Stepping beyond the gates at this time of night is pretty eerie. The streets are fairly well lit, but the towering multi-story buildings are packed tightly and without seeming care for concepts like grids or order. Some buildings have struts running between one another for added support and for hanging down streamers and signs adding to the visual chaos.

  Altogether, between the tall buildings, the erratic placements, weaving roads, and countless offshoots into alleys and side streets, the place feels confining and suffocating. A feeling that is further amplified by the fact that I am literally restricted right now, and even if I wanted to, I couldn’t stretch my wings.

  I sigh, and Olly turns around to give me an inquisitive look. “Only being able to see a tiny slice of the sky just has me feeling dour atop all of the other stuff.”

  “Ah yeah. That makes sense. Living out where you have and always having freedom and space — this must be pretty jarring.” He nods, falling back to walk alongside me. When he comes even with me, I see Lilly poking her head out of his hood and looking around at everything with wide-eyed wonder.

  “Like what you see, Lil?” I give her a smile, but when she turns to answer she definitely doesn’t return it.

  “It’s nice to see something more interesting than a tree, cabin, or my father’s tavern.” Her response comes out clipped, and she ducks further into Olly’s hood after giving it, stepping around to the far side of his head from me. I see him grimace, since she moved from his left shoulder to his right, but he doesn’t say anything, he just sets his jaw and looks forward, ending his side of our conversation.

  Sensing the tension rising, I decide to let things lie. Everyone is tired and stressed after the debacle at the gate and I don’t see any value in pushing it further at this late hour.

  As we walk, the only sounds that surround us are Olly and my boots against the smooth stone ground and the occasional metallic tap of my glaive on each flagstone I pass. The sounds echo inwards at us, repeatedly bounced by the close confines. But that starts to lessen as we break into what must be the town square.

  It’s a wide open, mostly circular, space with room for dozens and dozens of shop stalls. In the dead center of the space, there’s a large set of bulletin boards with a few desks and kiosks around it, plenty of seating too. It’s a place that feels so large and artificial that not having any people in it feels unsettling. Like standing out in the middle of a field while knowing there’s a monster around.

  I hear a sound back where we came from. Something like grating metal, maybe. I stop abruptly and spin in place to see something disappearing around a corner. Or…not. “See something, Ayre?”

  “Not sure. Thought I heard a sound and then thought I saw a shadow. But admittedly, I’m not certain.” I sigh at Olly, and gesture across the space to the tallest building in the square.

  “Think that’s the Gilded Maw?” I ask him with a bit of sarcasm.

  “Gilded Fang, I think. And yeah, I doubt anything else would really qualify.” He shrugs, but has a growing smile as he takes in the building.

  The Gilded Fang is about six stories tall, standing slightly taller than average for the buildings in the town. It’s constructed mostly out of the rarer variants of the Ironbough trees. Its facade glitters like a hoard, even in this half-light. The outside is adorned with all manner of monster parts that have been used as payment for renting rooms by freelancers. The entryway is surrounded by fangs and tusks, giving the impression of stepping into a monster’s maw — an impression bolstered by the rust red wood framing the door.

  I hear Lilly chime in as we get closer and pass into the warm light radiating out from the front of the building and various windows on the way up the structure at random. “You think it was built with this aesthetic in mind, Olly? Or did it grow naturally after the fact?”

  He shrugs. “I have no idea, Lil. Ayre would have a better idea — she’s been here over the years.”

  After a too-long pause, “So, Ayre? Has it?” Lilly asks, sounding short.

  “It’s gotten more elaborate over the years. But as far back as I remember it’s had this aesthetic going on. Never been inside, though. Your glamours usually got unstable if people bumped me, so I stuck to the less populated areas.” I pause, trying to remember anything pertinent or something that might distract Lilly from her mood. “I think I remember some people mentioning that when the tavern is viewed from above — like from another building — it looks more like a face with an open mouth. More than the ground level perspective, at least.”

  I see it strike home as her eyes open wide, and she does something I probably should have predicted, but failed to with how distracted I’ve been over her moodiness.

  “I’ll go look!”

