The Coming of Age of Alerick - Chapter 5

Click here to read Chapter 4

As Alerick and his brothers approached Sapirio he prayed that they would be staying at the Seven Wonders this evening for the Festival of the Birds. It would certainly make things a lot easier. If not then he'd have to find a way to sneak away. But his plans still might go according to plan if Rikkard wasn't available for whatever reason. Again he prayed that that wasn't the case. Their cart took the same familiar route through the town, which was good. Of course he could have just asked, but he didn't want it to sound suspicious or anything. Why should he care where they were staying? He was there for the Festival not the accommodations, so he kept his mouth closed.

As soon as the cart turned on to the same street as the Seven Wonders he breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled, things were certainly going according to plan.

The room they got was small and cramped to say the least. It was no bigger than his room back home and he that to himself. But as Taarik had said they were only spending one night and planned on spending most of that night out and about. As soon they went downstairs to the tavern to get something to eat before the sun went down he knew it was obvious the town was ready to celebrate. The entire tavern was decorated and the serving girls were dressed up in elaborate bird-like costumes. His village celebrated the festival as well, but it simple, a feast and a dance. Each year a few villagers would dress up, but the costumes were simple. But these costumes were so elaborate he thought. Every patron had something on that symbolized the holiday. The men that had hats on each had one feather sticking out of their caps while the women had more extravagant and showy hats with dozens of bird feathers sticking out.

About an hour after the sun went down the four of them headed in to the streets where they found a town that had transformed itself in to a wild party. They could barely walk through the thongs of people wearing bird costumes – some looked like real birds while others were just fantastical. He had to admit that it was exciting. Even if he wasn't able to meet Rikkard the trip would be worth it. He'd have something to remember and talk about for years. He hadn't seen Rikkard since they arrived. But he also hadn't gone in to the other half of the Seven Wonders either. He knew his brothers would stay out most of the nigh,t if not the whole night, so after a few more drinks he'd be able to slip away without too much fuss.

There were entertainers on every corner, in every tavern, and even on the roofs of some of the buildings. He'd never seen anything like it. Singers, flutists, guitarists, harpists, acrobats, dancers, jugglers, storytellers, and magicians. The town was packed with every sort of entertainment that there was. If a storyteller visited his village once a quarter the village was in a flurry. Each time he stopped he was amazed all over again. But after a couple of hours of wondering through the town his thoughts started to drift to Rikkard. It was almost time. And he had to put his next plan in to action. Taarik was wanting to go one way while his other brother was wanting to go another way. It was time.

"I'll go with Chaunn," Alerick said.

"Oh alright," Taarik grumbled. "I guess we can split up."

His plan was working smoothly. Chaunn and he found a tavern where a troop of acrobatic dancers were performing. They decided to stop and watch the action. Chaunn slammed down a couple of drinks and before long Alerick knew he was drunk. It was obvious since he was swaying and slurring his words. And what was even better there was girl that was giving him looks from across the way. She had blue and white feathers strung through her long dark hair.

"Chaunn, that girl over there keeps looking at you," he whispered. "I think she likes you."

Finally he noticed and that was all it took. A few minutes he approached and they laughed and giggled for another few minutes. Then they started kissing. It was time.

Alerick ran over to his brother and grabbed his arm.

Chaunn turned around with drunken annoyance, "what do you want Alerick, I'm busy."

"I'm going to find Taarik," he said.

"Year whatever," he said and quickly turned back to focus on the girl's lips. Alerick even caught a glimpse of him massaging her breasts. It was hard to believe that no one even gave them a second glance. It seemed the whole village had the 'anything goes' attitude during the Festival.

He ran out of the tavern and made his way back to the Seven Wonders as quickly as he could, which turned out not to be very quick at all since he had to fight his way through the crowd.


…to be continued...contact me at SexSorcerer@gmail.com.