Joseph didn’t sleep well that night and spent most of it awake. His mind churned over all the shitty things he’d said or done to his father over the years and he just felt overwhelmingly guilty for all of it. For a short while, he sat by the window and quietly watched the city. Despite it being late at night, people still wandered the streets and everything remained lit up. Something that sharply contrasted with the small towns and villages he was used to. Sure, things were quieter in Kovis than they were earlier that evening, but the idea of the city remaining awake long into the late-night hours felt foreign.

Finally, he managed a few hours of sleep in the early morning hours and when he woke up, he felt numb inside…As if he simply existed with no purpose beyond simply being. He really didn’t want to get up, but his hunger wouldn’t be ignored. A short time later, he dressed in his new clothes and trudged downstairs where Charlie worked on stocking the shelves with bottles of alcohol. The vampire gave him a friendly smile that quickly faded.

“Do you always look so terrible in the mornings?” The sudden spike in the young man’s heart rate and the headshake immediately told Charlie that something was wrong. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Joseph simply sat down at the bar and tried to direct the conversation off of himself. “Where’s Xavier?”

“He went to get elk meat from the butcher so I can do one of my specials for lunch.” Briefly, he disappeared into the kitchen and then returned with food. “Here. Look, I can tell something’s wrong. Do you want to talk about it? You don’t have to worry about me telling anyone, unless you want me to. Unlike Xavier, I’m not a gossiper.”

Joseph couldn’t help but tense up at the question. Honestly, he wanted to talk about things, but he didn’t know if telling the truth about Murval would be a good idea or not. It’d likely lead to questions about himself that he didn’t have the answers to. The sudden squeeze to his shoulder caused him to look over at Charlie who’d sat down next to him.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but does it have to do with losing your father and Murval? Xavier told me what you told him yesterday.”

“I…Yes. I don’t have anyone, now. It’s just gone.” Joseph hunched up a bit and stared down at his food, but didn’t touch it.

“I understand the feeling.” Charlie only smiled at the glare he received. “Mind hearing a story?”

“I guess.”

“As you know, I’m a vampire and unless we’re beheaded or are stuck out into the sun after being starved, we’re essentially immortal. I think I’m close to four hundred now, but I forget. Don’t really care, either. I always had a love for the ocean, but any sailor worth his salt knows that the ocean is a temperamental lover. One day she’ll love you, the next she’ll be spitting mad and try to drown you.” He lightly fiddled with the wedding ring on his finger. “I lived by the ocean with my wife. I lost her after some plague and with her gone? I had nothing left. So, I sold everything and decided to find a ship to work on. That’s where I met Finnly.”

“The pirate captain?” Joseph had started to slowly eat.

“Correct. At that point, I was still human. I didn’t know what he was, didn’t care when I found out. I just wanted something to distract me from my wife’s death. I worked for close to a decade on his ship as a human, one of the few to do so. Eventually, I got sick from something and he offered to turn me before I died from it. I accepted. The crew had become my family.” Charlie smiled a bit. “So, for the next near hundred years, I worked on board his ship. Till a group of pirate hunters finally sunk that fine ship of his. And then…It was just me.”

“But that’s not exactly the same.” He looked over at the vampire with a frown.

“I never said it was, I only said that I understand the feeling of losing everything. I know you only met me yesterday and have no reason to trust me, but I’m more than willing to lend an ear.” Then, he suddenly laughed and looked down at the bar top. “Senara was right when she said I adopt strays. I’m too much of a bleeding heart not to.”

Joseph glanced to the front door of the tavern before looking back to Charlie.

“It’s just us. No one’s staying at the tavern today and we don’t open till noon.”

Finally, everything over the past week came tumbling out. The attack on Murval, how he’d survived, what had happened to him, everything. Joseph finally pushed his plate to the side and buried his face in his hands as he tried to calm his shaky breathing.

“How old are you?” Charlie asked quietly. He figured that Joseph was fairly young, but the scruffy beard made it hard to put an accurate number on him.

“Eighteen, back in the early part of spring.”

He nodded slightly. “Just so I have everything down correctly…You can shapeshift into a dragon, went to Murval with your Father to gather supplies for a trip, the town was attacked but you survived, you ‘consumed’ magic energy and binded the souls of the townsfolk to you by accident, killed the soldiers and their leader, then started out towards Kovis, ended up getting sick and sprouting wings, got the shit treatment from different villages, ended up here, and your Father faded away last night?”