  Olly and I both start to say something at the same time, probably the same thing, but Lilly hops out of his hood and flutters up to a higher height after doing a loop around us. Olly tries and fails to catch her as she sails past, but we’re both just left looking at her as she ascends higher.

  “Lilly, come back here, we’re trying to be subtle” I hiss out in a strong whisper. She comes to a stop abruptly, but not because of my words. I see she’s staring into a window with lights on…and I see the person staring back at her with shock on their face. Her face, I realize.

  She’s pale skinned, with angular features and startlingly gold eyes that seem to be vertically slitted like my own. Her hair is a match for her skin, and I see a pair of forward swept dark horns coming from the rear of her head and forwards.

  Lilly abruptly turns transparent and darts towards me, disappearing into my hood as I stare up at the watcher. We make eye contact and I hold it for as long as she’ll allow. After a few moments, she turns away, looking embarrassed, and steps from the window.

  “Do you think they saw me?” I hear meekly from within my hood.

  “Yes. I am beyond certain that they saw you, Lilly. We’ll have to avoid her, I think. Not that she knows what either Olly or I look like, I suppose.” I trail off, and cover the rest of the distance to the door quickly, drawing my hood closed and thus locking Lilly in place. “After you, Olly. I’ll contain the problem child.”

  He nods, stepping forward and pushing the door open with seemingly significant resistance. It sounds like an air seal breaking when it finally gives way and I feel a single strand of my hair get tugged on in clear indignation of my assessment of Lilly’s status as the current problem-causer. “It did look more like a face from up there.”

  He makes it exactly one step inside before being beset by a short felid beastkyn girl with some of the reddest red hair I can imagine. He staggers back when she appears in front of him. “What color are your eyes?” She steps forward in pursuit, which sends Olly back further and makes me put a hand on his back to stop him falling.

  He composes himself a little. “Uh, blue? Why?”

  Being roundly ignored, the felid steps into full view for me now that she’s no longer blocked by Olly in the doorway. She’s wearing garb I’d typically associate with a knife fighter from the stories I’ve read. Light leathers reinforced with some plates in key locations, a pair of daggers at her side, and countless little pouches strung around her waist from a belt with several metal buckles depicting different weapons — a bow, a rapier, two daggers, and a couple other things I don’t recognize.

  “Ah, you’re the green-eyed person, right?” She peers into my hood with a glance that feels like she’s looking through me. It leaves me feeling really uncomfortable as I go to answer.

  “Kira, let the people in outta the cold.” A stern female voice comes from within, a commanding voice that makes the little cat roll her eyes and step aside. She impatiently gestures us forward, and I nudge Olly into motion.

  Both of us make our way into the front room. Normally, it looks like it could probably fit thirty or so people, but with all of the seating it looks like they’re equipped to seat more than fifty. It must get incredibly busy in here. Across from the door, I see a long countertop with a desk on one end. Behind it is a large wall-covering shelf covered in bottles of every shape, size, and color with a sign on it that reads -

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  ON YOUR HONOR

  Beneath the sign is a clear glass jar that is full to the brim of metallic scales, various fangs and a single glowing… gland of some kind. Seeing them makes me have to fight the urge to cringe as I see a few that would match my own. Logically, I know there’s no other dragons around here, maybe anywhere, but it still makes me think of the earlier discussion.

  Otherwise, though, there’s a single group of four people in one corner near a fireplace who seem to be exchanging money as the little cat rejoins them. She appears to be the one collecting the money, actually.

  “Question: You are the one with noticeable green eyes, yes?” A woman in loose fitting, and ill-suited-for-the-weather sashes with blonde hair asks. Her face is measured, very neutral, and she is seemingly almost cuddling with a martial stave of some kind, holding it very reverently.

  “Uh, I think so. Why?” I turn to walk over to them with Olly in tow, folding my hands under my cloak as I do, trying to mask as much of my very obvious traits that I can.

  “Offer: Your room was paid for by the demonkyn knight. Speculation: She seemed to be reticent to get involved further with you.” Her face doesn’t shift in the slightest, and I have to wonder if she’s not essence imbalanced in some way to need to talk in such a way. “Humor: She didn’t seem very good with people.” The tiniest grin splits her lips, barely perceptible.

