The loud cries of drunken adoration of the tavern inhabitants and their rushing towards the princess were slowed by Aiko walking in front of her. These were the common folk mostly, bakers, sailors, lumberjacks, and the like. Even the Druids revered the white tiger, their familiars squeaking and squawking in its presence. All the conjured creatures were avatars of the sources, but these ones knew they could not compare. There were few Druids in the whole Avarice forest that had a familiar equal to Aiko. One Archdruid had a grizzly bear and every time the two animals met there was a standoff. Now, one of the youngest Druids for miles had one like a master might.

Standing above the waves of people, the Guardian called a cheer for the princess. The silence was too much for him to handle, she figured. The earth viper, another name for the burrowing Watchdog, was stuck above the bar with a spare spear. All its veins were burned by the man’s sword and its glassy eyes watched on as the tavern lifted their fists in celebration. Coal flapped about them, alighting to the Guardian’s shoulder, talon raised high.

Jonah grimaced, covering his ear with his only free hand. It gave Diana a headache and she was glad to finally sit down in a booth after many long minutes. Kalyah and Lucy joined them on her insistence. She could have ordered the people trying to crowd around her to do anything. Finally sitting, all the exhaustion of the day’s activities hit her, but they wouldn’t stop for a while. She was glad to have her back to a wooden wall and a table in front of her. Not even a minute passed before many plates of steaming food were set in front of them, then four tankards of beer and a bottle of wine. The barmaid, classically dressed, almost fell out of her top in the fervent bowing to her. Head hurting as it was, Diana wondered if Blodwyn had been trapped again and she had simply forgotten about it. She couldn’t hear herself think, much less the people around her. The beer went down her throat just to try and ease her headache. Jonah sat with his elbows on the table, ears covered by his hands.

Kalyah took the soft barmaid’s arm and had to shout into her ear what she wanted. Someone had started to play music, which didn’t quiet the people, only added to it. The server returned with a crayon, handing it to the priestess, walking off confused. Lucy, who had spent her whole time sitting watching the Pirate regale a group of women over the back of her chair, turned as Kalyah bumped into her. Applying an etching to each corner of the table’s underside, the Pixie sat back down.

Hands together in prayer, her eyes flashed white and spoke the phrase, “Sanctuary…” in elvish. Out from the table’s center grew a transparent bubble of magic and by the time it reached the outsides of their bodies, the room was silent. People’s mouths kept moving, but there was not even a muffle to them. Aiko, who was out of the now invisible range, scooted in, enjoying the peace and quiet as well.

“Thank your goddess,” Diana said, rubbing her temples.

“I do, every day,” Kalyah said with a smile. “It’s not the intention of the rite, to use in a bustling tavern, but it certainly helps.”

Jonah sighed in relief as he noticed. “I wish I had that a lot in my life,” he said. “Well, I guess I had my headphones. Damn, I miss those.”

“They have them, honey, for record players and radios, I don’t know if they would fit in your sheet phone,” Kalyah said kindly.

“Cellphone,” he said with a frown. “I shouldn’t worry about it, it’s not like I need to be in a new world and play all my old music.”

“I would love to have headphones on here,” Diana said, sneering at the people.

Lucy popped the wine bottle open with a jab of her finger, it was a full cork. “I’d love to have a blindfold. That way I wouldn't see Angelina be so fucking fake,” she said. She then chugged the neck portion of the fluid.

Kalyah patted the Demonkin’s back, who’s glum expression didn’t change as the wine bottle nestled in her lap. Gently the healer took her horn and kissed her on the cheek. Lucy grinned hopefully at her and she nodded. “You’ve suffered enough, honey,” she said. “Hasn't she Diana?”

Diana swallowed a bite of the fatty steak she had been chewing. “I don’t care about what she did,” she said, sawing off another piece. “Jonah, eat, you must be hungry.”

“Yeah, I would, but uh, I don’t like beer or wine,” he commented.

Water was fetched for him, the server finding the bubble of quietness peculiar. Food blessed, they ate on, watching as the tavern silently reveled in the Heroes' victory. Diana didn’t feel like talking and enjoyed being able to observe them all, like ants on their hill. She kept a keen eye on all the Heroes throughout the night.

The Guardian had more women flock to him than the Pirate and went through a whole keg of beer and a collection of mugs. His giant hands went up plenty of willing skirts, displaying legs like lengths of meat. Diana felt sorry for what girls stayed with him by the end of the night. There were no intimate details written about the man, but she assumed he wasn’t poorly endowed. Whatever women didn’t go to him were left to the Pirate and the rest trickled down to the Rider. Still, each one had at least half a dozen adoring fans. The night began with a mixed crowd, many men plucking the straggler women off the Heroes like they were an elk with a bum leg. While the Guardian and Rider were quick to leave, as in a couple hours once the festivities began, Angelina stayed a long while in a dark corner of the tavern with her dedicated group of women.

In mermaid physiology, the females were the majority of those born. They were larger, taller, and stronger than the males. A naturally matriarchal society as determined by biology. Except that scores of mermaids had been wiped out by Blodwyn. The race had made the mistake of trying to intercept the boats of hard steel moving through their waters. As with many things that annoyed her, Blodwyn turned around and killed them for their interference. So Angelina, the famed Pirate, was the representative of some couple thousand mermaids. The mermen had been all but eradicated. Last Diana knew, there were maybe a dozen left. All this grievous damage had been done, and here she was celebrating over finding a couple coats.

