A Place To Bloom

Prayer

"HEY!" Geraln called to me from inside the pub. "What are you doing, man? Come on! Get in here!"

I'd been outside looking in, trying to muster up the courage to admit to Davod that I'd spent all his money. I saw him sitting with Geraln and two other men I'd never seen before.

The pub was lit by red candles set about the tables along with whatever daylight made its way through the front door. Several tables and chairs were laid out throughout the place, though most of these were empty. A Goloagi girl stood behind a bar wearing a blue apron that accentuated her ample bosom, with locks of wavy dark-green hair that tufted up in curls as it fell past her shoulders. She glanced up at me through emerald-green eyes and smiled wide as I walked in.

"Caleb!" Davod shouted. "Get over here, man! You got to meet my new friends!"

From the slur, he had to have been at least four or five beers in. Geraln had a look of a cat satisfied with his mischief stretched across his face, and there was a brown piece of paper with scraps of bread intermixed with some crumbs. As for the two other men, the one closest to the door looked up at me with a perfunctory smile and his knee shook as he spoke. "I'm Ales."

The other leaned back in his chair with one arm draped over the backrest and gave me a smooth nod, holding his eyes steady as he gazed at me. "I'm Faren."

Geraln resumed the introduction. "They were called to Carthia just like us."

Ales added, "I thought for sure we'd be headed for Kulun. Where the hell is fucking Carthia?"

I asked him directly, "you don't know anything about the place, either?"

Faren gazed at me through droopy eyes and answered. "I asked around. Apparently of all the conflict zones throughout the Empire, Carthia is the bastard child among them. They said don't go there, that we'd be better off taking our chances with the Invisible Hand."

Davod smirked and let out a "hmpfh!"

"But there's hope!" Faren added, raising a finger. He took a slow sip from his mug and set it back down. "You see, we can escape the Invisible Hand by hiding out in the one place they're too scared to go."

"Where's that?" I asked.

Davod smiled, shaking his head side to side as though stifling a laugh. Geraln giggled lightly to himself, and Faren answered. "Carthia."

Davod chuckled while Geraln gave off a half-smile.

I couldn't help but nod. "Well, uh... I bet the girls there are gorgeous."

"Here we go!" Davod lifted his mug to me, took a good drink, and set it back down. Ales nodded and laughed lightly to himself.

Faren smiled and kicked under the table so that an empty chair skidded across the floor towards me. "Sit down, man. Tell us your side of the story."

"What story?"

Ales spoke to that. "Your friends tell us you're some kind of doctor, got yourself a patient and everything."

"I don't know about that..."

Davod slurred out his own explanation, "he's working on that, gods man, she's got thee most incredible fucking legs you ever seen!" He turned to Geraln. "Don't get me wrong—Sage is a beauty, but you guys should see... what's her name?"

My eyes went wide. "You can't be serious?"

Geraln answered. "Oasis."

Faren asked his own question. "What kind of name is Oasis?"