Chapter 1: Enter Talos Party!

Cheers erupted as we arrived and dismounted our horses, the tavern attendants rushing to take the reins. They were always on their P’s and Q’s whenever word got out that the Talos party was coming. They knew it’d be packed—overflowing, really—and they wanted to put on their best version of themselves to maximize profits, even if it was all a façade.

The men stared in awe, and the girls swooned—mostly over Talos, though Alva got his fair share of glances too. Talos wasn’t the typical meathead as many other warriors were. He didn’t entertain the attention. He saw right through them, just as I did. That’s the kind of guy he was—someone who’d rather take his time, get to know a person, really peel back the layers. But that was for another time, far into the future. Right now though, he was driven. Laser-focused. The kind of drive that didn’t leave much room for settling down.

Of course, the admirers took that as him playing hard to get, which only made them more interested.

Alva, on the other hand, took every opportunity to vanish into the crowd as he could. He lived for that kind of attention. Uri and I? We were basically flies on the wall, just watching the whole thing unfold like we’d seen it a hundred times before, almost as if we were outsiders looking in.

We didn’t talk much during these moments. We didn’t have to. We both shared the same sentiments—we didn’t need words.

“Thank you!” I said, making sure the attendant heard me as he nodded and went to tie up my horse, Juniper. I enjoyed going to taverns but I didn't drink. As someone in my position it would be rather ironic for me to voluntarily drink poison. The noisiness didn't bother me as our home, Apple City, was the second largest town in the Human Kingdom. Plus, at this stage in our fame I was used to it. I use “our” loosely. Anyway, the reason I enjoyed the taverns so much was the music. Each time we came here, there was one song the tavern musician, Luka would play on his flute. I didn't know the name but it always got stuck in my head for many days after. He always made sure to play it when we arrived here in Flower Town.

"I'll take a cold ale, please!" Talos declared.

"I'll take two!" Alva chimed in.

I don’t know why he does this every time. Elves' stomachs can't handle beer, and Alva, being half-elf, only delayed the inevitable. Somehow, he seemed to forget that every time.

"Alva, are you sure you wanna do this again?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Come on, Velara! We’ve got a long journey ahead of us! I’ll be fine this time! Don’t worry about me.”

Famous last words.

Ten minutes later.

I followed a stumbling Alva outside into the night preparing for what came next. Crickets called as Alva leaned against the back of the tavern wall with one hand on his stomach. Then the regurgitation began. I held up his silky, shining green hair.

"Velara, why didn't you stop me this time?" Alva groaned between heaves.

See what I have to deal with?

I waited for him to be done before I cleaned up his mess using water and gave him a tonic to soothe his gut. His stomach must hate it when he goes to taverns because I’m sure it knows better than anyone that the same thing happens every single time.

Now you may be thinking, how do you put up with this? And to that I say, I just like it. I like my role. This was just a typical day for me though.

But it wasn't always like this. It took quite a while for us to get here. In the next chapter, let me lay the groundwork for how this world works so that I can explain how our quest to defeat the Orc King began.