The end of the night came and Diana was glad she had only drank a pint as she watched the few sorry drunks sleep on the tables. The poor sods had been left without anyone but themselves. Jonah was drowsy, but that was because of the food, since he was too nervous to talk, he had silently kept eating. Lucy had laid her head in Kalyah’s lap, their hands held.

The snake head still hung, would probably be persevered or skinned and stay there forever. The spear of coats flapped limply by the open doorway. All the Heroes that entered the town were off somewhere with their spoils, save Ryul. The Ranger had perched on a barstool when Diana entered and had stayed in the same position the whole time.

“Are you my watcher?” Diana asked now. She had to ask again as nothing could be heard outside the sanctuary. Kalyah rubbed off the marking close to her now, dispelling the rite. The snores of the drunks and the buzz of night insects filled the once silent air.

Ryul started to sign at them.

“‘I am waiting for my companions to finish up, that is all,’” Kalyah translated. “‘Are you done?’”

“I am, I apologize,” Diana said humbly.

“‘It’s nothing.’”

“I wish I knew how to speak with you, I am afraid your way of communication was absent from my studies,” she said.

He signed, pointing to Jonah.

“‘Many people are able to be repaired, as he is. Deafness and my condition have been taken care of,’” he went on through Kalyah.

“It’s not always perfect, the machine ears are still risky, it’s a brain attachment, not a limb,” Kalyah added.

Ryul nodded. “‘I could be repaired as well, the old Machinist offered to rebuild my vocal chords. I have gone five hundred years without a voice now, I could never try to find one now. It’s not worth it.’” He touched his scarred throat and shook his head.

“It’s never too late,” Jonah said meekly.

A strange gasping laugh left the mute man, a smile in his eyes. “‘No, I’m fine with this. I am used to this.’” He pointed around to the places the Heroes had sat. “‘They are stuck in their ways too, they miss the good times, when the victories were real, we all do.’” He nodded. “‘You…’”

Kalyah paused, gesturing something repeatedly. “That is… Diana? Oh, that’s sweet. He gave you a name sign, I wasn’t sure.” she smiled, demonstrating a D shaped hand gesturing whiskers. “Diana, the tiger…”

Diana smiled back at the white eyed man. “Um, thank you… is?” she asked the Pixie.

Jonah leapt at the chance to show her it.

The Druid signed her thanks and Aiko chuffed happily.

“‘It is like the sign for your mother, Diana…’ E, beak, oh, ‘Eliza,’” Kalyah said, laughing. “The queen hawk.”

“Thank you, truly, Ryul. I appreciate the respect you give the others and myself. The mission as well, if Blodwyn is found tonight, you and the Witch will be the only sober ones. I know there will be more than one day between location and defeat, I simply don’t like them celebrating so much over a small victory,” Diana said somberly.

“‘The social victory, what people hear. Is very important nowadays,’” Ryul went on signing. “‘This will make everyone take the war more seriously.’” He pointed to the coats. “‘Before those, the Ash Makers were only blurs in the distance. We found those, we know they are gathering, we know they are real. Many humans never saw even that. Many elves have forgotten what they faced. Some may panic, as people do, but they know that the Order members are stuck in holes to hide. That nature can defeat them, that we Heroes can defeat them.’”

Many questions appeared in Diana’s head. Why were they there? What could they be doing in such a location? The caves they were in weren’t overrun with burrowing Watchdogs, all their activity had probably attracted them after some weeks. The creatures turned away from light and should have slithered away from the Heroes. Once a Watchdog was reminded of its original goal, it cannot stop afterwards. If the Heroes had not come to destroy them, then the Druids would need to eventually deal with the creatures. The snakes would rise out and attempt to take over the land. They had died so swiftly and she had been so mired in her humiliation that she didn’t consider all the facts. She had wondered why the Ash Makers were there, but it was in pity at the time. Seeing them dragged from Watchdog stomachs.

“‘The war began with the assassination of your sister, Diana. Until the fields of battle are drawn and the armies sent out, we fight by assuring the people the threat is real and it is manageable.’”

"A cause worth fighting for," she replied.

The night concluded in a labored walk to their rooms. Diana didn’t need her valerian root tablet, passing out from the exhaustion. Somehow the Heroes were up and awake at the same time, showing no sign of fatigue. They couldn’t have gotten the same amount of sleep as her and the others. The ship was still docked and the table was full of papers again after breakfast.

It turned out that the Heroes and her had done such a great job of alerting people to a threat that their next few locations had swarmed with local forces. The radio alone was fast to trumpet their appearance and success. It would take a while to hear anything back though. If they went to any of their next locations, then they would be trampling on the toes of locals. It was a good thing, in a way, but now they had possibly days more on the ship.

When Diana did her best to calmly ask the Witch why her predictions had not foreseen such an outcome, she was met with a haughty laugh.

“I cannot see everything, princess,” Fia said, lips curled in a grin. “Look on the bright side, you should have plenty of successes to talk about tomorrow on your radio broadcast. I hear you were instrumental in Rowoak.”

Diana bottled up the anger, focusing on the charts and maps. There had to be somewhere to go, anywhere so long as it got her off the ship and away from this woman.