  “Aye yah, you’d know all about that, wouldn’t ya, Jen?” Another one chimes in — another human woman, short, broad, and stocky like the man at the gate. Coarse, curly, brown hair that’s greying at the roots, with a veritable panoply of weapons stacked in the nearby corner.

  "Humorous explanation: I think I am uniquely qualified to identify such things, yes.” The grin grows a little more as she looks at the stocky woman.

  “Anyways, here, Green, this is for you.” The Felid steps forward and hands me a stark white chit with amethyst markings embedded in it before returning to sitting on the lap of the final member of the table. A tall, frail-looking elf with platinum hair in a warm looking, layered and colorful winter dress. “The demonkyn paid for three days for you. What’d you do to deserve that? I know the Order pays their people well, but it seemed odd to do for a relative stranger. You secret lovers or something? Doubt he’d appreciate that.” She gestures to Olly, who has now taken down his hood. She gives absolutely no time to actually answer any of her questions as each comes and goes.

  Olly looks over at her and shakes his head. “Oh. We’re not anything like that, I think.”

  The boisterous shorter woman busts out with a guffaw of laughter. “You think? Boy must be pretty dense ‘ta not be sure one way or the other.” She winks at me. “Rooms are soundproofed, lass, if you need ‘ta set ‘im straight one way or the other. Proprietor knows how our like act in private so it’s pretty high quality.”

  I’m set blushing, but am saved solely by the fact that my hood is drawn tight enough to hide most of my features.

  “I-ah, well. Thanks for the information. We’ve been on the road for the last few days and need to turn in.” I stammer, more than a little wrong-footed by the friendly level of openness these people are treating us with and the embarrassing topic. Outside of Lilly, I am reminded that I barely know how to talk to anyone, and even Olly is only as easy to talk to because he’s about as clueless as I am.

  “Aye, yah, you have a good night.” The short woman leads, and is followed by a short chorus of well-wishes from the others.

  I beat a hasty retreat away from the group with Olly following behind. The small chit has “6F, Room 4” etched into it, which gives me a clear enough direction to go without needing further explanation.

  “Well, they seem nice.” Olly offers as we make our way up the stairs. They’re lit with a soft red light that is just enough illumination to see by, but not so much that it would hurt someone’s night vision who woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.

  Down in the main lobby, I hear the women all getting into it again, with bets being made about something regarding Olly and I, but I don’t hear the actual terms before we’re out of earshot. “Yeah…nice. Maybe a bit overly casual.” I say, feeling a little edgy over the whole interaction.

  “What’s your problem, Ayre?” I hear from within my hood.

  “I just…I don’t like people being so friendly so quickly is all.” I say as we summit the final staircase into a long hallway running the length of the building longways. Feeling slightly winded, I play it up to hide my general embarrassment at the whole thing. “I’m well aware that it sounds stupid to say I dislike people being friendly, but it just makes me worried.” I elaborate, feeling like I have to, and feeling even sharper after.

  “We're in an inn! People are supposed to be casual and friendly! Come on, Ayre, this is standard stuff. Father always says that all the best stories start in a tavern or inn with a bar.” Lilly conveniently leaves off the fact that she's always told me she hates the fact that most stories start in such places.

  Olly starts to respond, but I hold the little chit aloft and look for a matching door and find it in short order. I look between the door and the chit, unsure what I need to do.

  The handle is clearly locked — a cursory tug reveals that. And the door itself looks like heavy wood reinforced with brass fittings and amethyst accents. Off to the side, I see a small rune etched plaque on the wall at about hand height, so I wave the chit at it, and hear a little chime from both the chit and the plaque. The door pops open unaided afterwards with a pleasant metallic ting.

  “Oooh! That was cool! Do it again!” Lilly demands, leaning out of my hood. I sigh, but pull the door closed and oblige her. Costs me nothing but a moment of time, after all. It chimes again and pops open with the same satisfying metallic ting.

  “Wonder how it works…” Olly muses as we walk into the room. The room is probably the single nicest place I’ve ever seen. The floors are carpeted with some sort of soft and ruffley material that looks like it would feel nice to walk on. There’s three beds spread evenly around the room, with a desk, bedside table, and lamp next to each. They’re also covered in some of the fluffiest blankets I can imagine with yet more blankets folded neatly at the foot of the beds.

