Dragon Born by Aaron Hodges

Author:Aaron Hodges [Hodges, Aaron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-9951056-5-2
Publisher: Aaron Hodges

Chapter 10

“What’s someone like you doing looking for a bounty hunter?” Enala asked, lowering her dagger a fraction.

The stranger only shook his head, clearly unwilling to say anything more in the narrow alleyway. His eyes flicked around, searching the shadows, as though he were afraid of being overhead. “Look,” he said finally, “if you can’t help me, I need to go.”

When Enala said nothing in response, he started to turn away. Watching him retreating down the alley, Enala’s heart gave a pang. The man was clearly out of his depth. If he spent much longer wandering around Chole’s maze of backstreets, he was likely to meet a far rougher crowd than the bounty hunters’ guild.

Stay out of it, she argued with herself, but she was already moving after him. “Hey, wait up!” she called.

The man glanced back as she caught him. His eyes flickered to her dagger. Rolling her eyes, she slid it back into her belt.

“You can’t just walk around Chole blindly looking for the guild. People get lost in these streets for days, you know.”

The stranger’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Enala sighed. “No, it was a joke…” She rolled her eyes. “Come on, I don’t know where the guild is, but I know an inn some of its members frequent.”

She moved past him without waiting for him to respond, taking the lead. He hesitated a moment, uncertainty written across his face, before finally stepping after her. She led him through the shadowy backstreets, taking care to keep the route to the Happy Ox fixed in her mind.

In the last year, she’d heard rumours about the bounty hunters’ guild, but had never bothered learning more about them. Their profession seemed to fall squarely between the reputable and more shady sides of Chole.

It took them half an hour to reach the inn. By then, Enala was covered head to toe in the usual layer of dust left by Chole’s underground. Her new-found-companion was in an even worse state. Several times he’d tripped on the garbage that lay discarded in the alleyways. Looking at him now, Enala hated to think about what exactly was staining his expensive clothes.

“Well, this is it – the Happy Ox,” Enala said simply, brushing the dust from her clothes. “I hear guild members sometimes like to drink inside. It’s a little early still, but you might get lucky.”

In fact, it was only around noon, and now she thought about it, the inn was likely to be almost empty. Still, she’d done her part, and, straightening, she started to turn away.

“Oh,” the man’s voice called her back. He stood looking at the double doors to the inn, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “Ah…I don’t suppose you’d like to accompany me for a drink?” he trailed off lamely. “You seem…accomplished, and I’m not really sure what I’m doing, to be honest.”

Enala snorted. “No kidding.” She shook her head, and then shrugged. “Well, it is my birthday. I guess I could go for a drink. My name’s Enala, by the way,” she said, offering her hand.

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