The Last Paladin of Highmoore: The Legends of Valoria

Chapters 13, 14 & 15

"You could have warned me that it was so hot!" Alec and Zelus looked at one another and then very plainly spoke in unison.

"Eliza, it is called red fire stew."

"I did not know what it was called. I was too distracted by that girl ravaging you two with her eyes to pay attention to what she was saying." Alec and Zelus continued to laugh at Eliza's discontent as she gulped down another mouthful of water. As she attempted to recover, by taking in deep breaths of air and trying to exhale the heat out, Alec and Zelus dug into their stew by the spoonful and, through their own deep mouth breathing, emptied their bowls and sat back content.

"Aren't you going to drink any water?" Eliza looked at the two of them with awe.

"Nah, I am good, but are you going to finish that?" Alec looked at Eliza with great curiosity.

"Of course I am, I'm just not used to spicy foods like this. That is all." Alec and Zelus laughed for a moment.

"What's so funny now?"

"Oh, it is just you have lived among the high society for so long you have never had a taste of the local delicacies. Zelus and myself live off things such as this." Zelus nodded in agreement as Eliza battled with another spoonful, each time taking smaller and smaller bites.

"I have not been pampered, thank you. I merely eat what is available to me. Besides Zelus lives in the noble district as well." Zelus spoke up in defense of the argument.

"Yeah, but I practically live on my own since my father is never around. So, I eat here opposed to sitting home alone." Eliza continued to bicker.

"I have not been pampered." Alec and Zelus turned to one another and acted pompous and high strung for a moment until Eliza landed a slug in the shoulder to each of them. Eliza, unwilling to sway from her foul mood allowed, Zelus to continue the story.

"Well, we were working with the locals to try and find a thief and after a small degree of trouble we were able to catch him and return some stolen goods and..." Eliza slammed her small hands onto the table interrupting.

"No, what happened is I chased the thief through the streets, alleys and across rooftops in order to catch him while you were hitting on some random girl you met in the square." Alec looked to Zelus who shrugged his shoulders and nodded before continuing.

"Anyway, it so happens that the thief came back my way and, through my own elaborate methods, I tripped him up and captured him."

"If you call accidently running into someone and falling on them elaborate methods, then yeah you were superb." Zelus smiled again and went on.

"Afterwards, we finished the job that we were initially on and started another, which involved finding a cat. It was hiding in the owner's house and..." Alec leaned forward to interrupt.

"I am more or less just curious as to why Eliza is so upset." Zelus smirked again and as soon as Eliza looked up, Zelus averted his gaze. It was Eliza that finished.

"After spending the entire day hitting on anything wearing a skirt, he had the nerve to kiss me." Alec turned to Zelus, a shocked expression on his face, and Zelus smiled.

"She said that I didn't have the guts to kiss a real woman on a whim, so why even bother." Zelus paused a moment. "She was wrong." Alec laughed and the three carried on their various tales for an hour before finishing up and Alec paying for their meals.

"So, there is nothing left to do on your list?" Eliza pulled the crumpled parchment out of her pocket and began to read through the list.

"No, the one thing that we have left to do is to gather supplies and go to Tarnas and meet with the local barkeep. It seems he has a matter that he must discuss with us.