Man Intuition
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“What’s that?” I asked, pointing at something on a large metal tray. A small, round device with three legs and several arms and sensors attached to it sat next to a glass dish of what looked like melted chocolate.
In fact, the whole table was covered in trays full of all kinds of odd dishes: one with some kind of fruit pulp-like substance, another holding what appeared to be an enormous ball of ice cream—the kind you would have gotten from a street vendor back home before it was outlawed due to its health hazard potential (or perhaps because I never tried eating it since it seemed so much more delicious than it had any right being), and others that held things that looked completely unrecognizable but smelled heavenly.
All of them were accompanied by small plates full of tiny pastries filled with jam or butter or nuts.
A waiter wearing what appeared to be white pajamas came up behind me and set a small glass pitcher on my chair’s table setting. “You can call it an espresso,” he said as he poured two cups, which looked exactly like mine except his was half-full while mine was empty.
He also added sugar cubes and creamer to our glasses and then left us alone again. We both stared at the strange machine for several minutes, trying to decipher what it did. It reminded me a lot of an old television remote control I used to play with when I was a kid.
“Is that coffee?” I finally asked.
Mia nodded. She grabbed her own cup and sipped at hers. “It tastes good.”
“I didn’t know they made this kind over here. How is it different from the kind we drink back home?”
Mia laughed. “Oh, not that much, but there are a few differences. For one thing, these guys use a real shot of espresso instead of powdered crap like you buy from Starbucks.”
“That explains why you’ve been acting so wired. I thought you’d developed caffeine poisoning after all your late nights working.”
She grinned at me. “This isn’t even the best stuff we’ll eat today. Wait until you see the dessert.”
My stomach rumbled. I could smell food, and my hunger was kicking into high gear. “Okay, let’s get started.”
We each grabbed a plate and started piling on a variety of foods that appeared to have been prepared just for us. The most popular items were the pastries full of jam or nut butter or custard. After sampling three or four of those, I switched to a slice of cake with a thick layer of caramel icing, followed by a croissant with strawberry jam inside, and a pastry topped with whipped cream.
Each bite brought a rush of flavors I’d never experienced before. Mia’s choices were a lot simpler, but she ate faster than I did. By the time we finished, my plate was almost completely empty, while Mia was still halfway through her first selection.
“I’m done,” she said with a huge smile on her face. “How about you?”
“Same here. Let’s go back and find out where they store all these desserts so we don’t end up getting fat.”
Mia laughed at the prospect of us being able to do something like that. “Fat? You’re going to be too busy having fun to worry about that.”
As we turned to leave, we passed a man sitting against one wall. He was reading his book and sipping from what looked to be a very large mug of tea.
“Excuse me,” I said. “May I borrow some sugar cubes?”
The man gave no sign of recognition as he continued on with his reading.
“Hey!” Mia cried, grabbing my hand and dragging me forward. “Don’t ignore us! What’s wrong with you?”
He looked up at us and smiled. “No need to yell.” He reached for his bag and pulled out a handful of sugar cubes, which he tossed onto my plate. “Just take as many as you want.”
Mia and I thanked him for his kindness and walked away laughing. “Well, he didn’t seem to think we were crazy,” Mia said after we’d gotten several blocks down the road.
“Yeah, well, he wasn’t really paying attention either. And besides, he probably doesn’t care if someone takes sugar cubes from the café where he works.”
She chuckled. “So that makes everything okay with the world, does it?”
“If we didn’t feel comfortable with what he was doing, we wouldn’t have gone over and bothered him. Besides, we got to eat free sugar cubes.”
We were now walking toward the main plaza of the city; Mia had suggested taking a long way around to make sure we saw all of the tourist sites before heading straight back to work tomorrow. We soon came upon a small fountain that stood in front of an ancient stone building, surrounded by statues of mythical creatures and beautiful women.
A line of people was waiting patiently to see what was inside, and a pair of guards with swords crossed over their shoulders kept everyone in check as they waited.
I took in the scene and suddenly felt nervous again. I knew there must be a reason why we’d come across this place now—and why we needed to get inside right away. This was the location of the meeting we were supposed to attend the day before yesterday.
Now, it seemed, it would also be our first step toward figuring out how to kill the Archdemon. My heart raced in my chest. I’d never expected things to move as quickly as they were moving now, and for once, I wasn’t scared about any of the changes we’d found ourselves involved in. It actually felt pretty exhilarating.
“What are we going to do when we get inside?” Mia whispered to me from behind.
“We need to figure out where the Archdemon is going to meet the council members, then get a message to them before anyone else gets a chance to talk. If possible, I’d like to send a signal to the Archdemon’s army, too.”
“Sounds good. But what about me? Are you going to leave me home alone with the dragons?”
“I can stay with you until you’ve finished telling the dragons whatever it is you plan to tell them, and you’ll be safe enough. Then I will take the dragon-headed sword to the Archdemon’s army so they know we’re coming.”
She pouted for a moment but nodded. “Okay. As long as I don’t have to spend a whole night by myself, you won’t have to worry about me.”
“And as soon as we finish up and return, you will be safe.”
“I know. Just make sure you do your job fast enough.”
We climbed up the stairs into the palace and entered the courtyard where the crowd gathered earlier. We moved through the masses and joined the line, eventually standing near where Mia had seen a woman wearing a white dress earlier. When we finally made it close enough to talk to her, I asked about the Archdemon and what she knew about him.
“The man who’s leading the group,” I said, pointing to the person who stood next to Mia, “is Lord Rafe. That woman is Lady Amara. She’s the one who arranged for the meeting today.”
Mia looked to me and rolled her eyes. “Of course it is.”
