Hell's Bane (COMPLETED)

Chapter Seventeen: The House With the Blue Sparrow

Drea had trouble sleeping that night.

Shadows jumped out at her from every corner, and even the soft gusts of wind from the other side of the window seemed to haunt her – she had always been alone, but this time, the silence seemed frightening. No, it wasn't the silence.

It was the stakes.

She never seemed to had realized what she was up against until now. Everything had always felt like a... script to her. Or like it was only now that she, alone at night, digested all that happened.

The explorer shuddered.

Drea didn't even try to sleep that night. Staying ever-awake, she winced at every muffled thump, or every time the ship lurched, or when she could hear water spraying onto the hull of the Seabreaker before sliding down again.

And only when her fears began to ebb away with the golden glow of the dawn, did she hear the clear voice of Svetomir ringing out: "Jaiaal! We have arrived at the Fields of Jaiaal!"

* * *

"There already?" Drea asked, rubbing his eyes. Blood in the sky, either this has been a miscalculation of some sort, or we overslept by an entire day. The ship should've arrived at noon, or did Svetomir say otherwise?

The Seabreaker was docked at the only pier in the Fields of Jaiaal, with a ramp already lowered for them. Svetomir nodded, answering Joss' question but not comforting the hermit the slightest.

"Full speed, no stops. The wind was with us too."

Disembarking the ship, Susan grumbled: "Then let's hope this fortune lasts."

Svetomir slapped Hugo's back as he also went down the ramp. "Well, here we are. Good luck with whatever you're doing – just don't rope me into it!" The captain gave a hearty laugh and then went to talk to the others.

"Yeah, good luck," Susan muttered. "We'll need it."

The four explorers disembarked the ship, followed by several other people.

"You look like you haven't slept at all last night," Hugo remarked, looking at Drea and how tired she appeared.

The explorer shrugged. "I didn't. But..."

Before she could continue, Susan cleared her throat and took several food cans out of a leather pouch that she never had before. "...Extra food. Hugo's request. Oh, and we currently have nearly two-hundred gold coins, stuffed in my pockets and all of your bags."

Hugo looked back and saw that the Seabreaker was fading away in the distance, and then suddenly exclaimed: "But how did you put the gold coins in our-"

Susan shrugged and held up her hands. "You can't be a thief without being a lockpicker."

Drea groaned. Joss nodded, filled with newfound respect for the spy.

"What about you, Joss?" Hugo asked, trying to ignore Drea's bewildered expression. The hermit shrugged.

"Ah, I was tired. Figured – Susan was already going to pilfer Svetomir's inventory, and I didn't want to ruin it. Besides, I like doing my work when there's some daylight. And when I'm alone."