The Foolhardies 134 Rest Area

"Commander, we drove those nasty drow away—"

Varda took one look at the gore in the alleyway—the numerous dead bodies lying under a pool of their own blood—and she leaned on the wall to her right and puked her guts out.

The stench of dwarven rock beer suddenly permeated the air.  

"Spirits…" She wiped at her mouth with the sleeve of her arm. "What the mud happened here?"

"Long story," Aura answered wryly. "Can someone call Berrian out here. Dean's wounded."

I glanced down at my forearm. It was definitely bloodier than I last checked.

"Someone grab our dead too," I ordered. "We leave no one behind."

Later, after our fallen kobold had been taken away by Thor's crew, and after Berrian had applied a healing salve to my arm and bandaged it right and proper, I found myself continuing my earlier discussion with the McCord brothers. However, they were a little too preoccupied with their covers possibly being blown to tell me more about Ty.

"You… you let her get away…" Collin slumped against the wall behind him. "She's going to kill us if she finds out we're your spies."

"Relax, you're safe," I said, leaning on the wall opposite him. "She was too busy running away to see you guys."

"But—"

"—You're safe," I repeated, cutting Connor off from his protest. "You're safe… but Ty isn't. He's still imprisoned somewhere in this city."

I crossed my arms and looked pointedly at the twins.

"So I need to know where this auction's going to be held at," I said.

The twins gave each other worried looks.

Aura walked over to them and took their hands in hers.

"We promised you we'd protect you," she said, her voice a calming note to their ears. "We will. Trust us. And help us find Tiberius."

Just like that, whatever worries that McCords felt was washed away, and by the growing blush on each of their cheeks, I guess they were willing to be cooperative again.

After she'd let go of their hands, a part of me wondered if Aura hadn't just used her empathic abilities to calm the McCords down like she'd often done with me whenever I was a little too riled up. And if this was the case, I was surprised to find that I didn't like it. It felt manipulative somehow even though I knew she was only doing it to help me find Ty.

Aura turned her gaze on me and I quickly reformed my frown into that smirk that had recently become my default.

"So," I said quickly. "What else can you guys tell us?"

Collin sighed. "They call it the Wailing House… an auction house that deals exclusively in quality slaves… You can find it in the Gold Quarter of the city."

"You can't miss it," Connor added. "Just look for the biggest and gaudiest looking building there."

The twins nodded at each other before they both turned to face me.

"That's all the intel we have for you," Collin said. "We're leaving now."

He bowed his head toward Aura and then turned back toward the Cold Steel Brew. Connor followed after him, but glanced over his shoulder to say one final thing, "We're laying low for now so don't expect our help anytime soon… gotta keep the heat off us first."

The twins entered through the tavern's backdoor and disappeared on the other side.

"We should go to, Dean," Aura suggested. "Don't want the local guards to catch us around this mess."

She narrowed her eyes at the nearest dead body, a she-drow who looked no older than she did.

"We'll need to be extra vigilant now that we've clashed with the Scarlet Moon… There will be many more of them," she said.

I took one final glance at the slaughter I'd caused, and despite my earlier elation at having triumphed over my enemies with my own martial skill, I couldn't help feeling that slight pain in my chest.

I breathed a sigh of relief and then put my hands together.

"I hope I never go numb to all the death we see… and cause," I whispered like a silent prayer to whichever great spirit was listening.

Our entire group made our way back toward the courtyard of the merchant's guild where we would rendezvous with Luca and Ashley's group who were waiting for our return.

"Why're your clothes bloody? And why is your arm bandaged?" Luca asked once I was close enough for him to scrutinize.

He turned his gaze on Aura, Donar, Berrian, Thor, and then finally, the wobbling Varda who was being held upright by two dwarves on either side of her. It seemed all the liquor she'd imbibed had finally gotten to her.

"What in mud have you guys been up to?" he asked in obvious confusion.

Aura and glanced at each other.

