The Feast And The Inn is the seventh chapter in "An Ambodian Adventure: A Firewing's Tale" written by Ivar Firewing
7 - The Feast And The Inn - The group made it back to the horses that were waiting for them at the edge of the forest and they immediately rode back to Peenda City. They reached it no time and all gates were immediately opened for them so they could get at the castle the fastest way possible. They reached the courtyard from where they left and Gongo and Huyang were waiting for them there.
"They're here!" Gongo smiled and walked towards the group.
"King!" Ivar said and smiled as he say Gongo come towards them. "I must thank you for the weapons! They came to great use!"
"Haha calm down now Ivar" the King gestured for Ivar to calm down and then looked at the group. "So? Did you find them?"
"My good King, i present to you: The Bloka Leaves" Cain said as walked forward and held up the pink leaves.
Gongo couldn't help but smile. Even Huyang smiled a bit. The group gave the Bloka Leaves to Huyang who thanked them and then returned to his kitchen. The King was eager to hear about the group's adventure so he just stayed there and listened to the exciting voice telling him the story.
That night fireworks lighted up the night sky as the entire village had gathered in the Royal Gardens to celebrate Gongo's 75th birthday. The cake was amazing and props went to Huyang for being the best chef in the city. Gongo just walked around watching his people have fun and celebrating him. He then noticed Ivar on a table with the group he had been on a qeust with. He smiled at sight of it.
"Just try it lad, it's really good after the first few" Cain told Ivar who was hesitating to try a beer.
"I'm not sure if i should drink tonight" Ivar awkwardly smiled.
"Nonsense! It's always time to drink! Haha!" Cain spat out and then chugged down another ale.
"Are all Dwarves like that?" Sperry said with a face of disgust as Cain fell of his bench because he was drunk.
"Not all. But most" Kerk told Sperry.
"Hey! Not all Dwarves are uuuhh... Well okay you have a point" Cain spat at Kerk and then fell over again.
"How much did he have?" Ivar wondered because Cain looked really drunk.
"I really don't know but he's not gonna stop for a while" Pindius said as he ate a piece of the Bloka Cake. This was the first time Ivar saw Pindious without his hood on. He had black done in a knot behind his head. He looked younger with the hood for some reason.
Ivar then looked at his beer and then back at Cain who kept falling over while Kerk helped him to stand up.
"Maybe some other time. Or never" Ivar said as he put his ale down.
"So what is everybody going to do tomorrow?" Sperry then asked.
"Stay with you guys i think. I really don't have anywhere to go" Kerk said as het sat back down next to Pindius. He had giving up on helping Cain stand on his feet.
"That's fine" Sperry smiled at Kerk. She then focused her gaze on Ivar; "And what you Ivar?"
"Me? Oh..uhm...i really don't know yet. I was thinking about heading out into the wilderness alone. I really want another adventure like today. I've never felt so great" Ivar said waving his hands around and smiling all the way.
"Oh, okay then. We were hoping you were gonna come with us" Sperry said and the other looked at Ivar.
"Oh... Well i have been thinking about it and would love to join you guys. But as you all know i really don't have any experience whatsoever" Ivar lied to them. He was dying to join them but still had the memories of the fire in his mind and didn't want to loose more people he cared about.
"The kid can decide whatever he want doesn't he?" Cain said as he sat back on the bench right next to Pindius.
"Ofcourse he can!" Sperry shot up. She then Ivar's hand shoke it; "May our paths cross again"
"I'm sure they will. Ambodia isn't that big! Haha!" Cain spat out again in a nice drunken fashion before coughing violently.
"Actaully. It is" Kerk said while throwing away a chicken leg he just ate. "Ambodia is huge. The changes of us ever meeting again are really tiny" he then added.
Ivar felt horrible after hearing that but he really couldn't make up his mind. He wanted to experience the wilderness on his own so badly after today's qeust. But he also really wants to travel with these people as he feels a connection.
"Tell you what" Pindius then caught everyone's attention; "What if we let Ivar experience his adventure alone and we stay here in the city for a while. I'm sure there is something to do around here. I might even have a new Quest for us already" Pindius then winked.
"A new quest? When did you do that?" Kerk spoke with a disbelieving tone at Pindius. Pindius turned around and looked at Kerk. "I just spoke with a farmer from the Silver Plains who has an assignment for us. He leaves back home in two days. He said we could follow him"
"That sounds interesting" Sperry said as she placed her hands at her hips.
