Vonaias Aleanvalsa

Stys Palace

The bright sunlight filtered through the canopy of the trees, illuminating spots of grass and trodden leaves here and there. 

Vonaias rode his horse without rush. It was a little cramped since the wizard Lovan Dilfondon was riding behind him, heavily secured with iron chains to stop him from doing any kind of magic. Vonaias would have preferred Dilfondon rode on Urbin's horse, but he was much too big for the little pony. And so, there they were, sharing a horse, Vonaias looking annoyed and exhausted from lack of sleep, and Dilfondon chatting away as if this was a pleasure trip. 

"So, that's why I ended up joining the pirate crew," he said. 

Urbin kept turning to look at him. "Fascinating!" 

Vonaias rolled his eyes. He was not very interested in anything Lovan Dilfondon had to say. He didn't trust him at all, and he thought he was putting on some fake charm to try to trap them again, and Vonaias was not going to let that happen! 

"That's an interesting reasoning. You're telling me you joined a pirate crew simply because you could?" asked Urbin. 

Lovan shrugged as much as the chains around his arms would allow. "What can I say? Captain Farghed will take any wizard. He's obsessed!" 

Vonaias kept his silence, although he wanted to know more. Thankfully, Urbin was as curious as him and kept on asking questions. 

"Why is that, you think?" 

"Farghed is an orc and a great fighter, but he really likes surrounding himself with magic, so he has a lot of wizards helping him. I think this must be because he can't do magic himself," stated Lovan. "He's got all levels of wizards on his crew. Some of them are super scary, some are more like me, just looking for an adventure. And the pay is not bad, I have to admit."

Vonaias really wanted to say that he understood, because it was pretty much how he felt about his own job as a bounty hunter. He wasn't like Urbin, who was doing this because he believed in upholding the law. Vonaias did this for the adventure, and the money. 

Urbin knew him so well that he was giving Vonaias a meaningful look, as if he knew exactly what he had been thinking. Vonaias did not add anything to the conversation. 

"So, where are you from again?" asked Urbin to Lovan, his eyes going from him to Vonaias. 

"Horto," replied Lovan rather dreamily. "The most beautiful elven forest you'll ever see."

At this, Vonaias managed to stifle a gasp. Urbin did not. He gasped so loudly his horse reared back a little. 

"You're kidding! Vonaias is from there too!" he yelped excitedly. 

Vonaias threw him a look of warning, but he couldn't help thinking that Dilfondon had it just right. There was no place more beautiful than Horto. 

"That's wonderful! Where in Horto? My family home is located by Canthed Lake. Did you ever go there?" the question was directed to Urbin. "We own this tavern there, elven cuisine, the very best. It's quite famous. It's called Stys Palace."

At this, Vonaias couldn't restrain himself. 

"Your family owns Stys Palace??" he asked excitedly, then harrumphed and turned away, pretending to have said nothing. He did not want to be a part of this conversation. He wasn't interested in making a new friend! 

Too late. Dilfondon was so excited he almost toppled off the horse. 

"You've been? That's amazing! Yes! Have you tried the Chestnut root soup? With the stick taters? That's my grandma's recipe!" 

Vonaias would not admit it, but his mouth was now watering. He had had those dishes before, and they were absolutely scrumptious. 

Urbin must have seen it in his face, because his next words made Vonaias turn to him angrily, almost whip-like. 

"Can you cook them yourself? We're up for a break sometime soon. I've got pots and pans right here," he said, patting the bag he carried. 

Lovan Dilfondon's eyes widened with excitement. "Yeeeee. I can cook for you guys! As a thank you for not killing me, and to show my good will and excellent cooking skills!" 

Two hours later, they had set up camp by a little clearing. Vonaias had refused to help, and sat with his arms and legs crossed, on a tall branch, his eyes on Lovan Dilfondon, who still had chains around his arms and legs, but now loosened slightly so he could move around the fire. 

Urbin had collected water from a nearby stream, dried leaves to keep the fire burning, chestnuts and roots for the soup, mushrooms and fresh herbs for the broth, and the most important ingredient: golden vanilla. It was this, according to Lovan, that made the soup so delicious. 

"You're lucky I had some golden vanilla in my rations pack!" said Urbin. "It's not so easy to come by in the forest!" 

Urbin and Lovan had kept up a friendly conversation throughout the preparation of the meal. Up on his tree branch, Vonaias was keeping to himself. He would have been lying if he said he had no interest in going down to the clearing and engaging Dilfondon in conversation about their hometown and things they had in common, which seemed to be plentiful. But he was mistrustful nonetheless. Vonaias Aleanvalsa did not make friends as easily as others. 

The food smelled incredible. It was like being back in Horto all over again. As much as he wanted to refuse, Vonaias went down from his tree branch and accepted a bowl from Urbin, who was giving him a large, knowing smile and an annoying nod of the head. 

"Shut up," said Vonaias, and jumped back up to his tree branch to enjoy his soup alone. 

It was magnificent. A little different from the soup he had had back at Stys Palace, but it had the same homey feeling. It warmed him through and through. He even let out a sigh at some point. 

That night, once he was sure Lovan Dilfondon was securely tied to a tree and that Urbin was going to keep watch, Vonaias considered getting some sleep, but the thought of sleeping on a tree branch after he had had no sleep the night before wasn't the most tempting of ideas. He decided to go back to Andrew's room and sleep on a bed. 

He tapped his wristwatch three times and punched in a secret passcode that nobody else in the world could know. Instantly, his feet left the ground, and surrendered to the familiar sensation of being broken into atoms as he flew across impossible distances. He was pieced back together and his feet touched the soft carpet of Andrew's room. 

Andrew stretched his arms high above his head and let out a massive yawn. He looked at his watch. Time had resumed exactly the moment he returned. It was sometime around 8 o'clock. 

He sat on his bed with every intention of going to sleep, when suddenly, he received a notification on his laptop. 

New Message from 12345w54321. That was Luke's gamer tag. 

Hey you! How's it going? Long time no see! You wanna play some games?

Andrew sighed. He was exhausted and he really needed to catch up on some sleep, but he also really wanted to play now that he was back in his dorm. 

In the end, he decided to have fun. After all, it wasn't bedtime just yet. He could play for a few hours and then go to bed and recover his energy for tomorrow. No problem. What could go wrong?