To move from one meal to the next seems to be a very common activity for me nowadays. It is a habit that Genko and Albert have ingrained upon me, I guess. I have travel with them so long that a day wouldn't be complete without a mid-morning tea and snack. And it would appear that my new friends, Tsu and Toby, wouldn't miss a chance for another free meal. I mean the little girl can really eat! Her happiness over my offer for the next meal of the day, if she promised to help us with the riddles was granted easy enough. So over the next few hours, I took them from the bakery to a local restaurant.

All the while, I lost Genko in his retreat back to the inn to watch over Albert and to cool his head. Now I am no longer the keeper of the nice sleeping vampire. I am the keeper of a brooding young man with a hot head. I hope someday when we get down from the Harley Mountains, Tokey will return to his more charming self. For now Tokey is to be my company with Tsu and Toby. He is too filled with pride to admit his mistake of blaming Genko for their troubles. 

If only he would apologize he could return to the inn to dry off. Oh well, back to my point. The local restaurant we are at currently is simple enough. It has a few wooden tables and chairs with locals eating here and there. I believe I just saw the waitress dart out to the kitchen to gather an order for tea and cookies. She is very hard to get service from. The place is bright with the morning sun leak through the large windows. Leaning over to my side and I try not to snicker at Tokey with his wet hair plastered onto his head. It is really a sad sight to see a grown warrior be soaking wet. Tokey stares out at his glass of water and continuously sulks.

The two performers, meanwhile, sit contently with towers of cookies before each of them. I can barely see Tsu's wide eyes over the different piles. Not including the seven empty cups of tea from Tsu. Toby on the other hand still remains serious as before. He has hardly even touched his cookies or tea. He has been muttering softly to his sister for a while. She does response more than a couple words at a time in elfish.

Tokey huffs and puffs miserably as I scoop up my teacup with a small smirk. He glances at me coldly and sighs. Mindfully I turn my eyes back to my scolding hot tea. The tea shimmers sunlight like a miniature ocean. The only real sounds are the locals muttering in the background and Tsu devouring all the cookies. Of course, there is the rare grumbling from Tokey about the little girl's manners. I stare deep into my teacup and recall what I learned from Genko about the old woman, who owns the flying mounts. Her name is Nora. Many travelers I have spoken of whisper of Nora's flying mounts, but none are able to give full details about them. There is an air of mystery surrounding them.

You see Nora doesn't allow just any old traveler to rent out her creatures, which makes the flying mounts hard to describe. I can clearly note that the locals do confirm Nora owning such creatures. Nora is very selective in who she does business with. According to Genko, a traveler seeking to rent a flying mount must prove himself to be smart. Why would Nora need a person to prove that? I have no clue. But Genko pointed out that Nora is particular and refuses to let out to anyone who cannot answer her riddles. What makes Nora's little game harder, Genko explained, is she only asks a riddle once a day per traveler and it is a different riddle each time. Also Nora makes the riddle harder and harder when a customer comes back to try again.

The game would be easy for us if Albert could come out at day. He is the brightest among us. Alas, he is a vampire. The others in our merry company have proven unlikely to handle such a task. Genko is more into spiritual matters and food. Tokey is more of a person that depends on his sword to do his talking. And me? I have no mind for riddles. I was educated well enough from a girl, who taught herself how to read and write. A riddle for me is a different beast. So with our current status, Genko explained that Nora once she rejects you. She ejects you into the lake near her house and walks away. Something to do with a lesson of wisdom I am sure.

As for why Tokey and Genko are at odds. It is simple enough. Both men fail to see eye to eye about who answered the riddle incorrectly. Things were said between both parties and feelings were hurt and good food spoiled. Needless to say, the waste of food to Genko is the greatest sin possible. The monk refused to speak with Tokey about the affair unless he apologized, which he didn't. And so we are here now. Our little group torn apart for the time being and there are no seconds to waste. I now must depend on Tsu and Toby in order to keep to our deadline and answer the riddle. If depending on these performers saves us time and they are reasonable to hire, I will take them. The only other choice would be to wait for tomorrow and tomorrow would be too late.

