Mistaken for a Returnee

Once the intruders were gone, the members of Auris' newest guild gradually got back to celebrating.

Sulika and Faeyra remained sitting on the couch, their hips practically fused together to make room for the addition of Rea and Abby - who'd arrived shortly after the conflict.

Faeyra ignored the noise around her by focusing on two things: Her deep glass of cherry wine and the book she'd swiped from Oladi- She'd have never guessed the druid was into those kinds of books, but hey, it wasn't like she was in any position to talk.

Unfortunately for Sulika, she was roped into recounting the day's events to Abby- one of her few friends at the guild and the one she'd 'saved' from Aldritch's questioning.

Not that Abby thought she'd needed 'saving' but that was neither here nor there.

Sulika took a long pull from the pint of beer in her hand and launched into an epic tale for Abby and Rea's enjoyment.

Ralocan had somehow found himself on the other couch, sandwiched between Veta and Emrid while Ortag sat on Veta's other side. He was staring into the brown-colored liquid in his glass, his desire to drink long gone.

It wasn't the alcohol, no, definitely not.

It was a poorly kept secret that the servants of Cyndarr were all various levels of alcoholics- Ralocan was no exception to that. But his preference lay in the heavier, darker branches of God's drink. If it wouldn't knock a dwarf on their backside, Ralocan likely wasn't interested.

So, no, it wasn't the alcohol that'd taken away his desire to drink… It was Ortag.

The half-orc had quickly run out of things to say to Veta and had begun rambling. About what, Ralocan couldn't say. But he'd give him a few extra points for enthusiasm- Even if Veta seemed to have already checked out of the conversation.

Ralocan guessed being deaf did have a few uses after all- as Veta was doing a remarkable job of appearing interested in the conversation while investing almost no attention at all.

Ralocan wondered how long it'd take Ortag to notice his conversation partner wasn't as interested in the conversation as he was.

Aside from having her head turned slightly to face him, Veta wasn't participating in the conversation at all. She wasn't even pretending to follow along at this point, as even her eyes had lost focus with the aid of the mixed drink she'd been tending for the last few minutes.

Looking away from the two of them, Ralocan found his eyes drawn to the other woman sitting next to him. Emrid exuded a coldness that made her icy blue eyes a little frightening, and Ralocan wasn't embarrassed to admit it.

Zarud was lounging in one of the plush chairs, a tall glass of ale in one hand and Tessa's waist in the other. For her part, Tessa seemed a bit annoyed about Zarud insisting she sit on his lap the entire time.

She'd make sure he paid for it later.

Derrik and Oladi sat off by themselves and watched their teammates with curious eyes. Derrik for the amusement of seeing Zarud and Ralocan so flustered, and Oladi for the novelty of seeing Zarud jealous.

Zarud was many things: brash, lascivious, sometimes lazy. But he was also one of the most confident people she knew, and she'd never seen him this protective over someone.

He must really like this one- Or he sees Aldritch as greater competition than she'd first assumed.

Hmm… Maybe she should talk to him and find out which it was?

Oladi stood from her chair and made her way towards the exterior balcony.

She was careful where she placed her feet, and made sure her steps were silent as possible.

The door opened without a sound, and she stepped outside- she found Aldritch standing with his back to the door, a fresh tankard of cold chocolate milk in hand.

She smirked at her success and crept closer to his back.

He was staring over the railing, his eyes scanning the faces and races of everyone who passed below.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

There was almost no chance he'd notice her approaching-

"Hello, lady Druid." He said, turning to greet her with a smile on his face.

Oladi froze in place for a moment… Then her body relaxed, and she laughed quietly to herself.

"You noticed me?"

He nodded.

"That's disappointing. When?"

"When you opened the door."

She glanced over her shoulder at the door; it hadn't made a sound; she was sure of that. Was he lying to her?

"How?" She asked after a moment.

"Zarud's voice is remarkably loud, even when he isn't shouting, and I've grown used to picking Sulika's voice out of a crowd."

"So?" She asked, not understanding the meaning behind his words.

