Hello! This is a W.I.P but feel free to read, if you have any comments of questions feel free to post them, but keep them small

Chapter 1

Thisla had lived in the town Cadiz since she was born.Thisla was born on a bright night, she had been raised to be a women in a private school called Namina Estates, but as her fathers place as a general of a commanding part of the armies, he had taught her how to wield a sword to defend herself. Since her mother had died at age 34, breaking her fathers heart and ripping out part of her own, she knew that her mother was in a better place, better then Cadiz, even though she missed her terribly.

Thisla was outside practising her stance of beauty while a sword hung at her belt, hidden by the folds of her dress when she saw her father come out and watch her, he was leaning in on the door frame, “now draw your sword” he said in deep voice, she slid the sword out of its sheath, gracefully, and brought it around so that it was aimed at the pocket of air in front of her, she smiled, that was her fastest transition yet, she turned her head to see her father nod in approval, and she slid the sword back into the sheath, she walked up to her father and smiled once more, “so how was the training today?” She said now that she was closer to him she could make out black circles under his eyes, “eh, the young folk don’t know how to listen as well as you” he said flatly, “you should rest” she said leading him inside, she went to the cupboards and grabbed the mead he liked, pouring it into a finely made glass, she passed him the mead, and he drained it gratefully. The blue-glass mug made a hollow noise as her father put it on the table, “yes I will be sleeping if you need me, wake me when it’s supper time” he had said lifting off the seat and moving towards his small room.

The swords bashed against each-other making a big Clang!, this turned to Thislas attention, she watched the two young men grapple back and fourth, swords in hand. She watched as they tumbled over each other, Thisla rolled her hazel eyes at the men, “men don’t know what fighting in style means” she muttered to herself, The wind lapped at Thislas long brown hair, and at her white dress, the folds of her dress rolled about and around her legs, she stood on a hill not to far from the training field, she had a decent view from where she stood, she could see all the trainings pairs, she found herself wishing to be among them, she may have been trained as a woman but she loved to swing a sword. She moved down the hill towards the training field, once she had made it down the rough-stoney slope she was greeted by many men, she noticed when she was around the men tended to put more effort into their training, fighting harder and faster until they were dripping with sweat and could no longer stand, she waved her hand with a graceful gesture and smiled. Thisla started to make her way to the trainers tent well she could see the mentors, she was welcomed openly because her father was a mentor himself, but these men did not know she could wield a sword, she had tried to show them she could but they only saw a young pretty woman, not a girl who could fight. She sat down at the mentors table where the older men welcomed her, she gave them respectful smiles.

“Good afternoon everyone” she said and smiled, the older mentors dipped their heads as if to say that they acknowledged her, she shifted awkwardly, she had gone up with this argument before, and they had disapproved, “I have co-“ she started “We know why you are here, Thisla” interrupted one of the older mentors, Thisla quieted down and folded her hands in her lap, she took the time to look at each mentor at the surrounding table, “And we have chosen to approve, each woman needs the skills to fight to protect themselves, though I doubt your father hasn’t taught you how to swing a sword, we will be here to teach you better tactics” she looked at the with total awe, she could not contain her joy, she stood, “Thank you!” She said full of glee, she had the sudden urge to hug one of the mentors, she turned and wrapped her arms around the mentor closest to her, Jain, “Thank you!” She said, Jain looked around in sudden surprise, and patted her softly on the back, after a few minutes she had settled back in her chair, Jain nodded, “we will all take time to train you” he said looking at each mentor in the room, she nodded, “Thank you” she whispered once more, Jain nodded “you are dismissed” she stood silently and bowed before walking out of the tent.

Thisla was given much looks of confusion when she passed with a great smile on her face, she walked down the blue-rock gravel road to her iron-brick house, not a usual material for house building but her father had requested it, she had been naturing a small garden outside the iron-clad house, waking every morning to water it and plant bright flowers to make the glum house seem lively. The iron doors seemed to loom over her as she came up to them, but she was not afraid of their size, she pushed the door open with ease and closed it softly aware that her father was still sleeping.

