Ealdor awoke when sunlight lanced across his closed eyes.
He moaned and turned his head away, then his eyes snapped open. The Eyrie sat
bolt upright in a strange bed, eyes casting about. It was a few seconds before
he remembered where he was. When he did, despair sank into his heart. He put his
face in his paws and struggled not to cry.
A light touch brushed against his
face. Ealdor looked up into Seshil's cerulean eyes. "Hey," the Eyrie said weakly.
"How you're doing?"
"Much better, thank you,"
the Gallion replied. Ealdor shook his head.
"Don't thank me, thank the owner
of the Coffee Shop, who was kind enough to accommodate us for the night."
The Gallion stretched and yawned
showing tiny but very sharp fangs. "Then we must go thank her shan't we."
Ealdor nodded in agreement and slid
out of the bed, "Yes, we should." The Eyrie and the petpet made their way downstairs
where the Shoyru was cheerily talking to one of her customers as she handed
him a cup of weevil coffee.
She turned and smiled as Ealdor
padded down the stairs. "Well top of the morning to ya, nice to see you two
are alright."
Ealdor grinned. "Thanks to you,"
he bowed his head. "We came to thank you, Miss." The Shoyru waved a hand.
"Oh pish, my name is Maude, so call
me so. Now if you boys are looking for some place to stay, you can continue
to stay in my guest room if you work in the shop in return."
Ealdor thought it over then glanced
at Seshil, who shrugged. He looked back at Maude and nodded. "Alright that sounds
wonderful, I can't thank you enough." Just then, there was a shriek as the kettle
in back began emitting steam.
Maude grinned at her new helpers.
"Well ,go on then, let's make some tea."
~*~
Feeling_free opened her door after the bell had rung. She gasped standing
on her doorstep was a bedraggled Hryre and her three very tired looking pets.
"Hry, what on Neopia happened to
you?" the girl asked in shock.
Hryre managed a weak grin but inside
she was sick with worry and grief. "We've been out all night looking for Eal.
We can't find him anywhere. I was wondering if you'd seen him."
Jessica shook her head, "Sorry,
Hry, haven't." Hryre's shoulders sagged and she let out her breath. She turned
from Jessica and saw Leoht, Scinan, and Maestitia. The fire Shoyru was leaning
against Leoht, her head on his shoulder. The Draik was practically asleep on
his feet. Scinan was standing erect but there was glazed look in his eyes.
A feeling erupted deep with Hryre;
it ate away at her fatigue until she was completely awake. It was a flame that
was consuming her being. She rolled her shoulders back and lifted her head.
"Jess, can Sci, Leo, and Maest stay here with you?"
"Of course" Jessica said promptly.
Hryre bowed her head. "Thank you,
listen you three, you stay here and get some rest. I'll keep going."
Maestitia's eyes snapped open. "But!"
she protested. Hryre merely shook her head and looked hard at the three of them.
All three of them saw the strange look in their owner's eyes. It scared them.
At last Scinan nodded and walked
past Hryre into feeling_free's Neohome. Hryre strode briskly down the path and
back toward Neopia Central. She searched the Market Place first and found no
sign. She then went to the Bazaar.
After searching all the shops Hryre
started walking toward the main Central. It was by chance that she heard a whispered
conversation.
"We've been looking all morning!
Come Ac, I'll just buy you another one," an angry voice answered.
"No! I want to find that one I don't
want another one," an exasperated sigh answered him.
"Well, let's at least take a break.
Come on, let's go to the Coffee Shop."
"Fine!" the other grumbled. Hryre
didn't hear anymore as she started searching the shops in the Central for her
Eyrie, all the wile clutching the blackened feather tightly in one hand.
Ealdor was having fun, Maude was
teaching some great secrets for making hot beverages. Maude had gone upstairs
to fetch more teabags when the door of the shop slammed open.
"Hey Eyrie, get me some house blend
coffee on the double!" yelled a voice. Ealdor bit his lip to prevent himself
from retorting smartly. He quickly poured the coffee and handed the cup to Seshil.
"Here, will you take this out to
his majesty?" The Gallion took the cup and flew to the top of the counter. Beating
his wings hard and trying with difficulty not to spill the steaming drink. He
placed it in front of a pirate Mynci who was watching the door lazily twirling
a dagger in his dextrous fingers.
The Mynci turned his head, his eye
met Seshil's. The neopet froze; the petpet let out a shriek and dove from the
counter. But the Mynci snatched him out of the air. "So here you are you wretched
little thing. Running away is going to cost you dearly, I promise you that."
Ealdor, who'd heard Seshil's scream,
came running in. He saw the Mynci holding the Gallion by scruff of his neck.
The Eyrie didn't think he attacked. But the Mynci turned and swiftly caught
Ealdor a terrible blow across the jaw. The Eyrie collapsed in a heap.
The Mynci squinted down at the fallen
Eyrie "I know you," he said quietly. "Aren't you that pathetic Eyrie who lost
all his weapons to me in battle?"
"Acole," Ealdor breathed raising
his head to glare at the Mynci.
The Mynci glanced from the struggling
Gallion in his hand then to the Eyrie on the floor. His face cracked into an
awful sneer. "So you stole my Gallion, did you? There are penalties for that,
I promise you. Your owner could get frozen for you treachery, like I care,"
he added.
Ealdor flattened his ears; a strange
fog entered his eyes. "I have no owner," he said coolly. "There is no one that
means anything to me." He was amazed an anguished at how smooth the words came.
How he had not choked on them as he'd expected to.
The Mynci raised an eyebrow. "Abandoned
you did she? That's really too bad."
Ealdor raised himself to his feet
a strange fire flickered behind his eyes. Acole was to busy mocking the Eyrie
to notice. "There is no one," the Eyrie repeated. "And right now you're stealing
from me."
Acole was so surprised by this that
he loosened his fingers slightly. Seshil wriggled free of the Mynci's hold and
flew to Ealdor's side.
Acole's eyes narrowed, but he sneered.
"Tell ya what StormLife, if you can beat me in the Battledome, I will give you
your weapons and items back and you can keep the Gallion If you lose, I keep
the petpet and everything else, and you must serve me for six months. Sound
fair?"
Ealdor gazed at Acole for a moment
then nodded mutely. A human boy came into the shop.
"Okay, I'm done at the shop, Acole,
we can go home now." "There's been a change of plans Josh," Acole said barring
his teeth in an awful grin. "We're taking a detour to the Battledome." He marched
arrogantly out the door, the Eyrie following silently in his wake.
Maude who'd watched the whole ordeal
from the stairs, pressed her hands over her mouth and prayed for the Eyrie and
the Gallion For she could tell that the pirate Mynci had nothing but awful treatment
in store for them.
To be continued...
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