Chapter 88 - 89
He left Mr. Herst’s cabin about an hour later, having sensed that the old man was in no mood for company. The incident earlier at the cathedral had clearly affected him and Alistar could tell that he currently desired nothing but solitude.
Now that it was midafternoon, the temperature had risen by a slight degree and the day had gained a bit of brightness, but it was still quite chilly. Alistar had deliberately left his coat behind, and instead relied on his swordsman’s aura to keep certain parts of his body warm. He was still years away from being able to cover his entire body, which would be even more difficult to maintain while he was moving. Still, covering his hands, his head or thighs and whatnot was very beneficial in helping him to build up a subconscious mastery in manipulating his aura.
He stopped by at Zech’s family’s tavern as well as at the old, dilapidated orphanage where most of his friends lived, but none of them were around. Anice and Lessa were still at home, so he decided to head over to the small, back-alley house where the triplets lived with their parents on a small road that branched off of South Street. Nobody answered the door, which told him that the three girls were either off hanging out with the others or that they were somewhere in town with their parents.
Maybe they’re helping out at the store? Their parents ran a little flower shop near the area of South Street that was closest to the city walls. It was on the way to the Greyline anyway, so he figured that it wouldn’t hurt to stop by.
As fitting for a Sunday, the shop was closed. Since this was the case, he hurried out of Mayhaven’s southern gates and sprinted the rest of the way over to the usual spot. By the time he’d left Big Hill—which was smaller than the Hanging Hill—at his back and arrived at the little copse of trees that housed their hidden camp, his boots and much of his pant legs were soiled with muddy blotches.
His friends were all gathered around a sizeable fire, Zech, Jaden and Woods all roasting spitted fish as they talked to the others from across the dancing flames.
"Look who thought to show up!" said Zech, who pointed at the fishing bucket. It was only a few paces away from the fire, along with some extra sticks that had been laid out beside it. "Come here and help us roast some fish for the girls."
Helen was the only one that ever roasted her own fish, since the other girls shared a similar disgust for the process of spitting and cooking them, which Alistar found odd since they had no problem eating the finished product.
"How are you all?"