Aron was almost vibrating with excitement “Come on” he urged as he dragged me forwards with unexpected strength “This way is shorter” he took a left down a short dirt alley between 2 cottages. I could hear running footsteps and Dante swearing somewhere in the street behind us but Aron seemed to have forgotten about him completely.

Turning into the new street Aron abruptly came to a stop and I almost crashed into him, I swerved in the last second and turned to Aron scowling “What was that th-“ I trailed off at the look on his face and turned to where Aron was looking. Across the street a group of kids around Aron’s age were talking and laughing as they walked along.

A short boy with cropped blonde hair looked in our direction and immediately turned to say something to the tall ginger boy who looked in our direction. A grin spread across his face and he elbowed the dark haired boy next to him and pointed. They both laughed and said something to each other I couldn’t make out.

Anger curled in my stomach at the way Aron stiffened next to me and I straightened and turned slightly so I was a bit in front of Aron.

“Hey flower boy, did we water you enough today or do you need another dunk?” the ginger yelled across the street and the others burst out laughing. Aron didn’t respond and stood silently watching them.

I snorted blowing hot air out of my nostrils and glared at the group, though they barely acknowledged my presence, which only infuriated me more. I wanted to punch the ginger kid and claw his insides out but something inside me balked and absolutely refused to get involved unless Aron indicated that he needed help. This was Aron’s fight and they had insulted his pride so I flat out refused to insult his pride further by giving unwanted help.

The group lost interest though and walked on, at the back a Minotaur kid with stubby horns looked at Aron guiltily, he paused and looked from Aron to the group and then shrugged at Aron apologetically and ran after them.

Aron seemed to deflate next to me as he looked at the Minotaur running to re-join the group. He turned away but not before I could see his watery brown eyes “Come on, the Inn’s not far” he said trying to sound unaffected as he walked briskly in the opposite direction the group had gone in.

Sending a last glare at the group, which went entirely unnoticed, I turned jogged to catch up with Aron. I eyed him out the corner of my gaze, if he didn’t want to talk about it I wouldn’t bring it up. He looked morose and tense silence widened a gap between us as I tried to think of something to say.

“So what’s the best thing on the menu?” I finally asked. That turned out to be the right thing to say as his face brightened a bit.

“Well of course it’s all good, grandpa never makes bad food, but my favourite is the pies, he makes a special apple and rhubarb one just for me for desert sometimes” His hand came up to brush his hair out of his eyes but I could see him use his sleeve to quickly dry his eyes.

“But we just ran out of rhubarb so next best is the hazelnut cookies, they seriously just melt in your mouth. There’s also carrot cake with whipped cream, grandpa makes the best whipped cream, I mean Hitch also makes good cream but grandpa makes the best. Also-“

“What about something that isn’t a desert?” he paused and looked at me a bit surprised “But deserts are the best” as if it was an obvious truth as we walked slowly.

“Don’t you get sick of just desert?” I looked at him incredulous as he grinned.

“Never” He declared, “Though this one time, we were washing dishes at the Inn and then Kaid-“ he stopped abruptly and looked away.

“Who’s Kaid?” I asked before I could stop myself

“He’s- he was my best friend” he mumbled as he looked at the floor and looked like he was trying hard not to cry, angrily he looked up “Now he’s just a jerk coz stupid Carston said he could join their group since he got a combat class now” I flashed back to the Minotaur who’d looked at Aron guiltily.

“Oh” I said “He sounds like a jerk” I agreed, I had no idea what a combat class meant but ditching your best friend for the cool group was a dick move.

“Do you have a class?” I went out on a limb, hopefully it was ok to ask but he’d already seen my status so it probably wasn’t taboo.

