like mine that covered their faces and bodies. The conversations paused when I entered the dank den, but resumed once I took a seat at the bar.
The bartender asked for three brass coins that I handed to him. Then he gave me a small glass filled with lukewarm ale. I cautiously took a sip and was thankful that the drink tasted better than it smelled.
"Will you buy me a beer?" the man that invited me into the tavern asked as he took the stool next to me. I nodded and threw three more brass coins on the table.
"Thanks friend. Were you a soldier? Why are you still in the city?" He gulped a swig of his brew and then sighed in pleasure. His oily skin stank like rotten onions and his clothes reeked of shit.
"I was not a soldier. I'm searching for friends." Another man sat at the stool next to me.
"Who you looking for? Maybe we can help," the newcomer said from my right side. His heart beat fast and nervously.
"I don't think you know them." Something was wrong.
"Ahh, that's too bad. Just trying to help. You wouldn't be able to buy me a beer, would you?" the newcomer said. He didn't smell as bad as the man to my left but he couldn't seem to open his right eye all the way and a large piece of his ear was missing.
I threw three more brass coins on the table to get him a drink. One of my looted pouches held around ten King coins, which Paug had told me were the largest form of currency in the kingdom. I also had thirty-eight Nia coins and almost eighty of the small brass coins.
"Thank you. So what were you saying about your friends?" Ear asked again.
"You don't know them."
"Ahh. We know everyone. We'd love to help you out! Just keep buying beer for us!" Smelly said from my left. I smiled and nodded at him, wishing I understood why I was so uneasy around the two dirty men.
"I will have to get going." I had only drunk a quarter of the ale but my instincts were never wrong.
"Wait! We really want to help you. Just tell us about your friends," Smelly said as he dashed for the door to block my escape. He smiled a toothy grin and his heart began to beat as fast as Ear's.
I spun around and blocked a dagger thrust from Ear aimed at my kidney. I didn't expect his attack, so I mistakenly left his arm free after my parry. He ripped the blade away in surprise, cutting a shallow slice across my forearm.
Smelly launched a wild right haymaker at my face, but I easily ducked under it. The missed punch threw him off balance and I grabbed the heel of his left foot and took it with me when I stood upright. He let out a sharp shriek of pain when gravity slammed his back and shoulder into the dirt-covered wood floor of the tavern.
"I cut you bad bitch," Ear said around a grin. He waved the dagger in the air at me with menace and licked his lips. I looked at the other patrons in the bar and they all stood up and moved away against the wall so they wouldn't accidentally be injured.
In a single smooth movement, I drew the curved long sword I had taken from Jessmei's Elven captors and sliced across the throat of Ear. Then I took a careful step back and drove the point through Smelly's skull and into the floorboards beneath him.
Shit Brother! Don't dull your blade like that. Thayer's voice echoed in my memories.
Ear reached up to his cut neck with a horrified expression on his face. He gurgled out something unintelligible as I pulled my sword out of Smelly's head and slammed it down into the air, stopping it suddenly so momentum carried all the gore off of the blade. Ear collapsed on the floor and thrashed for a few seconds in a pool of his own blood before he lay still.
I smiled at the remaining denizens of the bar. Most of them edged toward the back of the tavern where I guessed there was another exit. No one else drew a weapon. I didn't want to assume that the rest of the men in here were part of the plan to kill me, but the itch of the healing cut on my arm reminded me of what happened when I let my guard down.
"I thought you were dead,
The bartender asked for three brass coins that I handed to him. Then he gave me a small glass filled with lukewarm ale. I cautiously took a sip and was thankful that the drink tasted better than it smelled.
"Will you buy me a beer?" the man that invited me into the tavern asked as he took the stool next to me. I nodded and threw three more brass coins on the table.
"Thanks friend. Were you a soldier? Why are you still in the city?" He gulped a swig of his brew and then sighed in pleasure. His oily skin stank like rotten onions and his clothes reeked of shit.
"I was not a soldier. I'm searching for friends." Another man sat at the stool next to me.
"Who you looking for? Maybe we can help," the newcomer said from my right side. His heart beat fast and nervously.
"I don't think you know them." Something was wrong.
"Ahh, that's too bad. Just trying to help. You wouldn't be able to buy me a beer, would you?" the newcomer said. He didn't smell as bad as the man to my left but he couldn't seem to open his right eye all the way and a large piece of his ear was missing.
I threw three more brass coins on the table to get him a drink. One of my looted pouches held around ten King coins, which Paug had told me were the largest form of currency in the kingdom. I also had thirty-eight Nia coins and almost eighty of the small brass coins.
"Thank you. So what were you saying about your friends?" Ear asked again.
"You don't know them."
"Ahh. We know everyone. We'd love to help you out! Just keep buying beer for us!" Smelly said from my left. I smiled and nodded at him, wishing I understood why I was so uneasy around the two dirty men.
"I will have to get going." I had only drunk a quarter of the ale but my instincts were never wrong.
"Wait! We really want to help you. Just tell us about your friends," Smelly said as he dashed for the door to block my escape. He smiled a toothy grin and his heart began to beat as fast as Ear's.
I spun around and blocked a dagger thrust from Ear aimed at my kidney. I didn't expect his attack, so I mistakenly left his arm free after my parry. He ripped the blade away in surprise, cutting a shallow slice across my forearm.
Smelly launched a wild right haymaker at my face, but I easily ducked under it. The missed punch threw him off balance and I grabbed the heel of his left foot and took it with me when I stood upright. He let out a sharp shriek of pain when gravity slammed his back and shoulder into the dirt-covered wood floor of the tavern.
"I cut you bad bitch," Ear said around a grin. He waved the dagger in the air at me with menace and licked his lips. I looked at the other patrons in the bar and they all stood up and moved away against the wall so they wouldn't accidentally be injured.
In a single smooth movement, I drew the curved long sword I had taken from Jessmei's Elven captors and sliced across the throat of Ear. Then I took a careful step back and drove the point through Smelly's skull and into the floorboards beneath him.
Shit Brother! Don't dull your blade like that. Thayer's voice echoed in my memories.
Ear reached up to his cut neck with a horrified expression on his face. He gurgled out something unintelligible as I pulled my sword out of Smelly's head and slammed it down into the air, stopping it suddenly so momentum carried all the gore off of the blade. Ear collapsed on the floor and thrashed for a few seconds in a pool of his own blood before he lay still.
I smiled at the remaining denizens of the bar. Most of them edged toward the back of the tavern where I guessed there was another exit. No one else drew a weapon. I didn't want to assume that the rest of the men in here were part of the plan to kill me, but the itch of the healing cut on my arm reminded me of what happened when I let my guard down.
"I thought you were dead,
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