168 Interim (2/2)
It involved a lot of boiling, and that kept Tia in the house, allured as she was by the scent of cooking high quality flesh of sea monsters she had never tasted before.
Li came into the cottage, finding Old Thane bent over at the pot on the fireplace. The pungent smell of the sea, of recently gutted and prepared fish, wafted in the air, though that scent was largely counteracted with the smell of boiling herbs and roots.
At the dinner table, Azhar sat with Tia beside him while Jeanne and Sylvie were moving to and from the kitchen, helping Old Thane with the cooking.
”Lad, is that you!?” said Old Thane.
”That would be me,” said Li as he closed the door behind him. Tia jumped from Azhar's feet and took her place behind Li. He took in a whiff of the food and made a concerned expression. ”Are you sure that spineshark is cooking right? And aren't they deadly poisonous?”
”Only if they are cooked with ill-prepared hands,” said Old Thane as he stirred the pot, the shark find visible at the top of the boiling broth.
”I don't know old man, you haven't cooked this in thirty years by your own admission. That seems kind of ill-prepared to me,” said Li as he came to the dinner table, nodding a greeting to the adventurers.
Azhar bowed his head slightly as he put out a chair for Li.
”That may be true, but never is there excitement without risk, and risk I daresay makes food taste all the better,” said Old Thane.
”Well, I guess it's a good thing I'm here to heal any of us if we start to die,” said Li.
”That morbid topic aside, how was the festival?” said Sylvie. Her hands were busy at the kitchen table, her dagger cutting up slices of frost piranha meat. Jeanne helped beside her, though she more watched, unsuited to the precise motions needed to slide under the tough and shard-like scales of the fish.
”Quite well. Better than expected, I would like to say, but this was all within my expectations,” said Li. The adventurers had come to set up the festival before it started, creating the framework for the bonfire and rolling in carts and lights and whatnot, but when it started, they went where they felt most comfortable: by Old Thane's side.
”It does seem so very cheery and wonderful!” said Jeanne as she clasped her hands together. Her lengthy hair had been tied back in a ponytail to work in the kitchen. Even if she had little of the finesse required to cook, she still prepared with all her usual enthusiasm.
”So much happiness and energy, it reminds me much of the Day of New Light celebration. And it was oh so wondrous to see the women of the north enjoying themselves with nary a care in the world.”
Li nodded. The Day of New Light was basically this world's version of new year's, meant to celebrate when the gods supposedly came down to fend off the demons from taking over the world so very many years ago.
”Hopefully, in years to come, this celebration will spread through the city.”
”I do not see why not,” chimed in Sylvie between deft slices of her dagger. ”I am certain none would oppose more time to rest and draw away from their daily struggles and toils.”
”Well, I ain't gonna' get worked up over a day of bummin' round',” said Azhar.
A scratching echoed out from the front door. Tia roused herself away from smelling the boiling stew and went down low as she positioned herself at the door's front, fangs bared. Li got up from his chair and headed past Tia, opening the door with some degree of caution because he knew to trust that Tia had sharp instincts in determining foreign presences.
To Li's surprise, he saw one of the harpies there. She was a skinny, lithe woman, her red winged arms tucked behind her back as her eyes, the pupils slit like those of a falcon's, widening as they beheld Tia. She let out a shrill sound of surprise as she jumped up with her taloned feet.
”It's fine,” said Li to the harpy as he held a hand to Tia, bidding her stay calm. Tia was not yet too used to the presence of beastwomen, it was evident. ”What is it?”
”Shiny men are coming from down the flat dirt,” said the harpy as she flitted her hips from side to side in quick motions to show agitation. ”Many of them. A problem, maybe?”
”With me here, nothing will be a problem. Thank you for keeping a look out, but do not trouble yourself further. I will meet them.” Li nodded to the harpy, and she leaped up, unleashing her wings. Her pinkies were elongated, curling down the length of her arm as a spine-like bone that kept most of her feathers and gave her a wingspan impressive enough to fly.
Li clicked his tongue, bidding Tia to stay close behind him. Shiny men meant knights, and though it was unlikely they would be a problem considering Li had done all the paperwork necessary to get this festival approved, he was still cautious. He turned his head back to the cottage and saw that activity had fallen to a standstill, everyone looking at him to see what had transpired.
”Knights are headed this way. Perhaps not everyone is too fond of extra vacations.”