The Orphan Wars (Book One) (10 page)

"One Pomegran
ate Juice coming right up!" exclaimed Divato.

Divato turned around and began to mix the drink for Nemeth.  Nemeth kicked his feet back and forth in anticipation of his beverage.

"Do you want some food also?" asked Divato.

"
Yeah, my stomach's been growling all day," answered Nemeth.  "Show me a menu whenever you get the chance."

"Y
ou'll have to wake up the waitress who is sleeping over at that table behind you," said Divato.  "She handles all of the food orders.  I'd wake her up normally, but she'd probably just get upset at me.  She'll be much happier if she opens her eyes and sees a kid like you instead."

Divato put the
mug of Pomegranate Juice in front of Nemeth.  Nemeth gulped down his Pomegranate Juice in a hurry.  Nemeth hopped off of the stool and then walked over to the girl who was asleep at the center table.  She seemed to be at such peace.  He was jealous because he wanted to be asleep too.  He tapped the girl on her shoulder several times.  The girl quickly awoke and she sprung upright in her chair. Nemeth felt bad that he woke her up, but he was starving.

"
Sorry for having to wake you," said Nemeth in a serious tone.  "I just arrived here after a long trip and I'm starving!"

"Well aren't you adorable?" said the girl.  "My name is Tienna.  Have you thought about what you wanted to eat?"

Nemeth started to blush put his hands behind his back.

"I didn't get a chance to look at a menu,
" replied Nemeth.  "I think if I could eat anything right now it would have to be some roasted chicken.  If you have it, I want that for sure.  If you don't, I'll take a look at a menu."

"Why sure we have roasted chicken
cutie!" replied Tienna.  "It's only 25 silver coins.  I'll go in the back and put your order in with our chef.  His name is Kaleo.  Just have a seat and your order will be ready shortly."

Nemeth began to blush even more and he sat down on the opposite side of where the waitress was previously sitting so he could face the bartender.  The waitress made her way into the kitchen area.

"I think she likes you!" laughed Divato.  "Before you start blushing even more than you are, I should tell you…NO NOT IN THAT WAY.  You kinda look like her younger brother.  She always likes telling stories about him."

Nemeth seemed relieved
by what Divato said.

"Hey Divato, can I get another Pomegranate Juice?" asked Nemeth.

"Of course you can," said Divato.  "That'll be 5 silver coins please."

Divato began to pour ano
ther glass of Pomegranate Juice.  Before he was done pouring, Nemeth had already brought over 5 silver coins and placed them on the bar counter.

"Here ya go kid!" exclaimed
Divato.

Divato handed Nemeth a
nother mug of Pomegranate Juice.  Nemeth walked back over to his table and sat down.  Shortly after sitting down, Tienna made her way back from out of the kitchen area and came over to Nemeth.  She looked at Nemeth and smiled.

"Oh I've just got to sit down and talk to you!" said Tienna
who was beaming with joy.  "You'll never guess who you remind me of!"

"Oh
I bet I can guess!" exclaimed Nemeth.  "I remind you of your little brother right?"

Tienna blushed and smiled even more.

"How did you know?" questioned Tienna.

"I'
ve got psychic abilities," said Nemeth jokingly.  "I have the ability to read minds, tell the future, the usual psychic stuff.  In fact, I'm in town because I'm interviewing for the town's fortune teller position."

"
Oh you're so silly!" said Tienna with laughter and excitement.  "You can't fool me though.  I know you're not in town applying to be the new fortune teller.  I haven't seen anybody come in here wearing those colors in such a long time but I know what they represent.  Those are the colors that the best and brightest from Lord Dragomir's Academy wear.  You must have done quite a great job to graduate so early.  Did you come here all the way by yourself from there?"

Nemeth nodded his head at Tienna.

"So you must have met my younger brother there right?" inquired Tienna.  "His name is Elijah.  If he worked hard, he would have just made it out of his second year.  He's nine years old.  Oh and I apologize, what is your name?"

