I release an exaggerated sigh. “My head is clear. I’m fine. I don’t know what you want from me, Daegan.” I avert my gaze again, and then I see the walls up ahead.
“There it is!” Gaethri announces, ending this pointless conversation.
As I speed up a little, I hear Daegan mumble something indecipherable behind me.
“This is adorable,” Meela says as we close in on the structure, which sits just on the edge of Dothron. The two large gates in the wall surrounding it are wide open, so we can see a good chunk of the inn from here. I guess they’re not all that worried about predators during the day. There’s no one even guarding the entrance.
It’s a more whimsical style than I’ve seen on this journey so far. It looks cozy and inviting, with light wood and a crooked brown roof. I’m certain they made it from the same ashwood trees that surround it, but the veins streaking through the wood seem duller, lifeless.
“The Dothron Inn,” Gaethri announces as we stop in front of the stables. He looks up at it with conflicting emotions.
“Do your people run it?” I ask.
“Yes and no. There are two types of Dothronites. The mountain-dwelling kind, like me, and the wood-dwelling kind. They’re built a little smaller, nimbler. That’s likely who you’ll find inside. They’re usually more aloof, but not completely inaccessible. They have a few villages deep in the forest.”
“Maybe they’ll know more about the caves,” I say.
“Maybe.”
We all settle our things and make our way inside. There are fewer people lingering in this inn than others we’ve come across. Just a few bodies scattered around having a meal or a drink.
The six of us draw more attention than usual in the emptier room as we all step inside. The two tall dragon shifters enter first, the two of us smaller elven females following them, followed by a half-Skeldaryn female with wild-untamed red curls, walking next to a yellow-haired mountain-dwelling Dothronite. I don’t believe any of the patrons are what he described. Only the one behind the counter, a female who’s slightly smaller than Gaethri, with braided dark hair and a much smaller build, seems to fit his description. Daegan strides toward her, but she looks straight at Gaethri instead.
Daegan, not missing a beat, falls back to allow Gaethri to take the lead. “Afternoon,” he greets her with a small bow.
“Hello,” she says in a high-pitched voice.
“We’re looking for a few rooms and a couple meals.” He sets a bag with some coins on the counter.
“Are you coming from the mountain?” she asks in a soft, hushed tone.
“No. We’re just traveling through, in search of something. I haven’t been back to the mountain in some time…”
Her face falls, and her mouth pulls to the side. “Oh.”
“Has something happened?” I ask, unable to help myself.
She glances at me for a flash, her eyes tracing my ears, then looks back at Gaethri. “There have been more attacks,” she responds in a hushed tone. “The last one devastated them. A few months back.”
If Gaethri is surprised by the news, he doesn’t show it. He simply offers a reverent nod. The permanent despair that sits deep in his eyes is the same as before, steady… resolute.
We decide to settle in before grilling the poor innkeeper. She seems slightly intimidated by our presence and we figure it might be smarter to send Gaethri in alone first.
When Meela and I get to our room and unload our things, she turns and faces me with a look that lets me know she’s about to scold or interrogate me. One of the two.
“Okay, what’s going on with the two of you? You’re avoiding each other, and there’s tension any time you’re near one another.”
I shrug one shoulder. I wish I knew. I tell her everything that happened the other night, hoping that unloading it will help me feel a little better.
It does. Slightly.
“Fuck him, then,” Meela says.
I glance at her, not knowing what to say.
“But, also… maybe you guys can just put it aside for now,” her voice softens. “He looks out for you, you know. I’ve seen it, and I’m honestly grateful for it. And we need to have clear heads tomorrow. I don’t want to die in a damn cave.”
I know she’s right, and I really am trying to clear my head. “What do you mean, ‘you’ve seen it?’”
