Chapter 1 - A Meeting at the Tavern
This story began like many others, but unlike others this one holds a special place in my heart. Because this is the story of my latest adventure and the story of how I found my home.
And like many others stories, it began with the following lines. In the kingdom of Petrynia, beyond the hills of Altrim lies the city of Malpetrim. Or as it was commonly known, the city of heroes, birthplace of adventures.
In this harbor town I walked, through the lamps-lit streets towards the chosen meeting place of my old adventuring group. It’s been three years since our last adventure together, since then my friends and I have split, some to attend to other duties, others to return to their homes, and me to search for mine. These little reunions of ours being the only chance to get everyone together again.
It was a cold autumn evening, and as I walked down the streets I allowed myself to take in the salty air of the city, and what little movement the market still had. Some vendors even manage to recognize me giving me polite nods or waves as I passed their shops. One of those was Iron Hammer, the proprietor of the best blacksmith in town, in my humble opinion.
“Swordhunter! You little twerp, almost didn’t realize it was you with that clothing. How have you been?” the blacksmith called me over opening his arms greeting me.
“Iron Hammer, long time no see.” I gave the old dwarf a firm handshake and said “I am well, still traveling around. And you? How’s the forge?”
“Hot as ever! Business has been great this last few months. A lot of new adventurers looking for good swords and armor, have even received commissions from the city guard. Of course, I’ve been missing my greatest customers. Your little group was always coming here looking for supplies, but I guess everyone has to settle down one day.”
“I’m still adventuring, just not here in Arton.” I say trying to avoid his gaze in embarrassment.
“Don’t surprise me. You were always the one to search for new things to do. But no one would blame you if you did settle down. Gods knows how much you all did for Arton, for all of us.”
“I know, but I can’t just yet. There is still much I want to do, and many people that needs my help out there. Besides, I don’t really know where I would settle. Nothing wrong with Arton, I just would like a place that isn’t constantly trying to kill me.” I said shrugging off his comment.
“Come on! It’s not that bad.” he said crossing his arms.
“Maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but really now, Arton just don’t feel like home. Much like most dwarfs don’t feel at home away from Doherimm.” I said with a sigh. Shaking my head, I checked the time on the device on my arm. “Listen it’s getting late, I got to go and meet everyone at the tavern. So, see you later!”
As I left he waved me a farewell and said. “Say hello to the old crew for me, boy!”
As the evening turned to night and the street lamps became brighter I reached my destination, the One Eyed Monkey Tavern. This was our usual place when we were in town, and to be honest despite its humble appearance the tavern itself is quite famous in the circle of adventurers.
In this same place the two most powerful archmages in this world first met and their rivalry began, it was here that many epic quests have started like the one with the Disc of the Three and the search for the Rubies of Virtue, and it’s here that I would meet my friends.
I opened the door to the tavern, and peered inside. The establishment was well lit, the candelabrum in the center and the torches in the walls providing enough light to see every corner of the hall. Tables full of adventures of all kinds, races and flavors were spread across the room, a bar counter occupied the far side of the room and a doorway that I knew that led to the kitchen was right behind it.
Many faces turned to see me when I entered. Many with confusion or disdain written on them, probably eyeing my clothing. In truth I wasn’t wearing anything uncommon, a black overcoat with a hood, a red shirt, black pants and shoes, gloves that didn’t reach my fingertips and a mask covering the lower half of my face, leaving only my eyes exposed.
But these were clothes of a human, postindustrial ‘modern’ world, and Arton was not it.
Having finally located the one I searched, I made way to the table on the far corner and closest to the counter. Sitting alone was a man wearing a long jacket and leather pants, his top hat was placed on the table in front of him. He was drinking from a mug, that I was certain that contained some kind of alcoholic beverage, he didn’t notice my approach.
“Doctor Zebadiah Nash! You haven’t changed a bit.” I said drawing attention from my friend at the table.
“Mister Swordhunter! You have changed! What kind of clothes are these? And the fabric looks so exotic! You must present me your tailor!” He stood up and gave me a handshake.
“These? It just the type of clothing that one would wear in the places I’ve been.” I said chuckling and looking around “Are we the firsts ones to arrive?”
“Yes, but I think the others will be arriving soon. Care to join me and tell about your other worldly adventures?”
I took a seat at the table, Doctor Nash did the same returning to take another gulp of his mug. I lowered my hood and at that moment a waitress came to our table.
“Can I get you sirs anything else?” she asked.
“Another round for me, miss.” Nash said with what could be considered a charming smile to the waitress.
“Only water for me, but I take a meat pie, please.” I said.
She smiled at us, and went to get our order done. I turned to face Doctor Nash but he was still looking at where the waitress was a moment ago. I cleared my throat to get his attention and started.
“So my good doctor, how have you been these past months?”
“I’ve been well, thank you. Things in Salinstick are a bit busy, we are developing a new type of antibiotics that may elevate the status of our medicine to new heights. I had the pleasure to work with some of the most respected professionals in the Royal College on this project.”
“Sounds like you have been kept busy. So much that I’m surprised that you manage to come at all!” I said poking fun at him.
