ Lan smiled. ‘How are you feeling now?’ he asked, ensuring Tyr was watching over them.
‘I’m fine.’ she said despite keeping her head down.
Lan let her be for the moment, guessing that trying to cheer her up anymore would only make her feel worse until her stomach rumbled, making her jump.
‘Hungry?’ Lan chuckled. ‘Want to look for something to eat?’ he asked, finding the idea of walking around a little better than having to explain why he had charged out of the inn carrying Luna, but what made up his mind was he got the feeling just getting to walk around and be an average child would be good for her.
With it already mid-day, breakfast was off the menu, but there was no shortage of fresh fruit in a link town. Which was a good thing, as Lan learned when he tried to hand Luna a sandwich, and Luna paled at the sight of the red meat.
‘Sorry, I should have asked if there was anything you couldn’t eat.’ Lan said as Luna took a bite out of her fruit sandwich. She shook her head, smiling at him before taking another bite.
As he watched her, Lan wanted to ask her more about her world and her life before all of this. But he knew her wounds had to be still too fresh, so he kept his mouth shut.
A few minutes later, as Luna finished her sandwich, a group of children ran past her, screaming at the urgency a game of tag called for. Lan smiled as some of the children’s mothers called after them to stay in the square before he noticed Luna staring.
‘Why don’t you ask them to play?’ he tried, and Luna turned to him and shook her head with wide eyes.
‘It will be bad if they see my eyes…’ she said, looking down as she started to fidget with his light crystal again. ‘they will hate me…’ she added in a small voice, and Lan felt the need to refute that.
‘They wouldn’t. If anything, they would be amazed. Plus, Seras put more of that potion in your eyes, so you should be fine.’
Luna shook her head with a little more force.
‘It won’t be like you. They will hate me and try to make me cry or take my eyes.’ she added in a voice that was somehow smaller. ‘That’s why we had to live in the mountain.’
Hearing her speak from what sounded like experience hurt but in no way near as much as in the childish innocence of the idea that someone would have to hate her to hurt her.
Lan had to work at keeping himself from shaking with rage, managing to keep his voice even with some effort. ‘We can head back if you want?’ Lan offered before seeing how Luna watched the children play. ‘or we can stay a little longer.’ Lan added, knowing that even if she wanted to go and play with the others, pushing her too much wouldn’t help
‘Your little one is a doll.’ Lan heard a woman say, looking up to see one of the young mothers, a woman with long brown hair in a braid, smiling at them.
‘Huh? Oh! I am just looking after her while her mother is away.’ Lan explained.
‘Oh? You must be happy to have such a charming guardian.’ The woman said with a smile that made Luna blush even as it made her forget her melancholy.
Seeing this, the woman winked at Lan, and he could only smile back in thanks. With just a few words, she had managed to do what Lan could not even begin to do.
‘My name is Isabelle. What is yours?’ she asked, dropping to be eye level with Luna, who looked to Lan for a nod before answering.
‘Bell…’ Luna said, using the name they had picked out for her.
‘What a lovely name.’ she smiled before looking up at Lan. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but…’ She started, lifting her arm to show a girl who looked around Luna’s age hiding behind her. A few minutes later, Lan watched as Luna taught the other girl a game he had never seen before.
Not long after, the two were surrounded by the other children who had come to watch, and soon enough, Luna and Isabelle’s daughter ran around with the others.
‘The Mother must have sent you.’ Lan marvelled as he watched Luna run around.
‘High praise,’ Isabelle laughed, ‘But you were doing fine on your own.’ She said, giving him an approving look. ‘But everyone needs a helping hand now and then, no?’
Lan and Isabelle talked for ten minutes as Luna and the others played.
He learned that her father and brother were in the army and had been away preparing for the part they would play in the campaign. Soon enough, he was surrounded by the other mothers, which is how he learned that most of them were the wives, sisters, and daughters of soldiers, not all of whom would be coming back if the campaign required it of them.
After they asked him about what he knew, Lan was surprised to find that his choice to tell them what he knew without embellishment seemed to make more than a few relax.
‘Hearing an adventurer sound so unconcerned oddly makes me feel much better.’ Isabelle said, getting nods from some of the others.
‘But you mustn’t be too reckless.’ a large, stocky woman with the light grey in her skin of Goliath lineage chimed in, getting a soft laugh from the others who had no doubt heard what the soldiers in the family thought about his kind.
That seemed to open the floodgate as Lan spent the next few minutes being fussed over—everything from keeping his clothes clean on the campaign to having a good meal before leaving. Clearly, the light teasing had been made to create a little levity, so Lan played along with it, even if it had destroyed any ego the night before had given him.
Salvation came when one of the mothers noticed the time and brought out a basket.