"Well I've escaped from Lord Dragomir
's Academy," replied Nemeth.  "I wish I could say I graduated but I just finished my third year there.  There's a lot of trouble happening over there right now.  I don't recall meeting any student named Elijah either.  I'm sorry, but there are just so many students there.  Oh, and my name is Nemeth."

"Nemeth, what kind of trouble is happening
there?" questioned Tienna with peril in her voice.

Nemeth waved for Divato to come over.  Divato walked over to the table and sat down with them.

"It's a very long story," said Nemeth.  "I'll try to make it brief, just because I'm pressed for time.  The third year students were having a graduation party at a place called Serend Lake which is still within the walls of Lord Dragomir's Academy.  I got to the party later than most people.  By the time I got there, it seemed like everyone was drinking Ambrule even though it's a banned substance there.  I have a feeling that whoever brought the Ambrule to the academy probably stole it from here.  That's what I wanted to tell you earlier Divato.  To make things worse, there is a monster called Terazhul who attacked the academy while everyone was intoxicated.  Terazhul cast some sort of devious spell that is slowly corrupting anything related to the forest.  There is also a Black Orb that needs to be destroyed since that is where the spell started.  So unfortunately I have to go back to the academy.  The world is pretty much doomed unless Terazhul is stopped.  His spell hasn't hit Norfall yet, but it soon will.  I've got to get equipped with the correct items and then head to the Great Temple of the Forest and destroy him."

"You've got quite an imaginat
ion!" said Tienna while giggling.

"I'm actually being serious," said Nemeth.
  "This isn't some fable."

"This does sound quite serious," said Divato.  "So this Terazhul
character is responsible for stealing our Ambrule supply.  However, that's the least of our problems now isn't it?  The way you tell the story, it sounds like the world is going to end."

"Oh no!
" exclaimed Tienna.  "That means my brother is in danger already!  Could you please do me a favor?"

Nemeth shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe," said Nemeth.  "It depends on what the favor is."

"The food is ready!" said a voice from the kitchen.  "
Come pick it up!"

"T
here's your food," said Tienna.  "I'll be right back with it."

Tienna hurried into the kitchen area
.  A few moments later she came out with a plate with a large roasted chicken on it.  She put the plate down in front of Nemeth.  Nemeth began to chomp away at the roasted chicken.

"Now where was I?" questioned Tienna.  "Oh yes, I have a favor to ask of you.  I
have an amulet that I would like to give to you.  It's supposed to bring good luck to those in battle.  I think it would be helpful to you now.  Once you're done defeating that monster, could you please give it to my brother?  You did say you were going back to the academy after all."

Nemeth
stopped chomping down his roasted chicken.  He took a swig of Pomegranate Juice and looked at Tienna.  Tienna handed over a silver amulet with small emerald fixed in the center of it.  Nemeth placed Tienna's Amulet into his backpack.

"Sure, no problem," said Nemeth.  "I'll ask
Professor Phantas who he is and I'll deliver it to him personally."

"Oh no!" replied Tienna with a look o
f concern on her face.  "Not Professor Phantas!  He's the reason why Elijah and I haven't seen each other in so long!  I didn't want to end up being a guard or soldier, so I just gave up and stopped doing all of my work there.  As my punishment, I was expelled from the academy five years ago, at the age of 9.  I was a second year student.  Being expelled is something that I'll always regret though.  My brother was still being cared for at Kokinos Nursery.  He was only 4 years old at the time.  I was only concerned about myself.  I never appreciated the fact that I was one of the few people that knew I had a real biological family member in the academy with me.  I'm lucky that I made it alive to Norfall and that Tioli gave me a job here at the inn.  Also, the town fortune teller Milana lets me see what Elijah looks like whenever I visit her.  I've gotten to see him grow up from afar but it's not the same as being there with him.  Please, please, please can you find Elijah and deliver the amulet to him yourself?"

