Read an Excerpt:
“Where are you going?” Tia’s eyes were
wide with anxiety.
“Out.”
“But I don’t know this town at all.”
“Don’t leave the inn then!”
As soon as he stepped out into the
night, all of his warmth left him. However, the wheat ales—much stronger than
he was used to—had begun to take effect. That, combined with the fact that his
last meal had been hours before, made the cold a distant sensation. Strapping
his staff to his back, he picked a direction and wandered off—his mind getting
mushier and more vulnerable to his increasingly foul mood.
Tia had always been a very
supportive girl. What had changed? Or had she always been like this and her
support was just an act? Did she really think that he would abandon her? I
would never do such a thing, he thought indignantly. He wasn’t his father.
Sure, yea, he could be a little flirtatious, he admitted. But that was
harmless. Why couldn’t Tia see that? After all, he’d asked her to run away with
him. Didn’t that imply he wanted to start a life with her? Didn’t that mean
anything to her? His mind was plagued with too many questions and not enough
answers.
Abruptly, he found himself in a dark,
dimly lit alley, with buildings rising up around him.
Everything seemed ... slightly off.
Hesitantly, he walked down the alley and made a few turns. A few moments of
wandering later, he admitted that he was lost and decided to retrace his steps,
but it all looked unfamiliar. With no other option he kept walking, hoping to
find his way back, when he came upon three men in a dark corner.
“Give it up, you unworthy bastard!”
said one of the men, who had a lilting accent. He was clutching another man’s
collar in one hand while wielding a knife in the other. A third man stood and
watched.
“I did not steal it! He gave it to
me!” cried the captive man.
“Do not lie, you swinespawn!”
“I swear by the names of the Miakos.
He gave it to me!”
The third man still just stood and
watched.
Adir wasn’t sure what came over him.
Maybe it was his anger and he just needed to let it out. Or maybe he understood
how the captive man felt; after all, he had been ambushed a couple of times
himself. Whatever the reasoning of his drink-addled mind, he unstrapped his
staff and charged.
The man who’d been watching noticed
Adir and whirled around, pulling out a knife of his own. However, knives were a
poor defense against the long reach of a staff. Adir whipped his staff sideways,
cracking the man in the skull, who dropped to the ground, motionless.
The man who held the captive by his
collar was startled by the sudden attack and shoved his captive to the ground.
The captive lay on his stomach, face cupped in his hands as if trying to shut
out his current plight.
Adir felt a surge of energy course
through him as he pulled his staff back, preparing for a thrust.
He lunged, briefly catching a look
of horror on the man’s face, and thrust his staff square into the man’s chest.
The impact sent the man flying a few paces before he slammed into a wall and
slumped to the ground.
For a moment that lasted one flap of
a bee’s wing, Adir saw a rain- bow-colored haze on his hand, creeping up his
arm. Fearfully, he jerked his hand to his face for a closer examination, but
the haze was no longer there.
The once-captive, now-free man
looked up from his prone position and surveyed the scene, then stood. “Thank
you, master,” he said, bowing and scraping. “I am forever in your debt.”
The man’s words seemed to tumble out
of his mouth in a clatter, or maybe Adir couldn’t understand him on account of
being severely drunk. “What did you steal from them?” Adir asked, eyeing the
man suspiciously, his inebriation fueling his paranoia. Sure, he’d saved the
bearded man, but that didn’t mean the man was harmless.
“I did not steal anything, master,”
the man said, still pronouncing every word oddly.
Adir looked at him, trying to force
his eyes to focus. “All right,” he said, realizing that he’d do nothing even if
the man admitted to stealing something. All he really wanted to do was get back
to the inn and sleep. “Do you know the way to The Soft Pillow?” he asked,
trying and failing miserably to strap his staff onto his back.
“Ya,
master,” the man replied with enthusiasm. “I will take you there.”