I play with my teacup. With my sharp hearing and sensitive sight, this restaurant feels unreal to me. It is so clean and brilliant. I might as well fall asleep. The teacup is very warm in my hands. It isn't like the mountainside or the trail. So comfortable and cheery- Toby suddenly speaks up in elfish to Tsu. She pushes a few more cookies into her mouth and rolls her eyes. Quickly she drinks her eighth cup of tea and swallows. Licking her lips, she nods her head to Toby and begins, "My brother is ready for the next part of the payment."

Toby whispers.

(I should do well to mention that the siblings settled on food for payment. But they added they could ask us the nature of our business and so on. It is a fairer price then the five pounds of gold Tsu wanted when I asked for their help. Something of interest to relate to my father I am sure of it!)

Tsu responses, "Why are you and your friends taking such a long and hazardous journey to find the Nomadic City? People usually just let them alone because they are so strange and hard to find. But it is well known that the Nomads are the wisest and understanding of many things about nature and magic."

Tokey rolls his eyes, "Our foolish friends the monk and the vampire are searching for the Nomadic City for the most ironic reasons. The monk wants to gain immortality and the other wants to regain mortality."

Tsu drops her mouth open. She blinks a little and hurriedly whispers to Toby. The older brother goes into deep thought before answering. From the look on Toby's face I can gain he is confused. It is bizarre in understanding how two members of the Black River Tribe end up with a monk and a vampire. I should know. I am traveling with them. He lowers himself to his sister's level and rapidly speaks with her. The little girl's eyes scan Tokey and I over. There is no point in trying to hide any part of our story. 

I smile politely, "I am sorry for us being so vague about my friends and I relationship to each and why we travel together. Albert, the vampire, and Genko, the monk from earlier, have been our friends for a while. They have aided us when Tokey and I faced a dire situation. It started off with a ghost story-"

"What happened!? I love mysteries!" Tsu gleefully shrieks.

It feels like all the locals are watching our table now. I smile and put down my teacup. Tokey nudges my arm with a heavy scowl. I pause as Toby stares at me blankly trying to make heads or tails of what I said. Nearly forgetting to translate, Tsu excitedly spouts what I said in elfish. I slowly continue with Tsu translating, "Tokey and I were sent out by our tribe to find Salgo Yul. On our way to find him a town called Thaco, which was in need. In Thaco, there had a string of supernatural happenings in the graveyard. Tokey and I stopped at the inn and listened to an innkeeper's story. Lights were said to appear from nowhere and dance about in the night by the sound of unholy music.

 In the morning the people of Thaco would go out and find out that the bodies from the graves were missing. A local priest from the area reported seeing a large beast in the graveyard singing to the dead. To the horror of the priest the dead bodies were coming out of the earth and dancing to the music. The townspeople were afraid of the graveyard and with the advice of the priest they left the dead alone with the beast. The priest after all reassured the people that he had pleased the spirits of the dead in no harm was being done to the living. And so it stood like that for ages."

"That was until the beast began to attract young children to the graveyard. There the children would go out and dance with the dead all night long. But then as soon as daybreak came the children were snapped up by the dead and were never seen again. No matter the warnings from elders, the children would still go to the graveyard. The townspeople in their plea turned again to the priest for help. However, when he tried to perform a ritual to calm the spirits and have the children turned, he too disappeared. The townspeople filled with dread and knew not what do to. First the children and now the priest. They could not send their warriors out to handle the evil; all the warriors were back in the war. Who was left then to defeat the evil? Solely the elderly and the womenfolk. They did their best to combat the beast and its music, but over time it took more people," I stop as Tsu stops to the edge of her seat. She quickly tries to sum up everything I said.

