4 Chapter 4: Gerald's Pitstop

The hill that Lydia found herself overlooked a small city that blended into the desert which was located in any direction they could see. The tops of the buildings were different than Lydia had ever seen and the colors were little more than a sandy brown and a soft hue of a darker reddish clay.

"Welcome to the lands of the Gin." Gerald said, releasing her and stepping away. "This is the town of Reppi, and a simple trading town around 20 kilometers from the borders of the Druids and Gin. We should be safe here for a small time, since the Gin don't like the Everseekers." He looked her over, while she simply stood in amazement. "We'll have to change your clothes." He remarked. "It's rare to see a Druid this far into Gin territory who would dare wear green."

"These are the colors of my people." She countered, the anger in her voice made manifest. "I-"

"Stick out like a sore thumb." He interjected, her eyes widening. "Besides, here it is illegal to wear green unless you are a member of the royal family." He closed his eyes and pictured something for her to wear while they were in town. Then, with a wave of his hand, her outfit changed. The dark brown of dead leaves filled the blouse and jacket, replacing her light green armor, the trousers she wore were now as rustic red dress, and looked as though it was covered in the same reddish clay as the houses in the distance. The long knife remained unchanged, except for the color of the hilt which was a dusty ivory. Her jacket was now covered in furs, and seemed to be sewn together from the skins of various animals that Lydia had never seen and known. It immediately disgusted her and she threw the jacket on the ground.

"DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT DRUIDS?!" She shouted. Her voice would have echoed through the entire town, had Gerald not been quick enough to catch it with magic and silence it.

"Talking voice only." He ordered. Immediately, Lydia was silenced, but the mouthed words of curses, insults, and other things that would have been shouted seemed to continue. 'Better let her get it out of her system.' Gerald thought, silently waiting. 'When she's finally calmed down, then we can finally talk. Preferably in town with a pint and a pretty girl...' His mind wandered to the point that he didn't even notice that Lydia has stopped ranting and was breathing hard, glaring at him.

"Did you hear a word I just said?" She muttered angrily, her eyes furious.

"Not a word." He answered truthfully, her voice had pulled him from his pleasant daydream, and he wasn't the happiest about it. "But that doesn't matter. That is the common clothing of a Druidic trader. You'll need to wear that if we're going to pass as respectable people in this land."

"Respectable." She muttered, the venom in her voice audible. "Says the man with a slave."

"You agreed to the contract." His quick counter shut her up, for the moment, but she was quick to retort again.

"Well... Who even has slaves anymore?"

"Doesn't your house hold a number of slaves?" He countered, his eyebrow raising at her hypocrisy. Her eyes flashed.

"Those are just the Ignoble. They're-"

"Slaves." He interrupted. "You feed them, clothe them, and give them a place to sleep. Since they own none of it, are given the scraps from your plate, and are forced into servitude from birth... I would call that slavery."

"It's not my fault they have such horrid ancestry." She countered.

"It's not theirs either." Gerald was sick of this argument, but it was one he had had plenty of times with other druids in the past. "Perhaps I should treat you as one of the Ignoble then, rather than as a slave under the employ of what I am." His eyes flashed in anger at her and he sent magic through the invisible link that kept her his property. 'This is why I hate having slaves.' He inwardly lamented. "I forbid you from ever saying the word that describes what I am." He quickly stated, and the magic took its toll. She gasped, but would only later realize the quick thinking and wisdom of what he had done. "You'll wear the coat, or you'll go cold." He threatened. "The deserts are beautiful and hot during the day, but they can be blisteringly cold at night. And that is when we need to do our business." He looked at the sun, "Which won't be for quite some time. We are on the far side of the world after all." With that, he turned towards the city and walked down the hill. After a heavy, inward debate about whether to follow him, she grabbed the jacket and followed. Mostly because she had nowhere else to go.