The copper pots made slight banging noises, as she set them on the stove to warm, she turned and gathered the vegetables she needed from the cupboard and unwrapped the meat she had gathered throughout the day from the butcher, she sliced the mix of vegetables, carrot, potatoes and beans, she retrieved a hunting knife from its sheath and cut the meat in to ways, for her and her father, she left the food in some shade of the shelf’s to keep it cool, and grabbed a bucket, taking it by the handle and moving out the door towards the town well. The well made splashing sounds as men and women took bucket loads of water from the well, she dipped her bucket along the surface of the ice-cold water, the water lapped at the edges of the bucket and poured into the bottom of the bucket, once Thisla was happy with the amount of water she had acquired and made her way back quickly to the house, she transferred the water from the small bucket into two big copper pots, one for the meat and herbs, the other for the vegetables, she lit fire to the stove and dumped the meat and herbs in the pot and moved it onto the stove to boil, she then moved the vegetables to the other pot, and boiled that one too. Thisla watched the pots for a while and sighed, she moved away from the pots and walked into her fathers room, which was adorned by many glorious wall hangings, swords and shields. The floor made a slight creak as she moved towards her father, she put a soft hand on his broad shoulder and shook it slightly, but that was enough to wake him, he woke was a little start “sorry” she said apologetically she took a half-step back and watched him get up.

“Dinners ready” she said quietly, her voice filling the room, she turned and walked out of the small room, she would let him get ready for dinner on his own, she headed towards the kitchen and removed the two pots from the stove and placed them on the make-shift counter, she collected two red-wood plates from the cupboard and readied the food. The two figures sat quietly at the table for a few minutes, eating, Thisla finally broke the silence like shattered glass, “I got the training privilege” she said looking hopefully at her father, he looked up from his meal and looked at her, a small smile cracked his lips, she knew this was equal to him jumping up and down with happiness, “good job Thisla” he said, still smiling, “thank you, father” she replied, brushing her dress with her hands. Thisla dipped her hands into the cool water and then grabbed a cloth and a dirtied plate, she scrubbed at the plate with the wet cloth, she finished with the plate and grabbed another one, after a few minutes of struggle she finished the cleaning and emptied the pot of washing water, Thisla stepped away from the counter and helped her father up from the table, he nodded a thanks and went off to bed, he was getting older. Thisla spent her last few hours of day practicing the technique of drawing her sword quickly and gracefully, she finally tired and retired to bed.

The morning sun blared through Thisla’s finely made curtains, Thisla blinked slowly twice then the world around her came alive, she could hear the birds singing their songs, and stock munching on their feed, she stood up and listened a little more before sliding on a white dress and striding out of her room, she greeted her father as he moved to go to work, she was to travel with him for her lessons, she grabbed her satchel and placed it on her shoulder, and packed what she needed for the trip, consisting of water, small packages of food, she slung the sword around her waist, and twisted the sheath belt with her dress belt, so that she could hide the sword in the folds of her dress, she walked outside and called her horse, rhythm, the horse came obediently, Thisla quickly tacked the horse up and mounted swiftly, her father doing the same for his horse, halt, they quickly set off at a fast canter.

Thisla and her father soon arrived at the training field, the young men waved respectful gestures to her father as they passed, and flashed charming smiles at Thisla as she passed, her and her father made their way to the mentors tent, once they came to the large tent, they stationed their horses and unpacked them, Thisla and her father walked into the tent, the mentors called in greetings and gestured for them to sit, her father flashed a smile and sat, and Thisla bowed before sitting, she folded her dress as she did so, “greetings” she said politely, the mentors nodded, Jain, the mentor gestured for her to follow, “I will be teaching you today” Jain said and led her to a separate spot on the field, it was unoccupied, Jain turned towards her and smiled, “draw your sword” he ordered, she reached into the folds of her dress and gracefully pulled the sword out of its adorned sheath, she pointed the tip of the sword to the ground and waited for Jains next orders, “good, now I will assign you a fighting partner to see where your fighting skill is at” he said, at a gesture one of the training men from the large field came trotting up to Jains side, “Idam, this is Thisla, she will be you fighting partner” Jain turned to Thisla, “Thisla, this is Idam he is your fighting partner” Thisla nodded and greeted Idam, Idam flashed a smile and gripped his sword, “alright, swords drawn, fight!” Jain ordered, raising one arm, Thisla brought her sword up from her side and pointed it at Idam, Idam realised he had to fight Thisla and fumbled for his sword, a clumsy smile on his face, Thisla looked at him and tilted her head towards him as she swung her sword through the air, she slashed a over-head cut at him, to distract his blade, she then placed a side-cut at him, slashing at his armoured body, she then played with a under-hand cut, cutting away at his legs, she stood back and examined him, he was kneeling on the ground, cut and bruised, “Alright, we can call that over” Jain said, helping Idam up, Idam stood up and looked at Thisla, total surprise swamped his face, “h-how?-“ he managed to blurt, he studied her once more, Thisla raised a eyebrow, “I cut you with my sword, that’s how” Thisla inwardly laughed as Idam looked at her with wide eyes, Jain slapped Idam across the back.

