In Search of Auria Read Online Free Page B

corner of the bar; a man and a woman
just flirting and laughing. Seeing them with their games and kisses
made me rub my sorrowed eyes, whispering her loving name,
“Auria”.
    “Warrior, something wrong?” I heard someone
asking from behind. I turned on my seat to see who asked, and
laying my eyes on him, I instantly knew he wasn’t from this part of
the land. He was slightly younger than me, short, with long black
hair, high cheek bones and almond-shaped eyes. He spoke with an
accent that I had never heard before. The blue robe he fashioned
seemed like something to sleep with.
    “Greetings!” he said, “My name is Yang. I be
wayfarer, traveler of far east. You?”
    I froze, thinking on the pronunciation of
his name. I had never seen anyone with his type of features; exotic
and unknown. And yet I didn’t sense him to be a dangerous man.
Actually, he looked a bit fragile. “Um, my name is Erik.”
    We started talking; about the bar, the
weather, the roads on our maps, of how good it is to have a drink,
etc. Sometimes he had trouble pronouncing some words, but I
understood him well overall. He seemed to be a decent guy, and
entirely out of place. He explained that he had come with a group
of merchants to trade goods in the western countries. Seeing the
great diversity of people and cultures other than his own, he
decided to leave the group of merchants and travel farther west. He
wanted to see more.
    “My country not know much of this world.
From far, far east it is. I made the mission to learn and then
teach my people. Been away too long, but I learn the language.
Language is important. And you, warrior, why are you here?”
    I stayed in silence for an instant. I didn’t
want to say the real reason I was there, in a country not my own.
But, I didn’t want to lie to the humble man, either.
    “Like you, I too imposed myself a mission.
Only that it doesn’t have to do with learning or teaching, but with
recovering what is precious to me…”
    “Oh, be very personal mission. Well, I must
continue my journey. May our paths cross again. Zaijian !
That means good bye.” When Yang extended his arm to pay for his
drinks, I saw the design of a bird on his robe. I hadn’t noticed it
before. It had many colors with an imposing outline.
    “Yang, what is that bird?” I asked.
    “This? It be legend bird of my country, the
Fenghuang.”
    “Feng who?”
    “Not fengwho, Fenghuang! The ruler of all
birds, with the most beautiful of songs. Its voice can bring you
fortune.” After the explanation, he turned to go on his way. But I
had one more question.
    “Yang, one more thing. Have you seen a
carriage hauling a covered cage around here?”
    “Not here,” he said, rubbing his chin.
“Maybe pass already.” With that he departed through the tavern
door. I looked at the corner where the lovers were, but they had
left, too. I dropped some lorins on the bar counter and took my
leave. If the carriage and cage had passed through here already, I
needed to exit the village as soon as possible and catch up.
    I feared I wasted too much time at the pub.
I walked around in search of a store to buy provisions. Instead, I
found trouble. I took a left turn at the end of the street and
there were two balorian soldiers walking towards me. With a shocked
face I spun on my heel and went the other way. The soldiers saw my
withdrawal as a dubious one and pursued me.
    Why did I turn in such a way? I should have
just passed them without a glance just like the soldiers at the
entrance of the village. I walked faster, but that just made me
even more suspicious. Damn it, why did I get so nervous when I saw
them? A couple of days ago I was undercover among them, and now I
saw two and lost my backbone!
    The soldiers ordered me to stop, but I acted
as if the command was not directed to me. The villagers on the
street sensed the quarrel that was about to take place and started
to skim away. When that happened, I realized that one way or
another the