He sighed “Yeah I have the [Cook] class and 2 free slots, grandpa made me take it as soon as I unlocked it, he wants to get to level 30 so I can upgrade to [Chef] and take over the Inn one day”

I frowned about to ask if that’s what he wanted when Aron jogged forwards “We’re here, I’ll make sure you get a good seat” He grinned. A bell rung as he opened the door and I could hear the hubbub of voices from inside before a loud voice yelled “Aron it’s the lunch rush, where have you been, get in here and start serving tables”

“Yes grandpa” Aron yelled back, he grinned at me apologetically “Just sit over there, I have some work to do but I’ll join you as soon as I can”

Aron raced away and disappeared into the back. A little lost I made my way over to an empty 2-seat table by the window Aron had pointed to. Sitting down I looked around, everything was a bit mismatched but it has a rustic comfortable charm as a waiter bustled about bringing a group of elderly Lizardfolk their drinks.

The Inn was spacious inside with solid hard wood furniture with brightly coloured walls and tablecloths. Numerous flowerpots littered the walls on shelves or stood in corner of the room. A cold stone fireplace at one end of the room had a basket of chopped wood next to it and worn armchairs scattered around while the ugliest dog I had ever seen was sprawled out on a woven rug in front of the fireplace. It was a massive mottled beast that watched the room with blood shot eyes as its tail thumped against the floor rhythmically.

The Inn wasn’t completely full, but the majority of tables were seated and the smell of the food made my stomach rumble. I’d forgotten how hungry I was. There was cutlery but no menu on my table and I briefly wondered if I would even be able to read it? I’d been able to read the status so did they write in English here? I belatedly realised that yes they spoke English here. It was stupid to realise but it would have sucked if I couldn’t understand anyone here. Or maybe they didn’t speak English and some weird translation magic was going on? Since the chances of another world developing the same language that I spoke was incredibly unlikely.

Aron suddenly appeared at my table wearing and apron and slamming a drink on my table “Elderflower cordial” he said and grinned “I’ll get you some food in a minute but I need to help out or grandpa will flay me” Eyes bright he dashed off again. I guess it didn’t matter how I could understand them, maybe they really did speak English, why not, a mystery for another time.

I turned my gaze to the drink in front of me; it was a tall wood cup with a clear light green liquid. I’d never had cordial before, but it existed on earth so it must be all right and I doubted Aron would poison me.

Taking an experimental sip, my eyes widened and I gulped down a few mouthfuls, it was great, not too sweet, a hint of sour and an undertone I couldn’t identify.

I put the drink down and ran my tongue around the inside of my mouth and made a new discovery. Sharp teeth. Definitely not a herbivore; though the thought of eating vegetables wasn’t bad so maybe I wasn't a strict carnivore either? I lifted my hands to my face and felt my snout, it wasn’t protruding far out, but my face definitely wasn’t flat like a human’s anymore and my nose consisted of 2 small triangular nostrils at the end of my snout. I really needed a mirror.

“What are you doing?” Aron looked at me oddly as he stood next to my table holding a plate in one hand and a bunch of drinks in the other.

Feeling my face heat up again I jerked my hands down “I spilled some cordial and was wiping it away”

“Ok then” he grinned and put the plate on the table, the smell wafted up and my mouth started salivating, it was some kind of sausages with a sauce and what looked like mash potatoes and various grilled vegetables “I got you some venison sausages, enjoy” and he was off serving the drinks to a human family sitting near the door.

Grabbing my knife and fork I dug in, I paused and savoured a mouthful closing my eyes. Damn I had no idea what was put into the sausages other than venison, but I could say hands down it was the best food I’d ever eaten. I chewed slowly trying to make the taste last and swallowed looking at my plate in reverence; I had new found respect for Aron’s grandpa. Its not like I’d only eaten bad food back on earth, but this taste had to be beyond what was possible with convention means.

I slowly cleared my plate, only managing to resist the urge to lick my plate due to the dent that would put into my pride, but I did make sure to get as much of the sauce as possible with my fork.

Legs swinging under the table, my tail swished in satisfaction and I sucked the fork as I leaned back against my rucksack. I sat up, I’d forgotten I still had that on and honestly I had no idea what was in it. I paused and looked around inconspicuously, putting my fork down.

