Here is chapter three! I am so excited to be posting this. I hope you guys have been enjoying the story. So, I have counted the chapters I already have written, and there are a total of eight, including the three I have now posted. The thing is, I am having issues figuring out what to have Rollan do with his time at Greenhaven. If you have anything you want to see him do, or someone for him to meet, let me know! I'm not going to be one of the authors who say 'I need XX amount of reviews before I post a new chapter' but I have reached a point where I'm not quite sure where to go...

Anyways, I hope you like this chapter!

-owl

The horse hated him.

The journey from Concorba to the port that would take them to Greenhaven was a four day ride. Because, you know, it would be too easy to get on a ship in the port city. Rollan had made his thoughts clear to Tarik, but the man only ever agreed and let the subject drop.

Halfway to the port, on the second day of riding, Tarik and Rollan met up with another Greencloak. Nicolai was a few inches taller than Tarik, and had the traditional appearance of an Amayan other than his blue eyes. A huge medley of tattoos covered his right forearm, and among the individual aspects, a feline shape was often visible. From that, Rollan could gather that the man's spirit animal was clearly some sort of feline.

Nicolai and Tarik seemed to know each other fairly well, and talked together most of the rest of the trip. From overhearing their conversations, Rollan learned that Nicolai had a younger sister, Lucette. He was traveling back to Greenhaven to meet up with her after a mission in Northern Amaya.

It was nice to have Nicolai in the traveling group, he was a good change from Tarik's stoicness. The journey seemed to double in speed once Nicolai joined them. Rollan's horse still hated him, and he had to hold on for dear life, but the second half of the journey was easier.

While Rollan was having his troubles on the ground, Essix flew above the group, occasionally shrieking at them. She found her own food, and checked in with Rollan once or twice a day.

It was late in the last day of riding, and they were in view of the city when both Nicolai and Tarik's heads snapped up, both men peering around their surroundings. All three of them stopped their horses. The faintest sound of a leaf being stepped on reached Rollan's ear. Without delay, there were two flashes of light and Lumeo appeared next to a reddish brown cougar.

From the bushes along the side of the trail, a trio of wolves emerged. Nicolai's cougar hissed, crouching like it was going to pounce at the wolves. Lumeo bared his own teeth, but scampered up next to Rollan like a guard. Both the men grabbed weapons. Nicolai unsheathed a sword from its scabbard on his belt and Tarik pulled a dagger from his saddle bag. Rollan suddenly felt quite stupid, being the only one not holding a weapon.

The lead wolf crept forward, and as it got closer, the cougar launched itself at it. The two animals were suddenly a growling ball of fur. The other wolves, after watching for a moment, leapt in to help their leader. The cougar was losing now, it could not win in a three on one fight. Nicolai dismounted his horse and rushed at the animals, his sword at the ready.

Tarik didn't get the chance to help, as once Nicolai joined the fight with his spirit animal, the wolves started to lose their edge. Finally, Nicolai used his sword to send one of the wolves flying away, and the fight was over. The other two wolves ran to check on the other, then all left the group on the road.

Rollan looked down to see Nicolai checking the cougar's wounds before calling it into passive state. There was a flash of light, and the cougar disappeared. He then remounted his horse. Lumeo leapt over to Tarik, and once he was settled, the Greencloak urged his horse into a gallop, Rollan and Nicolai following quickly.

They passed through the gate and into the city just as the sun sunk beneath the horizon. The city was called Ekinox, and it had only half the estimated population as Concorba. As the evening darkness spread through the city, people took heed of it, and returned to houses along the roads.

"I need to find the Greencloak captain and check in with him about our travel schedule," Tarik said. "As far as I know, we will be leaving tomorrow, so, Nicolai, why don't you take Rollan and find an inn for us. I think the Goofy Badger is fairly… reputable. Otherwise Ye Olde Snowfall would work."

Nicolai nodded, and dismounted his horse as Tarik rode off. "Rollan, we'll walk the horses, let them rest."

