The courtyard fell silent as the guild leader stepped up to the podium. She commanded the silence with just her presence, everybody's eyes fell onto her without her saying a word. My breath caught in my chest as I saw her.
She was taller than any female draco I had ever seen, at least a foot taller than me, with long, straight black hair that perfectly framed her face. Her skin was pale in contrast in her dark black draco scales and horns, her ice blue eyes washed over the crowd of guild members and for a second, I thought she looked at me. Her dress was deep forest green and flowed down to the floor, the dress displayed her shoulders and intricate scales that decorated them, growing up to her neck and below her hair.
"Death..." She started, her voice soothing and silvery. "Comes to all of us eventually, but for Balin, it came too soon."
I placed her voice instantly. It was the voice I heard in the rat's cave. She must of saved us.
"Today we honour, respect and remember our fellow adventurer. Like too many new adventurers, he was taken before his time at the hands of evil."
Luca grabbed my hand and held it between us on the bench, out of the corner of my eye, I could see Luca weeping silently.
"Let us all pray to the eleven Gods that Balin may rest and be happy in his next life." She finished. Everybody lowered their heads and closed their eyes.
With all of my might, I silently prayed to the elven Gods that I may have their forgiveness for not being able to save Balin.
Upon opening my eyes, a tall Onyx male with shiny grey hair was stood behind the podium and the guild leader was no longer in sight. "The feast to celebrate Balin's life will begin shortly in the main hall." He said, gesturing towards the doors to the main hall behind him and stepping down from the podium.
As everybody stood up to enter the main hall, Luca let go of my hand and smiled apologetically at me. "I'm going back to my room." He sniffled and walked away.
I was painfully aware that I was now awkwardly standing by myself, a few guild members threw glances my way, probably knowing that I was one of the stupid new adventurers that took on too much too handle. I felt deflated and wanted to go back to my families farm, to my safe place.
"Come and sit with us Clara." Shouted Richard over the benches. I nodded, grateful to know somebody, sitting alone would have been enough to send me home.
Richard lead us to a table near the bar in the main hall, there sat a group of people I recognised from earlier. "These are some of your veteran house mates." Whispered Richard as he pulled out a chair for me to sit down in.
"Hi Clara, I'm Leo." Said the first, it was the onyx who had announced the feast. "Hi." I smiled back quietly. "Leo is the special advisor to Camille." Followed Richard, smiling at Leo. I nodded, remembering the guild leaders name was Camille.
"I'm Nala." Smiled the next Onyx, she was tall and had short brown hair, she looked friendly and fierce at the same time. "Nice to meet you." I replied, noticing the green cloth she had fashioned into an eye patch. "I lost it in battle." She replied, used to people staring. "Sorry." I murmured, trying not to look at it. "Don't be, I was young and reckless once you know!" She winked and took a swig from her drink.
"The rest of your housemates are around somewhere, I'll introduce them to you later." Stated Richard. "Would you like a drink?" He asked and I nodded as he walked towards the bar.
"So how are you holding up?" Asked Leo, with a concerned look about his face.
"I'm sure it will get better with time." I responded, not wanting to go into further detail. Leo nodded, understanding the answer. He had probably lost adventurers in his time too.
Richard placed a tankard of dark red liquid in front of me. "Drink up and forget your troubles child." Shouted Richard, patting me on the back. I lifted the tankard to my nose and smelt the liquid, it was fruity but acidic. I looked back to Richard for confirmation and he smiled, "go on!"
I took a gulp and coughed suddenly, it burned going down my throat. Nala laughed out loud, drawing the attention of those around us. "First time kid?" She giggled, taking another sip from her own drink. I nodded, feeling my cheeks warm up.
Before long, mass amounts of food were delivered to our table. There were plates of all types of meats, vegetables, sauces, fruits. It was grander than anything I had ever seen. The others laughed at me as I started in shock as the food arrived and sniffed each mouthful before eating it, the flavours and aroma completely exotic to me.
By my fifth tankard of wine, as Nala had called it, I was feeling warm and fuzzy inside. The room gently swayed around me and I suddenly felt the need to get some air.