“Yes.”

Charlie sighed and poured himself a drink. “I can see why you look like shit. I’d look like shit if that happened to me. Well, I guess Senara was partially right. She said you reminded her of her lycan ex-boyfriend. Honestly, you kind of scare her a bit, but she’s also familiar with the feralness of lycans. So, I guess she might be picking up on that with you…Or am I entirely wrong?”

“No, you’re right. I…Sometimes just get the need to wander out in the wilds usually as a dragon.” He shifted his weight, somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of talking about such personal matters with someone who was essentially a complete stranger.

“I’ll admit, I don’t have much experience with lycans or feral types in general. With your permission, I’d like to tell both Xavier and Senara, just so everyone’s on the same page and she can give us a heads up on things that she picks up on. That way, there’s no questions if you take off for a week or two to do you things…And so people, namely Xavier, don’t overstep their boundaries and bother you. One of Senara’s biggest grips with her ex was how territorial he could be. Bad trait in humans, perfectly normal for lycans.”

Joseph nodded slightly. “I’m sort of the same. Really didn’t like it when Xavier was in my room yesterday after I’d gotten out of the bath.”

Charlie made an exasperated noise. “Of course, he would. You’re new and different and he wants a taste. I still wonder if he’s actually part elf. Personally, I think his father was an incubus posing as an elf…Else he’s just a slut, but who am I to really judge? Makes him happy, so oh well. Anyway, do I have your permission to tell them?”

“I don’t know. I’ve spent so many years trying to hide. The idea of willingly telling people…”

“It’s alright. Just think about it, Joseph, and let me know what you decide. Now…Tell you what. Why don’t you just get used to the city and settled in? We’ve managed without your help for a few years, and we’ll be fine a while longer. Though, if you don’t mind hanging out in the kitchen during dinnertime…” He smiled. “No one hassled Senara after what you did last night. She might not say it to your face, but she appreciated it.”

“I’m fine with that. Means I get free food.”

“Ah, yes. You’re at the age where you only think with your stomach. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you fed.” He gently nudged Joseph, pleased that the young man seemed to be feeling better. “Just make sure to let me know if I’m not dishing you up enough.”

This caused Joseph to crack a bit of a smile. “That’s why I got put on hunting duty. Father joked that I’d eat enough for a small family on my own. It let me do my own hunting and then catch food for the cabin.”

“So, you’re a good hunter?”

“I like to think so, at least, I’m better then when I’m younger.” He glanced down at a faded scar on his forearm where a buck had attacked him as a young teen. “At least now the mountain cats don’t bother me.”

Charlie followed the young man’s gaze and reached out to carefully adjust his arm to get a better view of the scar. “How’d you get that?”

“I first started being able to change a little after I turned twelve, after my mother died. I didn’t tell my father I could do so and would sneak out into the forest to practice my hunting. I got tired of hunting rabbits and other small things, one day, and decided to take on a buck.” Joseph quirked a smile. “It didn’t go so well. I managed to avoid being gored in the stomach, but he still got my arm. That was fun trying to explain. Wasn’t the last time I got hurt hunting, either.”

“Well, in general, predatory animals end up injured a lot, be it from prey or other predators. What else has happened?”

He gestured at his back. “I have a bunch of scars on my back when I tangled with a pride of mountain cats. The mountains to the southeast of Muval have a couple prides and when they can, they’ll scavenge. They ran across me and a kill and decided to attack me. I won, but…Back was a mess and I had to limp home to get patched up.”

“I’m assuming this all happened when you were younger?” Charlie got up to his feet to begin gathering up the dishes.

“It was. I was smaller back then and a lot dumber when it came to hunting.”

“Just how big are you as a dragon?” After stacking all the dishes up, Charlie resumed his work stocking the shelves.

“Uh. Big? Father never really measured or anything. I’ll put it this way: I can take down a bull moose by myself.” He stood up and grabbed the dishes to take them into the kitchen. “Not really sure if I’ll be able to fly, but I can glide decently.”

“Interesting. Well, you’re still young, so there’s plenty of time.”

Joseph started for the kitchen, but paused at the doorway. “Charlie? You can go ahead and tell them, just not while I’m around. I figure that they’ll listen to you better.”