“now get yourself to the healers tent! Get yourself cleaned up!” he said.

Jain turned and looked at Thisla.

“that was good” he said with an approving nod, Thisla turned and watched Idam stumble to the healers tent, “I hope I didn’t hurt him to much”, Jain looked at her, “I am sure he will be alright, now let’s get training” jain stepped a stride away from Thisla, “alright so as I watched you, I noticed that you use only a sword when fighting, but you need a way to help defend yourself a little more,”- Jain picked up a shield -“ You will need to learn to fight with a shield, weather you use it or not,”- Jain passed her the shield, Thisla took the shield and felt unbalanced-“ alright, so place your sword over the rim of the Shield, yup that’s good, alright now arch your arm, like that”- Jain corrected her arm.

Thisla stood, balancing herself, shield in one hand, sword in the other, the sword balanced over the rim over the shield, she stood back at step, still in pursuit, Thisla looked up over the shield and smiled at Jain, “I think I got it”.

Jain nodded, “yup” he reached over and grabbed his own sword and shield, the sun glinted off the metal as he slipped his arm through the bracers of the shield, “let’s spar” he said straightening up, Thisla took a half-step towards Jain and moved around him in a circular motion, Jain tried for the first blow, a swift side-cut Thisla had managed to block the cut before it got to her, grateful for the shield, she dove back and moved her sword so it was resting next to her shield. Thisla dodged forward, her sword thirsty for a blow, she managed to knock Jains unprotected side, Jain cursed and brutally brought the shield around and banged it into hers, the impact jarred her arm, Thisla cursed unladylike and stepped back, her sword slipped forward, now eager for blood. Jain parried one of Thisla’s hits and thrust his shield out once more, to jar her arm again, but Thisla had known better, she dodged back and parried, sliding her sword up into the air, carrying Jains sword with it, Jains sword made a hollow sound as it crashed into the bare earth, Thisla heard Jain sigh, “alright you win” Jain said.

Thisla lowered her shield and smiled, she allowed her sword to slide back into the sheath, “you did well” Jain said, “let’s go back and get a drink” he said wiping a hand over his sweaty forehead, Thisla dipped her head “alright”

The red wine sloshed around Thisla’s glass as she held it up and stared at the endless red swirls, the wine had a metallic taste but Thisla still drank it, Thisla was in a small side department of the mentors tent, sitting along in the cool room, nothing adorned the walls of the palomino coloured tent, a few lounge chairs had been set to one side of the tent, and a counter to the other side, it held petty amounts of wine and mead. Thisla sat in the silence, it was as thick as fog around her, she tapped her foot against the ground to make some sound, she could not bare so much silence, Thisla looked up at the roof of the tent and sighed, in the corner of her eye she could see a small flash of movement, she turned to look at who or what it was, it was Idam, “oh, I see that you have gotten out of the healers hut” she said.

Idam nodded, “yes” and paused he grabbed a jug of mead and walked over to where she sat on a lounge chair, he sat down and occupied the chair next to her, Thisla watched as he drained a good amount of mead from the jug, “what are you doing here?” She asked, he paused and looked at her, “seeing you” he said with a goofy smile, she could not help but inwardly smile, she looked out of the tents folds, she felt Idam lean closer to her, “how do you know how to fight?” He asked, she smiled, “I was taught, like you” she said.

Idam leaned back and drained the rest of the mead, “that was good” he said as he set down the mug, he paused and glanced at her again, “your lady school wouldn’t teach you how to swing a sword, I am assuming?” He asked.

Thisla laughed, “no, they would never teach me how, my father taught me” she said smiling, Idam smirked “as I thought” Idam gazed at the roof of the tent, the silence stretched between them “so, are your wounds healing?” She said trying to break the uncomfortable silence, Thisla set down her glass of wine and folded her hands in her lap, “eh’, they are healing alright” he said.