Reppi was nowhere near the most populated city in Gin territory, but it definitely had a spot on the main trade routes. It had been many years since Gerald had been there and he was surprised by how little had changed. A few names, and many of the buildings were of newer construction, but otherwise the city looked the same. No walls, no tolls, and no guards to speak of (unless they were at the local tavern or bar). This was a inn town, and that meant that they were based around hospitality and grace. Even as Gerald and Lydia walked into the town via the main road, nobody looked twice at them except the merchants who promptly began shouting out their wares in an attempt to get their attention and coins. They were out of luck today, for Gerald knew his first stop.

The inn looked to be one of the oldest buildings, but still one of the best made. It stood two stories tall in the morning air, with the Gin flag flying freely in the freeze from a large stick that served as a flagpole. To Lydia, it looked like a horrible place, and one to which she would never have chosen, but Gerald knew better. With any luck, the old barkeep was still around as well...

The door opened to greet them, rusted on its hinges, and the two travelers walked inside. Gerald was very lucky that day.

"Welcome to the Gin and Tonic. Home of both room and drink if you've the coin." The barkeep said, turning to them even as he poured a drink from a glass jar for another patron. "What'll it be..." His voice trailed off as he stared at Gerald with a look of astonishment. "ILSBE!" He shouted, dropped the jar of booze onto the ground with a crash, and jumped over the bar. "Ilsbe, you son of Dryassiad! What in the hells brings you back here?! It's been too long!"

"Same here my old friend." Gerald replied with a smile and a return of the bartender's embrace. "What's it been, 40... 50 years?"

"Over a hundred you horrible piece of Geez!" He gave his old friend another hug and looked him over. "You haven't aged a gods blessed day!"

"Wish I could say the same, Lime." He replied with a hearty chuckle, returning the hug.

"And who is this?" The barkeep called Lime asked, turning to his old friend's companion. "A... oh..." His face fell. "Listen ya old goat, what ya doing bringing one of... their kind here." He looked around the bar. "There's a few good men in town, and few bad ones too who have probably been watching you since you brought her in. Don't you know we're at war?"

"War?" Lydia asked with a quizzical look. "What-"'

"I think explanations will need to be more private... woman." Lime said, looking hurriedly around the bar again, where a couple of men were looking at her and one was fingering a sword at his belt. "Only one room available, Ilsbe. Had a wedding party come through and the stragglers are leaving tomorrow."

"That's fine." Gerald replied, his other name sounding grating on Lydia's ears as she had come to know him as Gerald. "I'll bet it's the one by the bathroom at the end of the hall?"

"Wedding suite actually." Lime replied with a laugh. "I raised the rate so much that the other wedding guests wouldn't touch it. I wouldn't either after some of the noises that came from that room a couple nights ago-"

"That's fine." Gerald interjected. "Thank you Lime. What do I owe ya?"

"Just 2 silver. 3 if ya want a meal in your room."

Gerald paid the man his three silver, much to the chagrine of Lydia, who thought that the barkeep was fleecing him dry. Gerald, for his part, just wanted to get Lydia out of the barroom. The men looked threatening and if there really was a war...

He pulled her behind him by the wrist, and they entered a hallway that was blocked only by a set of beads that hung down in an ornamental style. Up a flight of stairs they went as well to a long room that Gerald knew only too well from the many times he had stayed there in the past.

The wedding suite was nothing like what Lydia had imagined it. She had been expecting a traditional Druidic suite with a long canopy of leaves that led to a bed of downy feathers, taken from naturally molting chicks. With long trees taking the secrets of what you did there to their graves in silence. In this suite, was a bare dirt room, with three long candles that Gerald lit with a flick of his hand, no windows, and a large slab of stone covered in a bag filled with goose feathers. The blankets laid and folded to the side of the slab. The room had a hole in the wall that obviously was supposed to be the bathroom, and Lydia felt completely happy that she didn't have to use it while they were there.

Gerald sat on the bed and motioned for her to come closer to her. She moved into the room but didn't move closer to the man on the bed. The door closed behind her. The moment that the door was closed, Gerald let out a loud sigh of relief and then laid down, closing his eyes. "I could sleep for a week." He muttered.

