by N L Nold
Table of Contents
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Prologue
Acknowledgments
Epilogue
This place, these people, my eyes unable to clear the fog enough to see. The sense of familiarity niggling at the back of my mind a constant itch I can’t seem to reach. As I stare through the fog at the blurry people and buildings, I start to feel that familiar pull. I proceed to walk forward unsure of what to look for or even what I’m looking at. People and buildings pass clouded by their fogged shell.
I continue to walk forward allowing the pull to lead me to what my mind thinks I need to see. The pull grows almost painful as I continue my trek. Finally the tension eases and the fog begins to clear. Standing in the dark corner of a store front is a little girl no more than six with raven hair so dark it appears blue and striking green eyes. She plays with the straw doll clutched between her tiny hands.
She is quietly humming to herself a tune that pulls at something in my chest. Unconsciously stepping forward I find that I’m humming the tune as well like I know the song but can’t pull the words from my mind.
So, transfixed by the girl I don’t realize the male that steps through the front door of the store and his words startle me.
“Reign come inside get back to work you worthless girl”, Looking up I see Drogan staring right at me.
“Reign, Reign are you deaf wake up you lazy girl!!” a sharp pain in my side has the fog clearing.
“How many times have I told you not to sleep on the job you lazy girl?”
Another swift kick and I’m hunching over trying to keep my meager dinner down.
“Get out there now there are men who pay good money to see your worthless ass”.
Shaking the fog from my brain and trying to overcome the frustration of yet another dream that leaves more questions than answers I look to Drogan, being sure my eyes never meet his fully.
“Yes, Drogan sir, I’m sorry sir”.
Drogan is a large man with broad shoulders and a fighter’s stance. His leathered skin a caramel brown color, covered in scars, and weathered by years of hard work. Shoulder length hair tied in a knot and the short beard that covers his chin; a dull grey that does nothing to make him appear less threatening.
Reign had never seen him in anything but fighting leathers with twin daggers strapped to his sides. Even at his age there was no part of the man that appeared soft and only a fool would think the graying of his hair was a sign of weakness.
I watch Drogan’s retreating back stretching out my sore muscles from falling asleep on the straw bales in the back of the tavern again After all these years of living with the hard-ass you would think I would know better than to be caught napping on the job. Today though, today I just couldn’t bring myself to care.
Standing in front of the dingy old shield that acted as my mirror I check my reflection hoping I don’t appear too disheveled. That would only serve to make Drogan’s mood worse. Knowing I’m short on time I spare few precious seconds removing the stray piece of straw that have mingled in with my dark hair and retie my braid.
Reaching for the set of fighting leathers Drogan has left on the hook I quickly dress. Removing my thin work tunic I slide the soft leather over my body until my second skin is snuggly wrapped around my curves. Grabbing the pair of boots I removed earlier from beside the bales I lace them tight and with one last glance at my reflection I head towards the same door Drogan left through and into the infamous “Tricky Trollip” steeling myself for chaos of fight night.
Chapter 1
The Beginning
The Tricky Trollip has been Reigns “home” since she was nine years old. With no memories of her previous life, Drogan became the closest thing to a parent she’d ever known. He found her on the street covered in blood with nothing but the cotton night gown she wore and her name.
Reign never quite knew if he took pity on her or if he saw her as free labor. He picked her up and brought her back to the tavern. At first life was ok, he fed her, clothed her, and gave her a warm bed to sleep in. In those early days she only had kind thoughts towards the old man.
Drogan converted the old store room of the tavern into a makeshift bedroom for her, outfitting it with a straw bed, a small table, and a chest for the second-hand clothes one of his barmaids had given her. The clothes where big on her but she managed to make them work utilizing some twine from the straw.
Drogan spoke to her very little in those early days as if he was unsure of what exactly to say to such a young girl. A man like him was more accustomed to the barmaids that worked for him and the whores that frequented his tavern looking to earn their coin for the evening.
Reign spent the first week at the tavern only leaving her room to relieve herself. She was always cautious not to disturb Drogan and did her best to avoid the patrons of the tavern. Drogan always stopped by her room at some point with a plate of stew and glass of milk.
She thanked him but could not bring herself to look him in the eye afraid of what she might see. Reign may have had no memory of who she was or where she came from, but she knew enough to understand that all kindness came with a price and she wasn’t ready to find out what Drogan’s was.
After her first week passed without incident, she found herself feeling less scared of everything and starting to think about her strange situation. She had been at the tavern for a week but the only person to ever come into the store room was Drogan, he would come in to bring her food, grab supplies, and then leave.
She couldn’t help but wonder if he warned the barmaids to stay away, the customers would never wander back here but to not see any of his employees seemed strange.