“I’ll handle it, don’t worry. Why don’t you go explore Kovis today? If you’ve only been around Merval your entire life, you probably haven’t seen the ocean…And it’s my firm belief that everyone should see the ocean at least once in their life.” Charlie grinned a bit. “Of course, I’m biased. Just be back before dark since that’s when the dinnertime crowd starts dragging in. The lunch crowd tends to be a lot calmer since most can’t drink on the job.”

“Will do.” After dumping the dishes in the sink, Joseph briefly went upstairs to grab a bit of money, then left the tavern. He didn’t intend on buying anything, but he also knew that something might catch his eye. While the permanent death of his father weighed heavily on him, the sudden freedom left him floundering a bit as he tried to figure out what to do. As long as he followed the local laws and human decency, he could essentially do whatever he wanted.

So why did he feel so suffocated over the notion?

For the moment, he really just needed to focus on one thing at a time…And the present thing he needed to be ‘worried’ about, was heading to the northern part of the city to see the port. As he walked, he gradually noted more of a salty or fish smell along with the sound of birds squawking incessantly. Then suddenly, he found himself at the port where sailors yelled orders at one another while they dumped last night’s catches onto the docks.

Dotted around the port were numerous types of ships. Small fishing crafts that wouldn’t dare make it beyond the sight of land. Tiny little rowboats barely suitable for checking crab pots. Then the ships capable of cross-ocean travel with their sails neatly tied up. Joseph couldn’t help but gawk as he slowly made his way to the railing. No wonder Charlie had such a love for the ocean…But the idea of being so far from land didn’t appeal to him. So, he settled for simply admiring the view.

Joseph spent the rest of the day wandering the city and learning where everything was at. He even found several parks and gardens, but found himself dissatisfied in how the places set aside for nature felt artificial. While the flower beds and carefully pruned bushes were pleasing to the eye, it felt like a poor mimicry of the beauty of wild nature. Still, it offered a bit of a buffer from the sounds of the city and he enjoyed looking at the exotic plants.

He ended up having a late lunch sold to him by a man who barely spoke any of the common tongue. The food consisted of a spiced meat of questionable origin with cheese and vegetables all wrapped in bread that had been fried. While he wondered where the meat had come from, he couldn’t deny that it tasted good and made a mental note to return sometime for more.

When the sky began to darken, he headed back to the tavern. During his wandering of the city, he’d bought a few personal items and he gave Senara a slight nod as he passed through the commons area to his room. After dumping them off, he went to the kitchen to wait. There, Charlie was in the middle of frying up some sort of meat. “That smells good.”

“It does, doesn’t it? Shame I can’t eat any.” He stirred the chunks and added a bit more alcohol to the pan. “Did you enjoy yourself today?”

“I did. Went to the docks like you recommended and I can see why you fell in love with the ocean. Found a few of the parks and just…Wandered around the city.” He perched on a stool and picked up the mug that had mysteriously appeared next to him.

“Good, good. I told Xavier and Senara about things. Reactions were a bit mixed, if I’m honest. Xavier doesn’t really care and if anything, he’s even more curious about you. Senara wasn’t very happy, but also not very surprised.” He caught the expression of concern that Joseph had. “Don’t worry about her. She had issues with her ex and it left her with a bit of a bad taste in her mouth concerning ferals. It has nothing to do with you. I’m sure she’ll warm up to you in time. Now. Did you eat anything for dinner?”

“I hope you’re right.” Joseph sipped on his drink and found himself surprised at the fruity flavor the beer had. “This is good, and no I haven’t.”

“Ah, I’m glad you like it. There’s a monastery down in the southwest that specializes in fruit beers. They only sell the beer during the spring and there’s usually a waitlist. I just now got my order.” He shook his head in exasperation. “I’m certain that they sit on the majority of the beer to keep prices high, else they just drink most of it themselves.”

“I can’t blame them. This is good.” Just as he put the mug down, he had a plate of food shoved at him. It had the fried chunks of meat with a side of mashed potatoes and then a bread roll of some sort. “By keeping an eye on the crowd, do I end up getting the first plate or something?”

“You’re my taste tester. It’s a new recipe and I need to know if it’s too bland or too spiced.” Patiently, Charlie waited while the younger man sampled the food. The sounds of enjoyment caused him to nod. “Good. I’ve gotten good at cooking without being able to taste the food, but I always worry about the seasoning.”

He poked his head out of the kitchen, “Senara!” Then he began dishing up plates to hand to her when she stepped inside. “Here’s the first round of food. How’s the crowd tonight?”

