Nafan, you screwed up again, didn’t you?

By the time he became conscious, the thought was already fully-formed inside his head – along with other familiar symptoms of a reckless, sleep-deprived night. He was lying on his stomach, somewhere soft and warm at least, though a cold puddle of drool had developed by his cheek. His body felt like it had been, to put it briefly, trampled by a thousand horses.

Groaning, Nafan rolled over onto his back with some difficulty and blinked open his eyes, struggling to make out the bleary shapes above him. As the ringing in his ears faded, he began to make out the chirping of birds outside. The sound was obnoxiously routine, so when he saw the unfamiliar slabs of dark wood above his head, a jolt of alarm rammed itself through his already pulsing head.

Uttering another agonized garble, Nafan pushed himself up and rubbed his eyes. Fabric slid down his wrist with a hiss – the loose sleeves of his inner tunic, he realized blearily. Pausing, Nafan stared at the pale brown cotton for a moment, then threw the covers off and stared down in surprise.

Huh? I’m fully clothed.

Suddenly hopeful, Nafan scrambled to his feet, only to be overcome with a wave of dizziness and fall to his knees again. Huffing, he settled for looking around the room as he waited for his body to catch up with his brain. The bedsheets were messy, but cold and dry, and most importantly – devoid of any obvious stains. The rest of the room was quite peaceful, too – several pieces of decorative scrolls hung along the walls, and a small crystal fountain swirled quietly in the corner. The liquor bottle from yesterday was empty and had rolled against a far wall.

He couldn’t remember anything past the kiss last night – there were fragments floating around in his head, but Nafan couldn’t be sure if they were parts of his dream or if they had been reality. After all, at some point in his memories, he was pretty sure he was making love to a pretty woman, not a young lycan with scruffy black hair.

… A lycan! Eyes widening with another jolt of alarm, Nafan shot to his feet again. Grimacing as sparkles instantly exploded in his vision, he neverless stumbled determinedly forward and managed to grab the doorframe of the room before collapsing.

After a couple steps down the hall, he was feeling better. Pulling the loose hem of his shirt back over his shoulders, Nafan plodded down the narrow hallway and entered the spacious main chamber of the inn.

Pale sunlight filtered in through small windows high up on the walls, illuminating streams of dust in the air. There was a single, unfamiliar man seated at a table nearby, but otherwise it was quiet.

Walking through a stream of light, Nafan headed for the counter, where he thought he’d spotted Tianxi. She had her hair mostly down, with only a simple braided loop behind both ears. When she spotted him, a strange expression scrunched up her face and she leaned over the counter. He couldn’t tell if she was smiling or frowning.

“Oh, you’re up. You really do look weird in the morning light,” she said dryly as he lumbered up to her.

Disregarding the comment, Nafan brushed his messy curls to the side and nodded curtly in greeting. Shit, he was starting to regret drinking all that liquor. He still had to find his way back to the main road today… but more importantly – “Where’s Khyriel?” he rasped anxiously.

Tianxi paused, then leaned over the counter. As he instinctively looked down, she sighed and pulled up the edge of her robes. “He left.”

“Where? What happened?” Nafan said distractedly, forcing his gaze up, at her face. There was something strange about her, he couldn’t help but think, something different. But his painfully throbbing head was having a hard time just issuing basic commands, so he didn’t bother trying to figure it out.

“I don’t know, you tell me.” Tianxi’s amused voice was a borderline drawl as she tilted her head against her hand and gazed up at him with glistening dark eyes. “He’s like that, he’s a wanderer. He drops by once every couple weeks but I never know how long he’ll stay or when he’ll be back again.”

Shit, I lost my chance. Desperate, Nafan looked her in the eye and blurted out hastily, “Did he say nothing about where he was going?”

Something in his face or his voice must have caught her interest, because Tianxi straightened again with a raised eyebrow. “What, did you fall for him after only one night?” she scoffed, but she hadn’t said it in a particularly teasing tone, and when she glanced back at him her eyes were serious. “You seem like a good guy, but I can’t be totally honest with a man whom I’ve just met. Especially one who’s from Qin.”

Nafan opened his mouth, only to pause, his tongue drying out. There was nothing really that he could say to that.

Sighing in an almost pityingly, Tianxi shifted her arm across the counter and tucked back a strand of hair. “But I told you the truth, I really don’t know where he’s going. When he came out this morning, all he said was that he was going to the bath to wash out his ass.” She chuckled faintly, lips brushing the back of her hand as she half-heartedly attempted to muffle the sound. “Apparently, you left a lot inside. When I went to give him some towels, he had already disappeared.”

Oh, no. Swept with horror, Nafan lowered his head onto the counter with a groan. Forget trying to find Khyriel, it was more likely that the lycan was outside waiting to kill him.

Thoroughly chagrined, Nafan patted his hand on the counter in a gesture of thanks and turned away.

“There’s breakfast. Eat before you go. Feel free to take a bath, too,” Tianxi offered musingly.

“Thanks,” Nafan sighed dejectedly, sparing just enough energy to give her a last grateful smile. “Oh, right – and before I forget. Do you know the way back to the Yellow River?”

“Sure,” Tianxi lifted a hand and pointed to her left. “The Yellow River is a couple kilometers north of us. Since I assume you’re heading West, to Zhao, you can follow the trail and take the left when it forks. You should be at the main road in a couple hours.”

“Thanks,” Nafan repeated fervently. “You’re the best.”

“Watch out for wolves,” Tianxi called out at his back.

Cringing, Nafan uttered a nervous chuckle and headed back to his room to retrieve the rest of his clothes.