Chapter 8

I know it's been some time since I posted a new chapter to this story, but thanks to Medik47 you have a new chapter to enjoy.

As they made their way into Lord Gammanal's home Grayson saw that he had been right in his assessment of Lord Gammanal's taste in interior decoration.

Dravic watched as Grayson looked around his Lord's home and he got the strange feeling that his guest seemed somewhat bewildered by the style of Lord Gammanal's home.

"I take it you have not seen this style of housing before?" he asked Grayson as he found himself taking a small liking to him.

"Yes I have never seen this style of housing before, what style is it?" asked Grayson, not as a way to make small talk, but because he really did like the style of Lord Gammanal's house even though he was not really that big of a fan of architecture.

"This style is known as the Kampatchi style, it's a mix of old Talkcon style as well as a blend of southern Trygar and eastern Domic styles." Dravic said to Grayson and he could see that he had never heard of those styles before which intrigued him for those styles of architecture were very well know in the Empire from many centuries ago.

"I take it you are not a native of these lands?" he asked Grayson to see if he could fish for some more info as to who Grayson really was.

Grayson could see the inquisitive look on Dravic's young face and he could not help but to smile good naturedly as he found himself taking a stronger liking to his young host.

"Gulity as charged." Grayson said as he took out his copper cigarette case, opened it and offered a joint to Dravic who gave him a questioning look.

"Where are you from?" Dravic asked Grayson as he looked at what he was offering him and saw that it looked to be some kind of smoking herb and politely waved him off as he was unsure if he could trust Grayson enough to accepted his offer of smoking herbs.

"You don't mind if I smoke a joint then?" Grayson asked as he saw Dravic give him a puzzled look that did not make any sense of to him.

"I mean I'm a guest here and if Lord Gammanal says that smoking is forbidden I'll respect his wish and not smoke any weed." he added and watched as Dravic gave him a friendly smile.

"Thank you for your respect, but Lord Gammanal does not mind his guests smoking herbs so long as it does not make them ill tempered or violent, in fact Lord Gammanal likes to partake of Fardark weed from the gnomish kingdom of Far-Du." Grayson heard Dravic say to him and he could not help to let out a loud, good-natured laugh.

"I enjoy Fardark as well, I have been to the gnomish kingdom of Far-Du a few times in my life." Grayson said to Dravic as he took a joint out from the copper cigarette case.

"As for where I'm from it would be unlikely you would believe me." He added as he closed up the cigarette case and put it back in his front right pants pocket and pulled out a Prota-Fire gem.

"Really, sounds like you come from very far away." Dravic said to Grayson who let out an amused chuckle as he lit his joint.

"You have no idea on how right you are one that my Young Friend." Grayson said after he exhaled the pot smoke from his lungs as he was trying to mentally picture what the look on Dravic's face would be when he told him he was from the dead earth.

"Well my young friend, I come from another world." Dravic heard Grayson say to him and he was not only deeply surprised but also very curious about the world that Grayson claimed he had come from as they continued to talk.

"Umm it's not that I don't believe you but..." Grayson heard Dravic say to him with a disbelieving tone of voice and a look of youthful curiosity that made him laugh as he was reminded of himself when he had been a young man so long ago.

"That's ok if you don't believe me, if someone I had just met told me they were from another world I'd be hard pressed to believe them." Grayson said with a mile wide smile and a fun loving and amused tone of voice as he was rocking to a pretty good buzz.

"What is your world like?" Dravic asked as he got the feeling that Grayson was telling him the truth about where he had come from.

"Well I take it that you don't get a lot of otherworldly travelers to this empire despite the heavy presence of magic?" Grayson asked as he found himself in a very relaxed mood.

"That's right." Dravic said to Grayson, he was bursting at the seams with youthful excitement and curiosity.

"Well Dravic, the world I am from was known simply as Earth, my people destroyed themselves and our world in a world-wide war with weapons that could kill even the Gods." Grayson stated, and watched as Dravic gave him a clearly shocked look.

Grayson could see that Dravic was unsure as what to say to him after his revelation of the end of the Earth.

"Don't worry about it, I have put my world, my people and my past behind me." Dravic heard Grayson say to him with a slightly depressed tone of voice and decided to change the subject as he was still mentally reeling from what Grayson had told him of his world and his people.

After walking for a few minutes more both Dravic and Grayson entered into Lord Gammanal's throne room.

"Far out." Grayson thought to himself as he saw that the throne room was about a hundred and sixty five meters in area and that in the center of the throne room was a large, high-backed, wooden throne of Smokewood that was heavily padded with overstuffed black leather padding.

Next, Grayson noticed that on either side of the throne room were large, thick octagonal columns that had the busts of men and monsters emerging from the tops of the columns and that below the busts were large oil pits built into the columns themselves.

Dravic saw Grayson looking around the throne room with an approving look that told him that while his new found friend was unfamiliar with the city's architecture, he did seem to have a sharp eye and deep appreciation for architecture.

Then he turned his attention away from his new found friend and to his lord who was sitting on his throne reading from a scroll.

"My Lord, I have returned with the supplies you sent me out for." Lord Gammanal Renlo heard someone say to him, when he looked to see who had spoken to him and he saw that it was Dravic his Major Domo, then he took notice of the strange young man that was with him.

"Well done Dravic, who is this man you have brought with you?" he asked Dravic as he studied Grayson in great detail.

"My Lord, this man is Grayson, a hunter by trade, I met him while I was bring back the supplies you sent me out for and he was kind enough to heal one of your slaves who was injured in her duties." Dravic said. He could see that his lord was studying Grayson quite intently.

Lord Gammanal was a tall man at a height of seven feet and eleven inches, he noticed that Lord Gammnal had short black hair with graying temples.

"Greeting Lord Gammnal, I am honored to be invited into your home." he said as he give a polite half bow to him as he saw that Lord Gammanal's light blue eyes were studying him intently.

"Welcome Grayson, I will compensate you for the expense of healing my slave." Gammanal said. He found that while Grayson seemed like a plain commoner there was something out of place with him that he did not understand.

"No need your Lordship, I do well enough with my business that I can afford to be generous, beside being invited into your home to celebrate your son's thirteenth birthday is more than enough compensation." Grayson said as he stood straight and continued to study Lord Gammanal. He saw that while Lord Gammanal was a bit on thin side he could see the power in his body. He saw the scar on Lord Gammanal's left temple. The man before him knew how to handle himself in a fight.

But before any more words could be exchanged a young boy walked into the throne room. As Aldale Renlo had walked into his father's throne room to tell him that he had finished his studies he noticed Dravic and the stranger next to him were talking with his father.

"Who is this?" He thought. "Looks like a commoner by the way he is dressed." He saw that the stranger was fairly young looking, so much so he was unsure as to the age of the stranger.

Gammanal saw his son studying Grayson and he could see that his son was taking an interest in Grayson.

"Ahh, Aldale are you done with your studies son?" Grayson heard Lord Gammanal say and when he looked to where Lord Gammanal was looking he saw a young boy standing there, staring at him.