by Pirateaba
Venitra stopped in the snow. She turned to Ijvani and blurted out the thing both had been obsessing over for the entire night. Ijvani nodded.
“He beat the [Innkeeper] in the end, though.”
“But he lost. Our master. She—defeated him.”
“It was a game, Venitra.”
“Yes. And he lost it.”
Ijvani looked down at the ground. Venitra stared back towards the inn. She shook silently. Her master had lost a game. Her master.
Lost.
A.
Game.
And what had Ryoka Griffin said? He was not perfect? Something broke inside of Venitra. She stared at the Gnolls leaving the inn, laughing, talking. She stared at one as he left alone, bidding farewell to his aunt.
—-
Brunkr was walking down the streets of Liscor, gently swaying, licking around his face for more of the sweet frosting he’d eaten, when he heard and smelled someone coming up behind him. He turned, and immediately bowed his head slightly. Regrika Blackpaw strode towards him.
She was his hero. Brunkr wondered if he should say something or just get out of the way, but it was Regrika who spoke to him.
“Do you have time to talk?”
“Of course!”
Brunkr’s ears perked up. He eagerly fell into step besides Regrika, wondering what she could want to talk about. She led him down a side path, down alleyways that were devoid of criminals, but still not places Brunkr would normally walk. He supposed Regrika feared no routes at all.
“I am told this party at the inn today was for you, young Brunkr. That is…good, yes? You must have had a good relationship with the innkeeper to have it there.”
The young Gnoll blushed. She knew about his class? He spoke up.
“Yes, Honored Regrika. We had it there because my Aunt, Krshia Silverfang, is a friend of the owner. I am…indebted to her as well.”
“Indeed?”
Regrika’s face was shadowed. The clouds were dark and the sky was dark, but it was warming, Brunkr felt. He nodded.
“She saved my arm, my life as a warrior. I owe her—and Lyonette much. I would help them in any way I could, yes.”
“She helped you. Then she cares for you. You are a person that matters to Erin Solstice.”
“I—hope so.”
Brunkr hesitated. He wished he could be someone like that. But Erin had so many friends. Many people helped her. He was just one. A small, nonentity compared to someone like Zel Shivertail, or even Relc. Krshia had told Brunkr about the famous Gecko and his prowess during war. Relc was a hero. Brunkr was just a child. But he wanted to be like Regrika.
“I would do much for Erin Solstice. I hope that in time she will regard me with a part of the esteem I hold for her.”
That was all he could manage after a few seconds of thought. Regrika nodded abruptly.
“That will do. Yes, that is…appropriate.”
She halted in the street in front of Brunkr. He paused uncertainly. Regrika turned to Brunkr and he backed up a step unconsciously. She was breathing heavily. Brunkr’s smile faded.
“Honored Regrika? Is everything alright?”
The Gnoll stared at him. Then her body changed. The Gnoll with black fur vanished. In her place, a giant made of bone stood, a woman carved of ivory. Brunkr backed up, eyes wide. He reached for a sword he didn’t have. He turned to run—
Venitra twisted his neck around with a snap.
Brunkr’s body jerked once. She held him up and stabbed her hand through his chest, breaking bone and skin. She dropped the Gnoll’s lifeless body. Brunkr’s open ribcage stared up at the cloudy night.
He lay on the empty street, motionless. Venitra stood over him, shaking. She struck the lifeless body. Then she threw it against a wall.
There was no voice in the silent street, only the crunch of heavy footsteps in the snow. Venitra picked Brunkr up and threw him again. He flew across the street and landed in a heap. Then Venitra gave vent to her fury. She stomped on the ground, pounded the walls, and kicked the motionless corpse, raging silently in the cold.
Like a child.
When she was done, Ijvani appeared in the shadows behind her. The black skeleton stared up at the woman made of white bone and at the body at her feet.
“You did not need to do that.”
She spoke cautiously and backed up as Venitra stared at her. There was blood on her body. Venitra spoke, her voice icy calm.
“No one disgraces our master.”
She paused, and Ijvani nodded slowly in agreement. She looked at the body and then at Venitra.