"If you wish," said Nemeth.
  "I won't tell Professor Phantas about this at all.  In fact, I didn't see him at the graduation party.  I hope he's alright."

Nemeth disliked that he was being assigned mo
re responsibility.  However, Tienna's story made him very curious.  Tienna ran around the table and gave Nemeth a big hug.  Nemeth began to blush once again.

"Thank you so much Nemeth!" exclaimed
Tienna.

Tienna let go of her hug and sat down next to Nemeth.

"I have a question for you Tienna," said Nemeth.  "Everyone's memories regarding family history are supposed to be erased when they enter the academy.  So how do you know that you and Elijah are really brother and sister?"

"Magic is not a perfect art," answered Tienna.  "When one of the professors tried to erase my memory, the spell didn't work.  When I was questioned about my family afterwards, I just told them the answers I thought they wanted to hear.  They believed that the spell worked
.  It's almost impossible for the spell to fail, but in my case it did.  I'm sure there are other students at the academy that know the truth about their families but they haven't come forward about what they know."

"I'm very jealous of you," said Nemeth sincerely.  "After I defeat Terazhul, I want to find out the truth about what happened to my biological family. 
Hey Tienna or Divato, is it true that there is a weapon shop near this inn?"

Tienna didn't respond.  She was just gazing at Nemeth.

"Yes, there sure is kid," said Divato.  "They're even closer to each other than you'd think.  They're practically attached together.  You could probably jump from the roof of the inn onto the weapon shop if you were crazy enough to do so!  The weapon shop is closed for the day though.  So if its new equipment that you're seeking, you'd best head up to bed, get a good night's rest and then go on over there in the morning."

"There's really not any time for me to go to sleep," said Nemeth.  "I
've told you the situation already.  Can you think of any other way to get into the weapon shop before it opens?"

Tienna nodded her head breaking her long gaze at Nemeth's face.

"There's a trapdoor behind the innkeeper's desk," said Tienna.  "It's supposed to lead to a system of tunnels underneath the town.  You can probably just travel through the tunnels and get into the weapon shop that way.  Just don't get yourself into trouble!"

Nemeth began
to think about what they said.  He now had a couple of options for getting into the weapon shop.  Tienna and Divato had practically told him to go ahead and steal whatever he wanted from the weapon shop.  Nemeth finished up the last bite of his roasted chicken and gulped down the remainder of his Pomegranate Juice.  He put 25 silver coins on the table.

"Thanks
for your help," said Nemeth.  "I'm going to head up to my room now.  I haven't even seen what it looks like yet."

"Nice m
eeting you kid," said Divato.  "Thanks for letting us know what's going on.  I'm not sure if we should stay in town or head out."

Divato got up from his seat and walked back over to the bar area.

"Please remember to keep your promise!" said Tienna excitedly.  "I know you'll defeat Terazhul pretty soon.  Finding your biological family might take longer and I'm so sorry for that.  I know how painful it is to be an orphan as well but that pain was eased knowing that I had Elijah as a brother.  So, to help ease your pain, I'd very much like for you to be my honorary little brother.  That is of course, if you don't mind having me as your big sister."

Nemeth hugged Tienna
and lifted her slightly off the ground.

"I'd love for you to be my big sister!" exclaimed Nemeth.
  "Thank you so much Tienna!  You've given me an extra purpose in life."

"
You're gonna make me cry…" replied Tienna.  "I can't be all teary eyed if customers come in.  Now go on little brother, you've got work to do!  I'll see you soon!"

Nemeth put down Tienna and let go of his hug. 
Nemeth nodded his head and headed out of the dining area into the main lobby.  The innkeeper was nowhere in sight.  The front door appeared to be heavily locked from the inside.  He headed up the flight of stairs on his left to the second floor.

"Ok, room 11, room
11, where are you?" asked Nemeth.