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    6
    Arrowhead Manor


    It didn’t take us too long to make it to Arrowhead Manor, thankfully. By the time we made it I was ready to just collapse. I was so hungry… and tired. The place was more like a small town, though it didn’t seem very well kept, or well guarded. Perhaps they had been running low on funds? Or perhaps they were still repairing. It didn’t look so bad as we made our way even further inside the walls.

    Just a little longer and then I could sleep. I hoped. I was surely dragging my feet by now though I wasn’t paying much attention to it. Too tired.

    My eyes went wide as I suddenly found myself falling forward. Great! More scrapes! As if I needed to scrape up my hands and knees anymore than they already had been! I set my jaw and clenched my eyes shut to brace myself for impact with the ground, but it never happened.

    I opened my eyes to find that Aiden had caught me before I went too far. My face immediately flushed red. I must have looked like an idiot trying to catch myself. I could just imagine it, arms flailing, all but running past him as he walked in front of me.

    “Are you alright?” He questioned, helping me to right myself.

    I was about to say that I was perfectly fine, and then I set my right foot back on the ground. “Ow..” I grumbled. I had rolled my ankle. Was I really that bad off?

    He frowned at me. “You should really be more careful.”

    I was sure he was remembering my other folly last night, when I had fallen right on my rear end, and nearly gotten him and his friend killed by that monstrous scorpion. I let out a heavy sigh, “Yeah, I know, I’m sorry…”

    “Damn little monsters!” a voice shouted. It caused myself and Aiden both to jump, startled. I almost fell over again but managed to latch onto his arm before I really lost my balance.

    An older man stormed out of the middle section of the manor, face flushed red with anger. Was that the host of the manor? The one that we had to ask permission to stay here for the night?

    Great.

    It seemed that Aiden was having the same thought. “Heh… well, uh, if we don’t get permission to stay here then we’ll just have to get a map and set up camp outside somewhere.” he said to me quietly.

    Just then an elderly woman came out of the house as well. She looked mildly irritated, her eyebrows scrunched together in a rather mean looking scowl. “And just what are you going to do about it? You’re too old to go around fighting monsters for some treasure map!”

    “I was so close! I almost figured it out!” the elderly man insisted.

    “You’ve been obsessed with that damn map for years! Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise that the Pyrogolths stole it!” the woman retorted.

    That’s when I decided it. Humans were scary. By the way they were bickering back and forth I could only guess that they were married.

    The old man didn’t seem to hear his wife’s last comment, instead his gaze had zeroed in on us. He squinted to see better before he began to approach. “Who the hell’re you?” he demanded.

    Aiden stood his ground rather well, but me? I didn’t even think about it. I was behind my appointed guard in an instant, peering around his shoulder. He even seemed a bit intimidated though. He was sweating it I could tell by the way he had gotten all tense.

    “We’re uh… Travelers, sir.” he stammered.

    “Travelers! Oh so you’re not related to that strange elf… Asparas I think her name was. I thought that woman’s relatives were coming back to haunt me. Damn Wing Elf got me stuck on that crazy floating temple with no way to get down…”

    What in the world was this man rambling on about? I looked up toward the sky out of curiosity. Okay, so maybe this guy wasn’t totally out of his mind. I stared in fascination. He was right, there was something floating in the sky. I had heard stories, but seeing it was … wow…

    Aiden seemed less tense in front of me now that the old man wasn’t yelling at him, but that was short lived.

    “Well what do you want here?” the old man all but snapped.

    That got both of our attentions yet again. “I-- We need a place to stay, and we would appreciate it very much, sir, if you could… um…” Aiden began but the man didn’t let him finish his thought.

    “No! Out of the question! You can’t stay here, I know how you youngsters are!” the old man exclaimed suddenly, He jabbed a finger in Aiden’s face, causing him to take a step backward to avoid being hit in the nose. “You’ll go all crazy, destroy one of the rooms. Damn kids.”

    What on earth made him think that?

    “But sir, honestly we’re both just tired and looking for a place to stay one night.”

    A sinking feeling settled in my gut and even Aiden looked flustered. No sleep? Not now? I felt as though I could just pass out already!

    The old man began to say something else but his wife, or what I had assumed to be his wife had made her way out to him. “Roarke! That’s enough out of you, that boy’s been nothing but respectful to you this whole time.” she said sternly, arms crossed.

    “But honey-”

    She sent him a glare and he let out a sigh. “I’m going back inside.” he grumbled. He sent a glance to Aiden “I’m watching you kids. One loose board an’ I’ll--”

    “Roarke! Why don’t you check on the tea? It could be boiling over by now.” his wife interjected tersely.

    He grumbled a few more things as he stormed away.

    “You’ll have to excuse him. He’s been like this ever since he found that damn treasure map of his missing.”

    “It’s fine ma’am… really.” Aiden said, the expression on his face said it all, he was happy to be rid of the old man.

    I peered out from behind him a little further this time. It was safe?

    The woman’s eyes went wide upon noticing me. “Oh my word child! What’s happened to you?”

    I looked at her, confused. It didn’t register to me yet that I must have looked horrible. Although I had been healed… it didn’t fix my clothing, which thankfully had been red anyways… all the dry blood… it just looked like mud stains now, which matched the dirt that I was sure was smudged all over me.

    She all but shoved Aiden out of the way to get a better look at me. “And that old badger was just going to turn you away.” She frowned and her eyes rested on my neck for a moment. It made me self conscious.

    I hadn’t seen my own reflection in quite a while. What was there? I put my hand up to it again, almost involuntarily. What did it look like? The skin there felt… different still, so I wasn‘t imagining it before.

    “What’s wrong with your leg? You’re favoring it.” she demanded.

    “I-I rolled my ankle…” I said quietly, slightly embarrassed at admitting how clumsy I was. How could she tell that? Was it just by how I was standing?

    “You, boy, what’s your name?”

    “Uh… Aiden, Ma’am”

    “Alright, Aiden, pick her up and follow me inside. I’ll help you both get situated.”

    Huh? Pick me up?

    It was an awkward feeling when he didn’t hesitate to do so. He scooped me up with ease. “Sorry, but this is the quickest way to get you inside.” he said sincerely. He gave me a small smile to try and be reassuring. “I told you not to worry too much. Things work out.”

    “I think that was just a lucky break.” I said back to him.

    The woman paused at the door to look back at us. “So… about rooms.”

    “Yes?” Aiden prompted. It seemed as though he was going to do most of the talking. That was fine by me, he was better at dealing with these things than me. I hadn’t even spoken to anyone outside of my own race before.

    “You two aren’t together are you?”

    I once again felt my cheeks grow hot with a blush. Aiden seemed equally as red. We both looked in opposite directions of each other. “N-no ma’am we’re not…”

    “We’re not together in that sense.” I said, or squeaked as the case may be.

    The elderly woman laughed at us both. “I understand. Separate rooms it is then, but I’ll make sure they’re right next to each other.”

    “Thank you ma’am.” Aiden replied for me.

    I was still thoroughly embarrassed momentarily I had forgotten how tired I was, but my stomach would not let me forget how hungry I was. It growled loudly and I let out a groan. I just wanted sleep was that too much to ask for?

    “Looks like Roarke and I will be sharing our dinner tonight.” the woman said pleasantly.

    As long as they didn’t mind. This was almost too good to be true. Food, rest, and at least one nice person.

    Maybe humans weren’t so scary after all.

    CHAPTER 7