“All done?”
“Yes.”
“In that case, I will clean up. We must find a spot to place the body. I doubt hiding it would be the correct move. Hmm. You may have to kill some other Gnolls. Adventurers.”
Venitra smiled.
“Gladly.”
She strode past Ijvani. The skeleton mage stared at Brunkr’s body. She sighed and reached for him.
“Temper. Why is she the master’s favorite?”
Brunkr did not reply.
—-
The next day, Brunkr’s body was found in Liscor’s dungeon, at the bottom of the crevasse, surrounded by a group of Gnolls, a known Silver-rank team and a few other Bronze-rank Gnolls who’d disappeared the previous night as well. Their bodies bore wounds consistent with a monster attack.
They were discovered as the sun was beginning to set in the sky.
4.29
“I think we’re done here.”
“Really? But I thought—”
“Is that my tower? It is not as tall as I requested, Pawn.”
“You wanted a tower that was structurally unfeasible, Bird.”
“Yes. So?”
“This is as high as we deemed it necessary. You can shoot birds in it, and Erin—”
“I see a third floor, and I also see my inn’s bigger on the side. Right. And I have two new outhouses.”
“Yes. Are you unhappy with any of the work?”
“No, not unhappy. It’s just…my only question is…why’d you put the tower on one end of the inn?”
Erin stared up at the watchtower from her position in the snow outside. It was wet and cold, but warmer than yesterday. The sun was out and she had an unparalleled view of her new inn. And she was grateful, she really was.
Her inn was now big. Bigger, that was. It had been big. Now it was grand. It had a ground floor a third again as large, two new rooms on the second floor and an entire new third floor! And a tower. And while she was very grateful to the Antinium for all their tireless hard work, she had to question the tower.
It looked like a proper watch tower, sure enough. It had an open roof with enough space for someone to pace about on top. It would allow a bird-obsessed hunter to both keep a lookout and hunt birds in his spare time. It even had gutters which were angled so that if it rained, the water wouldn’t run down the stairs into the rest of the inn.
It was great. And Erin was sure that height aside, Bird loved it. It was just that the watch tower wasn’t placed symmetrically in the center of the inn. Rather, it was on the ‘back’, against the far wall from the front door. It made the inn look lopsided. That was Erin’s impression, though.
Pawn and Bird regarded the watch tower and looked at each other. They clearly couldn’t see the problem.
“Is there an issue with the placement of the tower, Erin? I thought it was quite appropriate.”
Erin smiled at Pawn’s worried face. She hadn’t seen enough of him lately, and she didn’t want to distress him, especially since it wasn’t that big a deal. It was just that every symmetrical instinct Erin had was crying out against this travesty.
“No, I mean, if it works, it works, right? And you put it over Bird’s room. I get that. But I just assumed it would be in the center, for uh, visibility, you know?”
Pawn nodded thoughtfully.
“A worthy idea. However, I elected to place the tower on that side
in case you wanted another tower built in the future.”
“Another tower?”
“Yes. Perhaps one that is enchanted to throw lightning or hurl spells like the walls of Drake cities. Or if you wished to construct a fourth floor. Or mount a ballista on top. I am not aware of the methods with which to construct one, but the Antinium have our own plans for catapults we could share.”
“A ballista.”
The Antinium Worker realized he’d lost Erin. He looked over at Bird. The other Antinium clutched his new bow to his chest and nodded a few times.
“I could kill many birds with one. That is a good idea, Pawn.”
Erin coughed a few times.
“Yeah. A good idea. Well…good work! I think that’s all my questions answered. Anyone—anyone want something to drink? It’s on me. That means it’s free, you two.”
Pawn and Bird exchanged a glance. Pawn looked back at Erin. Bird kept staring.
“We would be delighted to have a drink, Erin. But I am afraid I must return to my Hive soon. Hm. Perhaps you could sell me a keg? Sharing a drink with my unit is a good idea.”
“Sounds good!”
Erin beamed. Pawn glanced back at Bird. He was still staring at Pawn.