Judging by the noises coming from the tavern, patrons were arriving for their evening dance with debauchery. As the night continued on much like the others she had been here, the noises coming through her door grew louder.
Men laughing, the occasional drunken ballad being belted out, the slamming of mugs on the bar, women giggling, and the shuffling of feet from behind the bar. The obnoxious smell of cheap perfume and stale ale hung heavy in the air almost gagging her.
Slipping back from the door hoping to silence the sounds of sin emanating from the tavern Reign squished her small frame in between the bales of straw and back wall and slid herself down onto the floor. The small space made her feel safer than being in the open and eventually her eyelids began to droop, heavy with sleep.
A sudden loud bang followed by the giggle of a female had her head shooting straight up and her body curling in on itself. Her eyes took in the sight in front of her a large burly man was stumbling forward into her room a woman being pulled in behind him.
Once inside the man stopped and turned back towards the women not even noticing her in the corner. He wrapped one arm around the women’s waste as the other crept around the back of her head grabbing a fist full of hair. He tugged to the side exposing her neck and buried his face in the crook between her shoulder and ear. The women’s giggles resumed. The man taking that as all the encouragement he needed.
He removed his hand from her hair and let it travel south. His hands slid first to her chest then further to grab the bottom of her ski
rt. He removed his lips from her neck so he could reach down and lift her skirt. The women’s eyes opened again and in that moment she finally noticed the girl sitting in the corner and screamed.
The man was not deterred in the least “Oh come on honey, don’t go changing your mind on me now”.
The women shuffled and begin to push the man backwards, “Stop Charlie, there is a child in here”.
That got his attention and he finally ceased his attempts at the women’s skirt and turned his attention to Reign.
Reign froze in fear, the man eyed her as a grin split his face to reveal several missing teeth and the ones left to be covered in rot. Still low to the ground he approached her on his knees.
The closer he got the more fear reign felt. Finally, within inches of her she could smell the rot on his breath and she fought the urge to gag.
“Well, well what have we hear. Has Drogan been hiding his little whore in the back to keep her all to himself?”
Finally coming out of her state of shock the women must have realized what the man was thinking and tried to direct his attention away from the girl and back to herself.
“Come on Charlie, let’s find somewhere else, you know what Drogan said. We aren’t even supposed to be back here.”
She placed her hand on Charlie’s shoulder as she spoke the words, gently tugging backwards. Charlie wasn’t ready to give up on his new-found prize though. He pulled the women’s hand from his shoulder and shoved her backwards causing her to fall and hit her head, effectively knocking her unconscious.
The man turned back towards her. Reign closed her eyes hoping this was all a dream and when she opened them the man would be gone.
She felt a cold hand on her mouth as another grabbed her hand attempting to pull her from the corner. She kept her eyes closed as he pulled her to a standing position.
“My you are a pretty little thing aren’t you, I can see why Drogan has been hiding you.”
A small sob escaped Reigns mouth; “Hush now there child, Charlie is going to take good care of you. You may even like it.”
Fear like she had never known coursed through her body. Her heart pounded so loud in her ears that she could barely hear anything else.
“What the Drak!”
She heard Charlie say as he dropped his hands and Reign opened her eyes. Charlie was backing away staring at her with both awe and fear.
“What are you?”
Reign didn’t understand what he was asking until she looked down, a black mist surrounded her body. It writhed and wrapped itself around her small form giving her light skin an ebony glow. Transfixed by the beauty of the shadow she hadn’t realized she was slowly moving towards Charlie her hand raised.
Unable to stop herself she raised her hand to the man’s cheek. The awe was gone from his eyes replaced with cold unyielding fear. Reign could feel it, smell it, taste it even, and she liked it. The feeling of his fear only fed the mist.
As he opened his mouth to scream the mist released from her hand absorbing into Charlies skin. His eyes became black, veins of black spreading their way across his face.
Charlie fell to the ground writhing and shaking for a moment before all movement from his body ceased. Reign looked up to see Drogan standing in the doorway as blackness clouded her vision and she began to fall.
When she woke the next day, she was laying on the straw bed, the women and man where both gone from her room. Had she dreamt the encounter? It had to have been a dream. Things like that don’t happen. Little girls don’t turn into writhing masses of black mist and kill people. Do they?
Reign sat in contemplation for a long time. Her trance finally broken by Drogan entering with a bowl of what appeared to be porridge. He set the dish down on her small table and turned to leave. Before he could get too far Reign stopped him
“Wait!”
Drogan turned slightly not fully acknowledging her but angling his ear towards her to indicate he was listening. He didn’t say anything just held the position.
