Georgia was returning to the bar when the door opened and a gust of wind blew in, making the candles flicker and the fire crackle. All heads in the inn turned to see a shadow walking through. The atmosphere of the inn had shifted in an instant from its usual rowdy and jovial mood to an uneasy quiet filled with tension.
A hooded figure stepped into the inn, wearing flowing robes, holding a staff in one hand, and with his other hand over the strap on his shoulder bag. He was not an elder considering his stance was standing up straight and tall, his gait steady as he walked in. His staff was carved with strange
symbols along its length and topped with a crystal that glowed faintly.
He walked towards the counter where she was working. Georgia thought, he looks mysterious. With his fur lined hood surrounding most of his face and hiding any hint of who he might be. He came to her and said in a deep and raspy voice, “I hear you have the best food in town in this inn. Can you serve me something hot, give me your best ale.” He placed a gold coin on the counter, more than enough for a meal and a drink. He looked at her with piercing eyes that seemed to see through her soul.
He turned then and surveyed the room, his eyes scanning the faces of the other patrons. He appeared to find what he was looking for and said to her, “I’ll be sitting there at the corner table over by the fire.” He pointed to a secluded spot where a lone candle illuminated a wooden table and two chairs. He seemed to prefer some privacy and quiet, a ways from the noise and chatter of the inn.
She said, “give me a few to get you what you’re asking for. I must return to the kitchen to get the food for you, and I am working here alone tonight.” He responded, “Time is free, whatever you need. I’ll be over there.” He had pointed his free hand towards the corner spot. He then slid his hand further up the staff and walked towards the table he had pointed out to her, his robes trailing behind
him.
She went to work right away as he walked over to sit down. As she walked into the kitchen, she thought that this event was not normal, and he was not the common type of patron who might wander into the inn. He had to pass the table of the rowdy regulars. They were a group of men of different ages who lived off in the hunter camps mostly where they spent time when they began to wear out their welcome in town.
They would come into the inn every night to drink and gamble. As he passed the youngest of them, a blond-haired young man with dark brown eyes and a crooked nose that looked like it had been broken too many times during some fight with someone held out his arm to stop the strangers forward motion.
He said to him with a mocking grin, “where you going in such a hurry? Why don’t you sit with us and tell us some stories of the lands far away. You smell like you been on the road a while so you must have a lot of stories to tell.” He turned and winked at his friends at the table who all began to laugh out loud, expecting the stranger to be intimidated or amused by their jest they were surprised by the stranger’s reaction.
The stranger began to whisper some arcane words to his staff. His voice was low and resembled the
sound of gravel being crushed. As he did so the runes in his staff began to glow with a bright blue-green light that contrasted with the dimness of the inn. The whole room went quiet holding its breath to see what would happen next.
The arm the young man had held out to stop the stranger dropped to his side as if he had lost all control over the strength in it. Then a group of vines began to wrap itself around him, emerging from the cracks between the floorboards. They were thick and thorny, and they tightened around him until he couldn’t move at all.
His friends at the table all shoved their chairs back not wanting to be any part of what was happening to him. They looked at the stranger with fear and anger, but none of them dared to intervene. The stranger then said, “I’d tell you to practice some manners. Especially to those who are new to your community. However, I doubt that you would hear a word I said.”
The young man began to say something, but then the staff began to glow again, and he went silent. A vine had wrapped around his mouth, preventing him from speaking or breathing through his mouth.
“That’s better, I wouldn’t want to have to silence you as well.” He then continued to the corner and sat down with his back to the wall facing out to view the room around him. He placed his staff in the corner near him while appearing to be calmly waiting for his food and drink to be served.
Everyone else in the room were busy watching the young man to see what would happen next. They were too afraid to move or speak, wondering if the stranger would do something else to them. The exception was the little girl whose father was watching this show with intense interest. She exclaimed to her father, “Papa, he used magic on the man. Magic, like the ones you’ve told me about in your stories. So, it’s real, I mean you know the magic.” The father looked down at his daughter and smiled and said “yes, it was indeed real.”
Meanwhile, the young man’s friends tried to pull the vines off. They were as hard as iron and as sharp as knives. They couldn’t cut them with their knives or axes, they wouldn’t budge. One of them called out to the stranger, “What are we supposed to do?” The stranger looked back and said, in a bored and dismissive voice, “They will take care of themselves in a few minutes. In the meantime, please be quiet while I eat my dinner.”