Excusing myself from the table, I walked up the stairs next to the empty reception in search of a bathroom. I found one on the second floor, the other rooms were dark and I could only faintly hear the celebration going on below. As I was about to walk back downstairs, I spotted an open door at the end of the hallway. Holding on to the walls so that I didn't trip over my dress, I slowly walked along the hallway and eventually came to the balcony.
The balcony overlooked the courtyard which was now empty apart from a couple of drunk adventurers leaning on the benches. The trees surrounding the courtyard seemed to point up to the sky were the moon was shining brilliantly in the sea of stars.
As I stared up into the night sky, all of the feelings from the last couple of days flooded into me. The guilt for leaving my family and only explaining my reasons through letter, the exhaustion of traveling to the burnt down farm, the anger at myself for not forcing Balin and Luca to go back to the guild instead of investigating and the frustration at myself for being helpless. The tears streamed down my face and I wept quietly into the night with only the moon as my witness.
It was late into the night and the wind was starting to howl. I sniffed quietly and wiped the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand.
All of a sudden, something warm was around my shoulders and somebody warm was standing next to me. I turned and saw Camille, she had gently placed a black cloak over my shoulders and leant on the balcony next to me looking up at the sky.
The smell of fresh flora from the cloak instantly calmed down my racing heart and I was suddenly hyper aware that she was stood next to me. I didn't know what to say. Had she been here the whole time? Does she know who I am?
She was stood so close to me our arms were almost touching, I could feel the warmth emanating from her. Deep down, all I wanted was to fall into her arms and cry. She had saved us from the rats, she understood the horrors that were there.
"Camille?" Said a voice from the hallway. Leo stepped onto the balcony and glanced at both of us. "Members of the Solaris guild are here to pay their respects." He stated. "I'll be there shortly." Responded Camille and Leo walked away, his footsteps echoing down the hall.
I turned and looked up at Camille, she was looking down at me. I could see the Moonlight reflecting in her ice blue eyes. She touched my cheek very lightly and turned away, walking down the hallway.
I raised my hand to my cheek where she had touched, it almost burnt and I wasn't sure if it was a result of me blushing or how warm she was.
Clutching to Camille's cloak around my shoulders, I headed back down the hallway and down the stairs to the feast. As I was walking down the stairs I heard a stranger's voice say "We are very sorry to hear of the news, and even more distressing to hear it was one of our own."
Camille responded "It's a tragedy no matter the race."
As I walked past them, I noticed the three members of the Solaris guild were elves and only one of them was not wearing the colour of the elven race, instead they wore black. The elf wearing black caught me looking at him and stared back, his harsh yellow eyes scanning my face.
I spotted Richard and Nala at the same table I had been sat at earlier and strode over to them. They smiled as I approached and handed a tankard to me. "You've got some catching up to do girl!" Shouted Nala over the sound of a group of runes singing drunkly at the bar. "Who are the Solaris guild?" I asked, keeping my voice hushed so that they couldn't hear me.
"Solaris are the guild that specialise in magic rooted in nature. Naturally, we share an alliance as we also have nature mage's in our guild." Said Richard, glancing over at the members standing by the entrance. "Actually, there are representatives from quite a few guilds here to pay their respects." Continued Richard, sneakily looking around the room.
"Enough!" Sighed Nala as she pushed the tankard into my hands, gesturing for me to drink up.
Throughout the night, I was painfully aware of where Camille was stood around the room. Richard had informed me that it was customary for the leader not to drink wine on such occasions, so that they can remain calm and greet visiting guild leaders. He explained that although it might look like the guilds are in an alliance, really, they're all rivals. Fighting for members, jobs and credibility. Currently Moon Glade was on top of the chain, so smaller guilds came to pay their respect in the hope that it might earn them some attention.
In the late hours of the night, the giant rune behind the bar called the evening off and told everybody left to go to bed. I walked back towards the veterans house along with Nala and Richard.
"Sleep well!" They called as they walked up the stairs to their rooms, leaving me to my own room.
I opened the door and collapsed on to the bed, exhausted from the emotional turmoil of the day. I stood up quietly, not wanting to make much noise when other people might have been asleep and changed into my pyjamas. I took the cloak Camille had draped over me to bed and inspected in closely. It was obviously made for Camille as her name was embroidered in tiny silver letters below the hood. A silver clasp held the cloak together near the neck of the wearer and on the chest was a little silver moon, horizontal, with a little star above it.
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