The Lost Heir

Chapter 3

The hall on the first floor was a very small one, almost only twice the size of my room. It was lined up with three, long, rectangular tables and benches of the same length on each side of all of them. All of it was made of some kind of very dark wood. The brick walls weren’t covered in moss like that of the staircase. And I still couldn’t understand why that place was as such when everywhere else was spotless clean.
Eili had woken me up- which she insisted was with lots of difficulty- a few minutes before the first rays of sunlight could be seen. She rushed me to the bathroom for me to wash up. She even gave me clean clothes she’d found in the cupboard for me to use. She claimed that it was the policy of this inn to ensure that every guest would spend a comfortable and wonderful stay. What she said didn’t make much sense but I was hungry and I stink of sweat. I also had no energy to argue with her and I just did as she told.
When we arrived at the dining hall, all the tables were already filled with a variety of food. The heavenly, pleasant smell of the food wafted in the air made me close my eyes for a second and I took a deep breath, savouring it. Eili and I took the empty seats closest to the door and had our breakfast. Once I’ve eaten a few bites of the toast with peanut butter on it and my hunger has dissipated a bit, I took a deep breath and started with my tons of questions directed to Eili. “Can you be seen by humans? How is it that Bernadette is able to see you? And how did you make that dagger appear out of thin air? And-”
“Slow down Al! One question at a time. And you’re speaking way too fast, I can’t understand.”
Taking a deep breath, I started again, “How could Bernadette see you?”
“Humans can’t see me and Bernadette isn’t one and neither are you. She has been running this inn for a few hundred years already. This place, as you can see, does not accommodate normal humans.” Looking around, I was shocked by the figures sitting by the table, eating. Those beings I’d failed to notice the first time, probably due to the hunger that I felt causing my attention to only fall on the food served. The hall was packed with different creatures. Eili told me what each one of them were called, many of them who I thought were myths and didn’t exist.
The first one I noticed were the elves. They sat on our table and filled more than half of the hall room. They looked the most human out of everyone else, other than myself.. They were shaped a lot like humans and were of different sizes as well and wore regular clothings. One of the few things that did differ was their very short height, they could've passed for twelve year olds if not for their facial features. They also had very pointy ears and their eyes were so bright that it glowed different shades of blue, green, grey, yellow and so on. All of them had some kind of weapon, a set of arrows and its bow, spears, pikes, swords and more. Eili told me that they were probably on a mission, it was unusual for them to roam this world in such big packs.
The goblins, another one of the creatures, were the tiniest compared to everyone else. They were as big as a toddler, their green skin all wrinkled and droopy and they were all wearing a dirty white cape with their hoods on their heads. They spoke a different tongue, it sounded gibberish to me, not one distinct sound could be heard. They were speaking over each other almost as if they were arguing. There were only five of them but they still managed to be louder than everyone else.
The Werewolves and the Strunners were the scariest looking creatures of the lot. The Werewolves had a mixed face of that of a human and that of a wolf and they wore very fluffy winter coats- even though it was not cold enough to be wearing anything as such. Most of their face was covered in fur, except their eyes, mouth and nose. There were ten of them. Few had a white coloured fur, others were brown and grey of slightly different shades. They were the only ones who ate quietly, their eyes focusing only on the big chunks of meat in front of them.
The Strunners didn’t have any of the human traits. They were the biggest and had three large red eyes in the middle and a large mouth just beneath them. They didn’t have a chin. Their neck was long and as big as their face, On the top of their head were multiple bumps a shade darker than the sky blue skin of their face. There were only two of them and they sat at the farthest end of the table in the middle, beside the elves. Only the two of them took one third of the whole table and they looked even bigger sitting next to the elves. Their six huge hands all held a piece of  food or their drink as they ate and talked, eyes wandering around the room.
When we were done eating Eili suggested we go find Bernadette, the latter had seen more of the world than Eili herself. “I was always at the portal doing my job for more than you could ever imagine and I was cursed, stuck in the bark of a tree until I was finally freed only a couple of decades  ago. I’d never seen much of the world. I only heard of it from travellers, dealers, merchants and others.”