“Bird, have I done something to offend you?”
“I wish to hunt birds. Are you trying to prevent me from sitting in my tower now, Pawn?”
“No, Bird. You are free to sit in your new tower.”
“You say that, but social obligations force me to drink with you. You explained this to me last week. This is a trap. I do not wish to drink but my status as ‘friend’ with you and Miss Erin prohibits me from refusing.”
Erin started to laugh and covered it. Pawn opened his mandibles and sighed.
“Bird, that is not…do I need to explain this to you again?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll leave you two to it! Pawn, come inside when you want to. Bird, you can sit in your tower if you want? I’ll tell Lyonette to send up a drink for you!”
The two Antinium watched Erin walk into her refurbished inn. Bird waved as Erin shut the door and then turned to Pawn.
“That was a considerate statement. Why could you not have made a similar statement to begin with?”
“I didn’t say anything about you having to drink with me, Bird.”
“You said ‘we’. We implies multiple people, which in turn implies me. You said it despite my use of a meaningful stare you should have correctly interpreted. This is very hurtful, Pawn. I wish to sit in my tower and you have disregarded my feelings.”
Pawn glared at Bird.
“Look here, Bird. This is a stupid and pointless argument we are having. Each second we have it is a second I don’t spend drinking with Erin and you spend outside, rather than in your tower! Do I have to explain how free will and social dynamics work again?”
“…Maybe. Yes.”
—-
Erin’s new inn smelled like sawdust, fresh wood, and varnish. She could have done without the last bit, but at least it wasn’t tacky to the touch. The Antinium used a very quick-drying form of resin that was one of the reasons why they’d cornered the construction market in Liscor.
“Erin!”
Lyonette turned to Erin and smiled. She had food out and was serving drinks to the Workers and Soldiers who’d just finished their work. They were pretty much the only customers in the inn right now; breakfast had passed and it was before the lunch rush.
It was a good morning. Erin took another deep breath, and then looked around for Mrsha. She was nowhere on the bottom floor of the inn. Erin had a sense Mrsha was probably scampering about upstairs, probably with Apista clinging to her head.
“Hey Lyonette, that new bee of yours really likes Mrsha, doesn’t she? She’s always crawling on top of Mrsha’s head. Is that uh, safe?”
“Apista? I think so! I have a connection with her and she never feels violent when she’s around Mrsha. I don’t think she’d sting anyone anyways, Erin. I’m more worried Mrsha will squish her, to be honest.”
“Right. Right. Pawn’s coming in for a drink in a bit and he might want to buy a keg. Bird’s probably going to sit in his new tower. Could you bring him a mug of something when you get a chance?”
“Sure! Pawn’s buying a whole keg? Really?”
“He’ll probably bring it back to his Hive. Hey, have you seen Ryoka? I didn’t see her at breakfast this morning.”
Lyonette frowned as she offered a Soldier a mug. The Antinium cautiously took it, staring at the Human girl. He had yellow splatters of paint all across his chest.
“Oh. She said she wasn’t hungry so she grabbed a roll and left. I haven’t seen her since.”
“Figures. She’s been grumpy and weird again, lately. I don’t know why.”
Erin crossed her arms and frowned. She hadn’t gotten a chance to talk with Ryoka, but she distinctly remembered Ryoka’s odd looks last night. Was she really planning on scouting the Goblin Lord’s army like everyone was saying? And why had Ivolethe chased her away? Erin hoped that Ryoka wasn’t doing stupid stuff again.
Struck by a thought, Erin turned back to Lyonette.
“You’re feeling okay, right Lyon? If you’re tired, let me know and I can take over. I gave Ishkr and Drassi time off because yesterday was so busy. If you need a break…”
“I’m good! Serving the Antinium is easy since they don’t cause trouble, and no one else is coming in yet. If you give me a hand at lunch, I think we’ll be set!”
Lyonette smiled at Erin and Erin gave her a thumbs up in reply. She settled down at a table after pouring a drink for Pawn and herself. She had a nice variety of alcohol now thanks to her thirsty guests, but she still wished she could have some cool fruit juice from time to time. Maybe she could squeeze it herself? But it was so expensive…
Erin frowned as she sipped from her mug. She glanced up as the door opened and waved.
