A familiar face

At 6 a.m., Elyrielle woke up and went to find her party. They were already waiting with horses, ready to leave. She packed up her things and went to look for Spotty. He happily moved his tail once he saw her and got down on his knees so she could hop on.

- Nice horse, Ms. Elder! - Said Edward.

- Oh, I almost forgot. I got you something to remember Lyroz. Who knows when you are coming back here, Lady Elyrielle. - Said Leonard and handed her a little bag.

- Thank you so much, Mr Leonard. May I ask what this is?

- My dad is a bird breeder. Mom talked so good about you that he wanted to make a good impression of Lyroz for you. So, this is a bird's egg. But not any egg, this is the egg of a companion! A bird that will stick with you all the time. He refused to tell me what species, though.

- That is a cool gift, Leo. Good work! - Said Louise.

- Thank you all people. I really appreciate it. Mr Leonard, I will take care of this little gift of yours with all my heart. Thank you once again.

- Well, are we done with the gifts and shit? We kinda need to go if we want to find a good quest before all of them are taken. - Said Edward.

- Yes, we are all done. - Said Leonard, a little embarrassed.

The 4 party members nodded and left Lyroz. A young lady with a hooded cloak looked at them from the distance. She didn't seem happy at all.

- Where do you think you are going, Leo? - Said and started following them slowly.

The distance between the next town and this one was long, so they needed to hurry up. Leonard's companion was on his shoulder again, and it looked happy to see him.

- Why didn't you bring your noisy bird on the other questions? - Asked Edward.

- And risk him? That mission was really dangerous. I wouldn't forgive myself if he got hurt. By the way, his name is Hocus, call him by his name.

- Agh, okay, okay. I will.

- Let me guess, does he have a brother that is called "Pocus"? - Said Louise with a smile.

- Y- Yes, how did you know?

Everyone started laughing. It was predictable coming from Leonard.

The next town was called Vithchek, the town of witches. Witches in this world only use dark magic and are known for their almost unexciting moral. They will put on quests with questionable moral and high pay. This is the main reason why many people with bad intentions come up here.

The witches are mostly darker skinned. 90% of their population is dark shined with black and curly hair. The other 10% is a mixture with white and mixed skin population. Their customs and rituals are dangerous. Many people avoided this part of the continent because of that. In this case, they needed to go through it to go to Animalia, Louise's hometown.

- So, where are you originally heading to? - Asked Elyrielle.

- To Animalia. Louise has to visit her family there. - Said Edward.

- Yes, they needed me to get money from our home. My family is a little poor, if I'm being honest. My mom gave birth to triplets a few years ago. It was a lot to take in. So, as the elder kid in the family, I had to step up. You see, not every beast person inherits useful characteristics from the beast that they own their strength too. My other brother inherited bears'the bears strength but was big and really slow. He didn’t inherit the bears' agility. So he only works carrying heavy objects back home. That is why my mother asked me to look for quests and earn money for the family... so that is what I did.

- Wow, that is wonderful, Ms. Louise. You are so brave.

- Nah, the one who is truly brave here is Edward. He came all the way from Hozth. Right, man?

Louise was right. He came a long way. The contient was divided into 5 sections. The main one, the biggest of them, was Elderath. The Elf's kingdom, Elyrielle's home. It was located at the top of the continent heading north. Moving south, there was Lyroth. magician's territory. At the east, right by Lyroth is some unclaimed territory, the dungeon territory. This section is full of all kinds of beasts and horrors. Goblins, Ghouls, Dragons of all types, Withes, Elfs that left their kingdom, Murders, Mad knights, Thieves, all that you can imagine. In the center, a huge dungeon entrance exists. Nobody knows where it comes from or what caused it to appear there. Many different races tried to claim this land but were unsuccessful. Then, finally, at the end of the continent, at the south is Animalia. A rocky continent full of mountains and home of beast people.

In the east, moving on from the main continent, there are the Hozth islands. Land of humans. Here, humans train all their lives to become knights. Once they achieve that title, they cross the sea to get some of the previously mentioned towns to find quests and earn money. These islands are the poorer ones when it comes to income quality of life. They have really poor whether conditions and few animals to feed from. That is why their only viable option is leaving their home to find better life opportunities.

Finally, going even more to the east is Ry'kloth. Land of the legendary Dragonites. Because of the harsh sea and winds, the land is almost unreachable. This land is the legend of the dragonites. An exitint lizard-like race that once ruled all over the continent then... disappeared. Elyrielle's dad is one of the few people who got there alive. Besides him and his crew, there is no documentation that any other race or beast managed to get there alive.

