Yuki had a strange dream. He was standing amid a sea of flames which spread out as far as the eye could see. He felt no heat coming from these flames, on the contrary, he felt bitter cold. Across from him he saw an unfamiliar girl looking his way. Rivers of tears drowned her face from her emerald eyes which betrayed hopeless sadness. He felt her sadness deep inside his chest, almost to the point of hurt. Her mouth was opening and closing like she was saying something, but there was no voice to be heard.

No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t approach the girl. Every time he tried she would move away, though her legs were still. The flames grew stronger around her, engulfing her almost completely. She reached for Yuki in a desperate, voiceless plea for help, before being completely taken by the flames.

Yuki woke up in cold sweat. First rays of sunlight already illuminated the sky above and he saw Joseph preparing the horse for departure with Aria floating beside him.

Was that Aria in the dream? Must have been.

Aria noticed him getting up and flew over.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” she tried her best to lighten the gloomy mood that followed them around since yesterday. Yuki gave her a stare of a person who didn’t have their morning coffee at which she playfully chuckled.

“Don’t be so grumpy. You’re starting to resemble Joseph.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you are a floating ball of sarcasm and spite?”

“Well, I was taught that a lady needs to be sharp with words or she will become timid and dull.”

“Neither of those adjectives could I even imagine using to describe you.”

“Great! That means I was taught well.”

Joseph walked the horse over to them, patiently waiting for their exchange to end. Black circles under his eyes grew even larger. Yuki noticed he wasn’t wearing his military attire anymore but clothes that would suit a commoner or a merchant more. He looked drained and tired, but there was something charming about the aura he was surrounded with.

Why does this guy always look so perfect? Both Yuki and Aria had the same thought.

“We should resupply in the Murrow village to the north, then we should continue to the east and cross the The Reina river...” Joseph laid out his plan.

“But we are headed for Eliphia and that is not exactly in the same direction.” Aria interrupted.

“...From there we should head north to the Kisai region. That way we should avoid potential war-affected areas and we can get to Eliphia from there by crossing the White sea. It will also give Yuki some time to level up safely.”

No further objections were made to Joseph’s plan. Yuki actually wanted to protest the idea of traveling across the sea, due to his seasickness and inability to swim, but it was still better than constantly running away from those ghastly black specters they encountered the day before. He mounted the horse behind Joseph and they continued the journey.

Murrow village was situated in the middle of a small valley. Rows of vineyard span across most of the valley which testified about the village's economy supported by wine production and trade. Village itself was organized around a small central square where trade and social life took place. Crowds of people would swarm the square every morning looking to trade goods, make deals, bicker with each other or just get bashed at one of the Inns surrounding the square. The place resembled more a trading town, which spoke much about Murrow’s successful wine business.

Yuki and pocketed Aria were strolling through the small but busy market square while observing their surroundings. It seemed this was a mixed race village as they spotted two merchants, a gnome and a human, quarrelling over the price of wheat.

“Hear my words pipsqueak, if you lower your price for as much as another copper, I will beat you with my own two hands.” the human spat on the ground, right next to gnomes hairy legs.

“Shut up you old crow, I am not making any profit from my sales. The army bought all my wheat at the cheapest price. And they decide what is the cheapest price. Now I have no money nor wheat.”

Joseph was off somewhere buying necessities and they were scheduled to meet at the The Old Horse Inn at noon. Like the name suggested the place was run-down and decrepit. It’s location was in a shady side alley behind the market square making it even more off-putting. Not overly excited to spend time there, Yuki and Aria decided to roam around the place.

“Hey you! Young lad!” Among the numerous voices yelling at each other across the market square, one seemed to have called to Yuki. It came from a stand full of delicious looking food. Meat pies, apple pies, smoked jerky, sausages, pickled cabbages - the stand was overloaded. The only thing missing was the person who would sell all this food.

“Ye you. Come over ‘ere!” the pies were calling him. “Have a taste of me pies.” Increasingly confused Yuki approached the stand wondering what kind of magical pies offer themselves to random passersby. As he got closer to the stand, among the heaps of food a shiny bald head peeked, with patches of red hair still strong around its ears. Rest of the head quickly joined in carrying a long, messy, orange beard, much more impressive than the head’s hairline.

“I know a hungry adventurer when I see one. He-he! It’s no good to travel on an empty belly! Come, take a nip o’ my wife's famous meat pie.” The merry dwarf offered yuki with a generous piece of a juicy pie. “This one’s on the house! I’ve been in yer shoes long ago. Adventuring is tough, ‘specially nowadays.” he pointed his beard towards a couple of soldiers standing nearby.

Yuki accepted the offered food. “Th-thank you very much!” The pie tasted like the heavens opened their gates and out came a choir of angels that blessed the hands of the dwarves wife with their song. “Iwt’s dewiciouws.” he said with his mouth still full.

“HAHA! ‘f course it is, sonny! Tell me yer name if ya dun mind.”

“Wuki.” Yuki was still munching on the pie.

“Wuki you say. That’s a mighty weird name! Mine’s Hoggurd. Nicetameecha.”

Yuki swallowed a big piece of pie, almost choking in it. “It’s Yuki. Nice to meet you.”

“Yuki. Right. Mighty weird. Maybe I’ll go back to calling you sonny. Tell ya what. Stay ‘ere and guard my stand. I’ll go tell me wife to set up dinner for guests. If you have friends, they are also invited. I had a spare room upstairs so you can spend the night. I dun take no for an answer so dun bother. Help yerself to more pie.”