It was only then that I realized just how much Mia was like me—she was far more observant than most of the others, and she always picked up on things easily. She also seemed to think very quickly on her feet. I was surprised she hadn’t already guessed the answer.
Lady Amara turned to face us and waved. “Hello, Miss Mia. You haven’t changed since last time.”
Mia gave a polite bow. “And you haven’t changed, Lady Amara. Although you look a little better dressed these days. Have you lost weight?”
“No, thank you very much.” The older woman laughed politely. “You should see the state of some of the women who frequent this establishment.”
Mia and I both snickered.
As we began walking toward the door, Mia glanced back at the woman she’d called Lady Amara. “Why do you call him ‘Lord Rafe’ if he isn’t the leader of your group?”
“Because I’m afraid Lord Rafe has no interest in being anything but a warrior. He is the one responsible for killing hundreds of men, though. Not that we could really be sure. I’m not even entirely certain he was working alone.”
My mind went immediately back to what Lark had told us: The Archdemon had killed thousands of warriors and left none alive. “Is he still a member of the council or did they banish him?”
“He was a member once, but when his wife’s daughter was taken by a dragon, Lord Rafe abandoned the council altogether. They sent word to him that he was no longer welcome at council meetings unless he wanted his daughter to suffer the same fate.”
“They sent him a dragon?” I frowned. “Doesn’t that seem extreme to you?”
“Perhaps it does, but I don’t see that it matters any longer. The Archdemon is here now, and Lord Rafe and the rest of the council couldn’t care less about the Archdemon’s arrival.”
I sighed as we followed the line of people through the doorway into the main hall, which was lined with large tables covered with food and drink. Everyone inside the building was talking animatedly; there didn’t appear to be any order to their conversations.
As we made our way past the first few tables, several of the people seated around them turned to stare at us. Some smiled politely while others gave disapproving looks.
We walked through the center of the room, where there were several couches on either side of a fireplace big enough to fit six people in. It took all my willpower to keep from looking down at the flames. If the walls hadn’t been so thick, I would have felt the heat of its fire.
When we reached the second table on the left, I stopped and faced Mia. “If this Archdemon is here to attack the dragons, we need to warn them. What do you want to say to them?”
Her shoulders slumped. “I guess it’s too late for that, huh? And I’m guessing you already tried to tell them last night?”
I nodded slowly. “Yes, but they refused to believe it could be true and thought I was lying, even after I told them why I was trying to get everyone together.”
Mia leaned against the wall behind her and sighed heavily. “Then what are we supposed to do? We can’t exactly go around warning people without having solid proof of something happening. How else are they going to react if they don’t have a reason to believe you?”
She had a point.
“Let’s just find a quiet corner where we can talk,” I suggested. “That shouldn’t be hard since this place is absolutely packed.”
Mia nodded and we followed the line of people through the hall until we came to a small space with two empty couches and a coffee table.
The people who had seats at the tables were talking loudly over each other, and it took us several minutes before anyone noticed we weren’t seated among the crowd. Once I’d made it through the throng, I sat across from Mia and looked around.
I wasn’t surprised to notice that the Archdemon’s guards stood by the door. There had to be more than a dozen of them. Each appeared to be wearing some sort of metal armor. The material must have been very light and flexible as well because they moved smoothly and swiftly, and yet it didn’t seem to hamper their actions at all.
Their eyes never left me, but they also ignored the other humans inside the room.
One of the Archdemon’s soldiers approached our table and handed me a cup of steaming liquid. “Drink up,” he said gruffly, then turned and walked away.
Mia raised an eyebrow at my confused expression.
“Oh, I bet this will give us some energy,” she said cheerfully. “It might even help us focus and come up with a plan to defeat the Archdemon. You know, if only we knew how.”
The guard returned with a second cup.
“What’s this for?” I asked.
“Caffeine,” he answered with a shrug.
“You’re kidding right? I can barely stand on my own.”
Mia chuckled softly at the soldier’s reaction. Then she looked at me again. “Well, maybe you should drink it anyway. It can’t hurt.”
“But—” I began, then quickly sipped the dark black liquid.
“Hey, that’s good!” Mia exclaimed. “Where did you get that?”
“There’s a coffee shop in the basement, but you probably won’t like it much since we use dragon-fiber beans. Not only do they taste better than regular ones, they also give us a buzz.”
A loud clatter sounded overhead, and the Archdemon entered the room through the open doorway leading out onto a balcony. He was followed closely by several other members of his court, including the head knight and two women I assumed to be his daughters.
All three wore elaborate costumes that reminded me of ancient Roman clothing. They carried themselves gracefully and moved confidently as they made their way toward the back of the room, leaving the Archdemon standing alone near one of the windows.
His gaze fell upon us, and when his piercing eyes met mine, I couldn’t hold back another shudder. I wanted desperately to look away but found myself staring back with unwavering resolve.
He stepped closer and I felt a wave of power wash over me. The Archdemon was close now, so close I could feel the heat of his breath and smell the stench of his body odor. I forced myself to ignore it as we locked gazes.
His lips curled into a sneer, and he spoke in a deep, harsh voice. “Do you think you’re so smart, mortal? Have you come to challenge me for my throne or merely seek your death?”
My first instinct was to deny everything, but my training as a warrior overrode my reluctance. Instead, I simply replied with the truth. “Actually, I came to ask for your help.”
“Help?” His eyebrows shot up in surprise, and there was a brief pause before he spoke again. “How exactly will I be helping you? By killing me?”
“No, nothing like that,” I assured him.
The Archdemon narrowed his eyes as he stared at me in silence for long moments. Then he let out a frustrated sigh.
“Okay, so you’re not going to help me.” He glared at me with undisguised hatred in his eyes and said, “But I will kill you.”
The End