"Ivar" Pindius then turned to Ivar; "Live your adventure. We know you want it to. And don't worry about us, we will always have an open spot for you. We barely knew eachother yesterday if you believe it" Pindius then laughed and smoked some of his pipe.
"Thank you guys. I promise we will meet again and i shall join you" Ivar thanked the rest and then stood up; "I should tell Gongo about my plan.
But Ivar never went to Gongo. Instead he went to his room Gongo had given him and started packing up. Suddenly the door opened and in stepped King Gongo.
"Going somewhere i see" Gongo folded his arms and smiled while he looked at Ivar.
"I was going to tell you" Ivar said as he now knew he had to tell it. "I was afraid you would feel that i wasn't grateful of you hospitality"
"I would that way if you didn't tell me anything. But don't worry i saw this coming" Gongo smiled and walked over to the bed and sat down.
"You did?" Ivar looked at the king sitting on his bed.
"Your very much like me on that age. One adventure and you can never get enough! Well, until you reach my age ofcourse" Gongo joked and both men chuckled.
Ivar sat down next to the king on his bed and looked at him. "I am very grateful for you caring for me these last two days. I never expected to ever end up in a King's palace nor in his own social circle!" Ivar smiled from ear to ear.
Gongo smiled back. He was flattered. "Thank you for retrieving the Bloka Leaves" he said.
He then stood up and walked away. "Oh" he said and stopped in his tracks and turned around. "I almost forgot" he said and then reached in his pocket to reveal a small knife. "I figured you could use it on your adventure" he smiled and gave it to Ivar who studied it carefully.
"Have a good night's rest" Gongo nodded at Ivar and then left the room.
The next day Ivar woke up when the first rays of sunlight hit his face. He jumped out of bed, washed himself, got dressed in his adventure clothes and picked up his bag and weapons. He left the castle that morning. He walked out of the palace gates and turned around to see Gongo waving him out from the King's balcony. Ivar waved back and then took a deep sigh. "Here we go" he said to himself and went into the city.
In the city it was chaos. Not because of something terrible but just because it was a capitol city. The streets were filled with people, merchands and horses ridden by gaurds or pulling carts. Ivar had a map with him but couldn't really figure it out. Then he came across a small sign. It read: "The Three Potatoes Inn"
Then Ivar noticed the building the sign was attached to was The Three Potatoes Inn. He then remembered that Pindius, Sperry, Cain and Kerk stayed here for the night. Just to see if they were still there he entered the inn. He was also thirsty.
The inn was rather nice. It was busy, but it had a comfortable feel to it. It was very cosy.
"Good morning can i help you" Ivar heard someone say behind him and so he turned around. He then saw it was Cain who just wanted to get his attention. He had a loveable Dwarven smile on.
"Cain, you slept well?" Ivar asked, not really knowing what to start with.
"Like a rose" Cain smiled another loveable smile.
"More like a cow as i recall it" Kerk said as came walking toward them and put his gloves on. He extended his hand towars Ivar who gladly took it and then shook it. "Good morning Ivar" is what he said.
"I see you couldn't stay away from us" Sperry said to Ivar as he walked up to the group.
"I just thought a proper goodbye would be in order. And i forgot to eat breakfast this morning" Ivar smiled at Sperry who smiled back.
"Today we are going 'shopping' as Sperry calls it. Me and guys believe it's going to be awful but we promised we'd join her. I hope you have a better adventure then us" Pindius said joking when he also came standing with group.
Ivar laughed at Pindius's lame joke and ofcourse Sperry's face toward Pindius when he came standing next to her.
"Maybe you guys could join me for breakfast? My adventure can wait" Ivar asked the group
"I think it can not" Cain said as he stared at the Inn clock; "They are moving the bridge up!" Cain then pointed at the clock to make it clear to Ivar.
Ivar burst through the Inn door and ran down the street like his boots were on fire. He heard a couple of people scold him for hitting them or pushing them to side but he didn't care and just kept on running.
He then saw the main gate and noticed the bridge was starting to move up a bit. He started to run faster and faster and shouting "Hey! Wait!" while waving his arms around. Most of the gaurds just looked at him like he was crazy.
Ivar then had enough and just kept on running. The bridge was at half-high now and Ivar just ran over it and jumped off. The gaurds all looked if he made it to the other side and did not fell in the trench. Ivar was okay and just kept running and running. He passed several villagers and farmer who just left the city and quickly saw the forest infron of the him. That's the wilderness he wanted to go to, the wilderness were he would experience a new adventure.