Wielder's Awakening (9 page)

“Looks like I’m not the only tired one,” John said with a yawn.  “Come on Traven.  Let’s go find us some rooms.”

Traven slowly got to his feet and followed Hank and John over to the innkeeper.  He was a very skinny man with only a little grey hair left on his head, but he had on a polite smile as they approached him.  Hank told the innkeeper that they needed two rooms, and they were soon following him up the stairs and down a hall brightly lit by oil lamps along the walls.  The innkeeper stopped at the end of the hall.  He opened the last two doors and turned to them.

“I’m sorry that these aren’t the best rooms in my inn, but they should be comfortable enough.  All of the inns in the city are unusually full for this time of the year.  There have been a lot of people coming into the city from the countryside because of the bandits, and many of the merchants are content to just stay here until the trouble has all been cleared up.  Anyway, I hope that you fellows have a comfortable night’s sleep.”

With that, the innkeeper turned and walked back down the hall.  Hank and John wished Traven pleasant dreams.  They also told him goodbye and that it was nice getting to know him.  They would be leaving early in the morning.

“I hope you make it to Calyn safely.  Don’t leave the city by yourself or you’re almost sure to be attacked by these bandits.  You should be able to find a merchant caravan that will be leaving soon for Calyn.  It would be best to travel with one of them for protection.”  After a few more suggestions, Hank and John disappeared into the room on the left with a final goodbye for Traven and a wish that his journey went well.

Traven turned to the door on the right and went in.  It was too dark to really make out much of the room, but he did not bother to light any of the candles in the room as he shut the door behind him.  He slipped his belongings onto the floor in the back corner of the room and almost didn’t even take the time to slip out of his traveling clothes before dropping onto the luxuriously soft bed.  It was bigger than the one he was used to sleeping on at home, and he stretched out contentedly on it.  After a few seconds he slipped under the covers, and before he could even plan all of the wonderful things he was going to do in the morning, he was fast asleep.

6

Traven’s eyes shot open.  Someone else was in his room.  He stayed completely still and listened.  To the right of his bed he could hear quiet breaths of air.  Just in time he saw a flash of metal bearing down on him.  He rolled over with lightning speed as the blade embedded itself in his pillow sending feathers flying into the air.  Traven shot out of his bed and ran out the door.  He continued as fast as he could down the hall, stairs, and out of the silent inn.  Behind him he could hear the footfalls of his pursuer getting closer.  He had to run faster!

He turned down a street and then down another, pumping his legs as fast as he could.  Glancing back, he saw the thin tower rising in the distance.  It rose out of the billowing fog, standing majestically as a black void in the night sky.  Traven turned away from the dark tower and continued on.  Buildings stood silently on both sides of the avenue until they were stopped abruptly by a grand plaza.  He turned down a side street between two large buildings before reaching the plaza.  Someone was following him, but something else was pulling him along.  He had to find it.  It was important.  Emerging from the shadows in between the large buildings, Traven found himself in a small clearing.  In front of him rose a steep hill.  In its side lay the opening of a cave.  The cave pulsed, calling to him.  He walked towards it expectantly.  Just as he reached the entrance, a sound behind him reminded him why he had been running.  His pursuer had caught up with him.  Traven turned just in time to see the sword being thrust into his stomach!

Traven shot up in bed with sunlight streaming through his window.  He sighed with relief as he tried to calm his breathing.  It had only been a nightmare.  He let his body drop back down and stretched out in the comfortable bed that he was lying on.  He had not slept in something so comfortable in all of his life.  Despite the nightmare, he was feeling quite refreshed.  With the light streaming through the window, he was able to get his first real look at the room.  There was a large, dark wardrobe carved with designs all over the front against one of the walls.  On the other side of the room there was a washstand with a large mirror and a bowl full of water to clean up with.  Underneath the window there was a sturdy chair padded on the seat with a fluffy cushion.  He wondered what the other rooms in the inn looked like if this was one of the worst.  This inn must have really been as good as Hank had said the night before.  Traven slowly made himself get out of the luxurious bed.  He washed up quickly and pulled on his clothes.  He hung his cloak in the wardrobe.  He took the rest of his possessions and set them in the bottom of the wardrobe after he had taken his small pouch that contained only a few gold tallies and coppers and his hunting knife.  He wanted to have at least some protection as he walked around the city.  Traven found a small key on the washstand that locked the wardrobe and slipped it into his pocket with the assurance that his belongings would be safe while he was gone.

As soon as he had taken care of everything in the room, he slipped out the door and tried not to run down the hall.  He would finally get the chance to see the city in daylight.  A whole new day awaited him.  It was going to be wonderful.  As he emerged into the common room, he was surprised to find that it was vacant.  Confused as to the absence of all of the patrons of the inn, he approached the lady that had served him the night before and inquired about breakfast.  He was starving and felt as though he had not had anything to eat at all the previous night.

“So boy, you finally decided to get up did ya.  I thought maybe you’d sleep the whole day away.  I don’t know if there is anything left from breakfast, but I’ll go and see what I can dig you up.”

She set the broom she had been using to sweep with against the wall and disappeared through the doors that led to the kitchen.  Confused, Traven walked over to the common room door and peered outside.  The sun was already well up in the sky.  His heart sunk as he realized that it must already be midmorning.  Upset with himself for sleeping in and losing several hours of exploration, he made his way to one of the tables by the kitchen and waited for the serving woman to return.  No wonder he was so hungry.

