Riuluk opened his eyes very late that morning, after all, he had passed through some terrible days, in certain moments, he could have risked even a heart attack! He yawned with a big mouth and looked at the sun coming through the window. Baka and Burin are still in plant form. So he stared at them, wondering...should I actually feed them like plants now? Riuluk scratched his head and put them in the sun. He then went to his table, grabbed a bit of water from the bowl they had brought him the night before, and poured it on Baka and Burin.

  “Well, let’s hope this is enough...I have no idea why you look like goblins and are not bad like them. Moreover, I have no idea how you can turn into plants, but guess what, maybe the Wizard of Nature found a way to save you in some way,” said Riuluk, feeling like talking to them.

  So he then went downstairs in the main hall of the tavern to grab some nice, good dwarvish breakfast!

  Unfortunately, Roundath was not working that morning, such a pity for Riuluk. He was looking around in the main hall, hoping she would come out to serve his meal, but no, she apparently was not on service that morning.

  “What do you need, lad?” asked the innkeeper

  “Oh, please, the dwarvish special breakfast number 12!” said Riuluk happily

  “You must be hungry...just a couple of minutes, and it will be ready for you!” replied the inkeeper with a great smile.

  Cloud Dwarfs are quite practical folk. Since their main obsession is trading, they have even created a system for food that varies little from city to city. They mainly have 112 dishes. Those are the recipes and cannot be changed! Ahah!

  As a matter of saving time and organisation, you just ask for the number you need, and they will cook it for you the same way they do in your main city. This helps the dwarves of the clouds feel at home wherever they go by keeping them from feeling nostalgic for the food they had at home. In this way, they can feel at home everywhere, on land and in the sky. Each year, depending on the trend, a recipe can become a “special” one. Some recipes may lose their special title if they fall below a certain sales threshold. Each tavern or restaurant, each street seller or sky seller, is very precise in their sales. By law, they have to go to city hall each month to present their sales list. In this way, the “Cook Master”, the title given to the dwarf who is counting the sales, can send his document to the capital of the Cloud Dwarves. At the end of the year, there is going to be a national party over the plates that kept the “special” title and the ones that got the title. But most importantly, on that day, they have a huge culinary competition, where they choose up to 15 new dishes to add to the list. Those 15 new dishes will be tested for the whole year as a trial, and if they perform very well, they will pass the sales test to enter the cuisine list.

  The breakfast number 12 has kept the title as “special” since it has always remembered. When at the competition, they say it kept the title, and people cheer, clap, and laugh since it is obvious it will pass. This has prompted the minister of cuisine to propose a new draft bill establishing a new title, the “hall of fame”, where they will stop counting the most eaten plates ever.

  Riuluk waited for his meal, grabbing it with his fork and knife like a kid at the table, and finally, there it was:

  “Here you go, lad...your special 12” said the innkeeper

  We are talking about 2 nice sausages: one with chili pepper, one with pear seasoning. Lying on two egg yolks and all around the egg whites as clouds: one part white with a sweet taste, the other part grey with a salty taste.

  Riuluk was so happy. He moved his knife directly to the sausage with chili, grabbed some cloudy white egg with the fork, and put it all inside his mouth...

  “Mmmmh..mmmh...mmmmmmh...” could not resist mumbling with his mouth full.

  He kind of did it all in only two to three minutes. He then called for the innkeeper while burping at the table.

  “Can...ca...burp...can I have a cup of number 7?” asked Riuluk

  “Sure, Roundath! Bring a cup of number 7 to this lad here!” shouted the innkeeper

  Riuluk became like a piece of ice. Roundath was there! He was worried now. What if she saw him burping like that?

  Roundath came with a cup of number 7 to Riuluk. She smiled at him and handed it over. Riuluk turned red as a pepper and said not a word.

  “I should have told her something...” said Riuluk to himself, while watching the cup.

  Cup number 7: hot chocolate with orange syrup and cream on top shaped like clouds. Still not a special one, but it has been on the list of cuisines for more than 500 years. Riuluk drank it slowly while looking out the window at the beautiful weather. Then wondered seriously...

  “Now, let’s make some order here. My dear friend, Fraenthorn, has given me his last request: to find the new chosen one of fire. The only things I knew from him were that this awakened gem would show me the way to reach the new chosen one, but how? He did not really tell me...”

  “He said that it is quite unusual that the new chosen one has not been revealed yet. In history, it has been very rare for the predecessor not meet his future chosen one. The reason why the stone is pale is not only because I am not the chosen one, of course, but it seems like the new wizard of fire never got born. The stone itself should reveal the upcoming wizard, and it has been fading its power till Fraenthorn died.”