Should I check what was in it now? What if it had my possessions from earth in it? What if could call home from my phone? No that’s stupid, there’s no satellites or Internet or anything technological here.

Nervous excitement buzzed in my stomach, even if I couldn’t call anyone, having futuristic possessions would definitely help me somehow. I pushed the excitement down, no need to get ahead of myself and better to check when I was alone in case having technology here caused an uproar. I couldn’t contain all my excitement and my tail thumped up and down as I considered the possibilities.

The sound of sloshing liquid brought me back to reality and I saw Aron filling my cup up as took my empty plate and ran off again only to return a minute late with 2 smaller plates.

Plonking down on the seat opposite me he placed a plate with apple pie and whipped cream in front of me before proceeding to scarf his own one down. I picked up the spoon and dug in, it was still hot but damn, nothing could compare, it was ridiculous how good it was. I sat there sucking the spoon when I felt something wet poke against my forearm.

Surprised I looked down and almost shrieked as I jumped back, only just about staying in the chair. It was the dog, it stood there looking up at me panting; from close up I could see it was covered in scars with the left ear torn off and one eye disfigured where a bite had healed badly. I stared at it frozen, expecting it to bare its fangs and attack me but it just stood there panting staring at me with its blood shot eyes.

Aron looked up and giggled “Here Bandu” he patted the side of his chair. The massive canine slowly swung its head around at Aron before giving me a last look and slowly made its way to Aron’s side of the table. Limping slightly, it sat down next to Aron and stared up at him. Even sitting its head came up above table height, what kind of dog was that.

“Sorry this is Bandu, I know she looks dangerous but she won’t hurt you, she’s half Gorik so she was used in fighting pits in the city before grandpa found her. She broke her back leg and it didn’t heal right so she wasn’t good for fighting anymore. We think that’s why whoever owned her before threw her on the street”

“I’m sorry,” I said sitting back down looking at the dog. Now I felt like a complete ass for thinking of the dog as an ugly mutt. Even if I didn’t know what a Gorik was, she still looked dangerous, even if she was completely calm and non threatening. I swallowed and sucked it up “Can I feed her?”

“Sure” Aron grinned and patted her on the head and scratched her behind her only ear “Though my pie is gone so you’ll have to sacrifice yours”

I rolled my eyes and shot him an annoyed look; I was planning to give her some of mine to begin with anyway.

Taking a spoonful I slowly reached forwards and held it out to the dog. She looked back at me calmly before slowly leaning forwards and started licking the spoon, tail thumping against the ground.

I froze and giggled a bit to see the massive battle scared dog being so calm and gentle. I ended up feeding her the rest of my pie and gave her the plate to lick.

“Can I pet her?” I looked up at Aron

“Sure, she likes having her ear scratched”

I hesitantly leaned forward to touch her, even though I’d just fed her, she was still an enormous dog with sharp teeth. She was watching me and when my hand got close enough, she nudged it with her wet nose and pushed her muzzle into my hand. I smiled and slowly started to scratch the coarse fur with my short claws.

“See she’s just a big softie” We sat there for a while petting the dog and talking.

Aron turned and scanned the room “Hm looks like lunch is almost over, you can meet my grandpa then” he turned back smiling he started to say something else when Dante suddenly appeared at the table and glared at us. I looked at him guiltily, I had completely forgotten about him. Aron seemed to have the same realisation as me as we looked at each other.

“Ah hey, we lost you and couldn’t find you so I took Sasha here for lunch” Aron attempted to cover but Dante just glared at him and he seemed to wilt in his chair a bit before Dante turned back to me.

“Don’t run off again, I’ve been looking for you all over” He continued to glare at me and I nodded in agreement before he sighed and pulled a chair over.

“Alright kid, when I was looking for you I asked around if anyone knew if there were drakes in the area or if anyone knew a blue drake kid, sorry to say that no one knew you or heard of drakes coming here. On the up side at least word is out and the local guards know about you so if someone is looking for you and come here, they’ll be pointed in the right direction” he said seriously as he watched me “Don’t worry kid, we’ll find your family”

I nodded and looked at my empty plate that Bandu had licked clean. At this point I was beginning to be pretty sure that no one was coming to claim me because no one was missing me, I had just appeared from my world in a drake body. It was not like I’d possessed the body of a drake whose family was coming for her, or I was pretty sure that wasn’t the case.

