CHAPTER FIVE MELITA AND THE JOURNEY TO THE HOLY CITY

  On his way to Melita’s room after the kitchen had closed, Garrick’s mind was racing. However, if there was one person at The Crossroads that could help him forget for the night, it was her. The elven blonde barmaid was everything he was not. Brash, impulsive, unlike her race in many ways. And of course, she was as seductive and alluring as any female he had ever known.

  But she was more than that.

  Melita could hold her own verbally with anyone who came into the inn, and probably with any of the mercenaries he worked with, for that matter. Yet in their quiet times together she was sweet and caring.

  “Come in,” said Melita in a tired voice after Garrick knocked on the door. When the mercenary walked in, the elven beauty hugged him tightly.

  “You sound exhausted,” replied Garrick. Then he smiled. “Maybe I should go back to my room.”

  “I am tired, but I am never too tired to see you Garrick,” assured Melita with a stiff kiss on the mercenary’s lips. “I was so happy to see you today. This might be the longest I have been without you.” Then the barmaid’s voice became stern. “Do not let that happen again.”

  When Garrick smiled, Melita ughed as the mercenary stroked her long hair, starting at her pointed right ear. Then, as she opened her mouth to continue the coy charade, Garrick kissed her neck, silencing the elven beauty. When he kissed her neck again she closed her eyes.

  “Is this for us?” asked Garrick, noticing two gsses and a rge bottle of Aubrelon cider on the table in the middle of the room.

  “Compliments of the owners of the establishment,” winked Melita as she led Garrick over to the table. “You know Pawps and Mawmoo think of us as family.” Then the elven barmaid smiled. “Of course they do not think of us as siblings.”

  After Garrick pulled the chair out for Melita, he walked to his seat and grabbed the bottle. When he poured them both a gss of cider he took a sip. A second ter Melita did the same, savoring the apple fvor. Then she looked at the mercenary, her face changing, remembering their meeting earlier that day.

  “Where did you, Pawps and Mawmoo run off to, anyway? What is going on?” asked Melita, patting Garrick’s hand.

  Having to go over the story again after having just spoken to Pawps and Mawmoo, and knowing that Melita might scoff at his good deed or, maybe even more, what was on the scroll, Garrick decided to shorten the tale.

  “I am taking a scroll to The Holy City for a Brethren I came across on the way here. He was wayid by bandits, and though I took care of them, the old man was already too far gone. It was his dying wish that I deliver it. I wanted Pawps and Mawmoo to look at it before I left in the morning,” answered Garrick.

  “Your honor is just another reason I am drawn to you, Garrick Landow,” smiled Melita, as she leaned forward. Then her demeanor changed slightly.

  “I thought it was my rugged good looks,” replied Garrick, returning the smile, but it slowly faded as he looked at the elven beauty’s face.

  “I need to talk to you,” announced Melita, her voice taking a subtle, more serious tone. “I would not bring it up tonight if you were not leaving tomorrow…”

  Seeing the beautiful barmaid searching for her next words, Garrick became a little concerned. The look on her face was something he had not ever seen.

  “Pawps and Mawmoo are getting older,” began Melita. “They say they will not sell the Sleepy Kettle and Yard anytime soon, but I have worked here many years. I can see that time is not far off. Or if they do not sell it, they will need to have more help to run it.”

  After pausing for a moment, Melita continued. “This pce gets more popur each year. I know you like to travel. I know you like your mercenary life…”

  “What are you asking me, Melita?” asked Garrick, his face becoming serious, as he could see where her words were going.

  “I want you to give up being a mercenary and stay here…with me,” spoke Melita, softly. Then she pced her hand firmly on Garrick’s. “And help run this pce. At least until…”

  Garrick gave a short ugh, as his mind immediately went back to Shepherds Bend. Then he stood up.

  “Look, I care for you, and I know you care for me,” continued Melita. “Our current retionship has been fun, and I do not regret it… This is not an ultimatum. Just think about it.” Then she squeezed the mercenary’s hand. “Please.”

  Though Garrick was somewhat perturbed, it was more the surprise of the whole situation that bothered him. Then he picked up his gss and took one st drink.

  “Garrick, you do not have to go now. Our night has only just begun,” pleaded Melita. “And you are leaving in the morning. We usually see each other much more than this when you are here.”

  When Garrick looked down at the elven beauty and into her deep blue eyes, he saw not only that she wanted him to stay right then, but that she had been thinking about him staying with her for good, and for a while now.

  After taking a deep breath, Garrick gently pulled Melita up from her chair. Then he kissed her deeply. When he gently pushed away, the barmaid moved in for another kiss, but the mercenary stopped her. Then he ran a finger over her left pointed ear as he looked deeply into her eyes again.

