From Embers

20 - Drunk Friends are the Best Friends

Heart beating fast, Alanis felt more comforted with the many bonfires surrounding her getting smaller. The less light that shone on her, the better her chances were of not getting caught.

Surveying her soundings, Alanis looked around for anyone to talk to who was alone. Most men were too drunk to hold a coherent conversation with and wouldn't know any information, which she so desperately needed to find. She weaved between the crowds. Dancing around fires and pretended to drink and all the while pouring the liquid into nearby bushes.

The fires wained as time passed and Alanis stood alone. She watched the men drop as they fell to the ground where they stood, loud snores erupting from their mouths. Several were drooling, rolling around in the dirt to get more comfortable.

"Can a ask ye a question?" Alanis took a seat next to an older man.

He hardly spared her a glance before taking another swig out of his flask. "You aren't part of the new crew are you?"

Nodding the elf twisted her face away from him, looking down at her crossed arms. Falling soot had stained her clothing, making her appear as if she hadn't bathed in weeks. She smudged some of the black specks on her skin. "Yes, a am."

The man laughed. "I may be old and a drunk, but I'm no idiot. You're a heathen. One of them elven folk aren't you?"

Alanis bristled, her hands balling into fists as her muscles tightened. She was prepared to fight if he moved even a centimetre towards her. But the human seemed to care very little about who she was.

"I've seen you dancing all night. The sweat has started to make your soot eyebrows melt down your face. I heard your kin were stealthy, but you don't seem to be."

Offended, Alanis turned to look at him. The bags under his eyes hung low, and grey bristles sprouted from his chin. The human turned to look at her, his eyes filled with sorrow. She almost felt bad for him – almost.

Taking another drink, he offered her a sip, but she declined.

"You know we weren't given a choice not to come," he stated, "the Commander told us that we were going to fight for freedom. Oh, we were so happy to hear that we were fighting for the Above that we all forgot to ask the questions that needed to be asked. None of us knew what it would cost, and we hadn't been at war before."

When tears started to stream down his face, Alanis reached over to a man snoring beside her. Taking a handkerchief that had been sticking out of his pocket, she handed it to her new companion. He held a hand up to refuse it.

"The crimes that were committed in this town are something that I'll take with me to my grave. My wife ventured to the Above several times. Married to the love of my life for twenty-three years." His eyes shone with pride. "She worked closely with the Commander. My darling wanted to discuss deals of peace with Heathens. She wasn't supposed to tell me, but there was talk of us moving back up again. To mingle with the magical creatures that we'd hidden away from for so long."

He cried harder.

"She was only going to be gone for a week at most. I didn't even kiss her goodbye. How was I to know that she'd never come home? The mere idea of sharing the New World with us lowly humans revolted the heathens. Our commander said it was a clear sign of war." Pointing an accusatory finger at her, grey wisps of hair blew in the wind. He grabbed the handkerchief from her hand and blew his nose. "You were supposed to have started this. We were innocent. Innocent, I tell you."

"Do ye call this innocence?" Alanis pointed to the burning city. "Ye did this. Ye took lives; ye destroyed people's homes. The lives of mah fellow kin are on yer hands." Her entire body shook. Alanis couldn't stomach the half-assed excuses this human was telling himself.