Three days was the longest you could go without water, Jubel had heard. He’d only brought enough water for four days, and hadn’t seen a river since the first.

It was now the start of day seven.

He wondered, moving as quickly as he dared, if he’d find another town - or a river -before dehydration finished the job his cousin had started.

Why didn’t the thought scare him? He felt it should. He was terrified of the possibility of his uncle - or more likely, assassins sent by him - finding him, or the idea of being arrested for his crime, but for some reason he didn’t feel like the ever present threat of dehydration was real.

So he kept marching on, hour after hour, not even bothering to stop to eat. There was no point, since he’d run out of food on day 3. He had no bow, so hunting wasn’t an option. He just had to keep going, to find…

A town? Sure enough, as he idly looked around, his sense of urgency still suspiciously absent, he saw that there was a road not far from where he now stood. Along that road was a large wooden sign pointing towards the town, declaring it as Westwind. Suddenly, his urgency returned. He had to reach that town. He needed to find water, food, supplies he could buy with what little coin he had left…

He didn't even realize that he’d been sprinting until he’d reached the gates of Westwind. The lone guard on duty looked alarmed as he approached, but as he opened his mouth to reassure them, he felt his legs give out.

That was strange. When did he get so tired?

The next thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a wooden roof.

“Oh, hey, you’re finally awake!” A cheerful voice said from somewhere to his right.

He turned to face the woman - for it was a woman’s voice - only to freeze as he saw her.

His first thought was that she was beautiful. Her blonde hair went nearly halfway down her back, and her eyes were a brilliant emerald green. She was smiling cheerfully as she brought a large platter covered in food and a pitcher of what he hoped was water, and she moved with an almost uncanny grace. It was his second thought that made him freeze, however. Her long blonde hair wasn’t quite able to hide her pointed ears, and those captivating eyes were just slightly too big to pass as human.

He’d hoped that running south would bring him out of Milassi, where his uncle would have more trouble finding him, but clearly he’d been too optimistic. After all, there weren’t many elves outside of Milassi.

His eyes darted around the room, looking for a way out as fear brought a fresh surge of strength to his limbs. The room was cluttered, with crates and barrels occupying most of the space besides a small path between his bed and the door she’d entered from. A massive pile of chairs and stools had been pushed up against the lone window in the room, blocking the only escape route he had.

The young woman sighed as she saw him force himself to sit up, shaking her head. She calmly pulled a pair of bar stools from the massive pile over towards his bed, avoiding the crates and barrels with practiced ease as she did, and placing the platter on one of them. Sitting on the spare stool, she put a hand on his shoulder, clearly noticing how nervous he was.

“None of that,” she said firmly. “You shouldn’t push yourself. You’ve been unconscious for just over a full day at this point, and you look half starved. Whatever it is that has you so worried can wait until you’ve had a proper meal.”

Jubel had to admit that sounded appealing, and it wasn’t as if he’d get very far on an empty stomach even if he did decide to run. Besides, the omelet on the platter, covered in what looked to be some sort of cream sauce, was practically calling his name. First, though, a more urgent matter needed to be dealt with.

“Water?” he rasped, suppressing a grimace at how feeble his voice sounded.

She simply nodded, pouring some water from the large pitcher into a small wooden cup and handing it to him. After he'd emptied the cup half a dozen times, he finally felt ready to eat.

As he dug into the omelet, she ripped the large roll that was sitting next to it in half.

“Hope you don’t mind if I join you,” she said as she swallowed her fist bite. “I haven’t had time for breakfast yet, and I've got a lot to do today. My name’s Vivi, by the way. Well, technically it’s Vivian Vintas, but my friends call me Vivi.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Jubel, who was almost finished with the omelet by the time she’d finished introducing herself, took a moment to clear his voice before responding. “I’m Jubel.”

“No last name?” she asked curiously as she snagged a pastry from the platter.

“I’m… not on good terms with my family. I’m pretty much disowned, really, so I don’t think I should use their name.”

Vivi nodded slowly. “I get it. No worries - most of the people here in Westwind aren’t gonna give you a hard time. We’ve got like… ONE nosey jerk, and he only gets like that when he’s drunk. Unfortunately, he’s also the town drunk, so…” She shrugged. “Try not to talk to Rufus and you’ll be fine. I’ve got some work I have to do, so I’ll have to get going. Can you move around on your own?”

Jubel swung his legs over the side of the bed and slowly rose to his feet. “Actually, I feel better than I have in days!” He was being honest, too. Much to his surprise, he found that the weakness in his limbs was little more than a distant memory. He felt good, better than he had even before -

He stopped for a moment as vivid images of that night flashing through his mind. He’d done what he had to in order to survive, and he was sure his cousin wouldn’t have spared him a second thought if their roles had been reversed, but he couldn’t help but feel guilty. Monstrous though he’d been, Kelzen was still his family.

“Are you sure about that?” Vivi’s questioning voice dragged him back to reality. She was staring at him, concern written plainly across her face. He wondered briefly how long he’d been standing there like an idiot. Then, he responded.