  “If I did stay longer, I think you could make me say yes,” began the mercenary with a smile. “But this is something I must be clear-headed about.”

  Melita smiled back and watched Garrick walk to the door. And though it wasn’t the answer she had wanted to hear after he had walked into her room, what he had said still gave her hope.

  “I need some time, Melita. I will tell you my answer after I deliver the scroll,” assured the mercenary. Then he walked back to his room.

  ***

  After a restless night's sleep, Garrick stood alongside Onyx in front of the Sleepy Kettle and Yard, and watched the morning sun peek over the hills; its rays beginning to light The Crossroads. The inn door opened behind him and he watched as Pawps, Mawmoo, and Melita exited the building and walked towards him.

  “Come here and open that big mouth of yours. The Big Mawmoo has something for you,” said the old woman, extending an open hand to Onyx. The mystic wolf trotted over to her and sniffed the air. It was a cooked boar's leg, bone and all. Onyx sat down as Mawmoo pulled his breakfast from behind her back.

  “Now, you take good care of Garrick, you hear,” replied the old woman, as she started to pce the meat into the mystic wolf’s mouth. Seeing the rows of rge sharp teeth, The Big Mawmoo stopped. “Now, do not bite me Onyx. I know boar is one of your favorites.” Then she dropped the boar's leg into the mystic wolf’s mouth, as Pawps ruffled his bck fur.

  “Are you taking the hill tunnel? I would. There is nothing like seeing The Holy City as you exit. Such a beautiful city on a hill,” said the old man.

  “Yes, and we should arrive there in the evening, just as it starts to light up in the darkness,” replied Garrick.

  Pawps handed Garrick a rge skin of water and some fresh bread. “I know you have already bought some things, but I figured this would not hurt.”

  After a firm handshake with Pawps, Garrick bent down and embraced Mawmoo, who kissed his neck and said, “Be careful. Remember Braelind’s words. Only give the scroll to the High Priest.” Then the innkeepers stepped back for Melita.

  The elven beauty handed Garrick a small bottle. “Here. This is some of the cider we should have finished st night. Perhaps if you make more time for me when you get back, we can finish the rest of the bottle from which this came.”

  Then after taking a quick glimpse at Pawps and Mawmoo, Melita looked deeply into Garrick’s eyes. “And perhaps you will have come to a decision about what I discussed with you st night.”

  “I will give it great thought,” assured Garrick. Then he kissed the barmaid and gave her a half smile. “And when I return, we will finish the rest of the bottle, I promise.”

  “We had better,” replied Melita with a stern look, after grabbing the mercenary’s arm. Then she flung her long blonde hair over her pointy ears. “I am sure you share wine with that woman at Shepherds Bend.” After Melita looked over at Pawps and Mawmoo, her gaze returned to Garrick and she continued, “Do not deny it. I have overheard them talk about her.

  Garrick started to open his mouth, then stopped for a moment, looking for the right words. “Well, I guess we now have something else to talk about over the rest of the cider, when I return.”

  After giving one st nod at Pawps and Mawmoo, Garrick and Onyx turned and walked toward the western arch that would lead them from The Crossroads to many of the towns in The Human Kingdom Lands. But more importantly, in two days it would lead them to The Holy City and a promise kept.

  ***

  The morning, and whole day for that matter, passed by uneventfully for Garrick and Onyx as they traveled toward their destination. The mercenary and mystic wolf kept to the main road, with Onyx running off every now and again, but always returning, especially before entering a town.

  After passing through the small farming vilge of Crispen and the growing mining town of Midjewel, Garrick and Onyx headed northwest toward The Living River for the night. There at the waters that ran through the world of Danaria, they ate and rested before the long trek the next day that would take them into the nearby hills and the tunnel to The Holy City.

  With Onyx seemingly having id down for the night, Garrick pulled off his quiver and pack and looked up at the first stars to usher in the night. Then he sat down and, with light fast becoming scarce, pulled out the salted pork he had bought at The Crossroads the day before. After finishing his dinner and refilling his water skin, Garrick took out the scroll.

  The mercenary read the words of the King Priest’s scribe over and over, feeling the ancient texture of history in his hands. Whether that history was real or fabricated he still didn’t know, but by this time tomorrow, he would, or at least should know, assuming the current High Priest was the man everyone said that he was.

  Either way, the next day his vow to Braelind would be completed, and he would then be able to seek out a paying job and see what had really happened at the mercenary guild while he was in Shepherds Bend. And of course, spend more time with Melita. Especially now that she had overheard Pawps and Mawmoo talking about Katrina. And though Melita had said she had not given him an ultimatum, he still knew he had some decisions to make.