“Did…. Did” Reign stumbled over the words, “did something happen in hear last night?”
Drogan didn’t acknowledge her question just started towards the door once again. He stopped in the doorway and called over his shoulder.
“Tomorrow you start earning your keep around here no more free meals.”
With that he was gone. Reign didn’t know if she imagined what had happened or not, but it seemed Drogan didn’t care.
The first few days of work where comprised of simple tasks, washing clothes, cleaning dishes, chopping vegetables, and anything else Drogan could think of to keep her busy. As time progressed, she started working more jobs in the tavern.
Reign became so efficient that Drogan fired one of his barmaids after a few months and he took over her job leaving Reign to serve the food and clean up after the patrons.
Most where respectful and kept their hands to themselves under Drogan’s watchful eye. It took about a week of beatings doled out on her behalf from Drogan for the message to ring clear to all that entered the Tricky Trollip. She was his property and anyone who touched his property without permission would pay the price. It wasn’t all bad though she loved talking to all the travelers and hearing the stories of the four lands.
As the years progressed so did her duties and jobs and in all that time the shadows never made another appearance, Reign decided that she must have dreamt the whole thing.
It took about a year before Drogan fired the other barmaid leaving only her and himself to run the Trollip. She did anything and everything that did not involve the transfer of coin through her hands. Whether that was due to Drogan’s lack of trust or greed she never quite knew. Things went on quietly just the two of them for about three years.
Everything changed shortly after her twelfth birthday or rather the day she celebrated as her birthday. She used the day Drogan found her as a way to keep track of her age hoping there was some accuracy in it.
Chapter 2
The beginning
Reign had just finished cleaning the Tavern’s six rooms all of which had been occupied the night before by travelers. She loved those guests the most hearing their stories of places they have been people they have seen.
The tavern was located in central Taru; on the traveler’s road to the west from the capital Wargra. Taru was a fairly diverse land filled with all sorts of creatures and people.
The majority of travelers that came through the tavern where human, on occasion they would get a Fae from the northern forest, sometimes shifters, and once even a mage; but those visits where rare.
The tavern was simple in design the bar sat roughly a dozen. Small rickety tables filled the rest of the dining area. A small kitchen was housed in the back. Six guest rooms above the bar accessible by a rickety old staircase. There was a stable out back that could fit up to eight horses. Finally completed by Drogan’s living quarters and the small store room off the kitchen where Reign’s bed was located.
Reign knew the tavern like the back of her hand there wasn’t a single nook or cranny she hadn’t cleaned or investigated in her time here. For the most part Drogan didn’t mind her wanderings with the exception of the stables.
Reign loved horses and the smell of the fresh hay and would often watch the travelers bring their horses and wagons into the stable through the small window in the kitchen.
Drogan had forbid her from entering the stables saying it was too dangerous, “you could be trampled by the beast or taken advantage of if the wrong man caught you out there alone”.
She understood what he meant by the second part but, for some reason the day of her twelfth birthday she still found herself outside walking straight to the place she was forbidden to go.
The lunch time patrons had mostly left for the day but Drogan had been distracted by a traveler asking for the best place to get supplies. She took the opportunity to slip outside avoiding his watchful gaze.
The stables had four stalls large enough to fit
two horses a stall. Drogan took care of the stable work himself as he was far too greedy to hire a stable hand. The stalls where all freshly cleaned and packed with new hay. Reign took the scent deep into herself feeling comforted by the smell.
The stable was usually empty during the day as Drogan had no need for a steed. Today however she found herself sneaking down the row of stalls to the end where she heard a faint whine.
Door after door she passed until finally, she peaked her head over the gate to see the most beautiful creature she had ever laid eyes on.
There sprawled out in the fresh hay was a snow-white wolf. Not just any wolf though the largest she had ever seen, easily the size of a small horse. As she continued to peruse the beauty of the creature, she noted the collar around its neck and the steel chain that tied it to the back wall.
The animal was completely white from tip to tip except one small black marking in the center of its chest. She couldn’t decipher the marking from where she stood but could have sworn there was a distinctive shape to it.
Her eyes finally landed on the creature’s face and realized it had been staring at her with equal interest. She was taken back by what she saw, eyes so blue the oceans would rage in envy. It wasn’t just the color that drew her in but the intelligence that lingered there as well.
She was so lost in the beauty of the creature in front of her she didn’t hear the man come up behind her until it was too late. A hand came over her mouth as another wrapped itself around her waist.
As her eyes went wide, she could see the panic in the wolf’s eyes reflected back at her as if it knew exactly what came next. She felt his warm stale breath on her ear before he spoke. The smells of ale and sweat assaulted her senses as she tried not to gag.