Eternal Beasts

Chapter 9: A Close Encounter

The common room was filled with vahndim when they got there, a boisterous crowd made mostly of the various craftsfolk and merchants populating the outpost, many of them singing along with a trio of bards that were performing next to the common room's large fireplace. The three of them played a flute, something that looked close to a mandolin and some third instrument he couldn't immediately identify. But the music they made was both alien and infectiously filled with positive energy. Energetic enough, at least, to get the people to their feet and spontaneously dance wherever there was space.

Kaylee laughed with delight when they stepped into the fairly large room, buttressed in strategic locations by sturdy timbers holding the second floor up, and saw the people singing and dancing. She paused for a moment to clap her hands in time with the music and sing a few bars before spotting a waving hand in one of the far corners.

"There," she said, looking at Jared as she pointed at the waving hand, now joined by a good dozen more. "The rest of my flight that isn't currently flying patrol. We'll eat with them tonight, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," Jared replied with a smile. Nodding, she then guided them through the crowd, saying hello to people that shouted her name in greeting as she passed by them.

Then they were through and dropping into open spots on a long bench snugged up to an equally long table. Where she was promptly and boisterously greeted by the vahndim sitting there, all dressed in clothing similar to hers. That was followed by a quick round of introductions, which were only interrupted by the arrival of two more plates of food, heaped high and hot, and two wooden mugs of some kind of beverage, delivered by Atoh's sweating wife, Murta.

A handsome vahndim woman, she flashed them all a smile in greeting as she pushed the plates onto the table to join those already there.

"For you and Jared, Kaylee," she said in a loud voice to be heard over the singing crowd, putting a friendly hand on Jared's shoulder. She then left after giving his shoulder a squeeze, quickly disappearing into the crowd.

Jared would've watched her go. Or even engaged in conversation with the other dragon riders, as uncorrupted as Kaylee and Magnus were, as his hostess was currently doing. But his stomach, twisting in an uncomfortable knot, quickly reminded him what he truly needed to do in that moment. And he fell onto the food with a will, the ferocity at which he ate making a number of the riders nod in understanding, having heard Kaylee's story about finding him outside of the stables half dead from starvation.

Simple, and made up of meat, vegetables, and grains he didn't immediately recognize, the meal nevertheless tasted as if he was sitting in one of those five star restaurants that his parents loved going to, both to show off their obvious social status, and to be seen by the envious social hangers on. And it was gone before he could truly savor each flavor, the food barely managing to get roughed up in his mouth a little before heading down his gullet.

"Better?" Kaylee asked from beside him, only a quarter of the way through her own meal. Jared nodded as he reached for the wooden tankard, pulling it to him to lift it and take a long drink to wash the last of the food down. The beverage, whatever it was, had a nutty, hoppy flavor suggestive of a dark ale back on Earth. It certainly went down a lot smoother, with just a bit more burn than a beer would have.

Putting the tankard back down, he let a long sigh free as the food and drink combined in his belly most comfortably, which was surprising considering he had been on starvation rations for two months and his stomach should be the size of a walnut.

"That's more food than I've eaten in a week," he confessed. "Total."

"The might of the Eternal Beasts sustains better than any mortal sustenance," one of the vahndim riders explained. He glanced around the table at his fellow riders, a number of them nodding in agreement. He then leaned forward, his face filled with excitement.