Aetheria's Enigma: The Lost Traveler

Chapter III

"I'm gonna finish my food before we talk." I need time to get my head together before I can start to explain everything. I don't even understand it, so how am I supposed to explain it?

"That's fine. Take your time." She looks at me and smiles.

As I'm eating I realize that I don't have a place to sleep for the night. I'm sure it's getting late. "Kaori, is there somewhere I can get a room for the night around here?"

"Yeah, I can take you to the inn I stay at. Before we go though, you can't walk around dressed like that. You'll stand out like one of us." She waves to the barkeep. "Can he get one of the cloaks you keep behind the counter?"

"Not a problem." She reaches under the counter and slides a cloak across the counter.

"Thank you. How much for the food and the cloak?" I grab the pouch Elijah gave me from my pocket."

"Don't worry about it. A human like you is rare. I'll serve you anytime." She smiles and goes to tend to the other patrons.

I look at Kaori. "Is she serious?"

"Yeah. I told you that humans look down on us. I've personally only met one before who respected us. He even helped us in Shadowvale after a group of knights from the Agricultural district attacked to take us as slaves." Her expression changes. She looks like she's fighting back tears. "That was ten years ago. The day my parents were killed trying to protect the village."

Shadowvale. That's the place Elijah said they needed to stop. Something doesn't add up, but maybe I can get her to tell me more about that place. "What is Shadowvale?"

"Shadowvale is a small village on the outskirts of the capital district, near the border to the Art and Cultural District. It was my home. Ever since that adventurer came, it's been a safe haven for free demis. The village gets no help from the capital or any of the other districts, except the Art district. Even though we are still seen as inferior to them, the citizens of that district don't approve of the way we are treated by the rest of the country."

Things are really that bad here for demis where even their village isn't safe. "Well, at least someone is protecting it. Why'd you leave?"

"I had to." The tears she's been fighting start to fall. "After seeing my parents die, I could never see the village the same again."

"I'm sorry. I'm all set here. Let's head to the inn." I throw the cloak around me. I know she said not to worry about paying, but it doesn't feel right. I look in the pouch Elijah gave me and see five coins. He said he was giving me 500 so I guess each of these is worth 100. I grab one of the coins out of the pouch and leave it on the counter as we leave.

We leave the pub and start walking down the main walkway. While walking I think about everything she said. She was just a child when her parents died. It still doesn't make sense why she came here if the village was so close to somewhere that at least accepts demis. I don't wanna push though. "So how far is this inn?"

"Not far, just a few minutes away." She's constantly looking around like she's on high alert.

We continue walking down the street, and suddenly Kaori jerks backward. I turn to see a large man grabbing her shoulder. "Filthy demi. Get off the street."

"Get off me!" She tries to pull away from him.

"How about I bring you to the mines where you belong. I'm sure they'd pay well for fresh meat." He smirks.

My mind clears. Nothing is going through my thoughts except that this man is a threat. My expression goes blank. I glare at him and calmly say, "Let go of her."