The Fallen

Chapter Five

They rented several rooms in that inn that proved to be surprisingly adequate and, after eating a meal consisting almost entirely of boiled cabbage, they retired for the night.

"What do think's going on?" Sylvaren asked of Jiména as they climbed the stairs to the upper floor,

"I'm not sure" she admitted, glancing at her friend as she did so "but whatever it is, it's got Cascus worked up" she looked a little distracted, something Sylvaren was used to seeing due to her excitable nature, but this time it was a little more morose.

"Is something wrong?" He asked her, concern apparent in his voice,

"You mean besides the prejudice that almost wiped out our entire race?" she replied, grinning sadly. Jiména stopped and turned around just as she reached the door to her room "but yes" she continued "I'm getting impatient Syl, we're meant to be searching for these Jaws of whatever to find what's left of our family and it just feels like Cascus is doing whatever he can to slow us down"

"I know how you feel" Sylvaren responded, he had been feeling a similar way himself for the past few weeks, "but I think we just need to trust him, there's a lot more going on than just our people and I think he's trying to take care of it all". Jiména looked at him, her frustration somewhat tempered by her friend's words.

"Alright I'll try, but we need to find them soon" and with that she turned and entered her room and, with a quick "goodnight" she shut the door behind her. Sylvaren heard the click of the lock and went to his room, adjacent to hers, and fell onto the bed, all the exhaustion of the past few weeks hitting him at once. He closed his eyes, wallowing in the comfort of the straw-filled mattress, and fell into blissful oblivion.

The morning sun pushed its way through the semi-opaque curtains that draped the window of Jiména's room, hitting her closed eyes like a celestial hammer and lighting up the room she'd been given. It was a fairly big room, the bed had been pushed up against the wall with the head closest to the window, the perfect position to allow a sleeping unfortunate to experience the full effect of the newly risen sun. Against the wall adjacent to the door there was a dressing table, it was fairly small and the mirror wasn't as clean as it could have been but it looked solidly made and that was something of a rarity in these times.

Jiména stirred on the bed and lazily opened one eye, before shutting it again with a grunt and rolling over so that her face was no longer subject to that divine mallet. She groaned once more, and began to push herself up on her weary arms. This was not the most pleasant time of day. She looked around her room and noticed the dressing table. With a tired yet gentle smile, she swung her legs out of bed, rubbed her face in that timeless ritual and stumbled over to the stool that stood beneath the table. The stool proved to be somewhat less solid than the desk and rocked relentlessly beneath her as she combed her long glossy black hair with the ivory comb she always carried with her.

"Are you awake yet?" a familiar voice asked from beyond her door some ten minutes later, accompanying a polite knock.

"No I'm still deep asleep, what about you?" Jiména replied, a wicked grin stretching across her tired features.

"It's too early for your sarcasm Jiména" Sylvaren responded wearily "may I come in?"

"Of course" she laughed, Jiména always found annoying people was a great way to wake herself up. The door opened quietly and the tall, graceful figure of a hunched over Sylvaren in white linen sleepwear entered the room. He looked at her from beneath sleep heavy eyelids and almost seemed offended at what he saw.

"How do you look so good already?" he asked, the acid of his tone softened by the smile that appeared on his lips.

"Magic!" Jiména teased him, wiggling her fingers in front of her face as she did so "I'm actually a fully-fledged witch"