A mile from the village, Chaele stopped to read the crossroads’ signage since her map wasn’t very filled in just yet.

To the right was Pirate’s Bay, a place notorious for its ruthless thieves and bandits, the kind who’d cut your throat for ten copper. The left would take them to Faction City, and the road straight ahead was simply marked “Graveyard - 1 mile”.

“Well?” Chaele pointed at the sign, and looked at Kodish.

The orc shrugged. “Can’t read.”

“What?” she asked. “You never told me that!”

“Never had any reason to learn,” he explained.

She gave him a blank stare. “But what about the guide? How will we ever get to the dragon if you get stuck on a mission, and can’t read what you’re supposed to do?”

Kodish pulled out a compass and held it up for Chaele to see. “I’ve got this golden arrow. I just follow it until I reach where I’m going.”

Chaele gave it a skeptical look, then shrugged. “Huh. I suppose that’s easier than reading. Where’s it pointing now?”

Kodish examined it for a half minute then shoved it in a pocket. “Well, we don’t have a mission. No arrow.”

“Are you kidding me?” Chaele checked her own map again, but it was just as empty as before. She gave up and decided, “We’re going to Faction City. It’s that sign.”

He looked at it, then at her. “Can’t read.”

“It’s not even — it’s an arrow! A straight arrow!” Chaele yelled loudly. In a normal voice, she added, “Come on, we better get moving if we want to be there before dark. Just follow me.”

They walked a mile before Chaele turned around and realized Kodish was missing. Worried he’d gotten lost or zoned out again, she huffed and walked back the other way. When she rounded a bend not far down the road, she saw him bent over awkwardly off in the tall weeds.

“What the hell are you doing?” Chaele demanded.

Kodish didn’t stand up, only pointed at the ground. “Flowers!”

“Alright, cool flowers. We gotta move. The sun’s dropping fast.”

He plucked one from the ground and not-so-gently tossed it into his pack. “You really gotta stop and enjoy the small things.”

Chaele’s pointed ears turned a bright red as she huffed again and started once again down the road.

Kodish charged forward and quickly caught up. He slowed to a normal speed beside her, but every so often would get distracted by a rabbit or a tree. His elf companion was more or less friendly to him, but only when he wasn’t commenting on how she needed to relax more. That’s when she’d start bleeping words at him.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Sun’s going down soon,” Chaele commented again. “We’re not going to even make it to the bridge before nightfall, and it’s still another five miles to the capitol.”

He smiled. “Don’t worry, friend. There’s a town up ahead — we can camp out there for the night.”

She thought about this for a moment as she casually stepped over a skeleton on the ground. “We might have to. The roads are even more dangerous at night. Wait — how do you know there’s a town up ahead?”

Kodish only pointed up. A line of large drakes flew above, circling around before landing maybe a half-mile away.

“A flight path?!” Chaele cheered at her companion. “What a relief. Let’s move.”

They hurried to the town. Kodish ran up to the lone merchant on the side of the road and pulled out his flower, handing it over. The man gave him five silver. Five silver for one flower!

Chaele didn’t even have a silver to her name and now regretted not picking some of the stupid flowers too. She ignored their chatter, looking around. It was a sleepy town — the red-roofed, double-doored inn had but one faded dirt road before it, and as an old man on the steps plucked at his banjo, tumbleweeds began slowly drifting past.

To the left, there was a parking lot of drakes and a forty-person crowd talking loudly amongst themselves. She saw adventures of all races and specialties and called out, “Kodish! Come on!”

Kodish raised his eyebrows at the merchant, and after the man nodded agreeably, they waved at each other, and the orc lumbered up to join her, giddy with joy. “I got five silver for that flower!”

“I heard,” Chaele snapped, then remembered his commentary about relaxing and forced a smile. “Great. Cool. Cool. Good job. The flight master is that way, let’s get a ride to Faction City, and we can enjoy a nice hot supper once we get there. No more stale bread for us!”

“Mmm. Sounds great,” he said, rubbing his stomach. “I haven’t eaten all day.”

“You had a candy bar like an hour ago!” Chaele told him. “You couldn’t find the trashcan, it took like… twenty minutes.”

Kodish blinked slowly. “That’s not food, that’s candy.”

The big party was near the flight master, and the pair had to push their way through the crowd and all the drakes to reach him. Chaele tapped the dwarf on the shoulder. “Hi. We need two drakes.”

“Where to, lass?” he said in a southern drawl.

“Faction City.”

The dwarf winked at her. “A fine destination for a fine young lady.”

Chaele stared down at him. “I’m three hundred years old.”

“When did you decide that?” he asked.

“Three hundred years ago,” Chaele said dryly.

“Sticking to it, huh? Most people say thirty, but I guess that’s what I get for assuming a lady’s age,” he smiled big. “Real sorry ma’am. Well, then, Faction City. That’ll be five silver.”

She nudged Kodish, and he pulled out his coins.

“Each.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she said aggressively. An idea hit and she exclaimed, “I know! We can share one.”

The flight master looked between her and Kodish. “No can do. This big one here will barely fit on an eagle.”

Kodish looked around. “Well, those drakes over there are massive. Why can’t we take one of ‘em?”

The dwarf shook his head. “Oh, those there are for arrivals only. Departures, those are the eagles.”

Chaele cursed and grabbed Kodish’s arm. “Don’t have the silver.”

He nodded knowingly as she led him back toward the inn, not bothered. “Looks like we get to stay here tonight!”

They went past the banjo player and inside. Chaele sighed at the choice of interior design: everything was old. The tables were old. The chairs were old. The hostess was old. She worried the floor would collapse under the weight of her orc friend and tested the beam beneath her by hopping up and down.

“What’s wrong?” Kodish asked.

“Don’t think we’re getting that good supper,” she said. “Ah well, I guess it beats sleeping on the side of the road.”

“We’ll be rested here,” Kodish agreed. They went to the counter together, and he smiled, still cheerful, as he asked, “Hi! We’d like some beds and maybe some supper?”

The hostess didn’t bother looking up, just slid a menu forward and told him, “Five silver.”

Kodish gave Chaele a knowing smile, and took out his silver, plopping the coins down on the bar.

“Each.”