As they talked about the flowers they liked so much, the barkeeper kept nodding kindly and appeared curious to what they said. So they talked and talked and while they did not know much, it was the first they had experienced, so they talked anyway.

Much later, when they had finished talking, the barkeeper nodded with still the same kind smile.

"Here is what you paid for." He said and he threw over a small bottle of goo over to them.

"What do we do with this?"

He shrugged. "That is not any of my business and since it is going towards morning, I'm closing now." And he started to put the drinks away together.

"No, wait that's not what..." But before they could finish asking the barkeeper interrupted them with a question of his own.

"Do you need a room for the night? The third room upstairs is free."

"What does it cost?" They asked warily. They still remembered their new friends warning.

"Nothing nothing," he smiled kindly, just promise me that you will do me a favour in the future."

"Only that? Su- No way!" Their eyes flared into a red color as they stared at the barkeeper. "Tell us exactly what you want, otherwise we are fine sleeping outside!"

The barkeeper chuckled. "Fine fine, then simply promise me a favour of equal magnitude."

They frowned. 'Nothing speaks against that, right?'

'I think so too'

'Wait, let me ask a question!'

And they ask: “Who decides the magnitude of the favor?"

Slightly surprised the barkeeper mustered them, but then he returned to smiling. "You of course."

"And we want to take her with us," they said while pointing at the centaur, "can you agree?"

"Sure." He shrugged.

"We agree then."

"It is a deal." The deviously charming young man said kindly in response.

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In the room in the inn they where sitting on the ground, watching the centaur curiously as she slept soundly on the bed.

"I wonder how it feels to sleep."

"I think the sleeping are imagining things."

They nodded. "These are dreaming"

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Grinning they added, "They even have nightmares some times. Horrifying dreams that serve nothing at all."

"Huh … I'd like to experience it once."

"I believe you did though? You walked the world once too after all."

They nodded hesitantly. "Yes I did," a moment of silence followed, "but it is so distant." And so much less peaceful, they thought to themselves.

They rested their heavy head on their arm clad in metal, as they looked out of the window of the inn with their golden eyes.

Watching the fields silently and unmoving in the windless night, images of times past flashed by. Pictures of children silent and listless, of ragged adults – some crying, some dying – of lands as dead as they can be.

However, it was all blurry and before it could manifest completely, a loud clapping sounded out – they had slapped their own face.

With their eyes still golden, they put the useless thoughts aside and started to consider how they could spend their time well, wishing to enjoy their new-found life.

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"Damn, we did not get to ask the barkeeper how to use that serum!" It was much later as they remembered that.

“We will figure it out somehow,” they shrugged, “it is too late to ask anyway.”

They where sitting on the kind woman's back again – who was grumpy now – and they rode down the long road once more.

“Would you stop talking?” she flared at them.

“Our bad.” they scratched the back of their head. Then they started to watch the streets once more with their colorful eyes.

Another sign was there, pointing at the same two directions, written on it the same two things. Notably, however, the one Pointing towards “The City”, this time, was ornated with beautiful carvings, in contrast with the other one, pointing towards the other direction, which was clearly already rotting.

‘More signs.” They wondered.

“Who are those signs made for?” they asked the Woman curiously.

“What? For us obviously. How would we find back otherwise?!”

They nodded. “Where you ever in the other city before?”

“Why would I go there?” she barked at them, “They are crazy, they eat children!”

They look surprised at the woman, “They do?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeh-hes!”

“How do you know that?”

“I just do.”

“But you where never there I thought?”

“Everyone knows that!”

"That's not true, we don’t."

"Well, you do now."

"No," they shook their head, "we know how you believe it to be."

It was the last exchange of words they had for the rest of the trip. Not much interesting was seen either on the journey – with exception of the signs that kept growing apart in the way they looked.

Slowly the ones to the other city started to fall apart more and more, while the one to the city turned more classy – turned from wood, to bronze, to silver, to gold.

And so they went on.

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At some point, when she took another step, – the centaur that is – a giant wall appeared in front of them, a wall that reaches for the sky. It was not there before, but now it was, much to the curiosity of them.

They looked up the high walls and started to make out some detail; windows, torches, even people walking on it. And up there hang a big sign: The City. They got of her back and entered through a gate even the giant from the lands of sand would have been able to pass through.

“Do you mind giving me a minute?” A high-pitched, friendly voice spoke to them.

They looked down to see … a small kid, in a dress – or a gnome possibly – and gave it a nod. “Sure”

It smiled excitedly, like it is prepared to play a fun game. It makes a movement with its hand, passing through their body and it quickly leaves their body again, but with a hourglass in its hand.