Reinos

Have been working on this for a few years, on and off now, but wanted to post this and continue writing it. It's a fantasy novel, and while a few chapters have been written, and I'll keep posting these, and writing/editing as I go!
This work is published as a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License, viewable at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca/
Thank you for reading, and any and all reviews are helpful and welcome!

Reinos’ cloak whipped around him in the wind and rain, and he wrapped it tightly around himself as he dismounted his tired horse, its white mane contrasted by the shining black of the rest of its body as it shivered in the stinging wind. A bright flash of lightning lit up the sign of the Elven Bard, an inn, as it swung in the wind; its rusted hinges creaking.
“Don’t worry,” He said in a soothing tone, rubbing the horse’s neck. “I’ll find a place for me to stay the night, and then drop you off at your stable. Just stay here and I’ll go get myself a room at the inn and bring you back to your master. I know you’ll be happy to see him.”
He stood there for a moment watching the horse, and then swiftly turned around, making his way to the only inn in the small town of Marisun. “The sooner I get out of this cold weather, the better” he muttered to himself as he pushed the doors to the inn open. As he did, the warm air of the inn rushed over him, bringing with it the familiar scent of fine ale.
Reinos pulled down his hood, revealing the face of a tall, young, elven man with long, brown hair. He looked around, and saw a bar with a crackling fireplace. Above it was the head of some strange animal mounted on the wall. He continued to look around until he heard some glass shatter in a nearby room. A young elven woman, about twenty, peered around the corner of a doorway behind a counter in front of Reinos. She smiled, and quickly rushed out to greet him. She had fair skin and long, black hair that flowed down past her shoulders. She was wearing a long white dress and was putting on a sheepskin vest as she went to the counter. She was also wearing a necklace with a golden ring attached to it that had something engraved into it. When Reinos saw how beautiful she was, he blushed and turned away.
“I’m sorry. I was writing a letter, and knocked something off of my desk,” She told him, still smiling cheerfully. “Would you like a room for the night?”
“Yes, I would. I’m leaving early in the morning.”
“Alright. Might I ask your name?”
“My name is Reinos”
“Thank you. I’ll be back with the key in a moment.” After saying this, she left into the back room, wrote something on a piece of paper, and came back out with a key. She dropped it into Reinos hand, and said, “Your room is the first door at the top of the stairs.”
“Thank you,” replied Reinos, who dropped three copper coins onto the counter, and they fell with a loud clink. It was then that he noticed how quiet it was. There was no noise from the bar, no noise from the rooms upstairs. The whole inn was silent. It was getting dark out, but it was still a few hours too early for everyone to be in bed, and there was no one at the bar. Even during weather like this there should have been a few people at the bar. The only sound was that of the wind, howling from the outside.
“Where is everyone?” Reinos asked, sounding confused. “Why is no one here?”
The young woman pulled a stool out from under the desk, sat down, and began to speak. “This town was recently taken over by a dark army from the north. They drove almost everyone out of town, and shut down most of the shops, except for the weapons store, which is under constant surveillance, and this inn, because the soldiers have nowhere to stay, and when they are off duty, they come in here, drink a lot of ale, and make a big mess. It takes a few hours to clean up every night. They’ll be starting in a couple of hours“.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thank you. You should be in your room by then, or you’ll likely be locked in jail. Avoid being seen, and you’ll be fine. Oh! I’d better hurry and get back to work now, or I won’t have time to sleep tonight! I’m sorry, but I’ll have to talk to you later.”
“What is your name?” Reinos asked quickly, before she left.
“My name? It’s Ariena. I hope to see you again, sometime.” She stood up from the stool and began to leave, and waved. “Goodbye, Reinos.” With that, she went into the room behind the counter once again, and closed the door.
Reinos walked out of the inn, and into the streets where the horse still waited for him.
He led it to the stables just a few houses north. He tied a rope around the horse’s neck, being careful not to hurt it. He tied the other end to a nearby board with a strong knot that would keep the horse from running away. Reinos went to talk to the owner of the animal, whose house was attached to the stable, and knocked at the door.
After waiting for two minutes with no reply, he began to leave, only to hear the sound of the door opening behind me. There stood an old man with long, snow-white hair. He was wearing a hooded green cloak.
Reinos began to greet him, and as he did, the man rudely brushed him aside and ran to the stables.
“Where is she? Where is my horse? What have you done with her?” He asked with such urgency, and so quickly, Reinos didn’t have time to react.
“Your horse is safe, I was just a little late,” Reinos said, before he was accused of hurting it.
He quickly apologized, “I’m sorry for my sudden outburst, it’s just that I’m very caring of my horses, and don’t want anything to happen to them. I don’t know why I continue to let people take them on their journeys. It’s so stressful for me. I’m getting to old for this”
“That’s alright,” Reinos replied. “I have to go back to the inn. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.” Reinos turned to leave and go back to the inn, and waved to the man. He smiled back, returned the wave, and went about cleaning and caring for his horse.