“So for now we just need to find a place for you to stay while we wait”

Aron immediately sat up “She can stay with us, we have space and I'm sure grandpa would be ok with it”

Dante blinked at him “I’d have to talk to your grandpa, but would you be ok with staying here for now?” he turned back to look at me.

I nodded wordlessly and Aron jumped up “Yes, let me get my grandpa” and he ran off to the kitchen in the back.

Dante looked at the dog and me for a moment before saying, “Jak is a good guy but if there’s ever any problems just come let me know”

“Sure” I said, Jak had to be Arons grandpa then.

A moment later Aron came bounding back with stout man sporting steely grey hair following him. The man was drying his hands on a dishcloth, which he tucked into his apron pocket. He wasn't particularly tall but he had a stern no nonsense aura around him, which made him seem larger. Though not overly muscular, he had thick arms and a slight belly as he pulled up another chair and sat down with us.

Looking me up and down he said “So you must be Sasha, Arons been talking about you, heard you lost your family and need a place to stay” Suddenly a bit nervous at his sharp gaze, I nodded my mouth a bit dry. He grunted “You can stay here for now, we’ve got some rules but Aron can fill you in later. Can you cook?”

“Thank you and only a bit” I said warily, I was an all right cook, but far from the standard of this Inn.

“In that case you can be on dishwashing duty” I looked up surprised, child labour? But then I realised that Aron also worked here, it was probably normal for kids to help out here and I didn’t want to seem ungrateful “Of course, I can do that”

He nodded in satisfaction before turning to Dante and they started talking. Aron leaned over the table and whispered, “Lets go, I’ll show you around” I looked at the adults to see if it was ok and then slipped out of the chair and followed Aron to the stairs.

“The guest rooms are up here, most travellers come stay at our Inn since it’s the best in the village but there a few other Inns too” He talked about the Inn while we walked up the creaking wooden stairs and he walked past the numbered rooms and took another set of stairs at the end of the corridor with a locked door labelled Staff only. “Grandpa and I live up here, but you can stay in my room”

Aron pulled out a key and unlocked the door, going up the second flight of stairs we came to a small living room area with a few sofas and a coffee table. There were 3 doors and Aron pointed them out “That’s the bathroom, there’s Grandpas room, don’t go in there and this is my room” He went to the door on the right and opened it.

There was a simple cot with a thin mattress, an old wardrobe and a desk with a chair. The roof was slanted above the desk and the foot end of the bed. Random items and clothes were strewn on the floor and Aron immediately ran forwards and starting shoving things in his wardrobe.

His face was a bit pink “Sorry I wasn’t expecting company” I grinned as he changed the topic “Lets get you some blankets and a spare mattress to sleep on, you can leave your bag here if you want”

Slowly I took off my rucksack, it wasn’t very heavy but it wasn’t empty either, I put it down next to Arons bed and followed him back downstairs.

Between the stairs and a guest room was another door also labelled Staff only which Aron unlocked to reveal a storage room. He snapping his fingers and the enchanted stone on the ceiling illuminated the dark room.

“Alright here’s a pillow, a blanket and some sheets” he pulled the folded cloth and pillow from a shelf and handed them to me and the riffled around at the back before pulling a thin mattress out which he managed to fold in half and carry out.

Snapping his fingers again the light went out and he locked the door behind us. Carrying everything back upstairs we set it down and Aron pushed the mattress on the floor against the wall opposite his cot. Putting on the sheets we set up the makeshift bed.

“All done” we stood up and surveyed our work, the plain woollen blankets and lumpy mattress wouldn’t make the most comfortable bed but I wasn’t going to complain, it was better than what I could have hoped for thinking back to waking up in the grasslands.