- So you crossed the sea to get here? That is incredible, Mr Edward. How did you make it?

- Is something that knights do all the time. With simple wooden boats. It took us almost a week to get our feet to touch land, but it was totally worth it. It took me a few days to reach Lyroz too. On my first mission, I met Leonard. Can you believe that this grown ass man was just standing there. Waiting for someone to pick him.

- Hey! - Complained Leonard.

- Yeah. There he was. He tried talking to other adventurers but was really awkward.

- "Uh. Can I join you?" "No? O- okay" "Is it okay if I join you guys?" " He- hello. Do you need a magician on your team?" - Said Edward, clearly teasing Leonard.

- And how did you two know each other? Asked Elyrielle and pointed towards Edward and Louise. Successfully changing the topic that was making Leonard uncomfortable.

- Oh. That is a funny one. - Said Leonard, now smiling.

- Well, my mother sent me to buy groceries from the Hozth's islands. Turns out, the fish that inhabit that island are highly nutritious for us beasts. And can only be found there. So, as a young kid, I went there with my father to get fish.

- When I was 6. A little girl with brow ears went running from the coast to a boat while she was carrying a bag full of fish. It was twice her size but she was RUNNING with it.

- There. This thin and squalid kid approaches me and screams:

"IF I WIN A RACE TO YOU WILL BE MY FRIEND!"

- How embarrassing. - Said Edward, now blushing under his helmet.

- I, of course, accepted. The race was from his house to the coast. A race on two feet, so it would be fair.

- And what happened? - Asked Elyrielle.

- She CHEATED! - Said Leonard.

- You didn't say that I had to be FULLY human when we did the race!

- Buuuut.

- But I turned and saw his red face, struggling to keep up, tears in his eyes. I felt bad and turned as human as I could.

- I WON!

- I LET you win. - Said Louise.

- Have you been friends since then? - Asked Elyrielle.

- Best friends - Said both and bumped fists.

All of them laughed and continued with their journey for another two hours approximately. At 8 am. They reached a little pub. It seems good to rest for now. Their horses were tired as well, so They all agreed to stay, eat some, and then continue.

The pub was a small wooden home covered with climbing plants all over them. Many fairies floated around the plants, giving a little glow to them that worked sort of as a decoration as well. The walls were an olive green, and the doors were painted a dark green as well. A big sign written in two different languages was on top of the pub. "PUB" "Ostalondë" in big yellow letters.

Before they could do anything, a young and pretty attractive elf got out of the pub and welcomed them. Her black hair was tied in two pig tails, and her face was full of makeup. Red lips and green eyeshadow. Her eyes were a barely glowing yellow. Her clothes consisted of a pastel green and a really short dark green skirt and really high heels.

- Come in strangers! Do you want a cold one? We have of all kinds of those! Come inside! Best prices of all over the continent!

The young elf approached them. Grabbed Leonard's hand and made him follow her towards the pub. Another young elf, a brown haired one with long hair, put in a pony tail approached them and grabbed Edward this time and tried to get him inside as well.

Elyrielle was a little too shocked to react. She had never seen elfs like that before. She heard that elfs that don't have magic capabilities couldn't go on quests. She didn't know what kind of jobs they did instead. For a second, the young eyes of the black haired elf and Elyrielle's eyes crossed. The young elf's face went white and grabbed the other Elf's hand, and pointed at Elyrielle. She went white as well. Both seem really uncomfortable and hurried to get the men inside the pub as fast as they could.

- Hey! Let Edward go! Damn it. Come on, Elyrielle, we need to follow them.

Elyrielle nodded, still confused, and followed Louise inside.

- The two elfs were behind the counter now, whispering and looking at Elyrielle. A young human this time came to take their orders.

- What you'd you want to eat, ladies and gentlemen?

- I want root beer. - Said Edward.

- So early Edward?! I can't believe you. I will want some scrambled eggs and orange juice. - Said Louise.

- Okay, okay! Some hard-boiled eggs and fresh bread as well, please. - Said Edward.

- I want black coffee if possible and some cheese sandwich. - Said Leonard.

- And I would want black coffee, and fresh bread as well, please. - Said Elyrielle.

- Got it. Your orders will be ready in no time. - Said the young woman and left.

A familiar voice for Elyrielle's party members suddenly called them.

- Edward? Leonard and Louise?