The Wandering Inn

1.00The inn was dark and empty. It stood, silent, on the grassy hilltop, the ruins of other structures around it. Rot and age had brought low other buildings; the weather and wildlife had reduced stone foundations to rubble and stout wooden walls to a few rotten pieces of timber mixed with the ground. But the inn still stood. It was waiting. Not in a sentient, thinking way, but in the way all buildings wait. It was waiting for someone to find it. For wasn’t that the purpose of an inn? And someone did find it. A young woman stumbled through the grass, up the hill. Her knees were shaking and she was gasping for air. Her lungs burned. Her right arm was burned. Smoke was still rising from the charred fabric on one shoulder, and her legs were bleeding. Several shallow cuts had torn open her pants at the back of the legs. But still she climbed the hill. Because of the inn. After all, there was no mistaking it. Despite the years, the building stood among the rest of the ruins, mostly untouched by the passage of time. The construction of this inn was superior to the other buildings. Or perhaps something else had kept it standing. Regardless, that was not what attracted the young woman to it. It was merely a thought. The inn. In every world, the inn was a symbol. From a place to meet and rest, to a meeting point from which epic quests could begin, the inn’s hearth fire and warm glow at night was 1.01After a few minutes, the traveler sat back up. No, not a traveler. She hadn’t intended to travel anywhere tonight. The young woman frowned as she rubbed at her face. She’d been going to the bathroom and…she must have taken a wrong step somewhere. A really big wrong step, because instead of walking into her bathroom and seeing the comforting sight of porcelain, she’s suddenly found herself in a cave, nose-to-nose with a— Dragon. The young woman shot to her feet, heart pounding. She looked around and remembered she was in the inn. But the memory was fresh, and her burned arm—she felt at it and winced. “This is no dream.” But it felt like one. It felt like she was in a dream, because that would be so much easier to explain than reality. The reluctant traveler took a deep breath, and then another, and coughed. “Dusty. Ahem!” She tried to rationalize what was happening. First things first. “Who am I? I’m Erin. Check! We’re off to a good start.” She smiled weakly. That’s right. Her name was Erin. Erin Solstice. It wasn’t an easy name to forget. And though it was hers, she did object to parts of it. For instance, Erin could have been a boy’s name, and she was a girl. At least, she had been a girl. Erin poked herself with a frown. “Yep, still a girl. Glad to see that didn’t change. Now…inventory check.” She felt at her pockets. She had…two empty pockets. Wonderful. Erin had hoped her smartphone would be with her, but who