  “So, I ended up maybe because of the stone itself, to the Wizard of Nature? I should have asked him more questions, honestly. He gave me these two strange goblins that turn into plants, which I have no idea how to use at all, since goblins are killed from a mile away by anybody...”

  “And at the end, even worse, I have a dark elf on my steps...how? No idea. And a dark elf is a dark elf...the worst you could possibly meet alone or in battle. But at least he told me I should speak with this “funny” guy in Duerth Merkath. Not easy to find someone who changes name??”

  Riuluk got up and went to the Innkeeper.

  “Dear master of the tavern, I need to have a shower. Where are the showers?” asked Riuluk politely

  “Oh, downstairs, do not worry...” replied the Innkeeper

  “Ok, thank you. I would also need, after the shower, an adventurer backpack, you think you have one someone left I could use for the day?”

  Riuluk went up to his room, grabbed the bathrobe from the wall, and went straight to have a nice warm shower. He kept thinking of the dark elf mostly. In his life, he only met one, a vicious coward who laughed all the time while slaughtering innocents around. But this time it was not him...Krenas.

  Only to think of that name Riuluk had shivers on his back while under the hot shower. He finished his shower, grabbed the backpack from the inkeeper, and turned back to his room...and opened the door.

  “Waaakaaaaa chuchuuuu!”

  “Prrrrrrrrr..”

  “Hey, hey! What are you two doing?!” shouted Riuluk

  Baka and Burin were having pillow fights while feathers were flying all around the room in a mess.

  “Stop just there!” he tried to catch them, but did not succeed... then suddenly Baka shot the pillow harder, knocking Burin to the ground as he fell from the bed.

  “Uuuhuhuhuhuhuhuuu..” laughed Baka

  “Now stop, I mean it! You will have to pay back the mess you just made, you too!” said Riuluk angrily

  Baka looked sad at Riuluk, brought his face to the floor, then kneeled and put his hands in prayer...

  “Buaaaaaahh..Buaaaaah..” he faked crying

  “For Lord Kloud, why do I have you two with me? Weren’t you fine under the sun?” asked Riuluk

  Burin stood up again and showed Riuluk the bold head, a bit burned...

  “Ah...well, I did not know, I am sorry,” said Riuluk, “We need to move on, we have to move on, that dark elf might be in town by night if he did not find a boat meanwhile, at that point he could already be in town. We have to dress and go first to sell the Idrilich mushroom, buy a sphere, and then find this guy who changes names... what a wonderful day to come. So what do I do with you two? They will kill you if they find you like this, or even worse, kidnap you if they find you can transform into plants...”

  For a moment, Baka and Burin seemed to understand. They entered the two parts of the backpack where you usually put bottles to drink and transformed into two different plants.

  “Oh, sounds good. I do hope you transformed into one that can stand the sun this time! Ahahahah!”

  Riuluk dressed up again, put his backpack on with Baka and Burin. Took the bag containing the Idrilich Mushroom to the Inkeeper.

  “I will pay you tonight after service...” and left to the Inkeeper a brooch

  The brooch was ornamental with clouds on it. The brooch payment is a promise you will not fail. Promises from Cloud Dwarves are very important. Their society is very serious about order and law because otherwise, they could not spread so easily around the whole world. Taverns and restaurants never say no to feeding you and making you rest. In case you do not have money, you can make a brooch promise. The brooch promise is to make a fair deal with the owner about your future payment. On the brooch, there is your name. So, if you don’t make the payment by the time you said, the owners can call the guards and make a wanted poster for you to collect your payment. It is very rare for someone not pay back a brooch promise, because ending up on a wanted poster means anyone knows you will not be good for trading, as you are dishonest. And the Air Dwarfs' society works in trade. Since you only have one single brooch, you cannot go around making brooch payments as you desire. Just one is enough to fulfill your honor and your debts. In this case, Riuluk only said 'by night' on the same day. It is quite rare to make brooch payments that quickly; you usually have to ask for at least a week. That is because Riuluk is very positive that he will have the money soon, but he wants to fulfill it in one day. Because fulfilling a brooch payment on the same day will give you a free pass through the skies without tax for a period of time. You may think, good...anybody can fake they have no money and do it as many times as they want! But you may not understand dwarves, and mostly Air Dwarves...their pride of honor is way too high to comprehend a lie over their own richness.

  “Where are you leading at?” asked the Inkeeper

  “We have a great auction to make today!” replied Riuluk, “We are going to make some money!”