“What about the inn? How were you so sure it was here?”
“I came across it a few years ago. I figured instantly, after seeing Bernadette, that we would come here, often.”
“What about Bernadette, I don’t know whether you are friends or not but I could’ve sworn you two knew each other.” I stated in an accusing tone. Too much was happening too fast. My mind was overloaded and I myself couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with what was happening. I didn’t think anything could surprise me anymore, even if I was told that every single one of those mythical creatures existed.
“You’re right about both your assumptions. We are no friends and we do know each other. We’d met more than I can count. She would try to sneak forbidden charms, magical objects from Latherhal to earth and I’d always be there to stop her,” Eili said. Bernadette obviously didn’t like her.
“Why would she help us if she doesn’t like you? How can you trust her?”
“She loves experimenting. She knows more than you can imagine and she is thirsty for more. She, however, wouldn’t go out of her way to take revenge if it is not worth it. She does nothing that isn’t fruitful to her.” Eili wore a very serious expression the entire of our talks. Her face was thoughtful, her eyes focused on my forehead as she spoke. I wasn’t sure if I should ask her any further questions or not. I decided against doing so when she said “let’s go find Bernadette,” with her usual high pitched voice and goofy smile on her face.
It didn’t take long for us to find her. She was in the lobby, seated on the chair behind the small rectangular table. She was wearing the same light pink dress she was wearing the day before, her all white, long hair braided to the side. She looked at me, a knowing look on her face as she motioned her hands towards the new chair beside her. “Goodmorning,” I said timidly.
“Hello Alden,” she answered as if she knew what I was doing here. Once settled I immediately bombarded her with questions, each one after she’d answered them.
“What are you if you are not human?”
“I am a hybrid. Just like there are creatures from other worlds living on earth, there are humans living in Latherhall. Mother was a human and father a wizard.”
“You are a witch?”
“No, am not. I’m a hybrid. I can’t do everything a witch can. I can’t cast spells like they do. I make fairly powerful charms and I don’t have a short life like other humans. Also I have one of the rarest abilities of all time but you don’t need to know that, do you, now? Alden.” I did want to know though, but I couldn’t pry.
“Mmmmh, what about the creatures here? Are they also invisible to other humans?”
“No, not all of them. The Elves, Werewolves, Plitgryse, Caurlians and so on would be seen by humans. Most of them either have charms or potions to make them look human. The Welcome To Bernadette’s Inn is one of the very few places charms do not work.”  She also said that Werewolves were shapeshifters and just like any other werebeings, werewolves could shapeshift into their full human form as well as their full wolf form. There were also what Bernadette referred to as natural shapeshifters. The latter could shapeshift into whatever they’d want to. They can also take the shape of bigger creations depending on their energy.
“Are there other creatures living here?”
“There are a few more that you may or may not meet while you stay here.”
“What happens if a human wants to spend a night or two here?”
“Don’t worry boy, it is not possible for that to happen. The rooms are too expensive for those humans and for those few who can afford it, they wouldn’t want to put one foot on the stairs. Those are filthy and smell like dirt, vomit and rotten eggs.”
I almost threw up when thinking about my experience on the stairs, I hadn’t realised that night how filthy it smelled, I was too tired and busy catching my breaths that I hadn’t. I certainly didn’t miss it when we got downstairs looking for Bernadette.
“I’ve already answered a lot. You should go now. There are clothes for you too, spirit, I suppose you’d want to get out of these very old clothings, wouldn’t you?” said Bernadette addressing Eili. “And also I suggest you not venture to the basement, the fairies and leprechauns wouldn’t be too welcoming of beings of your size. The top floors are also out of bounds, that’s where the cyclops, ogres and the other giants live. And you should also stay away from the Racigyes, they are useful but one of the foulest of them all. Be careful Al, they are not forgiving.”
