They took their time in the bath. Now and then, a messenger would come with a note from the girls on the other side of the bath house, and Nashtra would send word back to them. Relax, ask for whatever you need, do not rush. They stayed until they were the last patrons left, and by then even Peter was willing to admit that he felt better. Once dressed, they joined the girls at the entrance, and headed back to the inn together. True to his word, Nashtra mentioned nothing about Peter’s bruises.

Everyone was asleep almost as soon as they were in their room and lying down. Nashtra stayed up a bit longer to ensure that all was well. The room that he kept reserved was a corner room, and it had a balcony that wrapped around that corner. He stepped out onto it late into the night, and peered out towards the walls.

He could hear the sounds of things hitting the walls, and from the guard towers there was a lot of shouting. Every now and then, he could see a fiery arrow being shot down into the crowd of noir beasts that surrounded the wall. He supposed that there were plenty of other arrows being shot down at them as well. For a few minutes, he considered going out to help the guards, but he knew that he had no particular advantage, that he would be of no considerable help. Besides, he needed to get some rest if he was to get his charges to the capital city.

It took him a while, but eventually Nashtra Rindell fell asleep on the couch of his room at the inn where he had visited so many times before.

He woke up when the morning light hit his face. He had left the curtains open (quite possibly on purpose, though if he had, he now regretted doing so), and the beams came in completely unhindered. Nashtra groaned, but rose and began to rouse the others. They seemed much more well-rested than himself, and he had to remember that he had stayed up rather later after they had all dozed off.

Breakfast was dealt with rather quickly compared to how long dinner had taken the night before. This was possible because Nashtra had requested that it be brought upstairs to their room. Cerys get the feeling that this was not a service offered to mosts guests at the inn; how Nashtra had gotten such special treatment, she had no idea. She was too hungry to ask him.

Nashtra wanted to leave as soon as everyone was done eating. He ensured that they were all properly dressed, had their bags, and hurried them down the stairs. As he ushered them out onto the cobbled road of the village, the innkeeper stopped him to ask a question.

“Oi there, Nashtra, you have to leave already?”

“I am afraid so, old friend,” the elf replied.

“When will you be back?”

Nashtra paused for a moment. He looked out the wide-open doors, then back to the innkeeper. “I really do not know,” he sighed, “but I do plan to be back… eventually.”

“We’ll be waiting for you, then,” the innkeeper said. “Safe journey to you.”

Nashtra thanked him, and held back from adding that he was sure to need such well-wishes with the quest that he was on. He went out into the street and hurried everyone along. They went to the stables first, where there were once again several horses from Vathalloín Forest waiting for them. One mounted, the party headed straight to the village gates. The guards greeted him as he led everyone out onto the main road, and Cerys was once again very curious about why everyone seemed so fond of this blond-haired elf.