Thisla shifted her weight, “it’s getting late and I should go, sunset is upon me” she said excusing herself from the chair, Idam glanced up at her, “oh, ok, see you tomorrow”

She nodded and strode out of the side tent, to meet her father outside the mentors tent, she smiled at him and grasped at rhythms reins, with a swift movement she was in the saddle, her father not far behind her.

The horses hooves made a calming noise as they collided with the stone path beneath them, Her father and his horse, Halt, were in the lead, Thisla and her horse, rhythm, following not far behind, Rhythm’s mane twinned with her reins, Thisla leaned forward and stroked rhythms soft neck “good girl”, she glanced up to see her father urge his horse into a quick gallop, Thisla looked at him confused, then followed him, kicking Rhythm into a gallop after him, the horses decreased speed as they climbed the hill, but they worked hard to keep up with their masters orders.

Thisla spotted somebody waving a red flag upon a watch tower at the border wall, that’s when Thisla took the advantage to speak to her father, “what’s going on?” She said raising her voice to be heard over the wind, her father glanced back at her, “I don’t know, but something is wrong” the wind carried his words with a gush, Thisla stared at him, she could only think of what was happening or what was wrong.

The two horses slowed to a trot as they neared the gate, her father jumped up and down in the saddle waving his arms, like a frog in a sock, “let us in! Let us in!” He yelled, Thisla could not help but worry about what was happening, if it made her father act like this- she knew it was not good.

The gate guards eventually pulled the gate lever, it took the work of five men, her father galloped his horse into the gates, leaving rhythm and Thisla standing at the gate, she turned to the gate guards, and thanked them.

It took Thisla a while to find her father, but she found him where a group of people were forming, lots of people were yelling, she heard women and children weeping, she looked around the havoc, time seemed to slow for a minute, she could see a flash of colour in the sky, and she could hear marching soldiers, The smell of fire, crisp in the air, she tightened her grip on rhythms reins. A column of fire burst out of thin air to her left, causing rhythm to shy to the right, with a large leap rhythm was galloping uncontrollably through the city, Thisla released a terrified shriek, she went flying backwards and was hanging off the back of rhythm’s body, her foot was stuck in the stirrup, she tried to reach forward and release her foot, but rhythm launched into another direction, causing Thisla to fall, and drag on the ground, pain bursted through the back of Thisla’s head, she screamed once again, this time for help. A flash of brown fur blurred Thisla’s vision, and the sound of another horse galloping merged with rhythm’s, Thisla tried to reach forward again and release herself from the stirrup, the brown fur beside her moved out of view, and Thisla was stuck, her arms wrapped around her head, trying to protect herself. Rhythm slid to a halt, which left Thisla grateful, she layed down, arms over her head, she could hear somebody talking, a voice she could barely remember, “hey, hey, hey!” A hand placed on her arm, “Thisla! Can you hear me!?” She weakly moved her arm around so she could see who was talking, she blinked a few times, she felt the persons arms wrap around her, “hey Thisla, your alright” she looked up gingerly, and saw Idam’s face, she looked at him and realised tears were running down her face, “s-sorry” she croaked, pain lingered throughout her head, “don’t be sorry, it wasn’t your fault” Idam said and stood her upright.

Thisla was inwardly dying of embarrassment, she had just been dragged across half the city hanging by her stuck boot, she looked at Idam and looked back at rhythm, she walked up to the snorting alarmed horse, “hey girl” she said stroking the mares soft neck, rhythm peaked at Thisla through a side-eye, rhythm grunted as Thisla stroked her, “let’s go back and see what’s going on” Thisla said, forgetting her pain as curiosity won the battle inside her head, she turned to see Idam opening and closing his mouth as if to answer, “you sure? You just got dragged off a horse” he said shaking his head

Thisla mounted rhythm, “mhm?” She watched Idam shake his head once more, “you should check for injuries” he said taking his brown geldings reins, “I will do it after I find out what spooked rhythm” she said stubbornly, clicking at rhythm and digging her heels into rhythm’s soft flesh, “go! Go!” She said, and rhythm set off at a gallop, heading towards where the fire was.

Idam followed Thisla reluctantly, pushing his gelding into a slow gallop behind Thisla, Thisla spurred rhythm faster.

The horses squealed and reared as Thisla and Idam skidded to stop, the court yard where the many people including her father, had been burnt, Thisla stared in absolute horror as she studied the blackened court yard, there were no signs of life other then Idam and herself.

