He stood up and pulled out another tuft of horsehair. This time, he tossed the hair in front of himself, and the horse appeared peacefully. Logan cast the spell one more time, and Marc went to help Margaret get on her horse.

The horse shied away from the half-orc, and Thomas went over to calm the animal down. They got Margaret on her horse, and then the others began discussing who would lead their horse, and who would sit behind.

“You should go up front,” Frank suggested to Thomas. “You’re a druid, and animals trust you.”

“How do you know I’m a druid?”

“Probably the same way I know I’m a bard.”

Thomas shrugged and easily swung himself onto the horse’s back. He grabbed Frank’s hand and hoisted him up. Frank struggled, but eventually got his leg over the horse.

“I’m riding up front,” Logan said. “I summoned the beast.”

“Fine,” Marc said.

The two mounted the horse, and the group set off at a walk, Garyn trotting happily beside Thomas and Frank.

Thomas was instantly comfortable on the back of the horse. He could not recall having ever ridden a horse before, but he felt like he was born to be on horseback. Frank, however, was obviously uncomfortable. His arms were around Thomas, and he kept squeezing him.

He began slipping and gripped Thomas as hard as he could.

“Ow! What are you doing Frank?!”

“Falling,” Frank said, trying to work his way back up.

“Guys, we need to stop for a moment!” Thomas called to the others.

He stopped the horse, and Frank let himself drop with an oomph. Thomas dismounted and helped Frank up.

“You ride up front,” he said.

“I have no idea how to drive this thing,” Frank objected.

“Don’t worry. Just grab the pommel, and hold on to it. And keep your knees loose,” Thomas added.

He helped Frank back onto the horse and mounted the animal behind the bard. Wrapping his arms securely around the elf, Thomas felt a twinge of excitement. He forced it back down, and clucked to the horse, gently pressing against it with his calves.

The horse began walking again, and the group continued their journey.

It took forty minutes for the group to reach the village. They entered the tiny town, and quickly found an inn, next to a small shrine.

Logan leapt off his mount, dispelling the horses before his feet reached the floor. The rest of the group fell, their weight no longer supported.

“You could have let us get off first,” Margaret grumbled, brushing her arms off.

“Payback for laughing when that horse kicked me.”

“Moving to another topic, how are we paying for the room? I have twelve gold,” Marc said.

“I got 27. I’ll pay for the rooms,” Margaret offered.

“I’ll pay my way,” Frank said

“I got nothing,” Logan added.

“Me neither,” Thomas said.

A man walked past them, glaring in the direction of the elves. Frank stared after him, but let him go.

“He seemed rather unfriendly,” Thomas said.

“Oh well. They can’t all be winners,” Marc shrugged. “Logan, Thomas, I’ll give you the coins for a room.”

“I don’t want to take all your gold,” Thomas denied.

“You can bunk with me,” Frank offered.

“Wow. Sharing horses and rooms. Careful you two. Someone might think you’re gay or something,” Logan snorted.

Frank turned bright red at the remark.

“Shut up,” he muttered.

“Well, let’s get some rooms. We’ll meet in my room in about thirty minutes. We need to discuss some things,” Marc said.

The rest of the group agreed, and they headed into the inn.

The inside was lit with candles, casting a flickering light over the room. The room was not the smallest room Thomas had ever been in, but it was not big either. There was a bar on the left, and a large man stood behind it, wiping the counter. He glanced up and narrowed his eyes at the new arrivals.

“Get that thing out of here,” he snapped.

The group glanced around, trying to figure out what he meant.

“That wolf! Get it out of here!” the bartender shouted.

“He’ll be good, I promise,” Thomas said, kneeling beside Garyn.

“Absolutely not!”

“Please, sir. I’ll pay extra to deal with any problems,” Frank added, flashing a piece of gold from a pouch on his hip.

The bartender’s eyes followed the coin, but he shook his head.

“That there is a druid, Gavin,” the only drinker in the room called. “If he says he’ll control the wolf, he’ll do it.”

The man was sitting against a wall, his feet on a table. He held a tankard in his hand and was idly twirling a finger in the brew. His brown hair was a little sparse, but his green eyes seemed sharp enough. With his blotchy hands, Frank guessed the man’s age at around 60.

The bartender sighed.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “What are ye having?”

“Actually, we were looking for rooms for the night,” Marc said.

“Were ye now? And what sort of accommodations were ye wanting?”

“Three rooms, if you have them.”

“Aye, I have some. But they’ll cost ye.”

“How much?”

The man glanced at the wolf and the elves.

“Three gold a piece an two fer the wolf,” he said.

“That’s ridiculous!” Margaret spat.

“I want to make sure you keep that wolf-”

“Not that! Three gold per room a night! A place like this shouldn’t cost more than a silver a night!”

“I don’t know where an orc learned to think, but it doesn’t surprise me that you’re wrong,” Gavin sneered.

“Okay, let’s calm down a bit,” Marc said. “I have enough money. I’ll pay for the rooms.”

“That’s robbery Marc!”

“We’ll make more,” Marc reassured his wife.

“Fine,” Margaret muttered.

Marc handed Gavin eleven gold coins, and the human stepped out from behind the counter. He led the group up a short flight of stairs and pointed out three rooms.

“Thank you,” Marc bowed his head slightly.

“Keep the place clean,” the innkeeper said gruffly.

He stepped to go around Garyn, thought better of it, and edged past Frank instead. Logan opened the doors to the rooms and scoffed.

“Real charming. They don’t even have beds.”

“Waste of eleven gold,” Frank added.

“It’s either this or sleeping outside,” Marc said.

“This is good,” Thomas said. “I’ve seen worse. Maybe. Who knows?”

“Let’s get in the room. We need to talk,” Marc said.

The five filed into a room, followed by the wolf, and Frank closed the door behind them.

Like Logan had said, the room was rather bare. There was a covered pot in the corner and an open window with a pair of wooden shutters. There was no bed.

“Okay,” Margaret sighed, sinking to the floor.

“Let’s start with what we know,” Marc said. “We appeared in the middle of the road all suffering from memory loss.”

“Logan can use magic.”