"They were muffled while the door was closed."

"Ah…" She sighed, disappointed she'd missed such an obvious thing.

"Don't take it as a slight against your skills. You're exceptionally quiet, not even I could hear you walking over here. But you shouldn't forget to be aware of your surroundings too."

"I'll keep that in mind." She grumbled before approaching the railing.

The two of them watched the passing civilians in silence, neither wishing to disturb the peace of the moment…

"I'm guessing you're a lot older than you look."

"What makes you say that?" He asked, grinning to himself.

"A lot of things. Though, the main thing is your attitude towards the world." She turned around to face the tavern and leaned her back against the railing. "My Saelvir- Oh, sorry, my Mentor is an Arch-Druid. Your way of speaking reminds me of her sometimes."

Aldritch nodded and took a sip of his drink. "You're correct. I'm older than I look."

"So…?"

"So?"

"Are you going to tell me how old you are?"

"A thousand and seventeen." He replied before bringing the cup back to his lips.

"Years?"

"Yes."

"You're sure?"

"As much as I can be."

Oladi stared at him for a minute, neither saying anything. She couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

On the one hand: IF he was telling the truth, then he was among the oldest living beings of Iolara. It would explain why he acted as he did, and why he was always so calm.

But on the other hand: Living that long must've taken a toll on his sanity, right? She didn't know a single person over five hundred that wasn't a few berries short of a bushel- she doubted he would be the exception.

Especially after being trapped in a dungeon for who knows how long.

At that moment, she felt something for Aldritch. Something she'd never expected to feel for the Giant who came into their lives like a cannonball.

Pity.

Every long-lived species has their horror stories- some more gruesome than others. However, almost all of them will tell you they've had a lot more peaceful days in their lives.

That was just the nature of time.

Sure, conflicts might arise that last a year, a decade, maybe even two. But eventually, the conflicts will come to an end and an era of peace will return. Because of this, most beings will go their entire lives without knowing the horrors of war- leaving only the longest-living among us to carry on the memories and stories of ages past.

Aldritch might be the only person she knew who had more bad memories than good.

The door swung open and Zarud stepped into frame, "There you are!" He said, smiling at Oladi. "I need you to be my second for the drinking games."

"Again?" She sighed. "Alright, alright. But if you puke on me again, Avelora vas Emelira… (In the name of the Mother…)" She finished while trudging over to the door.

Aldritch watched her go before turning back towards the railing-

"Hey, you should come with us. It'll be fun." Oladi said, catching the door before Zarud could close it on her.

"What does it entail?" He asked, stepping away from the railing and moving towards the door.

Oladi and Zarud shared a conspiratorial look and a smirk at the naive giant walking their way.

Aldritch was led inside to the dining table, where the drinking game had been set up: Eight spots were stocked with six kinds of beer, five kinds of clear liquor, four kinds of dark liquor, and each set had four different size glasses.

Aldritch looked over the drinks on the table… "Could I replace all of this with chocolate milk?"

"Nope." Zarud smiled before grabbing the first glass and sliding it to Aldritch.

"This is an endurance check, Aldritch. Starting with the smallest and weakest glass, you have to drink as much as you can without throwing up. You can drink them in whatever order you'd like after the first one. Beer is one point regardless of size, clear booze is-"

"I don't mean to be rude, really, I don't, but I'd like to avoid playing with alcohol if possible."

"It's not." Zarud replied a little forcefully. "If you're going to be one of us, then I need to know you can handle yourself."

"...By drinking alcohol?"

"Exactly. Now, I get it. You don't want me to bore you with the minute details. That's fine, if you manage to drink everything, we give you, the points will be meaningless anyway." He tapped Aldritch on the shoulders and walked away- "Ah, and bonus points if you can slide your glass into that circle there, in the center of the table." He finished while pointing at a hand drawn circle that already had two glasses inside it.

Aldritch frowned at the drinks in front of him, sighed, then grabbed the smallest glass and downed it in a second.

He was in for a long, boring game if this was all they had to drink...