Before Yuki could say anything, the dwarf was gone. He shrugged, took another piece of the meat pie and stood on the opposite side of the stand.

“I guess it’s better than eating at that dump of an Inn Joseph found for us.” Aria whispered from his pocket.

“Swure is.”

A customer approached the stand. “Good day. One pound of sausages, two pounds of meat jerky. And an apple pie.” Joseph was browsing the rest of the goods while waiting for his order, not bothering to look at who is selling.

“You should try the meat pie, it’s finger-lickingly delicious.” said Yuki, swallowing the last bite.

Joseph raised his head in surprise. “Yuki, what are you doing here? I told you two to wait for me at the Inn.”

“You mean that shady dump? I’d rather keep my kidneys, thank you.” Aria protested.

“You’re a wisp, you don’t have kidneys.” Joseph responded sourly.

“Don’t worry. The owner of the stand invited us for dinner and gave us a place to stay overnight.”

“We were supposed to lay low and here you are, befriending the whole town.”

“Well, he wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Gah.” Joseph sighed helplessly. “Whatever. Where is our friendly host then?”

“I am right ‘ere laddy.” Hoggurd came back with a wide smile on his face. “I’m closing up shop for the day. Me wife invited you over for lunch. Said we can’t leave guests waiting. Hah! Couldn’t agree more! Let’s go laddies, help me carry the food.”

Hoggurd’s house was located close to the market square, but far enough to be away from all the noise that came with it. It was a small stone house, with a wooden roof and a vibrant, colorful garden. Near the wooden entrance door, resting on a wall was a rusty and old battleaxe. Though worn with time and usage, its intricate carvings testified about a high quality craftsmanship.

“That’s me axe from times long past. I used it to chop many a monster heads with it. Now I use it mostly to chop wood, HAHA!” Hoggurd put the weapon in that spot right before he brought guests, for the sole purpose of bragging.

“Very impressive.”

“Amazing.”

“I couldn’t even carry that thing.”

“Right, me neither.”

Both Yuki and Joseph appeased the dwarf with a swarm of compliments. If Hoggurd was a little girl, he would be blushing right now. Instead he was laughing his lungs out.

“Hohoho-huhu-hahaha!”

“Stop bothering out guests with your stupid axe!” A tall, beautiful elven woman came out of the house. She was wearing a simple brown dress with a white apron. Her dull, everyday domestic outfit was heavily contrasted to her exotic white skin, elongated neck and crystal clear purple eyes. “Welcome boys, I am Niella, and please don’t mind him. He gets excited whenever he gets to talk about his past. Come in, come in.”

The interior of the house was small, but warm and inviting. Kitchen took most of the space, leaving what was left for a small dining table, two old sofas and a bookshelf with an impressive amount of cooking books. Creaky, old stairs near the sofas led to second floor bedrooms. Walls were laid with figurines and little artifacts Hoggurd collected on his journeys.

“This is it laddies. It’s not much, but it’s from our heart.” Hoggurd said loudly pounding his chest.

The house was filled with sweet and luscious scents coming from the overladen dining table. Beside Niella’s famous pies, there was an overabundance of other foods. Roasted pork meat bathed in thick honey-apple sauce, orange potatoes baked with skin, crispy duck larded with bacon, beefy pancakes drizzled with dark red syrup and a bean stew. A regular old bean stew.

Yuki and Joseph both started drooling at the sight of the lavish table.

“Haha! Don’t just stand there. Come ‘ere and eat.” And they did just that.

The lunch was delightful and they ate more than they thought was possible. While still sitting at the table, their bellies full, Hoggurd merrily said.

“So now that we are all properly full, we can talk! Let me get out the way a question that is probably on both your minds since the moment you came ‘ere. Why are an elf and a dwarf happily married and living in a small village in the middle of Aris? Hohoho.”

The intricacy of this particular question flew over Yuki’s head but Joseph was intrigued, same as Aria, still hiding in Yuki’s pocket. The story however, wasn’t as interesting. It was romantic, yes, but nothing out of the ordinary. They met, fell in love, forbidden relationship, elves and dwarves not fond of each other, etc. etc. They ran away and settled here, as far away from everything as they could go.

“Wow.”

“True love.”

“I hope I can meet someone like that in the future.”

“Yeah, me too.”

However dull the story was, boys sent a salvo of compliments their way, much to the satisfaction of both of them.

“Now it’s yer turn. Tell me about ye adventures and how did ya end up here? Our kind is a rare sight these days. Not only ‘ere, everywhere.”

Joseph told a story to them. A very changed version, excluding all the details that could get them into trouble. Or their hosts. He did spice up the story with few things that made Niella gasp and Hoggurd shout in excitement. Joseph’s story inspired Hoggurd to tell them about his adventures. When he was done it was already night, Niella was sleeping on the sofa, and the boys were struggling to keep awake.

“And that’s the story, laddies. Remember it well, parts of it might come in handy someday! Hehe! Now go get some rest.”

Yuki dropped on the bed like a log. “Man, I’m beat.”

“Even my butt is sore from all that sitting.” commented Aria coming out of his pocket.

“We might’ve saved the money, but we paid with our time.” said Joseph wisely.

“And brain cells.” added Aria.

“Frankly, I enjoyed the stories.” said Yuki while yawning. “Well, to a point.” he turned, his back facing Joseph. Laying in bed after God know how long was magical. “I hope I don't dream anything." he murmured. "Good night.”

Moon was still high in the night sky when a shadow crept into the small village. No one expected it and no one was ready for it. Especially not our band of mighty sleeping heroes.