The four picked an empty table next to some dwarves and waited for a serving maid to come their way. An elf, they could tell she was by the pointy years and the silver hair, came their way and gave them a menu.

“Miss elf…” Said Lucius. The elf sends him a glare.

“I am only half elf. Everyone here is half something, well, apart from the four of you. You seem like full humans. Which is strange, Garry doesn’t let full anything through the door.” Said the elf.

Lucius took a closer look at her. She was shorter than the average elf, now that he looked. And her eyes were a blazing orange color.

“If it is not rude, Miss. What are your races?” Asked Lucius. For such a community to be here in a swamp in the middle of nowhere was strange.

“Orc and elf.” Said the woman, and she opened her mouth to show them two small tusks like bones. “My mother had a heart of gold, for an Orc, and didn’t eat my father when he pranced in her part of the swamp. She did club him over the head and fed him love potions until he agreed to marry her.”

Well, thought Lucius, that sounded like a crime. But he felt it would be better not to tell the woman that. Least she clubs him and feed him love potions to be spiteful. His father would have his head if he came back to castle Orlock with a half-Orc bride.

“That sounds like a lovely story.” Said Diana with a nervous chuckle. The half-Orc, half-elf snorted.

“Everyone says so because they are afraid, I will hit them over the heads otherwise. Look, the name is Gretta, and I am only interested in keeping this job. Now, do you want the special? Aleida the goblin, our barmaid, doesn’t make anything else.”

“What is the special?” Asked Elmar, afraid it would be fried eyeballs or jugs of blood.

“Baked apples, ginger bread and green tea with lemon.” Said Gretta. The four breathed a collective breath of relief and nodded.

“One special for each of us.” Said Elmar. He took out a coin purse. “You can keep the rest inside in exchange for information.” There were one hundred golden coins in the purse.

It was a lot, but if this inn had a teleporter that could shorten their travels, it was worth it to find out.

“We are not allowed tips here, Aleida’s rules. Do you want to get me fired? Ask anything and I’ll tell you. But first, I’ll go get your order. But I doubt you can eat everything.” Said Gretta and she went to the bar.

Aleida the goblin looked genuinely happy at having such a big order, and she pulled out giant platters out from underneath the bar and helped Gretta carry them back to their table.

“You eat up now. Everything was made today and it is still warm. There is a fire enchantment on the platters.” Said Aleida as she placed a platter with three loafs of ginger bread, a bowl with baked apples and a job of tea in front of each of them.

“Madam Aleida, we need to reach the capital of this forest.” Said Lucius as he sniffed his food. He smiled. It smelled perfect.

“Do you know? Then why did you enter the swamp? From here you have another thousand kilometers to go and if the road cheats you with a fork, more.” Said the goblin woman. She was clean, unlike her son. Did he not like taking baths?

“Are we at least walking in the right direction?” Asked Diana, worried that they might need to backtrack.

“Why, yes. But you won’t be able to leave here for the next four months. The rainy season is coming. The swamp overflows. It is good that Garry let you in, or you would have drowned out there.” Said Aleida.

“We can’t wait for four months.” Said Elmar. They couldn’t wait even a day. There was no telling what Hades would do if they made him wait.

“Well, though luck. You don’t have a boat, and our last one was sold two days ago. Garry makes them, you see, but he is cautious not to deforest the swamp. He travels far and wide for trees. He can’t do so when the swamp overflows.” Said Aleida.

“Do you have a teleporter, at least? To anywhere?” Asked Elmar. If they got back to Luca, they could tell him how to teleport them closer to the capital. Or, at least, out of the swamp.

“I wish I had one. It would have been good for business. But no. Teleportation devices are expensive. Look, the rain starts tonight. If I let you out there, it would be murder. The rain brings the swelling sickness with it. It is very contagious. No one will welcome you in this swamp. I saw your boots, so I know you can fly over the water, but once you get sick, it won’t help you much.”

“We can’t risk it.” Said Diana, eyes locked on Elmar. “We have to wait.”

“Do you have a free room, Aleida?” Asked Elmar, defeated. He needed to speak with Hades tonight. Explain to him that it wasn’t his fault there was a rainy sickness bringing season coming to the swamp. Hades had waited for so long, what was four more months?

“I do have one. But I have little use for gold during the rainy season. It is workers that I need. To keep the inn in order. You four seem healthy and youthful enough. I require your mana to keep the water from going inside the inn. I can put you up with a room for, let us say, forty mana crystals for the lot of you.” Said Aleida. “Plus, you can do odd jobs around the inn. Help Gretta and the like.”

“My mana crystals are more powerful than most.” Said Elmar as he created a black crystal and handed it to Aleida. “And black, as you can see.”

Aleida bit the mana crystal and she grinned.

“This is worth more than a thousand mana crystals all by itself. I can power the heating with one of these for years to come. But my price remains. Forty crystals. I charge everyone ten, and I will not show you any preferential treatment.”

Elmar’s companions looked at him and he sighed.

“I will supply you with forty black crystals every day, Aleida. But we will not work in the inn. Do you have books here?” Said Elmar and Aleida huffed but showed him a bookshelf in the far corner.

“We also have a library. It is to the left. I am a huge fan of grandpa Thinker’s magical theory books. By the way, do you have this new book on plants written by a nymph, by any chance? I heard it is good, but no one wants to part with it.” Said Aleida.

Diana pulled out her autographed copy of Theanore’s leafy friends and how to grow them and handed it to Aleida.

“You can take notes, if you want. But I want it back after the four months are up.” Said Diana. Then Aleida took the book with a happy smile and left them to their meal.