A Record of Ash & Ruin: The Grieving Lands

Book 3: Chapter 28: Illusions

Be as water in nature, benefiting all things without taking or competing with them.

- A Quassian aphorism.

At times, people can be sources of immense annoyance. I was relishing my drink, almost as much as the delicious moment of spite, when Sevas burst back into the inn. Kaila followed in moments later, her face a mix of exasperation and anger. Was there no respite in this world for me?

A wild-eyed Sevas fixed his gaze on me. “You will pay for harming my man Basilio! I demand satisfaction!” clamored the young man in a clear voice, drawing a knife from his waist and waving it at me.

Round two it was, then.

Laman grumbled from behind the bar, "If you lot continue this way, I'll have to call the guard." He appeared on the verge of spitting on the floor but, recalling his surroundings, halted midway, swallowed, and adjusted the front of his clothing instead.

I took a moment to evaluate Sevas, weighing my options. There was a new violent fire in his eyes, and his voice was now devoid of its slurred dance. His face held a sneer, the kind belonging to someone who had found a lesser to unleash their frustrations upon. This air of superiority, however, was slightly marred as he daintily swiped at a faint green smear at the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. Remarkably, the man appeared to have shaken off the influence of his early drinking.

Even as my eyes took him in, my magic gave me a clearer gauge of the threat before me. Identify, as always, was a wonderful utility spell.

Sevas Soranzo - Spellsword (Human lvl.16) Health: 223/232 Stamina: 27/42

Sevas, for the most part, had comparable parameters to Basilio. However, it was his class, or calling, as this world called it, that set him slightly apart from the rest. It almost brought a smile to my face with its novelty.

I looked around the room, as the guests who had yet to make their escape made themselves smaller, hunching in on themselves, assiduously looking away from me. There would be no help from that quarter, not that I had been expecting any.

“What is going on here, Laman? I pay you and your guild a small fortune to keep the peace…” came the voice of the owner of the inn.

“Aye, mistress Naira, but these lot be with the Adventurer’s. Silver ranked too, an’ the Mirage of the Sand’s party no less. They looked to me like they were set on leaving all peaceful like, too,” explained the veteran and former soldier. He sounded to me like a schoolchild caught doing something bad. With a resigned air, he drew the mean mace at his waist, more for show than anything else. Naira, it seemed, had very good reason to be annoyed.

“Apologies, but Sevas here was a bit drunk and started something with one of your guests, Gilmamess here,” offered Kaila with a thin-lipped smile, pointing at Sevas in explanation.

Then suddenly, Sevas began waving his knife about as he launched a series of sudden stabs at the… air. It was most odd. His face was a mask of bleak concentration as he fought invisible opponents, ducking and weaving through non-existent blows with a dancer’s grace. Suddenly a look of feral delight overcame him and actinic energies started to run across the blade of his weapon. With a bright grin, he impressively swung ineffectually at nothing, leaving the air tinged with the smell of ozone.

“Just letting Sev blow off some steam, saves him from bearing a grudge. I tell you, he does not enjoy losing one whit. It has been a problem in the past, but I guess that is just a part of him. Right now, Sev here is having an epic struggle with you, one in which he will eventually win,” explained Kaila in a long-suffering voice as she gave me a tight smile. I felt as if someone had thrown a gauze on my perception and my eyes drifted away from her to focus instead on Sevas.

The Spellsword's martial demonstration, though somewhat comical, served as a stark reminder of the threat he posed. I had to stop from getting ahead of myself. His energy-infused strike had been of particular note. The energies unleashed had certainly looked dangerous and destructive. Yet, even more insidious was the Enchantress' subtle display of power. From both her words and class, I imagined that she was somehow manipulating the Spellsword. It was undeniably impressive, if not downright horrifying and evil.

“I would appreciate it if you would do your witchery outside, it is disturbing our guests,” the proprietress interjected archly.

“You need’nt worry about a thing, I placed a Sleep spell on him too,” she continued, in a tired voice that came from explaining the same fact for the umpteenth time, “It should take effect once he has worn himself out a just a bit more.”

Kaila seemed to be in front of me, yet for some reason, the display of her Status was floating a half-step to my right. Another note of worry that for the moment I did not fully understand.

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“Now, I’ll be taking these if you don’t mind. Your treatment of Basilio, though not entirely unwarranted, was well a bit much,” she declared saucily, waving… my potions in front of me! Damn the pilfering wench!

Possessed by anger, I instinctively moved forward but halted mid-step. Something in my subconscious, an instinct or some sort of mystical sense, warned me of the folly of this simple action. Heeding this subtle warning, I instead snapped out my arm towards where I sensed the Enchantress' presence.

My hand grasped at what my eyes told me was only air, yet the soft yielding warmth that my hand felt told me that this was a lie. I started to squeeze with feral delight, my fingers sinking deeper into pliant flesh.

Suddenly, as if a veil had been lifted, the illusion shattered and my eyes saw Kaila where she truly was, choking as my hand squeezed about her neck.

“Your little spells will not work on me,” I announced with grim satisfaction. “Now give me back what is mine,” I demanded, lifting her up from off the floor as I continued to choke the life out of her. The heat had left me, instead I felt powerful and liberated.