  Along each of the baseboards of the room, I see runes representing Ignia etched into the wood, emitting a very low-level heat into the room and keeping it comfortable in here. On the far side of the room, there’s also a…stall of some kind beside a large wardrobe. Some soft-looking towels hang nearby within arms reach from the stall. It looks about large enough for Olly and I both to fit in it at once, so it’s pretty sizable.

  Lilly, taking in the room the same as me, squeals with joy as she looks around. “I get a bed to myself! This is so nice. We should stay here forever.” She flutters across the room and dumps herself onto the bed she’s evidently claiming, barely even making a mark as she does.

  Olly walks over and settles at a desk and starts to disrobe, his bits of traveling gear clattering to the floor piece by piece. I turn and look back at the door and see a series of locks, some mechanical, some based on essentia. There’s a small placard next to them explaining the usage of the essentia based ones. After a brief read, I understand that they key off the unique essence signatures of whoever is present when they’re locked to allow free access once they’re attuned.

  It’s pretty clever, if I’m understanding it right, but seems beyond excessive. All of this does, really. I heard people use magic for a lot, and have seen some things, but the prevalence of it all here is kind of overwhelming. Magicked floorboards, beds, windows, doors, locks and who knows what else?

  “Did we get put into some deluxe suite or something? Or is this just the degree that enchantments are used in everyday life?” I ask the room, not really expecting an answer, and getting only a shrug in response from the amnesiac in the room.

  “I sense a ton of essence in the area. Concentrated in people and items. If I had to guess, this room is about the same density as everywhere nearby.” Lilly adds, muffled by laying face down atop a pillow that she’s barely sinking into.

  “Well, that’s something at least.” I lock each of the locks in turn, channeling a bit of essence into the locks that need it, and then walk over to the mystery stall. It’s got a slippery sort of material covering its entrance. Smooth and hard for me to grab onto between my scales and claws. I wind up needing to pinch it to get a meaningful hold on it and pull it back.

  Inside is a small room and each of the walls appear to be some sort of smooth tile in bright, pleasant colors, with essence runes on the wall indicating water, heat, and cold. Curious, I reach inside and tap a burst of essence into the heat one, and nothing happens. The cold performs similarly by doing nothing.

  I step inside, supposing that maybe it’s expecting someone to be inside for its functions to activate. I activate the final rune and am immediately doused with frigid water from a few emitters in the ceiling I’d failed to notice. I stumble backwards with a surprised yelp and onto the ground as the water pours down inside the stall with a gentle hiss of pressure filling the room.

  “You okay?” Olly peers over, seeming to have started writing in his journal after getting comfortable in the clothes he’s been wearing. They’re still big on him, but I sewed up the holes for my tail and wings in a set of clothes for him so he could wear them with fewer issues. We need to get him something of his own while we’re here, I make a mental note.

  “Yeah, just…surprised. Never seen something like that. I suppose it’s for cleaning yourself up.” I say it aloud, but it only dawns on me a moment later that that sounds really nice… I stand up and slip out of all the extra layers I’ve been wearing and spread my wings wide to stretch with a long, drawn out, sigh.

  I make my way over to the stall and start to undress, but remember that it’s not just Lilly and me and freeze. “Hey, uhm, can you turn around, Olly?” I ask, feeling suddenly very self-conscious. Looking back over my shoulder and through my wings, I see him turn around and look up — he hadn’t been looking, but now he is. Wonderful.

  He stares for a moment, processing, before very slowly and deliberately turning around without saying anything. “Well, that works, I guess.” I finish disrobing and reach through the cold stream to tap the “hot” rune. After a few moments, I step into the now-warm water spray and feel physical stress evaporate from every muscle. I hit the “hot” rune a few more times, making a small chime each time that I notice is coming from a tiny linked rune that represents Sonos essence — sound, more commonly.

  The water continues to heat more and more to the point that I can barely even see through the steam, and it is easily one of the best things I think I’ve ever felt.

  I’ll enjoy our stay here for sure…