"During the day?" Lydia asked, sitting on the floor.

"I feel like I could sleep for a week, but we're going to have to make this visit short." He didn't get up but his next words shook Lydia to her core. "The Everseekers are after us after all."

"The Everseekers?" Lydia asked, looking a little shocked and a sliver of fear flitting across her face.

"The ultimate death squad of the Wizards." Gerald replied, matter of factly. "Created after the war to finish the extermination of my kind."

"You mean-" The magic shut her up. But she mouthed the word 'necromancers' just fine, even if her voice wouldn't carry it.

"Yes, even those." He confirmed without looking at her and then gave a large sigh. "Lydia... It seems I owe you an apology."

This caught the Druidess off guard. "What?" She asked.

"I just put you in very VERY real danger." He said. "Inadvertently, I assure you. But real danger nonetheless."

"How so?"

"Your a Druidess in a country that is at war with your race." He replied. "Not that I had any real knowledge of the war, and I still don't know the entirety of what happened."

There was a tap at the door, and the Druidess opened it with her own magic. Lime entered, standing tall in the room and carrying three large pints of ale and a roasted chicken on a tray. "Breakfast is served for the happy couple." He joked, as took a few steps inside and then sat on the floor after the door had closed. "Well, my friend. You've become a problem for this old innkeeper, make no mistake."

"I had no idea or I would have disguised her." Gerald replied, not moving from the bed.

"Well... what's done is done. You had better be out of town before night falls however. The rumors are flying of trying to get at your... guest... before you both flee."

"She's a slave, if it makes you feel any better."

"Is she now..." The innkeeper took a gulp from one of the pints of ale and then smiled at the girl. "So... she would have to do ANYTHING you said right?" He looked her over, lustily, and Lydia just moved further away from him in disgust.

The man on the bed was undisturbed. "Yes, anything. The magic bond is clear. But please, don't mention anything that perverted, even in passing, ever again." He then sat up and sniffed the air. "Ale." He immediately moved to where Lime sat and grabbed the cup and took a long drink. "Oh sweet alcohol." He muttered, licking his lips and taking another gulp.

"There's plenty more my friend." The innkeeper turned to the druidess. "Is she allowed to drink?"

"If she wants." Gerald replied, grabbing a large piece of chicken and taking a massive bite.

"It's not poisoned, or anything, if that's what you're concerned with, Druidess." Lime replied with a smile, catching Lydia off guard. "Unlike many of my countrymen, I don't share the same prejudices against the other races as them." She slowly moved closer and grabbed the pint before moving away again. "Cautious one, isn't she?" Lime joked, taking another pull from his own pint.

"Women tend to be in a room full of men." Gerald replied with a smile. "But enough about me and her. There seems to be a lot of news from around here that I don't know about."

"Sounds like it." Lime replied, laying to be more comfortable on the floor. "And it seems like I should have the cook put on a full turkey, I'd forgotten your appetite." He laughed, and the entire room seemed to light up with it. "Fine. I'll talk while you eat. Sounds like you have some tales to tell me as well when I'm finished. Especially since this woman doesn't seem to recognize 'Ilsbe' in any respect."

"I've been going by Gerald for at least 30 years actually." Gerald replied with his mouth full of food. Lydia wished, quietly, that he wouldn't talk with his mouth full, but she kept her mouth shut.

"Really? That's news to me."

"Names come and go. I'm just me at the end of the day."

"Wise words." The innkeepers voice spoke with mirth. "Now for my news. I'll start with the local news and see what you remember..."

The innkeeper then continued talking, all while they all took drinks of their ale and Necromancer ate his chicken. Mostly gossip around the town, who had had children and how big they were getting, etc. Lydia found it mostly over her head. "... OH! And you'll never guess who was the couple who just got hitched!" After a moment of silence, he continued, "Sapphire!"

At this, Gerald, who had just taken a pull from near the bottom of his pint coughed and sputtered, his face dripping as he pulled his face away from the pint. "Your joking."

