17 – A Slow Morning

Morning crept through the window of the narrow room in the shape of long, thin beams of sunlight. As Ren stirred on the hay, tiny wisps and flecks of dust danced in the air above him, golden in the light.

Groggily, he turned to sit on the edge of the bed, stretching his arms high over his head as he blinked away the last remnants of sleep. “Crazy how a night on cave rocks and fighting for your life makes you appreciate an actual bed,” he muttered to the empty room.

He glanced over at his bloody clothes draped over the back of the chair then down at his near naked body. “I gotta get something less out of place. So… clothes first, then bounty.” He looked at the jagged stump of the bokken. “Then sword.”

He spent a few minutes stepping through a morning kata before dressing, pulling Jax’s cloak tight around himself, and making his way back downstairs. In stark contrast to the afternoon and evening prior, the common room stood pale in the morning light; the lamps extinguished, the hearth cold. It was nearly empty save for the large form of Stubbs bustling in from the kitchen, two steaming pies balanced precariously on a wooden tray.

“Ah, Ren! Still the cloaked companion, I see,” Stubbs said, turning to him as he gingerly rested the tray on an open area of the long wooden bar. “Can I interest you in a slice of raspberry?” He gestured to the nearest dish, where luscious red jam seeped up through brown, flaky pastry.

“Uh, morning Stubbs.” Ren noted the utter lack of money in his jeans and cloak. “Some water if it’s not too much trouble.” He moved to sit at the bar. “Any sign of the others, yet?”

“Not this morning. Jax may be a while yet.” Stubbs grinned. “He stayed for several more drinks, and managed to catch the eye of quite the lovely lady. They left the room together, if you catch my meaning.”

“Yeah. That’s not too surprising. Do you mind if I sit here for a bit?”

“Not at all, let me know if you need anything.” Stubbs moved towards the kitchen as Ren had another thought.

“Hey, Stubbs. Would you be alright with me using your kitchen later? Maybe just taking a look around?”

“Oh? Do you cook? All the refined I’ve heard of, especially the adventuring types, can’t be bothered with such mundane endeavors.”

“I, uh… Yeah. I enjoy cooking.” Ren’s fingers twitched under the cloak. “I had a restaurant where I come from, back before all this.”

“Well, you’re certainly welcome to use it. If you’re any decent, I might consider letting you work for your room.” Stubbs laughed before moving through the back doorway.

Ren sat, and sipped his water in thought as the thin sunbeams made their unhurried way across the amber wooden floors of the inn. A few others trickled down from the rooms above, though no one he recognized from the crowd before. Lost in his mug, he didn’t notice the movement until his cores began humming. Sensing mana behind him, he turned to see Kaylin approaching, her blonde hair loosely tied back in a tangled mess. Yawning, she joined Ren at the bar.

“Ugh, my head.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I thought being refined was supposed to help with the aftermath of ale and mead.” She glanced at the pies, now with a few small slices gone to other patrons. “Is Stubbs about?”

“Morning, yeah, he’s in the back. Any sign of Jax?”

She rolled her eyes. “No, and I did not want to check. Stubbs! Do you have any tea?”

The large man re-emerged from the kitchen wearing a leather apron streaked with flour. “Ah, Kaylin, good morning! Tea you said? I think I can rummage something up, the kettle’s hot anyway.”

A few moments later both Kaylin and Ren were cupping their hands around mugs of steaming liquid.

“So… I was finally able to meditate last night,” Ren began, dropping his voice.

Kaylin snapped her head up. “Oh?”

“Yeah, it was like I was both in my room, but also in the void space, the mana plane. I get what you mean about the resonant mana and heartbeat of the world, it was like the stars were breathing.”

“Amazing isn’t it? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything so wondrous as that place.”

“This is kind of a weird question, but… do we see the same thing? Like is it the same place–I don’t see how it could be– so maybe it’s a copy or something?”

“Ren. I have been awake for the space of a quarter turn, and have only now received my first mug of tea. While I would normally like nothing more than a stimulating manaphysical discussion, for now, can it wait until at least the second cup?”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Oh. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.”

They sipped in comfortable silence amidst the slow creaks and shuffles of the inn stretching to life in the early morning.

Stubbs wandered by, checking on them like some adopted mother hen, refilling Kaylin’s mug and giving Ren one to match. As the large man continued off on his meandering circuit, Kaylin turned back to Ren. “So, the mana plane.”

“Yeah, exactly, the mana plane. Have you gone back there yet?”

Kaylin looked a little embarrassed, “You wouldn’t know this, but it’s not typically something people discuss in detail. Your path, I mean.” She was quiet for a moment. “I know Jax trusts you and I feel similarly after you saved his life so I don’t mind. But I thought you should know.”

“Ah, right.” Ren took a deep breath. “Thanks.”

“But yes, to answer your question.” Though they were already speaking quietly, she dropped her voice to a whisper. “I was able to meditate last night and enhance my Ice Fog. Only one of the nodes, but still.”

“So it’s the same place then? Like the constellations and the stars with nodes and stuff?”

Kaylin was quiet for a long moment. “No one is certain, or at least the books that I have access to do not have clear agreement. The most accepted theory is that the dimension is the same for everyone, a place of raw, unfiltered mana that then forms itself based on the personal details of the individual.”

“Ahhh, ok, that makes sense. The voice for me sounds like an old cooking instructor from my past.”