"Now when Tokey and I arrived in Thaco, the only ones to greet us were the chief's wife and the innkeeper and his family. They had turned in the past few weeks to different travelers for help. Most turned them down, yet a strange warrior had not turned them away. He stepped up to the task and went off the graveyard. Over the course of time, the remaining people heard nothing from him. Soon it had become days and days later. Slowly a person would pop up at the edge of the graveyard. When the person returned to Thaco after disappearing, they would seem soulless. They would not response to anything or anyone."

"By the time, we arrived most of the townspeople had returned; only to be soulless creatures wandering the streets with the chief's wife and the innkeeper's family to tend to them. The innkeeper requested that Tokey and I go to exam what happened to the warrior, who disappeared. At that point we heard that he was none other than Salgo. Without a moment's thought, Tokey and I were out to find what became of the beast, the townspeople, and Salgo."

"And then!?" Tsu cries.

I hold up my hand, "It is a very long and dull story from here. I will do my best to spare you the details-

"No! No! Tell me what happened!"

"Too much detail kills a story," I say. "To put it simply, by the time we had arrived at the graveyard, the beast was still alive. It was playing music and it managed to enchant Tokey into dancing and I just couldn't stand the music. When I heard the cursed music, it was so sharp and painful to listen to I passed out. Later when I came to my senses I found myself in a closed tomb with Tokey. He was still hauntingly humming the tune from the beast."

I pause to drink some tea. Tokey grumbles from under his breath and turns pale at the thought of something. He claims something about fighting the beast with his sword and nearly killing it. It is not the first time, he has made these claims. But he could never prove the issue. Tokey settles back into his chair and looks out at the window. Never has Tokey told me the full story of what it was like to be under the enchantment.

I briefly grin, "The tomb was not easily escapable and there was hardly any air. . . I tried my best to free Tokey of the music but his mind was gone. To sum it all up, in some time we were saved by Genko and Albert. They sought shelter in the graveyard for the day and they found us. It had seemed that the warrior, who came before us, had been fighting the creature in the valley below the graveyard for days. When he staggered across the monk and vampire, he told them of seeing two helpless souls end up in the beasts grip. The warrior ended to return to the town to deliver a cure for the illness the people suffered."

"Here's the story short. The warrior was none other than Master Salgo on his way to the Nomadic City. The two idiots saved us because my master told them where we were. They fixed me from the enchantment. And they have been with us ever since. The end!" Tokey snaps.

There is a period of prolonged silence. I fiddle with my bandaged hands. I know I am being long winded again. I shrug a little and push my sunglasses up. I softly go on, "To answer your original question. We are going to the Nomadic City to search for Salgo Yul. He was a great warrior and general once for the humans, but he found the Great Truth through a creature known as Kitsune. Once he learned of the Great Truth he left the human world and joined the counter forces of the creatures. Through his guidance with the creatures' forces and Kitsune, they formed an unstoppable force. For once in all of history it appeared that the creature would see the humans defeated and peace granted. I am sure you have heard of him. . ."

"But in the recent years of the war in Gaia, Salgo has gone missing from the main battles and has gone wandering the countryside for unknown purposes. Without Salgo anywhere in sight the forces of the creatures have gotten weakened. There are only rumors and rare encounters of where Salgo has gone. We need him because he knows a secret that would undo the human's power hold over the war. The greatest lead that we have found leads us to the Nomadic City. There among the Nomads, Salgo is said to keep the secret hidden."

Toby tabs his sister and mutters.

Tsu asks, "Toby knows all the rumors and ideas about the Nomadic City. It is suppose to be very different from any other place on the planet. But what is so special about it?"

"Rumors of all kinds. . ." I gaze at my tea dreamily again. I was really getting into tell my story. The excitement has passed. Oh the rest of the story is very interesting. I guess I will save the last part of the next time someone asks. There remains just the lingering smell of cookies and sweet tea.