Rollan nodded as well and also dismounted. Once he was again on solid ground instead of the horse, he smiled. "Do you know where we'll find the inns Tarik mentioned?" he asked, and he led his horse, following the older man.

"Yes," he said. After that, the journey was silent until they approached the Goofy Badger. The front was quite run of the mill, but above the door was a wooden carving of a badger with a ball in its paws.

"Stay out here with the horses. I'll see if there is a room for us."

"OK," Rollan said, taking the reins of Nicolai's horse.

With a screech, Essix swooped down and landed on Rollan's shoulder. She wiggled a little to adjust herself before settling down and starting to watch the street they were on. Rollan also kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

He also used the time to think. He had been right, Nicolai's spirit animal was feline, but the entire time that the cougar was out of passive state, all the feline shapes in the tattoos were still there. While the passive state tattoo was often on one's arm or hand, it could also show up on other places of the body.

Rollan was ripped from his musings as the door behind him banged open and Nicolai exited. He looked annoyed as he began walking down the street. Rollan quickly followed. They made their way silently through the city, getting closer to the docks.

Soon they stopped at another inn. Once again, the building itself had no distinguishing markings, but above the door was a sign in the shape of a snowflake. Nicolai once again told Rollan to wait outside.

After only a minute, he returned. "I've got us a room. We can bring the horses to the stable," he said.

Behind the inn was a stable where they put the horses before entering the inn. As they approached the door, Essix took flight. When they entered, Rollan was immediately on guard. There were a lot of people in the bar, and most if not all of them were drunk. Nicolai stopped at the bar and spoke to the bartender.

"If a man with a green cloak going by the name Tarik arrives, you can send him to the room."

The bartender nodded and Rollan followed Nicolai up the rickety stairs. At the top was a hallway with doors on either side. They all had numbers on them, and Nicolai stopped at the third door on the right of the hall, labeled with the number six.

Inside the room were two beds, one window, and a trunk with a lock sitting by the left wall. Nicolai went to one of the beds and set down his stuff. He also took off his cloak and laid it with his stuff, underneath it, he had a sleeveless shirt. On his right shoulder was a dark cat silhouette-shaped mark.

"You'll sleep on the floor," Nicolai said, tossing Rollan his bedroll.

Rollan nodded and got set up in the corner opposite the trunk. He had just sat down when there was a tapping on the window. He looked up to see Essix. Rollan quickly crossed the room and let her in. She landed on the trunk and began preening her feathers.

Meanwhile, Nicolai had released his cougar from passive state. The cougar was laying on the bed as he treated the claw scratches from the fight with the wolves. He carefully brought a wet rag to each of the marks, washing away the blood. The cougar never flinched as Nicolai washed it.

"Rollan, come meet Diata, she won't bite," Nicolai called over to him.

Rollan nodded and crossed the room to look at Diata face to face. Her eyes were yellowish green, a striking difference from her reddish coat. Across her muzzle were a few faint scars.

Diata let him get a good look at her before licking his face from chin to forehead. Rollan had known that cats often had rough tongues, but he was surprised at the texture. If Diata had wanted to, she could have scratched his face up really bad.

Rollan didn't get a chance to respond before the door opened and Tarik entered the room, Lumeo on his shoulders. His expression showed extreme annoyance, and Rollan wondered what had happened. The door banged closed behind him as he crossed the room and placed his traveling pack on the other bed. Lumeo also jumped to the bed.

"We will need to be up early, Captain Jordan wants to be leaving port within an hour of dawn," Tarik grumbled as he removed his cloak and hung it on the post of the footboard. "I see you met Diata, Rollan."

Rollan nodded.

"Let's get some sleep, we're going to need it," Nicolai said, getting settled in his bed. Diata curled up at his feet.

Tarik nodded and got into his own bed, Lumeo settling down on his pillow. Essix lowered her head underneath her wing to sleep. Rollan returned to his bedroll after blowing out the candle that sat on the trunk.