Thisla felt terrible inside, she felt tears building up, ready to pour, “Father!” She called out, Idam dismounted and kicked the ash with his feet, “their not here”, Idam sucked in a breath and grasped his horses reins, “let’s go, we can see if we can find them hiding around here” he said trying to reassure Thisla that they weren’t dead, Thisla nodded and followed Idam slowly.

The two of them searched throughout the city for a few hours, only finding a few scared citizens, and burnt remains of houses, Thisla still couldn’t find out what had done this, and it wreaked her to know that she had not yet found her father, she turned and watched Idam, he was kicking ashes and lifting ruined building parts to find survivors, ‘he must have some sort of family too’ she thought silently to herself. Thisla walked over to Idam and put a soft hand on his broad shoulder, “you must have some family your worried about” she said breaking the silence, Idam looked at her with a distant sorrow in his eyes, “I have a little sister-“ he said, his voice heavy with sorrow.

Thisla looked at him, “we will find her, don’t worry” she said, her hand still resting on his shoulder, “I will find her, even if it takes forever” Idam’s features twisted as if in pain, “forever might not be necessary” he said glumly,

he looked at Thisla, his light eyes seemed to be the only colour in the blackened surroundings, Thisla could only nod, she slowly moved away from Idam, the burnt stones made a slight crunch under her feet and gave in, crumbling like coal, Thisla walked over to Rhythm and mounted, swiftly, Thisla twisted in the saddle and watched Idam stand, he turned in a 360 degree circle and gazed at the black ruins, “Thisla?” He paused, he was not facing her and Thisla could not read his expression, Thisla dismounted.

“Yes?”, Thisla stumbled forward, the ground un-even and soft, after a few steps Thisla gained balance, “what is it?”, Idam turned back and looked at her “what do the markings on the walls look like?” He asked her, a smart gleam in his eye, “scorch marks” she said, Idam shook his head, “and?” This question made Thisla look closer at the scorched walls, Thisla gasped as she found what he meant, “claw marks!” Thisla exclaimed. Idam nodded, “yes, and whatever has done this must’ve been huge” He said pointing at the deep gashes in the wall, Thisla murmured in awe as a she studied the wall, the claw marks went into the wall at least as deep as her fore-leg, the black stone twisted and pointed out like jagged teeth, the stone seemed to squirm with a aura, Thisla reached out and brushed her finger tips against the cold stone, ridged feeling of pure terror flooded through her, “what the?-“ she whispered, and stepped back from the stone.

“What’s wrong, Thisla?” Idam said, Thisla didn’t look back at him, but stared at the deep gash in the stone, Thisla wrapped her arms around herself slowly, “I-I think I know what did this-..” she said in a shaky voice.

Idam stared at Thisla, warm feelings flooded through him, “what did it?” Idam watched Thisla squat down and rummage through her brown leather satchel, as she searched, Idam watched her with growing interest “what are you doing?” Idam asked the words thick on his tongue as he watched her golden graceful arms, work back and fourth, he had a sudden urge to touch her golden skin, but restrained. “Found it” Thisla murmured, pulling out a thick leather book, the pages looked yellow and old, the leather on the spine of the book looked worn from the book opening and closing, “what is it?” Idam asked as he studied the old book, Thisla shot Idam a look, he couldn’t quite read it, but it made his gut twist and his heart race, “it’s a book, you silly” she replied, Idam shifted his weight onto one leg, and smirked “well duh”, Thisla looked up at him, and rolled her eyes, Idam stared at her face, “It’s a Todo book” Thisla said and smiled, her teeth gleamed like prismatic gems, Idam was entranced for a split second, “whoa, how did you get a Todo book?” Idam said holding his hands up, “my father gave it to me” she said and ran her hands over the book cover, Idam watched as Thisla opened the book, the smell of old worn page’s lofted throughout the space around him, Thisla flipped through the pages, and made her way to page 763, Idam peered at the page, it was yellow, and words formed of ink dominated the page, but a large drawing of a obsidian creature resided over on the left page, Idam walked around, so that he could see over Thisla’s shoulder. “What is that?” Idam said pointing at the drawing, Thisla reached back and moved his finger away from the drawing, “it’s called a leviathan, it’s related to the dragon”.

