Rayne, Child of a Thousand Years CH 34

"Should I wake you when they get up?" asked Eyrion as he came back into the room.1

The elf was holding a key in his hand and he was looking a little off in his surroundings. That didn't seem like him. His eyes roved around the room aimlessly. It seemed like he was trying to come up with something more to say. Shaking her head, Rayne stood up with Tyke still in her arms and walked over to him. "I suppose that that key is to another room? Can you unlock it for me?"2

In a whisper of cloth and hair, the elf led her to the room right next door and opened it for her. Eyrion moved to take Tyke from her arms as she passed, but Rayne shifted away from him as she walked by. "I'm not letting him out of my sight again!"3

She set the sleeping boy down on the bed and turned to look at the half startled elf, "I worry more for Tyke than Jacub. I'll be up tomorrow and I'm sure we can figure out some sort of payment for all you've done for us." He was left at the door as Rayne pulled back the covers and crawled in. Such a puzzling girl.4

~~Dusk to Dawn's Rebirth~~5

"Imagine!" seethed Rayne as she ducked under the counter and pulled out a large cookbook, "A cook that refuses to cook and an innkeeper too drunk to bother!"6

"We can always wait until they get up," called Jacub from the tavern.7

Rayne peered out of the small pass through and frowned, "And starve until then? Forget it! I can whip us up something real quick!"8

It wasn't long before the youwarkee was tossing food out the pass through and the smell was drawing more than just her two faithful companions to the bar. Several of the townsfolk were peering into investigate. The tavern rarely had anything going on before noon at the earliest, so this was quite a fascination for them.9

Before much longer, Rayne was quite busy cooking up food for almost the entire village. Dishes she'd never even heard of before were almost a snap as she flipped through the pages of the old cookbook she'd found. Why the owner of this place didn't use this thing more bewildered her.10

"What's going on down here?" Eyrion meandered over to the bar not ten minutes later in bewilderment, "I've never seen this place so stuffed!"11

"Did you want something?" called Rayne as she peered out of the pass through for just a moment before turning away, "Talk to Tyke or Jacub, I'll make it in a jiffy!"12

The elf was so confused now that he sat down on a stool under the bar and turned to see what was going on about him. There were people packed, side by side in the room and some were even standing in the corners and wherever else they could. All of them munching away happily on the food that the youwarkee--Rayne--must have made.13

It was well into the day by the time Rayne stepped out of the kitchen. Her face was smudged with a little brown gravy and streaks of flour decorated her blouse. Tyke giggled a little as Jacub quietly pointed out that she had something on her face. "Where are you three headed?" inquired Eyrion as he tried not to shake his head with confusion over these three strange children.14

"North," answered Rayne matter-of-factly.15

"Dragon country?" gasped Jacub and Eyrion together.16

The youwarkee wasn't even swayed with their words. "Of course, and Jacub and Tyke are going with me if I have to drag them both along by their collars!"17

With that, she set the dish cloth down on the counter and came to stand before Tyke, "Do you have everything we need before we go?"18

The boy grinned at her before racing back up the stairs. He knew what she was talking about. She wanted him to bring all the little treasures that he collected. Rayne was probably the only one he'd ever met that didn't laugh at him when they found out that he collected rocks...smooth, black, shiny rocks.19

Tyke came back downstairs to hear Jacub arguing with Rayne. "Why do you ask him if we have everything? We need more than a bunch of worthless obsidian if we're going into Dragon Country. Why not bring some weapons? Or even a bodyguard?!"20

The young boy watched from his quiet perch as Rayne looked at him coolly, "...Sometimes, Jacub, you can be such an..." She stood up and walked out the door without another word.21

Tyke scampered after her as Jacub stood up to follow them. He found her standing at the bottom of the steps, surveying the village again. "What happened to your spear, Rayne?" he spoke softly, more because he didn't want Jacub to hear than anything else.22

"It's back at the castle," answered Rayne in the most nonchalant way she could.23

"..But..."24

She grinned at him and gave the young boy a wink before stretching a little, "Come on, Tyke, let's get going. There's a lot of hiking ahead of us before we can find a safe haven...I need to find out what sort of things are going on around here, and I've been told the best way to find these sorts of things out...well..."25

"Is to see a dragon's trove." Tyke finished her sentence in half wonder. So that was the reason they were heading North.26

Rayne nodded quietly before scratching her upper arm, "How long is that boy going to stand in there talking to that elf?"27