"Barfight," we said together, which was immediately followed up by Varda who added, "I started it… he-he."

"Someone put her in a wagon so she can sleep it off," I said with a shake of my head.

"No need for that," Ashley interrupted. "Shanks hooked us up at a nice inn nearby. Enough rooms for our entire mercenary group."

Shanks, who'd been watching all this from the side-lines, made his presence felt by rising up to his full nine-foot height.

"Owned by an old acquaintance of mine named Zephyra. She'll take good care of your crew, boss," he said jovially.

"Much appreciated, Shanks," I said, keeping my eyes fixed on Varda. "We're going to need it."

"I don't suppose you'd mind if I tagged along for now?" Shanks asked. "I've already unloaded my shipment so I've got nothing else to do but wait for Samhain to end."

There was that word again, and for the life of me, I couldn't understand why hearing it now just gave me the chills.

"You're welcome to join us, Shanks," I said. "We could use the muscle."

Shanks raised his burly arms into the shape of an X. "Sorry, boss. I'm a pacifist… Best I can do is give you discount on potions and other things you might need."

As he said this, Shanks patted the bag slung around his shoulder. I guessed that it was probably a bag of holding like the one Luca was carrying.

"The more the merrier then," I finished.

We were making preparations to head over to the inn Shanks got us when Luca caught sight of the two bodies Thor's group was lifting into the wagon.

"That must have been some crazy barfight," Luca said solemnly.

"One of the kobolds is missing…" I said. "Didn't find his body with the other two."

Luca placed a hand on my shoulder. "Did you avenger them properly?"

I raised my bandaged arm to his eye level. "What do you think?"

The inn Shanks led us to was a three-story stone building that had seen better days. Fay graffiti had been painted over much of its front walls and part of the craved designs had been weathered off.

I looked up at the sign and read, "The Nowhere Inn."

I assumed that's what it said as the sign was missing a few letters.

As we'd paid to leave most of our wagons in the merchant guild's parking lot—a whopping thirty Leprechauns—we didn't have much with us except for the packs we each carried. Hopefully, that meant enough room for all my soldiers.

"Thor," I called.

The kobold dashed to my side.

"Yes, Comma—um, boss," he said, lowering his head apologetically for the verbal snafu.

"Put some bodies on either side of the street. I want them looking out for Thom's group as well as unwanted guests," I ordered.

"Alright, boss," he began to salute me, thought better of it, and then walked away while shaking his head.

"Well, Shanks," I said, glancing over to our troll guide. "After you."

The interior of the Nowhere Inn was a homely common room that didn't give off the same rundown feel like the outside. Sure, the paint on the walls was peeling in some places and the upholstery scattered around the room needed a good scrubbing, but the fireplace in the far corner was warm and inviting, and the smell wafting out of a door in the corner was that of cooked bacon.

Somehow, it reminded me of home, and if we were going to be in this godforsaken city for longer than a night, I wouldn't mind a base like this one to operate from.

To the right of the entrance was a wooden counter. A beautiful woman with long, flowing silver hair sat behind it. She had a faraway look on a face that seemed to be winking in and out of view almost as if her skin was nothing more than a mirage.

"Zephyra," Shanks called jovially.

The silver-haired woman blinked like she'd just woken up from a waking dream. Then her gaze moved over to us.

"Hello, Shanks," she said in a wispy voice. "It's been a while since your last visit."

Zephyra's gaze focused on Aura before finally landing on me.

"And you bring important guests with you," she said.

"You know who we are?" I asked surprised.

"Whether I want them or not, the wind carries all secrets back to me," she said cryptically. Then she nodded toward the fireplace. "Also, your friends have been waiting for your arrival for quite some time."

"My… friends," I followed her gaze, and only then did I notice the shadows lounging next to the fireplace.

One of these shadows was grinning back at me. It was Thom, and by the knowing smile he sent my way, I guessed he had a lot to tell me.

Chapter end