  After night finally fell, Garrick stroked the fur of the sleeping mystic wolf next to him and looked up at the many stars, their full presence now shining in the sky. According to all the clerics, that was the doorway to Elion’s Embrace. The pce where all good inhabitants of Danaria arrived after death. The mercenary grabbed the ring from under his tunic, held it and closed his eyes. After a second of silence, he kissed it two times, and pced it back against his chest. Then he patted his sword at his side, id back, and drifted off to the sound of the rushing waters behind him.

  ***

  The next morning Garrick woke to the sound of the same rushing water that they had fallen asleep to. However, it was actually the sound of a ship on The Living River, and the loud voices aboard it, that had roused him from his slumber.

  The mercenary watched with blurry, sleepy eyes as the rge vessel, with a carved figurehead of a woman in a half-shirt and long skirt draped around her waist, had just started to pass by him off the bank he and Onyx had slept on. After wiping his eyes, Garrick could see that the woman on the front of the rge ship carried a jug in one hand and rested the other hand on the side of her face.

  After getting to one knee, Garrick took a long drink of cider and then called out to Onyx, who was watching the ship as closely as he could without stepping into the water.

  Their walk through the hills was long, but pleasant enough. Between a few stops for rest on the day’s trip, Garrick ate the bread Pawps had given him and the raisins he had purchased at The Crossroads. As for the venison jerky, most of it went to Onyx. Being a skilled hunter himself, the mystic wolf never went hungry long, but Garrick always had something for his closest companion, just in case.

  Soon, even though it wasn’t near dark, Garrick started to feel the weather cooling off. With the day’s journey going to pn and coming off without a hitch, Garrick and Onyx reached the hillside tunnel earlier than expected. Even better, after making the short walk through it, they would finally get a glimpse of their destination.

  With the sun now off of them as they walked the tunnel, Garrick picked up his pace as Onyx trotted ahead. The hillside tunnel was short enough that you could see the exit off in the distance almost as soon as you entered it, but the walk was longer than it looked, especially when you looked forward to the view of The Holy City on the hill from the small stretch of ft nd that separated them.

  After a few minutes, the exit was fully visible and Onyx took off. Garrick ughed and started to call out to the rge bck wolf to slow down, but then he closed his mouth, knowing it would be of no use.

  As soon as Onyx exited the tunnel, a rge club came crashing down toward the mystic wolf!

  Garrick watched as Onyx sprang out of the way and spun around to face his foe. The mercenary pulled out his sword and ran to the tunnel exit. Upon reaching the tunnel’s end, Garrick stared out at two trolls, but they weren’t carrying clubs like he originally thought. Rather, they were carrying rge bones. Most likely from a horse, but assuredly from one of their kills.

  Onyx leaped for the attacking troll’s neck and tched on hard, but the big monster threw him off. Noticing that the other troll hadn’t seen him yet, Garrick sheathed his sword. He slipped off his bow, drew an arrow and let it fly. The troll grabbed at his neck where the mystic wolf had bit and now where an arrow was lodged. As the troll started to pull the arrow out, Onyx made it back to his feet and leaped again, taking the troll down this time.

  The other troll, now aware of the mercenary, advanced on him, making the odds more even. Garrick could hear Onyx’s snarling and the troll’s bellowing, but he didn’t look over. He had a true fight on his hands, and he would have to trust that Onyx would finish what the troll started.

  The second troll swung its rge weapon down to crush its new enemy’s skull, but Garrick sidestepped the big monster and swung back with his sword, nding a rge ssh across its broad back. The troll bellowed in pain and tried to backhand the mercenary, but its hand flew over his head. Garrick leaped back and gripped his sword with both hands. As the troll took a step toward him, the mercenary pulled his sword back, its bde parallel to the ground. Then, when the troll lifted its weapon to strike, Garrick jammed his sword into it, the bde sinking all the way down to its hilt.

  The troll screamed and started to lift its arms, but Garrick smmed the palm of his hand into the handle of his sword and the big monster stumbled back, gnashing his jagged teeth. Then the mercenary took three long steps back and in moments had his bow. He released an arrow. It hit the troll in the chest above his sword. He released another and it nded in its throat.

  As the troll fell forward, Garrick could see Onyx atop the other bellowing, big monster, as it tried in vain to grab for its weapon just out of reach. Garrick nocked another arrow. Suddenly, a nce smmed into the troll’s body below Onyx. The mystic wolf leapt back and growled as Garrick looked up, arrow still nocked, at five knights on horseback who were riding up.

  After they slowed to a stop, the lead knight dismounted. When Garrick lowered his bow, the knight lifted his helmet off. He was clean shaven and had short blonde hair. Though younger than Garrick, his demeanor and gait were of one who had the confidence of a seasoned veteran. When the knight reached Garrick, he cordially greeted him with a nod as his gold-trimmed white cape settled behind his back.

  “Hello, good sir. I am Elias Romwell, captain of The Knights of Providence.”