There was nothing to be done so the group turned their attention back to the table and continued their conversations. But at a much lower tone then they would have shown or practiced normally. In the meantime, Georgia who had been back in the kitchen the whole time came out with the hot meal and cold fresh ale. She headed towards the table where the hooded stranger was sitting.
She immediately noticed how quiet the room had grown in her absence. She could hear the crackling of the fire and ticking of the clock, but nothing else. Then she looked at the table where the regulars sat. She watched with fascination and a tint of horror as she saw the youngest of them wrapped up in thorny vines.
They began to dissolve and fade as if they never existed as she passed by the table where they sat. as she saw the youngest of them wrapped up in vines. She felt a pang of pity for him, but also a sense of relief that he wouldn’t bother her anymore that evening. She thought briefly about the group and how being the youngest was also the hardest to deal with as he was always trying to impress the elders of the group.
She continued to the table where the stranger sat and placed the tray with its hot meal, fresh bread, fruit, and a cold mug of ale in front of him. He watched her set the food and drink down with a curious and appreciative expression. He then looked up to her and asked, “Would you please take a moment to sit with me, I have some news to discuss with you. It’s for your ears only.” He gestured to the empty chair across from him.
She said, “what about my business? I am working here alone tonight?” She took a moment to glance around the room and saw that everyone else was still frozen in the seats, staring at them, or looking away nervously. He responded, “You’ll find that no one will request more services until we’re done. I have cast a spell containing whispers of silence and stillness over the inn. They will stay content until we are finished.
Please, I would not ask you if it wasn’t important.” She looked around the room. She noticed everyone appeared to be content. She nodded okay and took up the seat that he had pointed to earlier. She sat with her attention turned towards him and looked at his hooded face for a moment. She started to ask something but before she could begin, he pulled his hood back to reveal his face. He was young, looked to be about her age, and was quite handsome. He looked at her and smiled. Then he spoke to her, “Excuse me a minute, while I take a few bites and rinse it down with some of this wonderful cold ale.”
He continued without interruption. He picked up a piece of bread and dipped it in the hot stew. He ate it with relish and then took a sip of the ale. He made a sound of satisfaction and then wiped his mouth with a napkin.
She then asked, “So, what’s so important and who are you anyway?” She was curious and impatient. She wanted to know why he had come to her inn and what he wanted from her. He responded, “that’s two questions and so it requires two answers. I’ll answer the last first and the first last.” He paused a moment, took another swallow of the cold ale, and then began whispering so that only they could hear.
He leaned in closer to her and said, “I am Elysian Salvador, better known as the mysterious wondering druid.” She gasped, but then responded, “It’s said that those were only tall tales. Stories told around the inns or local towns. You know that type mothers tell their kids at bedtime to scare them into falling asleep.” He chuckled and then said, “I assure you; I am very real as you can see. Although I heard you say earlier that the truth was not something told. Let’s see it went something like this. Truth is something you must earn through an assembly of facts that supported it’s premise.”
She responded, “You weren’t here then. How could you know that? I didn’t say exactly that at all but something different from what I recall.” She said this with a touch of confusion and curiosity. She wondered how he had heard her conversation with the regulars before he arrived. She had only mentioned her father in passing, as a way of explaining why she was running the inn by herself. She didn’t think anyone would pay much attention to her story, let alone this mysterious stranger who had just walked in.
He smiled and said, “Yes, but you implied it by what you said to that table of rowdy locals over there. She watched him glance as he looked towards the regulars. They were still content and spoke quietly to each other but glanced around briefly with a look of fear and awe as if expecting something to happen soon but not sure of what it was. He had a confident and charismatic aura about him, as if he knew something that others didn’t. She had a sixth sense of being able to read people far beyond what normal people could. At least that is what her father used to tell her when she was younger. It seemed to hold some truth too as the patrons and guest at the inn would often say, she knew what they needed before ever asking for it.
She senses he enjoyed playing with her curiosity, making her wonder what he was up to. She decided to throw something unusual at him. She looked at him directly, and said uninterested, “Hmm, I’m not sure I believe you or any of what you are telling me. Did I tell you I have an inn to run.” She begun to rise from the table as if she was about to walk away when he burst out laughing. She turned then to look back at him and he held up his hand as if to say, “wait a moment while I recover.” She didn’t find any of this amusing and so turned again to walk away.