The world seemed to show for a nanosecond, “Hold up, you mean a dragon like thing is crawling around here?” Idam said looking closer at the drawing of the leviathan, the creature had black gem-like scales that covered its whole body, but it was missing its two front legs, instead its wings supported the creature’s front half of its body, long spikes sprouted from it wings, at least the size of two men, stacked, the creature’s talons curled inward, prefect for climbing and hooking them through its opponent’s, “Look at those talons!” He exclaimed, “They are huge! And hooked, it will be hard to kill this thing” Idam said, he casted a pitying look at his plain iron sword, and sighed, he sucked in a breath, “And I will need a new sword” he said flatly, as much as he hated to admit it, it was true.

Idam watched Thisla as she began to speak, “Yes it’s talons are huge, yes it will be hard to kill, yes you do need a new sword” Thisla laughed, Idam smiled, her laugh seemed to light a path through the dark, he couldn’t find somebody better than Thisla to help him kill the leviathan.

Thisla looked at the book, she could feel Idam’s eyes on her, and she tried her best not to look up at him, she had to focus on the book, she red the paragraphs of runes, each one explaining what the leviathan could do, about it’s offensive attacks and where it’s main defence could be located, finally she looked up at Idam, “I think we should start looking for the leviathan”, Idam shook his head, “no, not yet, it’s night time, and the leviathan has an advantage, plus we need to make camp” Thisla inwardly sighed, she knew that Idam was right, but she wanted to find her father all to much.

Idam and Thisla spent at least 2 hours to finding a reasonable accommodation, they found a Inn at a untouched part of Cadiz. Thisla and Idam tied theirs horses to the hitching post, Idam paused and checked the saddle packs, and secured them, “all good”, he said moving away from the horses, and turned to face Thisla.

Idam strode towards the Inn, a small tavern had been set up underneath the rooms of the Inn, “seems like a nice place to stay” Idam said, trying to start a conversation with Thisla, “yea, maybe say that when we’re inside” she said, Idam chuckled softly and pushed open one of the taverns doors, “lady’s first” he said holding the door, behind his torso, Thisla started forward and rolled her eyes, “alright.” The Tavern was full of drunken men who spun around off chairs, singing their glorious songs and dancing with women, Idam turned to Thisla, “I think you should stay close to me” Thisla looked around, “yea I suppose so” she said moving closer to Idam, Idam nodded respectfully, and walked towards the counter, where men were calling for drinks, Idam didn’t sit down but moved along until he found an easy space he could talk to the bar-tender, “Um, would you by any chance know somebody I could talk to, to catch a room?” He asked, leaning on the bar, the bar-tender glanced up once and growled

“what do ya want?” He asked in a dirty voice, Thisla cringed at the voice, it was disgusting.

“We would like a room” Idam said confidently, the bar-tender raised one eyebrow at them, and looked between the two, “we have couple room’s over there” he said and lifted a bony finger over the counter, pointing to a rampart over to the western side of the tavern, Idam flinched, “wait! What!, no, no, no, sir sorry, you got that wrong, we..er..um..not a thing” he said quickly, flicking a finger between himself and Thisla.

The bar-tender threw back his head and laughed, “alright” he said in his raspy voice, the bar-tender glanced down at the room papers, Idam turned away from the man, and turned to Thisla, “ so, it’s a nice little Inn, hey?” Thisla smiled, “yea” it was a simple word, but it enlightened him.

“Alright, your room is ready” the bar-tender said, Idam smiled and passed him a pouch of tokens, the bar-tender passed him the key, “cheers” Idam said roughly.

Thisla and Idam moved towards their assigned room, little did they know, it was in the western rampart, Idam opened the door and Thisla moved in behind him.

Idam walked into the large area, the wall’s were made of marble, and a red carpet decorated the polished wooden floor, “whoa, we are being treated like royalty” Idam said, Thisla walked around and looked at all the nooks and crannies.

“Where is the second bed?” She asked, Idam looked around, Thisla was right, there was only one bed, “oh damn” Idam said.

Idam turned on his side, the blanket he was given only covered half of his long body, Idam sat up, he quit the thought of sleeping, not on the wooden floor, he watched Thisla quietly sleeping in the bed, she had claimed the bed, the only bed in the room. Idam got up, sound-less, and gathered some nice clothes, suited for the bar, he quickly crept and exited the lush room.