“Yeah. Sorry, I’m just a bit… distracted. I guess it just finally sunk in that I almost starved out there.”

She nodded sympathetically. “It’s not easy to live in Grondyl these days.”

Jubel blinked. “Yeah,” He said, trying to cover up his surprise. He’d done it! He’d made it past the Milassi border!

“If you’re really feeling better,” Vivi said slowly, “do you want to come downstairs? Andrew, the guy who runs this inn, was the one who carried you here. I’m sure he’d like to see for himself that you’re feeling better. Fair warning, though - he’s a businessman. He’s sure to try to talk you into doing him some favor or another to cover the cost of your room.” She sighed, shaking her head. “Don’t be afraid to argue it with him. This was a storage room before you showed up, so it’s not like you actually cost him anything.”

The half elf chuckled as he followed her out of the room. He would be happy to pay his debts with a little work - especially if it got him the chance to learn more about where he was. He’d never heard of Grondyl before, but he hadn’t really expected to. He’d been denied the proper education his cousins had received. After all, the family couldn’t risk a hired tutor spotting the ‘disgraceful bastard’ and staining their good name.

He pushed down the flash of anger that had accompanied the errant thought as he walked down a narrow flight of stairs, only to freeze as he reached the bottom. He idly thought that he’d been doing a bit too much freezing in place today as a heavy hand fell on his shoulder, squeezing it tightly.

“Well now!” A voice all but bellowed from off to his right. “Look who’s up!” The speaker was tall, at just over 6 feet, and completely bald. He had prominent potbelly, and his ruddy face was split by a huge grin as he chuckled. He looked every bit the jovial old innkeeper - except for the mess of scars visible on his bare forearms and the long thin line across one eye. He continued to speak - or more accurately, shout - as he pulled Jubel over towards the bar. “Come, take a seat! Did Vivi already bring you breakfast?”

“Don’t yell like that,” Vivi said, swatting the man on the shoulder irritably. “You’ll deafen the whole town! And of course I made sure he ate!”

“Did you make sure you ate?” The man said, finally lowering his voice to an acceptable volume. “I know you forget sometimes -”

“I haven’t forgotten a meal in nearly a decade!” Vivi objected, her face going slightly red. “Honestly, Andrew, I’m not a child!”

“Could’ve fooled me, what with all the whining” a rough voice from the other end of the bar called out. Jubel glanced that way to see a man tall enough to make Andrew look small - in fact, he’d guess the man was half a foot taller than the innkeeper, though it was hard to tell with him sitting down. His messy reddish brown hair nearly covered his eyes, but their peculiar golden color and the way they caught the light made them impossible to miss.

Jubel felt slightly uncomfortable as the man turned a piercing gaze towards him. He had seen that look before. It was the same look guards gave to anyone that objected to his uncle’s orders - a cold, evaluating gaze holding a single question; How much of a threat are you?

“Don’t backtalk the medic, Lucas,” A cheerful voice called from behind Jubel. He managed to stop himself from jumping out of his seat - or freezing yet again - and calmly turned towards the sound.

Then he did freeze, his blood running cold. He couldn’t help it! The person talking was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. She was dressed in a peculiar combination of metal and leather armors, and heavy goggles covered her eyes as sparks flew from the metal tools in her hands. She was smiling as she manipulated the sparking instruments, hard at work … fixing? Breaking? Doing something to a box full of gears and wires. He thought it might be a radio, but it was hard to see from where he sat.

That was the least interesting thing about her, though. Her skin was a light purple, and tightly curled horns were sprouting from her head. She looked like some sort of demon - but nobody else seemed concerned, so he tried as best he could to calm down.

Noticing the expression on his face, Vivi sighed. “Looks like introductions are up to me. The gruff human with no manners is Lucas, also known as the person I will not be healing if he gets in trouble today, and the felblood is Damaia. She’s a traveling engineer and mechanic, not to mention an absolute sweetheart, so don’t go picking fights just because she has horns, okay?”

“Felblood?” Jubel responded hesitantly.

“Means I got a drop of demon in me!” The girl said cheerfully. “A little bad blood goes a long way I suppose. Don’t worry, though, I don’t bite! In fact, the demon blood doesn’t really show unless I get angry, and I never get mad!” She closed the back of the device she’d been working on, humming softly to herself as she did so. Within moments, a voice came through the radio, softly singing the same tune she’d been humming. She seemed either unaware or uncaring of his incredulous stare, so after a moment Jubel turned back to Andrew. “Interesting group you have here,” he offered weakly as Andrew handed him a cup of coffee.

“This isn’t even a strange week,” Andrew replied, cracking a smile. “Now, how about after you finish that coffee, we discuss your sleeping arrangements! If you’re willing to help me out, I’m sure I can spare a nicer room…”

Just then, the door to the inn slammed open. “I told you he was up to no good!” A raspy voice cried out as a wiry old man burst in. “He’s performing human sacrifices, I tell ya!”

The innkeeper sighed. “Not this again, Rufus…”

Jubel almost choked on his coffee. Again?! What sort of madhouse had he landed in?