Hounds Rising

Rhokhishi awoke to another chilly day, though it was unknown due to the tower’s abilities. She sat up and turned her head from side to side, feeling the small popping move up and release the tension. She opened her eyes slowly and stared at the door.

Someone is up already.

She dressed lazily, leaving her armor and weapons in their place. Opening the door, she was hit quickly with the many smells of food already cooked and ready at the table. Ana, Mr. Muffins, and Leaf were already sitting at the table, with drinks and food halfway gone from their plates. Her mouth was dry, so she moved to grab a glass of water, then sat down and filled her plate with eggs, sugared toast, and bacon.

“Good morning, Rhokhishi!” Ana smiled and waved her fork excitedly.

“Did you make all this?” Rhokhishi asked.

“I woke up early, so I decided to make breakfast,” Ana smiled.

“It looks great.”

Rhokhishi started into her food and listened as the three talked back and forth about the harvested dragon parts. She had no immediate plans for creating anything and had no commissions to worry about. As the morning progressed, Lyla and Myla both awoke and joined them at the table. Once they had made their plates, she looked over at them.

“They’ve been talking about working all day,” Rhokhishi rolled her eyes and smiled.

Lyla yawned loudly, stretching her arm around Rhokhishi’s, and laid her head on her shoulder.

“That sounds boring,” Lyla stated, eyes still partially closed. “Wanna get some sparring in?”

“That would be nice. Even though we’ve been fighting a lot lately, I feel a bit rusty.”

“Well, maybe we can find a nice street to spar on and make some money out of it?”

“Even better!” Rhokhishi replied.

“I think I’d also like to work today,” Myla added. “Ana, I don’t want to assume, but with you being an eladrin, do you know Elvish?”

“Yeah, my mom is a high elf, so it’s a little ‘ceremonial,’ but we speak it regularly at home. Why?”

“If you had the time today, I’d like to practice. It’s been a while since I’ve used any language other than Common.”

“And you know what they say, My…” Lyla chimed in, a large grin across her face. “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it!”

Rhokhishi held her hand out and gave Lyla a high five.

“It seems like we’ve all figured out our plans for the day. With that, I’ll be upstairs if anyone needs me,” Leaf said, pushing his chair back from the table and standing.

“Wait! I figured you’d want to plan more than just that, with Darion here and everything, right?” Lyla asked.

“What’s there to plan about?”

“What do you mean, ‘What’s there to worry about?’! You told the Queen that once he arrived, you’d start your training. I figured we’d go on a quest or do something! Not sit around this tower,” Lyla puffed her chest out, then deflated at the end of her statement.

Rhokhishi had wondered what the plans were.

“Weren’t we going to leave after Dean Walker arrived?” Rhokhishi asked Leaf.

“He’s here, doing work for us, but the training can happen however I choose. I’m… I’m not saying I won’t leave, but this place was the start of my training as the Archmage’s apprentice. It makes sense that I spend a little time here before leaving to become the Archmage.”

“So, what’s the plan? Build stuff and hang out while Darion chills in your spot?” Lyla asked.

“We have a lot to consider,” Mr. Muffins added as he set his coffee cup down.

He stood, leaned over to grab the container of fresh coffee, and poured himself some more. Sitting back down, he looked over at Lyla.

“We still have the dragon heart that needs to find a buyer soon, or it will decompose.”

“Dean Walker said he would ask some people in Berkton. Does that mean we have to travel to Berkton to sell it?” Myla asked.

“Well, I imagine he could teleport it to Berkton without us if needed,” Leaf answered.

“If we have to go to Berkton, can we make a pit stop at Aramore? I still need to take care of some business north of here before I travel halfway across the continent,” Ana interrupted.

“Look,” Leaf placed his hands on the table. “We have a lot to think of, and I don’t want to jump into anything too quickly. Over the next few days, I want to work on my studies, and once that’s done, we can talk more about this. Until then, everything else can wait.”

Rhokhishi watched as Leaf walked up the stairs. She looked over at the group, all confused and worried, but didn’t have the words to console all of them at once. Instead, she took her last bite of breakfast and stood up. She walked into her room and closed the door. Within minutes, she was dressed and ready for the day.