“What are these creatures Benadette just mentioned?” I asked Eili on our way back to our room.
“Well the fairies and leprechauns are very tiny creatures. They look very much like human beings. The only difference is that the leprechauns are bigger and they can’t fly with fairy powder like all the fairies do. The cyclops and the ogres are one of the ugliest human-like creatures you’ll ever see.” Sai Eili as she went on describing them.
The cyclops were built like humans. Their skin was just like ours, they had hands with five fingers on each and two feet, five toes on each of them. They were giants, almost 13ft tall, they all had copper coloured, cotton like hair. They had multiple random swellings on their faces. The most disturbing feature, according to Eili, would be their third eye in the middle of their forehead. It didn’t look like the other two eyes. It was almost three quarters of their forehead and instead of the whites of the eyes, it was a dull yellow and the iris was a bloody red. Eili said that we should avoid looking in their third eyes, it has the power to control anyone’s soul.
The ogres were 16ft tall and the fatest of them all. They were barbaric creatures, loud and had no manners. They won’t even bat an eye before stepping on anyone and blaming someone else for it. They are selfish and most would even turn against their own families for their own benefit.  They have grey, badly scarred skin. Their eyes were huge as well as their ears and nose. Eili also said that none of them have any type of body hair- they have no hair on their head and no eyebrows. “Very ugly,” Eili exclaimed, shaking her head.
“The Racigyes,” she said, thoughtful, one hand stroking her chin. “I don’t think I should describe them to you Al. You’ll meet them yourself soon enough. Just try to stand out of their way as much as you can, please.”
‘How would I stand out of their way if I don’t even know what they looked like?’ I thought to myself. We walked back to our room and I decided to take a hot bath. After all that had happened, I was still very tired. I had a splitting headache and with all the new information and everything, my head was a mess. And a bath was just so inviting at that moment. The warm water of the bath was very relaxing. It soothed the soreness in my arms, legs and neck. It also relieved the bad swelling of my feet- I’d probably gotten them when I was running in the forest, I hadn’t had time to grab my shoes when I ran out.
There were also lots of scented candles lit in all corners of the room. Their fragrance wafted in the air and created a very calm atmosphere. My mind felt very at ease and I was finally given the time to think. I let everything that happened replay over and over in my mind. Nothing made sense. Maybe if I was my younger self, everything would have been amazing, the new discoveries would have probably made my heart tremble with excitement and curiosity. But I was clearly not him, not anymore. I had grown up, instead I trembled with the fear of the unknown. I was, indeed, curious but I was still scared of what kind of things I would have to encounter.
My brain was in a constant battle- which might have been the reason for my constant headaches. The rational part of it wouldn’t believe what I was seeing, it all had to be a hallucination. The other part, however, knew that nothing was a dream. And I would pinch myself time and time again, confirming that all of it was indeed real. “But why was it happening to me?” I couldn’t understand how I was involved with all of this. I did look calm but I was definitely not on the inside. I wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.
I also thought of my mother. Her words, coincedently, fitted this situation I was in a bit too well. ‘Maybe she knew everything would happen and I’d find myself in this weird situation.’ I laughed a little at my thoughts. They were ridiculous and didn’t make any sense at all. ‘The notes and the book were in the bag,’ I instantaneously remembered. They’d been in the water for too long, the pages have, probably, already been damaged and even if they were not, the ink would have already been washed away. The thought of not being able to treasure her belongings saddened me. But I didn’t have a choice, it was either being drowned in the river or being burned by the fire. “The fire!” I said in realisation.
That day when the fire spread, it wasn’t a very normal one. Eili did say that the fire was intentional and I couldn’t deny what I’d felt then. I could still remember it, the dark energy that I’d felt at the back of my head. Thinking back, I was certain that someone was watching me. I did not believe it was any of the villages. I knew all of them and there were lots of them who did not like me very much but none of them would go out of their way and set a fire. One that might have caused harm to the village as well.