“I’ll be fucking happy when these sailors leave port. Most of them are pretty decent and tip well, but a couple like playing grab ass and tit.”

Joseph straightened up. “Need me to deal with them?”

Senara glanced at him and sighed. “Actually, yes. It’s the table by the fireplace, with the guy wearing the tricorn. He’s the one who’s doing it and everyone else at the table is cheering him on.”

“Got it.” He took a final bite of his food and slipped off the stool to go into the common area. Immediately, he spotted the table and grabbed a chair that he dragged over to the table. He didn’t bother asking if he could join them, he simply did. The glares from the men went ignored. “Only time I’m going to tell you: leave the barmaid alone.”

“Or what?” The tricorn wearing man didn’t seem impressed.

“Depends on how badly you piss me off. Might just toss you and your buddies out…Might just break your face and then throw you out. Leave her alone, and I leave you alone, got it?” Just from the expressions at the table, Joseph suspected that this wouldn’t go as well as last night’s confrontation.

Tricorn leaned forward in an attempt to be threatening. “How about you go fuck yourself and let us do what we want?”

He pretended to think about it, but then shook his head. “Nah. Get out.”

“You can’t throw us out. We haven’t ate yet.”

“Yes, I can, and I will. So, get out.” Before he could react, the man lunged over the table and knocked him to the floor. He took a few punches to the face before landing one of his own that stunned the man long enough for him to get up. Next to him, one of Tricorn’s buddies started standing up, only for Joseph to punch him, as well. “Sit your fucking ass down!”

The other three went wide eyed at the snarl to his voice. Leaning down, he grabbed the back of Tricorn’s shirt in a hand, hauled him to his feet, and started dragging him towards the tavern door. The other man struggled, but a quick punch to the ribs caused him to stop long enough for Joseph to shove him out the door. Then, he stalked back to the table and slammed his hands down on the table with a growl, then leaned down to glare at the four remaining men. “Now. Are you shitfucks going to behave, or do I gotta keep pushing back my dinner to give you four a really, really bad night?”

“…Nope, we’re good.”

He gave them a final glare before turning and returning to the kitchen. There, Senara giggled madly. “That was the best thing I’ve seen tonight.”

Sighing, Charlie shooed her out of the kitchen with the next round of food and frowned at Joseph before handing him a hand towel. “Clean yourself up. You have a bloody nose.”

Baffled, he touched his nose and blinked a few times at the blood he saw on his fingers. Then he went to the sink to wash his face off. After drying it, he returned to his previous spot on the stool. “Hopefully, he won’t come back.”

“Forget about him. What about you?” Concerned, he moved to examine the younger man’s face but paused when Joseph pulled his head away with a low rumble. “Hurts?”

“No, I don’t like people touching my head. I feel fine.” He picked up his plate and frowned at how his food had gone cold, then sighed and resumed eating. “…Assholes interrupted my dinner…”

“You got punched in the face a few times and you’re concerned about your dinner being cold?” Charlie just made an exasperated noise and went back to cooking. “Well, let me know if you start feeling any pain.”

The rest of the evening went smoothly. In fact, so did the rest of the week. News had quickly spread among the sailors that the tavern had hired a bouncer, one that could shrug off a few good punches to the face. The sailors that visited the tavern opted to be on their best behavior as to not catch the eye of the ‘tall mother fucker that lurked in the kitchen’.

Joseph settled into the routine of things and it took about a week for him to full feel settled into his new home. Despite not really doing anything beyond doing the mean and scary act, he still got paid. Though, once he settled in, he steadily began being assigned more tasks, mostly the things that required heavy lifting. Honestly, he really didn’t mind. Still, as he was prone to do, he felt himself becoming restless and wanting to explore. He brought this up to Charlie who directed him to the northwest.

“There’s a decently sized forest out that way, mostly pines and evergreens, but you’ll probably find some decent elk hunting out that way. Just avoid the oak grove.”

“Why?” Joseph didn’t look up as he doublechecked his satchel. At least with leaving his bow and quiver he’d be able to travel a bit lighter.

“Dryads. Depending on their mood, they can either be playfully mischievous or willfully malicious. As long as you don’t bother their trees you should be fine, but it’s just all around wiser to avoid them.” Charlie wrapped a bit of bread and slipping it into the satchel before the younger man could protest.

“I’ll keep that in mind. At least the grove should stick out with it being oak trees.” Of course, Joseph fully planned to investigate. Telling him not to do something would only encourage him.