Chapter 7: Tavin

Little author's note: I was procrastinating and had to finish that stuff, which is why I couldn't release anything yesterday. Now onwards to the chapter! PS: Writing with one hand sucks. Also thank you for nearly 60 followers, I would have never imagined to have so many people read my amateur story!

-------------------------------- Vorlianth's view

Currently, Serayana and Vor were on the mainroad which splits towards Tavin and its neighboring city Medeth, Serayana's hometown. The young athletic man gazed onto the huge wooden gate which was currently infront of him and thought: 'This door looks so much bigger, than the entrances of the humans of Xavius, but then again I was a dragon at that time.'

"We are finally here." rejoiced Serayana, she was dirty and her cloth were torn, yet you could still see a graceful woman, unlike prior that morning. She was exhausted, but her motivation seemed to have recovered.

"And you are standing there with cloth, which look even worse than mine. Aren't nobles usually very pompus? They certainly aren't looking like you. " teased Vor, he regarded Serayana as easy to tease, but he could not fathom why he found it so amusing to tease the child. 'One of the "nobles" in Xavius was so stuck-up that he still demanded from me, that I should cease to destroy his fief. What a naive child he was...'

From Vor's perspective, everyone else, maybe except the gods, were childs, who haven't even lived a tenth of his life. What he didn't know was that elves in this world actually have the chance to live as long as he does, since they have a ridicioulus amount of livespan. Some even say that they do not even have a livespan since no elf did yet die of old age.

Serayana looked like she was ignoring Vor's teasing and said: "I know the villagers and they know me. I was quite the adventurous child, always playing with the commoners and getting my cloth dirty. Since the court despises me, I couldn't find friends in their ranks, but the normal villager is more tolerant towards other races." Vor just gazed silently at Serayana while she was reminiscing.

"Let's go inside, I know the guards, just be silent and let me do the talking." suddenly declared Serayana, finally making her way towards the huge wooden door. The village was quite big and had a palisade around it for protection, everything looked very well maintained.

"As you wish, sho- mistress." answered Vor, actually having trouble switching to "servant-mode". 'Will I always have to call her mistress now? That would be not too great. But for now I have to act like every normal person!'

Serayana just rolled her eyes while got close to the guard. The guard, was quite old, for a human that is, he looked like he may very well have grandchildren. He had short grey hair and a shaved beard, he was quite big and muscular, something you would not expect from a man past his sixties.

'I was wondering why there were not many young men here, but I guess they are fighting the demons.' mused Vor, he looked like he was some boy from the country, seeing everything for the first time, which was unlike the usually stoic warrior.

"Markus, don't you recognize me?" inquired Serayana as she stood infront of the old human. She has not visited the village in a year, because she was learing proper ettiquette and studied the last year.

"By the gods, if that isn't little Sera, what happened to you? You are all tattered and who is your companion?" asked the shocked Markus, he knew Serayana since she had played with his grandkids in the past. He hugged Serayana for a short time and looked quizzically at Vor.

"This is my new servant and current bodyguard Vor, introduce yourself Vor." said Serayana, trying to be as convincing as possible.

"What am I even supposed to say?' complained Vor in his mind, as he once agains readied himself to improvise. "My name is Vor, as my benevolent and incredibly beautiful mistress has introduced me. I'm a sorry soul, who got picked up by mistress after saving her. I am pleased to meet you!"

Serayana looked quite taken aback by Vor's sudden behavior, she had problems to cope with his acting and her face was currently showing it. She had luck that Markus attention was fixed on Vor who was flattering her in any way possible.

Markus looked accusingly at Serayana as if his facial expression said: "Another one?" She only could sheepishly look back at him, it was crystal clear that Vor was not the first one Serayana had "picked up". Her parents were actually really lenient with her daughter in that aspect.

"Ahem, let's go into your house Markus? I believe I should tell you the whole story." suggested Serayana since she was uncomfortable standing infront of the city gate the whole time.

"You are right, I've got a feeling this could take a while, my old bones are not fit to guard this village anyway, but we have a shortage of young men, since they are all defending our country right now." spoke Markus, he looked very disheartened, only a few men were left in the big village and only because they were neccessary to harvest the crops.

After Markus left his duty to a guy in his fifties, the three of them went to Markus house which was at the right part of the village.

'Did I do something wrong?' reflected Vor as he walked down the streets, for some reason men and woman alike seemed to stare at him for some reason. The men appeared to focus on his hair and the woman appeared to completly scan him.

'What did I do? Now that I think about it, my hair is way too long, even longer than Serayana's,' pondered Vor as he compared his hair to the hair of the residents, since his hair was reaching down to his hips and because it was jetblack it was an unusual sight for anybody. Black hair was very rare and it was seen as especially beautiful and long hair was uncommon since it was tedious to take care of it. 'I should really cut my hair, I should ask Serayana about it later, but I want to explore this village, maybe after explaining it to the child Markus.'

The village of Tavin seemed to be flourishing, the fields and orchards were humming with activity, with filled sacks of wheat lying everywhere. The houses were well maintained but the lack of men seemed to affect the morale of the residents. If there were not enough craftsmen to do repair and maintenance then the village was bound to degrade over the time.

"Where are Lisa and Tom?" inquired Serayana as they arrived at Markus house.

"They are working on the fields, we are lacking manpower." answered Markus dejectedly.

"...I see."

The three of them went inside, the house was quite big, there was enough room for at least 4 people, yet only 3 rooms were actually used.

The interior life was sparse, as one would expect of farmers, yet it had a lovely charm to it. Nearly everything was made out of wood, as it was the primary building material for peasants. The three sat down at a wooden table, Markus sat infront of Serayana and Vor was beside her.

"Now you will tell me your story and I will make us something to eat."

As Serayana was telling her story to Markus, Vor was bored, he wanted to explore. After finishing the meal he told Serayana: "I will be outside for a bit." Serayana had no chance to retort and Vor went outside.

'I might be neglecting my duties, but I'm interested in this village, let's see what human life looks like!' thought Vor to himself in high spirits. Thus the young and handsome man made his way into the center of Tavin while the sun was setting.