"On Jasmine, I am not joking." Lime replied. "She waited for quite some time for you to come back, and when you didn't, she waited longer."

"She always was the stubborn kind." Gerald replied. "Well, may the stones bless the happy couple."

"I'll pass it along. They're living just down the way." Lime's smile slipped. "We all hoped you would return and settle down with her, after all."

"You know I'm not a Gin."

"And you know that to us it never mattered. We've been friends for longer than the non-magi have been alive, and we still had hopes." Lime's face faltered there. "I think she would have married you even if you weren't magical in any way. We were hoping you would pay us a visit a long time ago."

"Spent a while with the Wizards, and when it seemed like they were catching on that I wasn't a Wizard I had to run for it."

"Now that, makes for an interesting story." Lime replied. "But I suppose that I should tell you about what's been happening a ways north, and what the rumors have been that have been coming through the bar from the soldiers that have been passing through."

At this, Lydia perked up and caught the men's attention. "I would suggest that you eat something Lydia." Gerald said, looking at her. "You're going to need your strength for tonight, if everything doesn't go as planned." He panned his hand to the, nearly, plucked clean chicken. She shook her head and turned aside.

Lime smiled. "I have some old Druidic food if you would prefer miss. It isn't fresh, so don't expect much, but if the rumors are true, it's about all your kind will eat these days." He stood and before she could say yes or no was out of the room.

"He's a good host." She commented.

"One of the best." Gerald replied, taking a bone and gnawing the last of the meat off of it.

"Does he... does he know about you?"

At this, Gerald frowned deep and stopped eating. His eyes looked into hers and, for an instant, she thought she saw a weariness in the eyes that looked eternal. "He's one of the five who are still alive who know." He responded. "But unlike you, he's not foolish enough to say the name out loud while the Wizards have their curse on it." She nodded and took another sip of her ale. It wasn't bad. Not the greatest she had had during her travels, but not bad. "And since the Everseekers are hot on our trail, it's a good thing that I made it so that you can't say it either. They don't care who they have to kill to get to one of my kind." His eyes darkened and Lydia could tell that he was telling the truth. "I've seen them at it. They don't care. They'll kill women, children, men, and even non-magi if it means they'll get to me." His eyes went darker. "They'll even kill their informants. I've watched them do it. Turning poor Emily inside out while she was still..." He shook his head. "Not that that has anything to do with you. You aren't going to betray me, and they won't kill me and you. Good?" She nodded and the room went silent as he began eating again, but this time without as much gusto.

Lime returned with two large pitchers of ale, a long glass bottle, and... "I'm afraid that I had to lose most of the salad because of the brown leaves my dear. But I'm happy to say that I have something for you at least." He also handed her the mug, along with the small plate of green lettuce and eggplant.

"Um... thank you." She replied as she hurriedly began to eat.

"Don't mention it." He laughed, and laid down again. "Now come. Tell me of your adventures... Gerald was it now? What a stupid name. I like Ilsbe better."

"You're free to like whatever name you like." Gerald replied with a chuckle. "Maybe you'd like Leafstone? How about Werlock? Eaglesoar? Or even my true name?"

"Never wanted to hear your true name." Lime said, with a look of seriousness. "Just get on with the story."

"I think I'll start from the beginning for the sake of the young lady here." Gerald replied, with a small nod to Lydia. "It began-"

A loud BOOM cut the man off, and a large hole which had opened in the wall of the room suddenly felt of magic. There was the sound of cheers and jeers in the midday sun that immediately heated up the room to, what Lydia considered, inhuman temperatures.

"THOSE BASTARDS!" Lime shouted, before turning back to Lydia and Gerald. "Get out of here. Now!" Just like that he was gone. His inn had a reputation to keep. Gerald just hurried with his drink. Like a man at the bar at closing time, he chugged what remained of his ale and then proceeded to drink from a pitcher that Lime had brought up until he couldn't chug any more.

"Come on." He said, motioning her to come closer to him. "I hope you ate a good amount of that salad." And with that, they were gone again.