Dungeons and Dragons: Forged In Flame (COMPLETED)

Chapter 20: The Coffee Cauldron

The next morning, Leaper could see the Sun through his eyelids and he could hear the birds chirping, so Thia hadn't killed him in his sleep. When he opened his eyes, he almost expected everything to be stolen, but instead he just saw MJ, Khoto, Thia and Mouse all sleeping; curled up by the remains of the fire. He smiled, knowing that he'd made a good choice.
Leaper found himself wandering over to MJ and waking her up. She sighed and rolled over, but didn't open her eyes.
"I swear the ground has never felt so comfy in all my life," she smiled.
"Come on. It's morning, and there's no time to waste," Leaper replied softly, causing her to open her eyes and slowly get up. She immediately reached for her bow.
"I'll fix us up something to eat. Do you reckon you could get this fire up and running again?" MJ asked Leaper.
"Sure. It didn't rain last night, so firewood will be abundant," Leaper nodded.
As he walked off, he imagined what would've happened if it had rained last might. They'd all be freezing cold and open for colds and other sicknesses. Not to mention wet. He had a feeling Mouse wouldn't like being wet.
After getting a huge batch of firewood, he headed back to their camp, where everyone was now awake and Thia was cutting up a dead deer that MJ had killed.
"Hope you like venison," Thia said upon Leaper's arrival.
"Sure," Leaper shrugged, dumping the firewood into the fire pit.
Kohto immediately walked over, brandished a fling and steel, and lit the firewood within a few seconds.
"Now we're cooking!" MJ smiled, and began to stab some venison slabs onto sticks.
Leaper had actually had venison before, so he knew it was nice, but he could see that Khoto was a bit nervous to try it out. However, eventually, they warmed up to the idea of deer meat too.
"This is actually quite nice," Kohto nodded, as if reinforcing Leaper's idea.
When they had finished up, MJ, Kohto and Thia climbed onto Mouse, while Leaper walked beside them. Leaper's father had once said that part of being a soldier was being "chivalrous", and that meant giving up his own horse for others.
"So, where is this safe haven of yours?" Leaper asked Thia.
"And how safe actually is it?" Khoto added.
"I'll show you. It's in the deepest, darkest part of the forest, and its the only building around there for miles, so you'll know when you see it," Thia explained.
Seeing as they had no choice but to believe her, they all went deep into the forest, where the trees were so thick that all light from above was blocked out. The only light came from the Glowshrooms, which shone their blues and purples onto the surrounding environment. MJ had to get out her lantern again so that they could all see what they were doing.
Eventually, they all saw the orange glow of fire through windows in the distance. There was a log cabin-like building with horses tied up outside. Leaper tied up Mouse there, then they all headed inside.
They all had to admit that they were quite surprised by the amount of people who were in the cabin, which appeared to be an inn. People of all races all drank at the bar, or had meals at their tables. What Leaper noticed, though, was that none of the drinks were alcoholic. They were all milkshakes or coffees.
The four of them wandered over to the counter so they could see who was in charge. Immediately, a woman came over who was definitely in charge.
The girl had bouncy blond hair that was dyed brown at the very top, and cascaded down her shoulders as if the hair was a golden waterfall. Her eyes were the most amazing blue, and they could all tell that her beauty was natural. Her dress was black and simple, and she wore a tiny witch's hat hair clip on her head that told them all that this place was supposed to be magical. A name tag on her chest read The Coffee Cauldron, and beneath that, Elizabeth.
"Hi! How may I be of service?" Elizabeth said in a perky voice that they could tell wasn't forced.
"Hi, umm, we were wondering who's in charge around here?" Leaper smiled.
Elizabeth's smile faltered for a moment.
"That'd be me," she chuckled, regaining her confidence.
"Good. We were just wondering if you could tell us what this place is?"
"Sure!"
Elizabeth gestured for all of them to come with her, and she lead them to a circular booth where she signalled them all to sit down.
"Put simply, this place is the Coffee Cauldron. It's a coffee shop, run entirely by witches and wizards such as myself and its also a place where people can stay overnight. This whole building is magical, so the room can go on forever if necessary. Just tell us how many people there are in your party, tell us how much you're willing to spend, and we'll conjure up a room special to you. Simple as that. And me? I'm Elizabeth, the founder of the Coffee Cauldron. I made it as a place where people can stay when there are tough times so they can get some peace and quiet. To be honest, I'm kinda in hiding myself. The Coven is complicated, and I just happen to be one of the most powerful witches of all time, so of course they want me to join them, but I refuse. Those people are evil! And they won't leave me alone. It's really annoying," Elizabeth explained.
"How long have you been here?" MJ asked, barely above a whisper.
"Five years," Elizabeth sighed. "I've been out, but not loads."
"We'd just like a room for the four of us, please," Leaper said, quickly changing the subject.
Elizabeth nodded, biting her lip.
"Sure. Room 406," Elizabeth said bluntly, passing Leaper a key that had come out of nowhere.
"Thanks," Leaper smiled, then left.
MJ ran after Leaper and stopped in front of him, blocking him off.
"You're just going to leave her?" MJ hissed.
"What do you want me to do? Tell the Coven to leave her alone?" Leaper sighed.
"No! This poor girl has stayed in this restaurant for five years, with no real company. She probably hasn't seen the Sun in that long. I want you to do something!"
"Why are you so protective of her?"
MJ narrowed her eyes at Leaper.
"What is wrong with you? I don't know who raised you in that Delmirev place, but they obviously forgot to teach you manners," MJ huffed.
Leaper thought of his mother back in Delmirev, alone, and he thought of his father lying in a coffin, rotting away slowly as he slept an endless sleep.
"How dare you talk about my parents that way!" Leaper cried.
"OK, OK, jeez. I was only joking," MJ said, although both Leaper and MJ knew that she wasn't joking.
Leaper brushed past MJ and walked silently towards Room 406.
"Where are you going? You can't just leave! Hey! HEY!" MJ shouted, but Leaper continued to walk off.
MJ, defeated, sighed and went back to the table, where Elizabeth, Thia and Khoto were all looking at her.
"What's up with him?" Elizabeth asked MJ.
"I don't know. He had a rough childhood," was all she responded with.

