1
Seren
“Another pint, love?”
The tavern is filled with raucous conversation and laughter. There’s a lute player in the corner, but it sounds like he forgot the chords to his song three or four pints ago. Candlelight gilds all the patrons in a warm glow, and the air is thick with the scent of roasted meat, amber ale, and freshly baked bread.
“This will be my last,” I tell the barkeep, saluting him with my nearly empty glass.
He gives me a nod before moving on to the next patron.
I’m uncertain what kind of being he is, or which realm he might have come from, but to be on the safe side and avoid unintentionally offending him, I return his nod as he goes.
Part elven, maybe, with the way the tips of his ears form points, but his features aren’t as delicate as the other elves I’ve met. His skin is a deep, rugged gray, and his eyes shine piercing glacier blue, making me think he might also have come from somewhere near the lands of the trolls in the frost realm.
All different kinds of beings make their way here, to the realm they call the Middle. Legends I’ve heard during my travels claim it sits right at the heart of the thirteen realms. Like layers of a cake stacked one on top of the other, they claim this realm has six above and six below, holding them all together.
Whether that’s true—whetheranyof the tall tales I’ve heard over the last year are true—I have no idea.
But I do know one thing for certain.
Taverns are my favorite part of slipping between the thirteen realms.
No matter if I’m stopping by the demon realm, or exploring the endless winter forests of the frost realm, or taking a night off right here in the Middle, they all have one thing in common.
A warm crackling fire. A place to sit and rest your weary bones. Ale flowing—or rich wine, or honeyed mead—and conversations to last well into the night.
The human realm really needs to get its act together when it comes to taverns.
No sticky neighborhood bar or low-lit nightclub could compare with this.
I’m seated alone at a table in the corner. The orc huntress I spent the last hour chatting with just left, off to tend to her mount before heading to Midvar, one of this realm’s largest cities. Still, there’s plenty to see, so I’m perfectly content to sit and watch and take it all in.
It’s like stepping straight into a fantasy novel, only this is real. Unimaginably real, since the new bargain between demons and humans changed the landscape of the Veil and made travel between the realms possible for humans.
Well, for some humans.
The thirteen portals hidden far and wide across the human world are carefully guarded, and I sincerely doubt many who know about them would be tempted to cross just for fun, given how little we know about all those other worlds.
But for me?
It was never a question.
Almost as soon as the new bargain was struck, I started traveling.
How could I resist?
I’ve always been chronically restless, and now that I’ve got new realms to explore, there’s been no staying my wandering feet.
Not that it means there’s no risk in it. Far from it, in fact. There’s plenty of risk.
But also plenty of fun. Plenty of distraction. Plenty to keep me from thinking too hard about what I left behind.
Tonight, though, I need to be on my way.
I’m low on funds, with nowhere near enough silver pieces in my bag to buy me a place to rest for the evening. After I square up my tab here, I doubt I’ll have anything left at all.
With a sigh, I drain the last of my drink and set a few coins down near the empty glass. I reach for my bag, ready to be on my way.