He reached out and grabbed her hand and said, “Please Georgia, forgive my bad manners. Your father warned me about your ability. I found it curious but did not realize the depth of its reach before now.” She turned then and walked back to the seat to sit down. She had a smile on her face as his laughter was infectious. He waited a moment then said, “It is what you believe is it not?” He then said, “The importance has to do with your father and his adventures since leaving the inn to you.”
Georgia was now alarmed. “My father, what does this have to do with him? Is he okay, did something happen to him? You need to come clear with me before I lose my patience and do something I am sure I would be sorry for.” She clenched her fists and glared at Elysian, who looked calm and composed. He reached out and touched her hand, a pulse of energy passed between them. She said, “Ouch, what was that?”, he responded, “it was exactly as I expected, you’re gifted as your father has told me.” She asked, “what’s this to do with him, please tell me he’s okay that no harm has befallen him.”
She pulled her hand away and rubbed it, feeling a tingling sensation spreading throughout her hand and to the tips of her fingers. Elysian responded to Georgia, “What does your insight tell you about him?” Georgia paused, not expecting this question. She then responded, “My sense is that he is alive, healthy not ill, but concerned about something.” Elysian then said, “Go on, you’re getting close, finish the exploration with your insight.” He smiled encouragingly and took her hand again, this time more gently. He said, “Close your eyes and focus on your father’s voice. What is he trying to tell you?”
Georgia closed her emerald-colored eyes. She breathed in, and then said, “Illusion, something about illusions and people. Something he’s learned since traveling.” She felt a surge of curiosity and wonder, mixed with fear and confusion. She wondered what her father had discovered and why he had left her behind. Elysian then said, “What will you do Georgia?” She spat her words back at him, “What do you mean what will I do? What can I do? I have this inn to take care of, this is his legacy to me, I can’t get up and walk away.” She felt a pang of resentment and anger, thinking that Elysian was trying to lure her away from her home and her duty. She didn’t trust him or his motives.
Elysian responded, “Why not? What’s keeping you here.” Georgia said, “I have a responsibility to the town. It’s the only inn for miles around. There’s a lot of people both locals and travelers who count on it being here to service them.” She had a sense of pride and loyalty, believing that she was doing the right thing by staying and running the inn. She didn’t want to abandon her friends and customers who depended on her hospitality and kindness.
She paused, “I happen to know there are those that rely on my cooking to get a good meal every day.” Elysian then asked, “But what will you do about him? Do you not sense his need? Do you think I am here only by chance?” He briefly filled in some more details about the possible dangers involving other people. He looked at her with a serious expression, hoping to persuade her to listen to her intuition rather than her logic.
Georgia responded to him, “I have no idea why you’re here. My sense of it is you choose where you want to be and for your own reasons.” She sounded defensive and distrustful, not wanting to admit that she felt a connection with him and that he might have something important to tell her. Elysian then said, “Georgia, these are your decisions to make. I came to get you to follow through with insights you had already been considering about your father.” He spoke softly and gently, trying to reassure her that he was not forcing her to do anything she didn’t want to do already.
He paused, patted her hand, and let it go. He then said, “I’ll be around for a while longer. Consider your choices, let your insight serve you and once you decide I’ll know.” He smiled warmly and leaned back, giving her some space and time to think about all she had just learned. He hoped that she would make the right decision and go to join her father. Elysian finished his meal, drank the rest of his ale, stood up and walked out of the inn. He didn’t say a word to anyone, not even to Georgia who had served him and kept him company during his meal. Georgia sat there a bit longer than stood up.
She grabbed the dishes and walked back to the kitchen to drop them off. She returned to the area where they had sat, wiping the table and the chair with a damp cloth. She noticed he had left a generous tip on the table, which she pocketed with a smile. She returned to the bar where she began to wonder about everything that had transpired there that night. She hadn’t even noticed that once Elysian had left the inn the whole area returned to normal. All the chatter and calls for more drink or food returned to normal as if nothing had happened. The other customers seemed oblivious to the presence of the stranger who had just left.
Georgia felt a pang of disappointment, as if she had missed an opportunity to learn more about him. She shrugged it off and continue to complete her work there for the night. Georgia finished with her kitchen clean-up duties. Then got the bar straightened out for the next day’s customers. Checked the stocks and thought about what to prepare for meals tomorrow. She decided to make a stew with some leftover meat and vegetables and bake some fresh bread in the morning. She also thought about making a pie with some of the apples she had bought from a farmer earlier that day. She loved to bake and took pride in the skills she had developed over time in meal preparation.