“Pawn! Oh—”
It wasn’t Pawn. Krshia entered the room, pausing to wipe her wet and snowy feet on the doormat. The Gnoll sniffed, and then spotted Erin.
“Erin. It is good to see you today, yes? I do not wish to bother you so early, but—have you seen Brunkr today?”
“I’m not bothered! Come and have a seat! Pawn’s going to join me for a drink. You want one?”
“Thank you, but no. I am looking for my nephew. You have not seem him yet?”
Krshia came over to the table. Erin frowned.
“I haven’t seen Brunkr since the party last night. Why?”
“He did not return home last night. I assumed he found somewhere else to sleep or found company—he has done so before. But no one I have spoken to remembers seeing him at another inn, or anywhere else in the city afterwards.”
Erin frowned as she sipped from her mug. She sat up a bit straighter in her chair.
“That is weird. I remember that Brunkr was pretty drunk last night. I don’t think he would have kept drinking. Maybe he fell asleep in a tavern or something?”
Krshia bared her teeth, although it wasn’t a smile.
“That was my first guess. But I have not spotted him or smelled him—and I assume he would be awake by now unless he truly drank too much. If he is not here, I will ask a few of the young ones to go hunting for him in the city. Thank you, Erin.”
“No problem. And tell Brunkr that I’ll talk to him about joining the Horns of Hammerad later, okay? They’re out right now. I think they’re in Liscor—something about getting a new gauntlet for Yvlon’s arm? Anyways. Good luck finding him!”
Krshia nodded. She stepped out of the inn at the same time Pawn and Bird walked in. Erin thought no more of it, and she waved Pawn over. Bird went upstairs, and Lyonette followed him with a mug.
Pawn sat with Erin and introduced her to Yellow Splatters, one of the Antinium Soldiers who was apparently important. More so than the others, for some reason. Pawn refused to elaborate and told Erin it was a secret for now. Obviously, Yellow Splatters d
idn’t say anything.
They talked, and then the Antinium left in a single mass. After paying, of course. They always paid. A ‘tab’ was a foreign concept to them. Erin sat and daydreamed about catapults. After a while, Mrsha slunk into the room with Apista on her head. The bee flew off to bask next to the fire, which was a relief to Erin since Mrsha had curled up on her lap. Lyonette came down and began bringing dishes to the kitchen for Ishkr to wash later.
Lunch arrived too quickly, with a rush of visitors, some from Liscor, but most from Celum. Octavia came in too, hungry because she’d forgotten to eat since yesterday. She told Erin her sales of matches were through the roof, and showed her some more of the penicillin-type mold she’d grown. Erin made her wash her hands before eating.
Krshia came back as Erin and Lyonette were serving guests today’s special—grilled cheese sandwiches. Some had ham inside for extra niceness.
“Krshia! Hey, have you found him yet? Brunkr?”
“No, Erin. We have not. And now others are looking. I had thought he might have…it is nothing. I am sorry to bother you when you are busy, no.”
The Gnoll looked around the inn and shook her head. Erin frowned and signaled to Lyonette to take over for a moment.
“Do you want me to go look for him? I have time. We’re not that busy.”
“No, I—think we will be fine. It is just odd. We have not picked up a fresh scent of Brunkr. His trail vanishes. I hoped to get a fresher smell of him here. But it is faint here, too.”
Erin nodded. She felt a flash of—she ignored it.
“Well, okay. Let me know when you find him, alright?”
Krshia nodded. She left without a word. Erin got back to work. She felt a bit uneasy, now. But it was just a feeling. She told herself that as she served lunch, and then began to tidy up. Because she no longer felt like relaxing, she went into the kitchen and washed some dishes.
The door opened a third time as the sun was beginning to set in the sky. Erin knew Lyonette was upstairs and Mrsha was napping with her. Hands covered in sudsy water, she poked her head out of the kitchen. Krshia was standing in the doorway.