Leaper used his key to unlock the door of Room 406. He felt so empty and drained, as if all of his energy had been sucked out of him with some kind of syringe.
There were four beds in the room, one for each of them, as well as a desk and a bathroom. Leaper sat down on the bed on the front right, the one closest to the bathroom, and began to take off his father's armor, which he left in a neat pile on the floor next to the bed.
"Dad, what am I going to do?"
Leaper turned to his left, and his dad was sat on the bed next to him. He looked a lot younger than Leaper remembered him, and he wore the exact armor that was on the floor next to the bed, except newer and shinier.
"I did teach you manners, right?" Leaper's father laughed.
"Yes. But that's besides the point. MJ's upset with me, and I don't really want her to be upset with me."
"Who would be? I remember one time your mother and I got into an argument. That was not fun."
"Remind me why you were in that argument?"
"I had an affair with someone, but I already told you that they had drugged my drink."
Leaper gave his father that look.
"Sure they did."
"No no! I promise."
"I've not had an affair on MJ. I'm not even with her. I'm not with anyone."
But, as he said this, an image of Earbender asleep in his hospital bed flitted through his mind.
"Is that so? Because there's a familiar red dude with cancer who would say otherwise," Leaper's father smirked, as if he was reading his mind.
No, he was his mind.
"I know you're not real," Leaper told the apparition.
"I know I'm not real," the apparition of Leaper's father giggled.
The apparition pulled out a knife and stabbed itself multiple times in the chest. Even though Leaper saw the blade go in, there were no dents in the armor and the apparition was unharmed.
"That felt brilliant!" the apparition smiled.
"Alright. Get out of my head, now."
"Aww, really?"
"Get out of my head!"
"Come on, just five more-"
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

"Stop it," MJ told Elizabeth.
She had conjured up an illusion of his father to give him some payback, but now she thought that she'd gone too far.
"Seriously, stop," Khoto added as if hearing it from him would change her mind.
"Okie dokie," Elizabeth shrugged.
Her wand was a stick of oak, ornately designed and carved. She put it back in her pocket, and Leaper's father disappeared.

Leaper pulled the covers of his bed over his head. Warm tears streamed down his face as he blubbered uncontrollably.
"Get out of my head! Get out of my head!" Leaper wept, barely above a whisper.
"Are you OK?" MJ muttered.
"MJ!" Leaper shouted suddenly.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes."
"You're not."
"I'm fine."
MJ winced.
"If you say so," she shrugged, then left the room.
Leaper proceeded to pull the covers back over his head and cry himself to sleep.
It wasn't real. It was all in his head.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Word Count: 1790 Words