We traveled through the streets of the town quickly and finally ran into Pete and Dutch as they were approaching a local inn. Pete was happy to see us until Navy told him about the situation with Vanta. This seemed to really make him angry. "That damned criminal of a guard needs to learn to keep his nose out of other people's business. I'm sorry everyone, I should have anticipated this. Navy is right, we're going to have to travel overnight to make it to the Tavern. It's not safe for any of you here anymore. Follow me." Pete said in a frustrated tone. We ended up leaving the town far sooner than I expected and began traveling through the forest on foot. Eventually I was able to see a noticeable change within the forest, as the trees seemed to become bigger and bigger the deeper we traveled. Eventually there were a few young Magnifigum trees towering far above the rest that were easy to spot. Darwin was absolutely thrilled, and he even began drawing a map starting from the town and then following the path we traveled into the forest. I was glad that at least he was having a good time. Both Dutch and Sundi were walking with me side by side. Sundi seemed really interested in Dutch and was asking me questions about her. It helped pass the time as we began traveling in almost pitch darkness through the forest. Luckily, with the combined effort of Pete and Darwin we were able to illuminate most of our path with their blessings. Pete would create a small ball of bright lighting and then Darwin would trap it inside one of his bubbles, allowing it to float alongside us. It was incredibly useful at the time. Soon enough as dawn began to break across the sky, we finally made it to their Tavern.
I have to say, my first sight of the tavern was almost surreal. I was completely exhausted from our overnight trip, but It looked like it was right out of a fairytale. It sat smack dab in the middle of the forest with large towering trees surrounding it. There was a flowing stream traveling right beside the building with a large waterwheel spinning elegantly. Most of all, there was an absolutely huge vine with fruit growing atop the tavern. The vines cascaded down around its entrance giving it a grand and ethereal feel. The fruit were some kind of large bluish berry that were so big they almost resembled Darwin's shining bubbles. It was utterly beautiful, but I just had one question. "Wow, this is absolutely amazing! But… Why do you guys have such a gorgeous tavern in the middle of nowhere?" I questioned in surprise. "Ho ho ho, that's a good point young Sid. We do get customers from time to time, usually travelers looking for a place to stay for the night. We do actually have lodgings for such a situation. However, most of our profits come from business overseas. We personally sail much of our products to specific kingdoms that distribute the bottles of alcohol all over the world. They usually purchase it in large quantities so we make our sales about twice a year. It's during those times that we would visit Darwin!" Pete said with a cheerful smile. Darwin was unfortunately fast asleep and laying across Dutch's back. She was dragging him along on her back for half of the night after he had passed out when we took a short break. Dutch didn't seem to mine whatsoever so I decided to just leave them be. "So who watches this place while you're away?" I asked. "Huh? My mother of course, who else?" Navy answered matter of factly. I was surprised that they were completely fine leaving the tavern just to Pete's wife. I mean, they must leave for quite a long time on their trips. I was really interested to meet her. "Come on everyone, let's get some rest!" Pete shouted to the group as he headed to the front door.
As we entered inside, I was immediately hit with a sweet and soothing aroma. There were large communal tables stationed around the room, as well as smaller more intimate tables tucked away in nooks with stained glass windows surrounding the walls. There were beautiful chandeliers hanging down from the tall ceilings and large green velvet tapestries and curtains hung around the walls and banisters. Large wood beams were placed around the open area with flowering vines growing up them. The whole room was filled with the colorful rays of light that shined through the stained glass. I could hear the sounds of a beautiful voice humming and singing words to a song that felt familiar, and yet I didn't know it. I listened intently and the voice led my gaze over to the bar area. Behind the bar was a tall woman with dark salt and peppered hair with her back turned as she was placing away bottles of liquor. She was wearing a dark green woolen sweater and a white flowing skirt. She turned around as she continued to hum the beautiful tune. Her face was somewhat regal and beautiful. The only thing I could say that would hint at her age were the smile lines around her eyes, that proved she must have been living a long and happy life. She opened her eyes revealing their amber hue. As soon as she laid eyes on Pete and Navy, a large smile grew across her face. In the same beautiful tone, she spoke out, "My boys! Welcome home!" The three of them embraced in a heartfelt hug and the woman then turned to the rest of the group to greet us. "Welcome to all of you! My name is Cassandra, I am Navy's mother and Peter's wife. I see that they must have had quite the journey to bring you all here along with them. I am so happy my Navy has made some friends." She said as she embraced all of us with a hug. She was so soft and gentle, I wondered if all mothers were like this. Sundi was the first to introduce herself, "Hello missus, my name is Sundi. It is my pleasure to meet you." She said with a kind smile. I then spoke up next, "Hello! You are so beautiful mam'! My name is Sid and this dog here is Dutch, thank you for having us!" I said as Dutch barked in agreement. "Oh dear, you all brought a charmer with you I see! Well greetings Sundi, Sid, and sweet Dutch. She is such an adorable dog! And you two make such a cute match!" She said cheerfully. I could hear Pete and Navy begin to chuckle behind Cassandra and Sundi's face was turning red. Before I could even speak up to say anything about that Darwin then interjected robbing me on my chance to explain. "H-hello, d-do you rem-remember me heh heh?" He said nervously. Cassandra made a huge smile as she walked up to Darwin and kissed him on the forehead. "How could I ever forget my sworn family, little Darwin?" She said with love in her words. That made Darwin get a little teary eyed and he smiled. "I-I missed you a lot Mrs Cass." "Oh I'm sure I missed you even more!" She responded as she picked him up with a big hug and spun him around. Cassandra made the whole room seem like it was filled with loving energy. I could tell immediately that it wasn't just this place that was special, it was her. "I'm sure you are all very tired, so why don't you head to the rooms I made up. Just follow Navy up the stairs. We also have a bath house in the back that has warm water from the spring so please feel more than welcome to enjoy it to your hearts content! I will have food and drinks ready whenever you feel you are fully rested." She said as she pushed Navy towards the stair. "Come along everyone." Navy said as he began ascending a tall staircase. I had only just noticed that there was a whole second story to the tavern. This must be where the lodgings were that Pete had mentioned. I had already decided that I loved this place.
We headed up the stairs and Navy led all of us to each of our own personal rooms. They were all decently sized and had very nice linens on the beds. The walls had small paintings of plants and animals that really fit the foresty vibe of the tavern. Dutch immediately jumped onto my bed before dropping her sword on the ground and collapsed in a big white fluffy heap before falling asleep. I picked up her sword and leaned it against the wall. I gave her a pat on the head and said, "Take a good rest Dutch, you deserve it." Unfortunately, even though I was tired I just didn't feel like I could sleep since we got to the tavern pretty early in the morning. I figured I'd visit the bath house and clean myself off before trying to get any sleep. Maybe the hot water would help me relax. I headed into the hallway and saw that there was a door at the end that read, "Bath this way". I followed the sign and it led me to an elevated deck that looked out into the forest behind the tavern. I could see that the stream that was running the waterwheel actually came back through behind the tavern and wrapped around it. There was a small wooden bridge built over top of it and just beyond that was a medium sized wooden structure with steam emanating from it. Bingo. I took a staircase down that was connected to the deck and headed over to the bathhouse. Even on the way over, I could feel how tired my body was. I was so excited to have a warm bath for the first time in my life.