There was a pole standing in the corner of the streets. Two signs were attached to it, each pointing in their own direction. One of them was a common metal plate, the words "Stonehill Road" etched into its surface. The another one was a decorated wood sign. In it there were carved, using beautiful, flowing letters, words: "Wraith’s Path".

Brink turned his car onto the narrower road. Elsa, who was sitting next to him, shifted nervously. "Are you going to take me… here?" she asked with a faint voice.

Brink didn’t answer, he just smiled and nodded reassuringly.

Elsa shifted in her seat again. "Let’s not go here", she said. "Father says that they cannot be trusted!"

"Oh, darling, the best restaurants of the city are here", Brink replied cheerily. "Besides, the clock is hardly past five. The bad folk won’t come out until night."

Elsa refused to calm down. The first signs of the people of the Wraith’s Path could already be seen. All the trashes had disappeared from the road. The asphalt was partly dark, as if it had been covered with soot.

Brink noticed Elsa’s concerned expression. "Oh, believe me", he assured, "we will be absolutely in no danger. I have some friends here." While talking he drew an amulet, which had been made of some green metal, under his shirt.

Elsa gasped and tried to withdraw as far from the young man as she could in the limited space of their car. "You said that you wouldn’t belong to them!"

"Oh, darling, I don’t. I just said that I have some friends around here. They are quite agreeable once you get used to them. This – " Brink shook his amulet, " – is a guarantee for our safety. Around here things like this are taken seriously."

As if somebody would have heard his words and decided to prove them, there was a sudden flash of red light in the other side of the street. Even Brink flinched at it.

"What was that?!" Elsa shouted almost hysterically.

"A car burglar, I think", Brink answered grimly.

Elsa did her best not to watch the man who was running down the street, clutching his smoking right hand…

* * * * * *

"There it is, the best restaurant of the Wraith’s Path."

Elsa had an unnerving feeling that the eyes which had been carved into the door were staring back at her. Quickly she lifted her gaze into the sign over the doorway. Painted with sea-blue color, it read: "The Blue Veil".

"The owner of this place is proud of its level", Brink explained as he led Elsa to the door. "Though some unfortunate things may happen in the Wraith’s Path, they will stay absolutely clear of this restaurant."

Even though Brink knew what he was talking about, Elsa still hesitated to step through the door which had been polite enough to open itself to them. After waiting for a moment her companion gently pushed her inside.

Quiet, medieval music wrapped itself around them like a soft, caressing blanket. The large room was pleasantly dimly lit. Elsa silently thanked the illumination, because it prevented her from distinguishing the other customers too clearly. Soon she found herself hoping that the room had been completely dark and silent.

The gentle light came from glass globes, which were floating near the walls without any kind of visible support. The background music was produced by genuine instruments, which were playing themselves near the ceiling.

Brink led his friend into one of the room’s numerous booths. "And now", the man said, smiling, "We shall wait for the waiter. He’ll be here in no time."

In the middle of the table there was a lone, completely ordinary candle. Elsa, who did her best not to look around, focused all of her attention into that tiny, yellow flame. It was so calm, so soft, so… normal.

She did not notice as their waiter arrived to the table. That was why she flinched as a pleasant, though a little squeaky and flippant voice said: "Good afternoon, Mr. Brink. Can I take the order from you and your most charming friend?"

Hastily Elsa lifted her eyes. She noticed a silver tray with something blue placed over it. For a moment the young woman thought that the waiter had already brought something to them, but then – cringing – she realized two very alarming facts: the waiter’s hand was not supporting that tray, and the waiter himself was sitting on the tray.

"Good afternoon for you, too", a little dragon answered to Elsa’s wide eyes. The scales of the creature were sapphire-blue and they shone and glittered even in the dim illumination. His ears were large and pointed, and they had a tendency of swaying whenever the dragon tilted or turned his head. His eyes were glimmering, emerald green. His mouth had been drawn into a very wide smile (which did not help to cover the rows of white, needle-sharp teeth).

"This is Hakrei Hunzewoth, the head waiter of The Blue Veil", Brink introduced the dragon matter-of-factly.

Hakrei bowed politely. Then he drew two menus from his tray. "Let us get down to your order, shall we? Take your time, I am currently in no hurry to anywhere." Again his face was dominated by a charming smile. Had Elsa not been unease of dragon’s presence because of what he was, she would have though the creature to be really cute.

"First, the main course", Brink said with a friendly tone of voice. He examined his menu. "I wonder what could we eat…"

Suddenly the dragon tumbled over onto his back and burst into a resounding laughter. The silver tray started to rock dangerously. Tiny bolts of lighting flew out of Hakrei’s maw. They crackled and flashed around his scales like little fireworks. Elsa screamed and jumped up from her seat. She was quickly but gently pushed back by Brink. None of the other customers paid more than a glanceful of attention to the show.

Hakrei’s laughter stopped as quickly as it had started. The dragon pushed himself back into the sitting position, took the silver tray back into his control and wiped the tears out of his eyes. Then he cleared his throat with an extremely embarrassed expression. "Erm, I am terribly sorry about that. It was a joke of the inner circle. You see, the likes of you visit our restaurant so rarely that the locals have started to whittle jokes about your eating habits. Please, pay it no heed."

"Of course, but could we speak about that food now?" Brink asked. His tone of voice was aimed to calm Elsa down. "What this… Sho Rajkin Shosen was again?"

"Sho Reykian Shozenn", Hakrei corrected. "In your language, Golden Chicken. A very delicious dish, chicken in a honey dressing, seasoned with lawsan and pepper. Recommended. There is nothing to bother your…" The dragon kept a pause, searching for a suitably discreet word, "interiors."

"It sounds delicious", Brink said. He looked at his friend. "Shall we take that?"

The woman said nothing, just nodded. She was still staring at that little mouth which had been flaming bright blue just a moment ago.

"Ya passe, two dishes of Sho Reykian Shozenn", Hakrei acknowledged. "And drinks?"

"Just choose something for yourself, darling", Brink encouraged Elsa. "If I remember correctly, they are all completely normal."

Gingerly the young woman lifted her menu and started browsing through the list of drinks. She gasped almost immediately. "Blood?!"

"Please do not mind that", Hakrei said quickly. "It is not only terribly expensive, but also reserved for night-time service only. We have a treaty with the blood bank." The dragon scratched his little nose and smiled incredibly charmingly. "It is very popular among our… nocturnal customers."

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