The serving woman returned after a couple minutes with a steaming platter that she quickly set before him.  Traven thanked her and apologized for being so late.  She just chuckled and went back to sweeping the floor of the common room.  He was more than pleased with what she had been able to dig up.  There were several sausages, a large poached egg with strangely enough a bluish yoke, some strawberries, and a roll that was still moist and warm.  To top it all off there was even fresh, cool goats milk to drink.  All the food disappeared quickly, not only because he was starving but also because he wanted to make up for the time he had lost by sleeping in so late.  As soon as it was gone, Traven jumped up from the table and hurried outside.

He was planning to walk across the square to look at Baron Gregor’s palace before venturing out into the city but instead was stopped by a solid wall of human flesh.  There were people everywhere milling about the large square.  He had expected some people but not nearly this many!  Above the heads of the people, the lone statue he had seen the night before could be seen.  It was of a man sitting astride a rearing horse and thrusting a mace into the air.  He wondered who it was or who it had been.  From his perch on the front steps of the inn, he could see over the heads of the people that were making their way from one side of the square to the other and saw that most were flowing in and out of two streets on the east side of the square.  Several coaches were also moving slowly through the crowd.  At first he had planned on riding Dapple around the city, but he now realized that he could probably navigate through the crowds easier on foot.  Besides, he had many days of traveling left yet in the saddle, and even the good night’s sleep had not gotten rid of all his soreness.

After watching the crowd for a while, Traven decided that it would be easier to follow the flow of traffic into one of the side streets rather than trying to cut straight across the square to the palace.  He could make his way to the palace later.  He took a deep breath and plunged into the crowd and headed to the east side of the square.  He was jostled a little but navigating through the crowd wasn’t as bad as he’d expected.  How that many people could move across the square without bumping and shoving amazed him.  He learned that as long as he moved with the same speed as everyone else, he didn’t have any problems bumping into the others in the crowd.

Before he expected, he was out of the square and down one of the side streets.  After being swept down the street for a ways, Traven realized that he needed to work his way to the edge of the street or he would continue to be herded in the same direction that he was going.  He slowly started to make his way to the right side of the street.  As he got nearer the edge, he noticed that people were breaking off from the crowd and heading down narrow side streets that linked with the main avenue that he was on.  He decided to see what these narrow side streets held and immediately turned down the next one that he passed.

Here he was able to breathe a little easier.  There were still people on this street but not so many that you were pressed in on all sides.  Both sides of the narrow street were lined with stalls as far down the street as he could see.  It appeared to be a market of sorts.  That must be what all of the side streets going off of the main avenue were, little markets.  The bustle and hurry of the avenue was absent here as people slowly made their way from stall to stall purchasing what they had come for.  Some people from behind the booths called out their wares and that they had the best quality and prices.  Others seemed satisfied to let the customers come of their own accord.  Traven decided that as long as he was here, he might as well see what the stalls had to offer.  Maybe he would even find something that was interesting or useful.  He did have a few coins in his pouch and if he found anything that he needed, he would probably have enough money to buy it.

Traven quickly passed by the first stall on his right.  The old lady behind the counter was only selling ribbons and other frilly things.  The next stall was more interesting.  It held a wide assortment of belts and belt buckles.  The belts were made of good leather and the buckles ranged from simple to ornately worked designs.  He found one buckle that really caught his eye.  It was a golden, coiled snake with gleaming eyes and fangs.  He almost asked how much it was but then remembered that he was not a merchant yet and did not have enough money to spend it on gaudy things that he did not need.  He backed away from the stall and headed on down the street.  Staying in such a fine inn must have muddled his head.  A couple of days ago he would not have even considered buying something that expensive without any practical uses.  He better be careful or he would end up wasting all of his money before he ever reached school.

Traven continued walking down the street, looking at the stalls as he passed.  Everything that could be sold was being sold on this street.  There were stalls selling useful things such as cups, bowls, and needles.  There were stalls selling frivolous things such as jewelry, glass dolls, and feathers.  There were chickens and goats being sold.  There was even a stall that was selling nothing but frogs!  The market changed suddenly into a food market where an even narrower street cut across.  Every type of fruit and vegetable imaginable was on display.  There were many fruits and vegetables that he recognized and many more that he did not.  He turned down the smaller street that cut across and soon found it opening on a slightly larger street lined with stalls.  It was almost identical to the last one he had been on except for here the stalls were slightly larger and the patrons of the stalls were people who appeared to have more money than those on the last street.

Traven had barely started down past the larger stalls when he saw something that he needed, a saddlebag.  When he had left from Oak Tree, he thought that his pack would do well enough for the journey.  However, when he met Hank he saw that Hank’s saddlebag could hold a lot more than his little pack and that it was easier to manage.  He had decided that he would get a proper saddlebag when he had the chance, but he had forgotten all about it.  He was lucky he had made his way over to this street.  Who knew when he would have had another chance to purchase a saddlebag?

Saddlebags of all sizes and colors hung along the walls of the stall.  Traven peered over the selection and tried to decide which one he should get.  There were so many different kinds that he didn’t even know where to start.  He decided to concentrate on the larger ones that looked sturdy enough to last for a long time.  While he was narrowing his choice, another man came into the stall.  The old man behind the counter who had been studying Traven turned his attention to the newcomer.  The man knew exactly what he wanted and pointed it out immediately.  The stall owner pulled it off of the wall and handed it to the man to inspect.