‘These are just some snacks for the children,’ the short woman with curly hair said. ‘I always make plenty, so if your little one would want one, she is more than welcome to it.’ She said, showing him the jam biscuits. Lan nodded his thanks, watching as the woman walked over to the group with Luna and called over the rest.
The woman was surrounded by screaming children in moments, but Luna and the other smaller children were the closest.
Even still, Lan watched as Luna reached for a biscuit, only to be snatched away by another child. She reached for another just to have that one taken to. Luna tried two more times before letting her hand drop as she took a step back.
Lan was already on his feet, but the basket was empty by the time he reached her.
‘Oh no, did you not get one, love?’ the woman asked before looking at the others. ‘Which one of you little devils took more than one!’ the woman said even as she looked to the culprits, but Lan’s focus was on Luna, who for a moment looked like she would cry before stopping herself with disappointment painted on her face.
As the woman lectured the children who had taken too much, Lan dropped to a knee in front of Luna.
‘Hey, you okay.’ Lan said, patting her on the head.
‘Fine.’ Luna replied in a small, brave voice, and Lan had to remind himself that even if it stung, something like this would be nothing compared to what she had already cried about.
‘You know you didn’t have to wait, right?’ Lan said as they headed back to the inn after smoothing things over with Isabelle and the others.
‘I know… but it looked like they wanted them more.’ She answered, ‘I should always be selfless, right?’ she said in the tone of a child repeating the words of someone older.
‘You should, but that does not mean you can’t think of yourself sometimes.’ Lan said, knowing it would be a horrible lesson for most children, but if anyone needed to hear it, it was Luna. He thought about how his life had changed for the first time because he thought he knew what it meant to be selfless.
Luna looked up at him, and Lan smiled away the shadow that had tried to fall on him.
‘Tell you what. You get to be selfish this once. Name anything you want as a treat, and I will do everything possible to get it for you.’ Lan grinned, ignoring the voice that told him he was biting off far more than he could chew.
Luna fidgeted with the light crystal and looked up at him for confirmation. When he gave her a nod, Luna looked down again before saying.
‘Ice cream…’
‘Ice cream!’ Lan said, celebrating it was something found in their world. ‘Ice cream…’ he added more hesitantly. Even though he knew about it, it wouldn’t be easy to get. For a short while after its introduction, one could find it everywhere, but once the chaos of the different groups in the city trying to capitalise on it, which had almost led to his death, had died down, ice cream became a dessert of nobles and mages.
But he had said he would and planned to keep his word.
‘Okay, ice cream it is.’ With his mind made up, Lan used everything he had learned as an apprentice merchant to find a lead. As it was getting colder, Lan had thought there was a chance of finding some, even as far as reaching out to some of the contacts he once had, and though his change of profession didn’t help his case, they were still more friendly then when he had been an outcast.
Next, he reached out to those shipping cold storage items, hoping one might be shipping some and would be willing to part with it, to no avail.
‘I can pick something else.’ Luna had said, pulling on his sleeve as they walked from the last trade house in the town.
‘Don’t worry, we are getting ice cream if I have to make it.’ he grinned.
And that was what he did even though Lan didn’t know how to cook. He knew how to make ice cream. Information that almost got him killed, only for Dell to decide it was not worth pursuing.
Lan thought it was worth it if this were the only time he would use it.
It was with that thought that he asked the drunken cat’s cook for help after he gathered the equipment and ingredients, including peaches, which Luna had reminded him of as a key ingredient. Lan had never heard of that but just smiled and said.
‘Silly me, I almost forgot that.’
An hour later, he sat a bowl of ice cream in front of Luna before sitting on the other side of the small table in her and Seras’ room.
‘One bowl of peach ice cream as promised,’ he smiled as Luna’s eyes sparkled at the sight. ‘Go on then,’ Lan laughed when she just looked at the bowl.
With a nod, Luna picked up the spoon and took a large scoop. Her eyes widened, dancing with delight as she took the first bite and began eating enthusiastically.
After the fifth bite, Lan’s smile faded as he watched Luna’s pace slow, part of him having known there was a chance of what was coming as her hands shook and her eyes started to well up. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, her tears turning into large blue gems as her irises became the same colour.
Rising, Lan moved to her, brushing her hair as she ate and wept.
Lan guessed that with everything she had been through. She must not have had the chance to cry about what she had lost, so he stood by her, letting her express her pain without having to be alone.
Sometime later, when the tears stopped, Lan dried her eyes before he found a spoon filled with slightly melted ice cream in his face.
‘You haven’t tried it.’ she said with a slight hiccup.
‘Thanks.’ Lan smiled, taking the offered bite. ‘Wow, it’s good.’ He smiled, finding it funny being on this side of the conversation for the first time.
Although the smile didn’t return, each bite seemed to drive the sadness away, the blue of her eyes fading as if every spoonful brought back memories of a happier time, and Lan was happy to play even a tiny part in that, even if it meant eating the occasional offered scoop.