Idam smoothed his shirt with his hands and slowly made his way down the stair well, heading to the tavern. Idam stretched his sore muscles and sat down at a empty seat at the bar, he knew Thisla probably wouldn’t approve of him getting drunk, but getting drunk was a man’s lifestyle.

“Hey!” Idam lifted a arm, calling the bar-tender, “A drink please” Idam didn’t bother telling him what he wanted, for he was happy drinking whatever, his sore muscles called for it.

The drink was served, Idam stared at the thin bubbles that crawled to the top of the glass, he shrugged and drained the glass, “another!” He called out, waving another arm.

The time seemed to pass like several ticks, but actually hours, next thing Idam knew, men were crowding him, while he was taking shots, the men whooped and whistled with every shot, one reached forward and ruffled a rough hand through Idam’s thick black hair, “we got a winner!” He roared and lifted a arm towards the roof, his rough hand gripping Idam’s forearm, Idam felt his whole body lift out of the chair, “alright alright, you can put me down” Idam slurred, there was a call out behind him, the whole tavern went quiet, and Idam gingerly turned to face who had called him.

Thisla pulled back the cover, the shouts of men and the clink of glasses woke her, Thisla growled softly, “idiots”, it was still the night, the stars twinkled, their light shining through the window, onto Thisla’s skin, making it look dappled. Thisla pulled on some shoe’s and looked around, Idam wasn’t there, “Idam you fool” she cursed and opened the door, the burdening light of lanterns blared into Thisla’s eyes.

“Gosh” she said and put a hand over her eye’s, the closer Thisla got the to bar underneath the Inn the more she heard shouts of drunk men, it probably wasn’t safe out here alone, especially for a woman, but she wanted to find Idam.

Thisla walked down the stairwell to the tavern, Thisla was barely down the last step before a man came up to her, “Oi, lady, wanna dance with me?” The man slurred, Thisla looked the man up and down twice, and scrunched up her nose, he smelt like smoke and alcohol, “no thanks” Thisla said and quickly passed the man.

Thisla walked up to the bar, she didn’t see Idam yet, and the weird man was following her, “c’mon lady, dance with me” Thisla turned to face him again, “I said no thanks” she repeated, Thisla walked up the bar, man still following, until she spotted Idam, she called out his name, he turned to her with a guilty look on his face, “eh?” Thisla turned to be irritated, she rushed up to him and grabbed his ear, dragging him away from the bar, “consult me next time you go drinking!” She said, clearly irritated, she continued to drag him up the stairs, the men around the bar started to laugh, “he got bested by his wife!” They shouted, Thisla turned to look at Idam, his cheeks were red, then Thisla looked at men at the bar, “I am not his wife”.

Thisla dragged Idam up into the room, she closed the door and crossed her arms at him, Idam stood up, “sorry?” He said, Thisla shot him at angry look, “I just needed a drink” he said, pleading for her forgiveness, Thisla turned to him, “there’s a water jug over there if you needed a drink” she said pointing to the far side of the room, Idam cast a bored look at the jug, and scrunched up his nose, “water”he spat, “yea, water” Thisla said rolling her eyes.

“Look, I am sorry, I should have told you” Idam said spreading his arms out, “a man needed to drink” he said with hopeful eyes, Thisla pointed to the water jug again, Idam snorted, “heck no” he said, Thisla rolled her eyes again, “I am going to bed, again, no exiting the room” she said and crept into bed.

Idam watched Thisla for a long while, something popped and fitted in his mind, he wasn’t sure what, but it made him move over to the bed and climbed in, softly and quietly so Thisla didn’t notice, Idam closed his eyes and retired to the dream realm.

Thisla’s eyelids parted slowly, the light of the rising sun coming through the thin blinds, Thisla turned on her side, she saw a figure in the sheets beside her, the figure rose up slowly.

Idam woke up, to be welcomed by Thisla’s wide-eyed gaze, Idam sucked in a tight breath, “what are you doing in my bed?” asked Thisla, the question Idam was embarrassed to answer, “erm..I- uh” Idam racked his mind for a excuse, but he didn’t have one, “I was drunk” he lied, and stumbled out of the bed, his cheeks were heating excessively, he bit his tongue and turned away from Thisla’s confused gaze.

Thisla watched Idam turn, “so what were you doing in my bed?” She asked, Thisla didn’t want to drop the subject, nor did she want a man creeping into her bed at night.

Idam paused, “I..erm..was cold?” He tried, Thisla huffed