All Eight Guardians

Karri's POV

We stopped at the first hotel we came across which actually wasn't that far from the kingdom gate where we entered.

There was a man sitting on a wooden stool behind a clay desk. We all walked up to him as a cluster, but stopped a few feet in front of the desk.

The man looked up at us and asked, "How many rooms?"

I knew everyone was looking to me to talk to the guy, but it's not my forte to talk to creepy strangers and this guy was definatly tipping the scale.

Instead, Knight stepped forward and said, "Two rooms."

The man leaned to the side and glanced past Knight at the rest of us. He seemed to be sizing us up or counting how many of us there were, but I couldn't tell which. He straightened back up in front of Knight and asked, "Strapped for cash, huh?"

Knight nodded and replied, "Yeah, unfortunately."

"How many nights?" the man asked.

"Let's start with two." Knight said.

He gave Knight a confused look.

Knight sighed, "Someone in our caravan is sick and we want him to get better before we move on." he said as he glanced back at Moose for a moment.

Moose was leaning against the door frame, sweating profusely and coughing often, adding in an agonizing groan here and there. He was really playing it up and acting sick. What a ham.

"I see." the man said as he nodded. He and Knight haggled on a price and when they agreed Knight paid and was given two room keys. They were actual keys, looking more like a golden skeleton key with a red tassel hanging from the end. Nothing like the credit card like hotel keys us New York kids were used to seeing.

"There is a stable out back for your horse and wagon." the man said after everything was settled.

"I'll take her to the stable." Roman muttered before he took the reins and walked Lillix and the wagon to the stables.

Knight led the rest of us to one of the rooms where we all piled in. Annabelle, John, and I sat down at the foot of one of the beds while Moose collapsed on the other one. Sky leaned up against the wall next to the door and crossed his arms. Nick made himself comfy in front of the hole in the wall where a window should have been so he could casually look out as well as spy. Lastly, Knight stood across from me, also up against the wall like Sky.

"So what do you think?" Knight questioned.

"It's-" I started before I took a real look at the room.

It was dark, like the mouth of a cave. The walls were made of a dark tan colored clay, there were two queen sized beds with gross linens, a small bathroom, and everything was cramped.

"Dirty." Annabelle finished for me.

I didn't correct her because I couldn't think of a better fitting description.

"So who's in which rooms?" Moose asked as he sat up.

"Annabelle, Moose, Sky and I will take this room which means Karri, Nick, John, and Roman will take the other one." Knight replied.

"Who decided that arrangement?" Moose questioned.

"I did." Knight said.

"When?" Moose asked.

"Just now." Knight replied.

Roman walked into the room and slammed the door behind him, cutting the growing tension between Knight and Moose.

Knight looked up at Roman and asked, "What happened to you?"

Roman groaned, "The horse bit me...twice."

Knight smirked, "That horse never did like you."

With a sneer, Roman muttered, "Shut up."

Annabelle stood up and walked over to the window to look outside, "The sun has set. When will we start looking for the Guardian?" she asked.

"It's too late now. We'll being in the morning." Roman replied, "For now, let's just get to bed." he continued.

Annabelle exhaled and said, "Fine." before she plopped down on the bed closest to the window while John, Nick, and I stood to our feet and followed Roman out the door.