Two Graves - The Song of Nephiah and Brelyna

Chapter 5: The Room Filled With Laughter

"DAMNIT it's cold!" They were moving slowly over a large frozen lake. Snow was falling calmly from the sky, the world around them was covered in white. They had their hands under their shoulders, rubbing their chests as neither of them was dressed for the cold weather. "DAMN that cat and his fur!" Brelyna had been cursing the weather for a while now, she really didn't like the cold. Nephiah kept stoically walking forward. Finally, on a hill in the distance, a house became visible. "Azura, I hope that is it."

As they got close enough to read the sign on the porch, Brelyna raised her arms in joy. "YES! Come on, let's get in! We can get some stew! And a bed!" She stopped and looked at Nephiah with big eyes. "I mean two beds. We can get TWO beds and we, and we... come on!" She ran up the steps to the door, Nephiah trotted along behind her. The door sprung open before they reached it, revealing a crowd of people sitting at tables, talking and singing, a bard was playing, a thick atmosphere of food and ale smell burst out of the hall. The man that opened the door seemed to be drunk. "Scuse me.", he said moving past them, his hands already opening his pants. He eventually disappeared behind a tree, the door closed on its own.

"Figures.", Brelyna said. "Could have been a quiet evening. But no, it had to be filled to the roof with drunken people!" She sighed. "Let's go." She took a step forward and reached for the door as she noticed that Nephiah had stopped dead where she stood as soon as she saw the crowd inside. "What. I'm sure they'll find a couple of seats for us." Nephiah still didn't move. "I know, off the top of my head I can think of 10 places I'd rather be myself. But I am cold, I am hungry and I am tired. This place can help with all of that AND it's where you wanted to go!" Nephiah took a step backwards, still staring at the door. Brelyna stopped pushing as the noticed the expression of sheer terror on Nephiah's face. She had seen her face down a horde of monsters in a dark underground tunnel without flinching. Fear was not what she'd have expected to ever see in her. She carefully approached until she stood closely at her side. "Not a people person, huh.", she said in a soft voice. Nephiah looked her in the eyes, terrified.

Do you see that there?" She pointed at the mountains behind the Inn. One could make out the dark silhouette of a woman far in the distance. "That is the shrine of Azura. You can see it from the roof of the college. You know what that means?" Nephiah looked back into her eyes. "It means I know where we are! How about we go in just a moment. Warm up, ask around for your guy and then we go meet my friends. They have a library there, it's big and quiet, I spent many days in there, it's serene. There's an Orc that's a bit of a mother hen when it comes to his inventory but he's a good man, he'll leave us in peace." Nephiah looked at the door. She grabbed Brelyna's hand and pulled it to her. "Ou ou ou! Not so tight!" Nephiah let off a little. "Ok then. Let's go." They both put a step forward.

"Scuse me." The man had done his business and rushed past them. The door opened, laughter, chatter and song got loud, the door closed and it was silent again. Nephiah shook her head and turned tail. Brelyna was being dragged along by the hand and had to put her whole weight into making Nephiah stop. "Don't be afraid!" she pulled on her arm until she spun around and stumbled a step until they ran into each other. There was no space between them, Brelyna moved her head back to avoid their noses touching. Nephiah was shaking, in part from the cold, in part from fear.

Brelyna however had instantly blocked out the cold, shivered no more and was as calm as a mountain flower. 'How does she do it?!', she thought. 'This happens every time!' She smiled very softly as she looked into the eyes of what she knew to be a fierce warrior but now was a frightened creature, pleading for refuge. She was able to drive a sword through a brick wall. Had saved her life no less than three times in one day. Yet in this very moment, she seemed so small and vulnerable, Brelyna's heart broke a little. "I'll protect you.", she said and looked Nephiah in the eye until she slowly nodded.