The Fanged Throne

Chapter 9

Banu didn't say anything for a while, he could see Elora was angry. Her arms swung briskly at her side as she stomped heavily ahead, her pale face was a flushed pink. He had not heard what Mirild had said to her, but it couldn't have been good. Running to catch up with her, he grabbed her forearm gently, "Elora, hey slowdown. Tell me what happened? Maybe I can help."

She stopped walking and looked up at him thoughtfully. She wasn't ready to tell him as that meant she would have to tell him about the dreams and her strange behaviour. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, but after all, they had only known each other for a few short days.

She shook her head and sighed.
"It's nothing, I just overreacted, don't worry about it".

Banu looked disappointed at her lie for a moment before his face morphed into a familiar grin. "Well, now that you're all fixed up, we should get moving, Istath is just up the hill." They both looked up at the tall mountain hanging over them. "And then we can figure out where to go from there."

Elora agreed with him, although she wasn't so sure she knew why. She had come all this way. For what? To get away from Virion and his men, yet she couldn't hide forever in Istath, they would come looking. Deep down she had this nagging feeling that this is where she needed to be heading, why, she couldn't explain.

The hours of the steep climb flashed by as Elora got lost in her thoughts, her legs propelled by an overwhelming anxiousness to go somewhere. She couldn't help thinking the coin was connected to it, it was always in the centre of things and things had been off ever since it came to be in her possession.

By the time they had reached the first building in Istath, both of them were breathing heavily and had foreheads lined with sweat. The air quality was thinner and Elora had the funny sensation of being underwater. To call Istath a village would be very generous. The stone buildings built into the mountainside were half-destroyed and aged. Some were missing walls, doors and even roofs. A group of large men walked past them, carrying stones to attempt to fix some of the buildings. The landscape around them was a sea of grey, the buildings, the rocks and even the bare trees sported the dull colour.

Atop one of the depleted buildings sat three strange creatures Elora had never seen before, their screeching was loud, almost like a bird. "What are those?" Banu turned to look. "Arg those stupid creatures are Aardcivets. They're naughty scavengers, a real pain in the butt." Elora looked at them uneasily. "Don't worry, they're harmless...Just watch out for their talons." He told her, walking off ahead, leaving her standing there. She watched them fascinated for a moment. Their bodies were small and covered in thick brown fur. A long-tail curled around the branches of a nearby tree, on their hands were long sharp talons, curled under the fur. They looked sharp and not something she would have liked to cross paths with.

Not wanting to be left with the Aardcivets she quickly caught up with Banu, keeping a wary eye on the small animals sitting on the roof. He led them up the hill to a small building that sat at the very highest point of the village.

The local tavern. The glass windows were grimy and fogged up. Upon entry the inside wasn't much better, Elora had thought. A large wooden bar housed a small collection of coloured bottles filled with liquids she knew she would not enjoy.

The barkeeper grunted his greeting at them as they entered, the two other men in the room turned in their seats and just stared openly. Elora took a seat at one of the tables closest to the raging fire, warming her poor feet. She waited and watched as Banu got himself a drink from the barkeeper, nothing for herself. The walls were devoid of any paintings or signs, the floor had one threadbare rug that looked like it was once a brilliant blue many many years ago.