Feebly she reached out, offering me back the two vials that she had stolen from me. With my free hand, I placed them back into my bag and was about to let the woman go when I felt the unmistakable pressure of yet another blade at my throat.

“Now, you got your little potions back. Now, let Kaila go,” rasped a voice from behind me.

“Will you all please, stop this nonsense!” shouted Naira, her command doing nothing but adding to the confusion of an already very messy situation.

In the media of my old world, the act of choking a life out was often portrayed as a swift, almost effortless deed. The reality was far more brutal. Kaila features were a twisted tapestry of pathetic struggle as she fought back with everything she had, ineffectually kicking at me and clawing at the hand that gripped her throat. She really should have put a few more points into Strength.

I did not release Kaila, and in response the blade dug against my skin, meeting subtle resistance until I could finally feel it drawing blood. Then, I felt it. An almost too subtle displacement of air. Kaila’s eyes widened further, almost like teacups, as I felt the kiss of the blade leave, and heard the knife clanging to the floor.

“Can’t leave you for a moment, can I? This how you deal with all of your disagreements?” came a familiar voice from behind.

I chuckled for a moment at the absurdity of the situation. The tables had indeed been turned. The body of my latest assailant lay on the ground behind me.

“My thanks Elwin, good to know that you are at my back, as always. I can, however, assure you that I am very much the aggrieved party here,” I replied with a little mirth, a small grin stealing its way across my face. The man who had taken me unaware had been sneaky, but the Rogue had been sneakier still.

“Ah, of course. Only that in my experience it’s usually about two men fighting over a woman when they have been drinking a bit too much. First time I seen it where one of the men ended up choking out the girl. This how you impress the girls from wherever it is you are from? A courting ritual? Nothing to get the old juices going like a quick bit of strangulation?” he commented sarcastically, kicking at what I presumed to be the unconscious form of the man who had had a knife to my throat.

I glanced from the still struggling woman in my grip, to Sevas, the remaining threat. The Spellsword seemed to be tiring, his movements growing slower as he wound down, his exertions taking their toll. Almost a mirror to Kaila’s own struggles.

“I am thinking about a more permanent solution for this lot,” I put forth bluntly.

“I would rather you did not, samasa,” stated Naira politely, if not a little too sharply. “Having deaths under one’s roof can be bad for my reputation and business. We have quite a few from the Adventurer’s Guild that come here, and I would look at it as a personal favor to me if you would show mercy,” she requested, bowing formally at the hip, her palms pressed to the back of her head.

“Yeah, killing women. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth,” advised Elwin, muttering something else as he stood next to Kaila. “Would be a waste…”

“Please Master Gilgamesh,” pleaded Naira again. Almost as if in response to this, Laman sidled up from behind the bar to stand with his employer. Or rather, stood behind. A coward through and through, I thought to myself.

For all that she had done, I did not feel like killing Kaila. It didn’t feel right. So just like that, I relaxed my grip and let her go.

She fell unceremoniously to the floor, gasping for air with the desperation of a fish out of water. It was a pitiful sight.

“But is it not written in the surahs? There can be no mercy without justice,” came Cordelia’s lilting voice, cold as the first winds of winter. Great, I thought to myself, another complication. People with their damn timing, I needed her a few minutes ago, not now adding her own little piece.

Cordelia had Larynda in tow, both of them wearing local ‘civilian’ clothing. Yet, despite this, the warrior woman seemed to exude a sense of danger, her words and manner strengthened by the power of her faith. Larynda, on the other hand, seemed to draw into herself, looking furtive and small.

“I believe compensation is due, as is custom in this city, to the aggrieved. Without which we would be forced to take this matter to the courts. Brazen theft, in broad daylight no less, with a whole inn full of witnesses. I believe the ultimate price, should we take these to the courts, would be a hand… and as a servant of the Goddess herself, my testimony would be given great weight,” the red-haired woman stated matter-of-factly, her posture ramrod straight and unyielding.

“And assault and attempted murder,” I added coldly in a flat voice.

“Fine… fine… just leave us alone,” whined the woman on the floor between breaths. It wasn’t quite the voice of someone who had completely lost.

I noticed that the screams from outside had subsided, instead turning into pathetic sobs. As if these were the sounds that heralded the final stages of total surrender, Kaila dejectedly reached for her waist, and threw a jangling coin purse at Naira’s feet.

“For your troubles… Mistress… Naira… the take from our last job. Aranthian coin, gold, and not your worthless paper money…” wheezed Kaila, still not fully recovered.

“The mark of Al-Lazar, in certain places, is trusted more than gold, foreigner. And I care not for the money. Just get out of my inn, now! And rest assured I will be making a formal complaint to the Guild.”

With Elwin giving it a few encouraging kicks, the body at my feet began to stir. Kaila half-crawled to him, bringing a vial to his lips. After a minute he got to his feet, a little wide-eyed, but nonetheless mobile. A quick look around confirmed for him how the encounter had gone. Kaila gently whispered a few words in Sevas’ ear, stilling his flailing motions. She shot me a look, a glance, that was surprisingly without venom or hurt. In silence, Kaila and her unnamed companion dragged a now unresisting Sevas from the inn.

“Free drinks for everyone!” shouted Naira to the silent crowd, a weak whoop of joy following the declaration, only to be swallowed by the silence.

Now there was the matter of my compensation. Surely, I was due something for my troubles?

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