Aleksandar took out his pocket watch and checked the time.
"Have you eaten yet?"
Ryan just shook his head.
"Come, I shall escort you."
Aleksandar then walked out of his office and waited for the young man to follow.
As Aleksandar walked with Ryan, he not only greeted everyone, he greeted them by name.
Ryan kept an eye on the Vampire, his Skeleton assistant, who would take notes of all the complaints and concerns of the inhabitants.
He led Ryan back to the Broken Tusk.
Aleksander opened the door and let Ryan enter first.
The tavern was packed with a mix of Orcs and humans.
The majority of servers were skeletons.
As they moved further in, Aleksandar leaned close to Ryan.
"Do you see the girl with the red hair?"
Ryan saw a very friendly-looking girl walking around and offering the patrons bowls of stew.
She wore a simple white tank top, jeans and had a stained apron.
The only trait that stood out was how pretty she was.
He wasn't about to admit that to Aleksandar.
"Yes, Sir, what should I be looking for?"
"Her eyes are red."
Ryan nodded as he listened.
"For what reasons could that child's eyes be red?"
"She has been cooking, there are ingredients that could irritate her eyes, Sir?
"This stew contains no onions. Does that not change the reason for her tears?"
Aleksandar flashed a fanged smile and left for the bar before Ryan could reply.
Ryan walked over to the only empty table.
He pondered on the Guild Master's words as he sat down.
He was jolted out of his trance by the same redheaded girl.
"Welcome, newcomer."
She had a very friendly tone.
"Would you like some stew?"
Her smile didn't meet her eyes, and against his better judgment, he spoke.
"Are you well, Miss?"
They were both surprised by his question.
She immediately replied, maybe a bit too quickly, "Yes, why wouldn't I be?"
Ryan wanted to be quiet, but he had already started this conversation.
"You look like you have been crying."
She grabbed hold of the table as she leaned forward.
"I have been cooking for hours," she leaned further to the point that she was in his face, "Didn't you know that onions burn your eyes?"
She held onto the corner of the table so hard that it started to crack.
"There are no onions in this stew."
She let go of the table and shot up.
"How do you know that?"
He didn't want to give Aleksandar up, so he decided to leave that out.
"I can see you have been crying."
After scanning the tavern, he moved his hair to reveal a short pointed ear.
He decided to share with her his half-Elven heritage, not knowing how she would react.
"A secret for a secret."
She started laughing at his overly serious display.
"I already knew that, we all do."
Ryan suddenly felt his face catch on fire.
The girl saw his embarrassment and decided that it was time to change the subject.
"It seems like we haven't been properly introduced. I am Isabelle Thompson, but everyone calls me Bell."
She held out her hand. He took it while staring at his plate.
"My name is Ryan, and it seems I have embarrassed myself."
"Don't worry about it."
He saw that she had a warm smile when he finally looked up.
"In your own strange way, you made me feel better."
She slapped him on the shoulder so hard that his chair slid to the side.
In an instant, the friendly but awkward man disappeared, and a wary killer took his place.
"Oh my God, I am sorry."
She tried to pat his shoulder, but he moved the stool back so she couldn't reach him.
Ryan had no expression on his face.
He studied her every move.
He lifted his spoon and placed it in the bowl, and slid it to the side very slowly.
His eyes never left her.
Bell stood there for a moment, awkwardly stuttered an apology, and left.
When the redhead was out of sight, Ryan allowed himself to rub his aching shoulder.
He then brought the bowl back and started eating.
It tasted good.
He finished his meal in silence.
He heard heavy footsteps and looked back.
It was Eena.
His chest tightened as she came closer.
"I see you met Bell."
She sat down across from him, and he moved his bowl away again.
"So, how was your conversation?"
"We don't get along."
She gave him a warm smile.
"Very few people get along from the start."
She motioned for a skeleton to bring Ryan another plate of stew.
"You have to reply to connect."
He took the plate and took another bite.
For a moment, Ryan wondered if he should enter a conversation.
As the tall woman looked at him expectantly, he relented.
Ryan decided to ask, "Why do the Orcs avoid Eragon?"
Her eyes went wide at his question, and then softened as she smiled.
"I don't know, and if you ask the green skins, they would tell you the same thing."
She scratched her head for a second and seemed to find an answer.
"It is like how a rabbit is scared of a dog; all they know it is a good idea."
At this analogy, Ryan had a small smile and spoke without thinking.
"I can see why Grizzly likes you."
As he spoke, he realised what he had done.
He slapped his forehead and cringed so hard at his mistake.
She roared with laughter at his words and pounded on the table.
Ryan wished he could run off the side of the floating island.
After she calmed down, she spoke softly.
"We have been dating for the last six months, and Grizzly wants us to be sure before we tell everyone."
Ryan looked at her with a frown and lost his monotone.
"When Eragon talked about you, he called you Grizzly's girlfriend, so he either suspects or knows."
With her warm smile, she replied, "I'm sure everybody knows, Grizzly is a grumpy old man and is always nice to me."
For the first time, Ryan laughed a little.
Eena leaned forward.
"Look, Ryan, I heard what happened to you."
She tried to place her hand on his arm, but he pulled back.
"Those bastards."
Her voice deepened to a growl.
"If they are stupid enough to get close, I will rip their guts out."
In her anger, she grabbed the edge of the table and tore a piece off and crushed it in her large hand.
To the fearful Ryan, it seemed as if she had grown two sizes.
"I'm sorry, I just get so worked up if children are hurt."
She looked genuinely embarrassed.
"Thank you, no one has ever been mad for me before."
Just as the tears formed, she stood up and left.
Ryan kept eating until his bowl was empty for the third time.
When he finished, Grizzly called him over.
Eragon was next to him.
"Eragon is going to take you to your new room."
Ryan just nodded at the old man's words and followed Eragon.
They walked out the back of the tavern, and they walked past the kitchen.
Ryan and Bell's eyes met for a second.
She looked away, and Ryan just kept walking.
As they made their way out the back, Ryan saw a small two-story house.
They entered the house that smelled of stale cigarette smoke.
Ryan noticed some photos on the fireplace of a slightly younger Grizzly and Eragon.
On the second floor, on one door, was a warning label.
It read, "Eragon's room. Keep away from my Horde".
The absurdity made Ryan smile unconsciously.
The room itself was strangely normal.
There were two beds; one was enormous and the other was a single bed.
On one shelf, there was a TV with many games and a few different game systems.
The only form of decoration was a book with a blue Dragon and the name Eragon.
Ryan looked at Eragon and asked, "How do you and this book have the same name?"
The blue Draconian didn't look up from his game.
"Grizzly found that a few years ago, before that, my name was Blue."
Eragon started up a game system and started playing a fighting game.
"Did you not have a name?"
"I do, but you guys can't pronounce it."
He then started making strange roaring sounds.
"You wanna try?"
"You make a fair point. Is that book any good?"
Eragon shrugged.
"Don't know, I don't read."
Ryan decided to watch Eragon play.
Eragon wasn't going to let that happen; he gave the second controller to him.
Ryan then tried to play with the Draconian.
He lost every single fight and didn't get to hit Eragon's character once.
After about half an hour of playing, the phone rang.
Eragon answered, "Hello."
After a few seconds of listening, he said, "Ok, see you later, I love you."
"Who was that?"
"Grizzly, he has a mission for us, and it seems to be urgent.