“Please, I wouldn’t miss this little reunion for anything.” He said smiling back.
We laughed together as the waitress returned with our order. It was good to be with friends once more. It’s been difficult to keep in contact with everyone since we went separated ways three years ago, most because we all had something we needed to do, like Doctor Nash and his project in Salinstick.
We waited for a few minutes more, the good doctor drowning his second mug of ale and me eating my meat pie when we heard the tavern door open. Taking a look at the entrance I could see a large man get in, his dark hair and robust complexion were a contrast to the full plate armor that shone in the torch light, encrusted in said armor was the sword and scales, symbol of the god of justice.
He looked around the tavern his stern expression softening when he saw us. He walked to our table and said “Good to see that we are not too late!”.
“Ivan, it’s nice to see you!” I said standing up to greet him “And, ‘we’?”
Coming from behind him was the small form of Michaela. The little half-elf was smiling at us beaming with pure joy. She was wearing her white and green robes, the crescent moon symbol of her goddess was adorning a medallion around her neck.
“Nero, it’s so good to see you!” she said embracing me in a tight hug. As I returned the hug she gave me a kiss on my cheek, giggling she went to do the same to Doctor Nash.
“I’m glad that you both came. Was the journey here difficult?” I said pulling up two chairs for them at our table.
“Not so much, with Ivan to help me it was very peaceful.” Michaela said smiling to Ivan, I have to give him credit since he only blushed a little.
“If one thing is certain is that the Tauron Empire does manage to patrol its main roads very often. It made our lives easier. At least one good thing came through all the trouble we had with these minotaurs”.
There was a tinge of venom on his voice. A few months before our last adventure, the Tauron Empire started a war against the Kingdom, it came unannounced and unprovoked, the minotaur legions drove into the Kingdom taking country after country. One of those countries was Petrynia, one of the closest to the Empire previous borders.
Thing is the legions never really took Malpetrim, we along to several other groups of adventures fought to protect this city while under siege. Me, Nash, Ivan and our other friends were in the front line against the minotaurs. We eventually won, and Malpetrim was declared a free city, but I guess many of us still feel resentment for what they have done.
I cleared my throat and tried very hard to change the subject to something more pleasant “Anyways. Any word from the others?”
Doctor Nash looked pensive for a moment, toying with his top hat before answering “Last I heard about Aran he was starting as a teacher at the Arcane Academy, he must be very busy since is test season this time of the year.”
I had to agree. Me, Nash and Aran had graduated at the Academy and test season was very difficult, not only for the students but also for the teachers.
“Elarah must still be at the resistance camp on Lamnor, so I don’t think she will be coming.” Michaela said sadly.
“And my good for nothing brother is in Valkaria, he said something about a job he needed to do there. Khalmyr help me if that trouble make get arrested again.”
“Then it means it will be only the four of us today.” I said with a sigh, this reunions between my friend and I are very difficult to arrange, and pains me to not have all of them together as we all hoped even if due of mere circumstance.
“We will just have to make do, then! Miss another round!” And with that Doctor Nash managed to lift our spirits and our night officially began.
“A tyromancer? As in cheese?” Doctor Nash asked me in completely disbelief.
It was late at night, several hours had come and gone thanks to the companionship of my friends. This hours were spent telling tales of our lives, duties and adventures that we had undergone in between our reunions.
Time were also spent drinking and eating more for ones than the others. Ivan as a paladin don’t drink at all, Michaela would drink from her mug in small sips, I had only water and ate my pie, that I shared with Michaela, and Nash was drinking from his fifth mug of ale, already feeling the effects of alcohol. Thankfully I knew it was only because of the occasion.
I was on the middle of the tale of one of my most weird adventures when Doctor Nash had question me and I couldn't help but laugh at his face when I started telling them about the powerful mage who's had dedicated all his life to the study of dairy products.
“Yes, the trial of cheeses I believe it was called. In which I had to traverse a path without inhaling the noxious gases produced by the mage’s grand and aged collection.” I said in moked theatrics.
Doctor Nash looked exasperated, Michaela giggled and Ivan just raised an eyebrow just as confused.
“But what exactly that mage hoped to accomplish by studying cheese?” Ivan asked me leaning in a bit more from his seat.
“Well, according to his notes he would use the concentrated smell from various cheeses to help him learn the secrets of some other world deity.”
That was too much for the good doctor. Doctor Nash facepalmed so hard that the slap sound had awaken a drunken customer at the bar.
“I give up! I will never understand these people.” He said in resignation, earning laughter from the rest of us.
The moment was cut short when the tavern door was open abruptly. We all tuned to see what was to come. From the cold of the night three minotaurs entered the hall, all of them were wearing legionary armor, their leader was armed with a sword on his belt and a shield on his back, the other two were carrying axes.
They had stopped by the entrance, the waitress went to receive them asking if they needed a table. Their leader shoved past the waitress with a strength that made her fall to the floor, his hoofsteps sounding loud on the hardwood floor. He came to a stop at the center of the hall and looked around.
When his sight reached me he the once stoic face contorted in anger and he yelled. “YOU!”
I narrowed my eyes at him but made no movements otherwise. The patrons of the tavern had fallen silent.
The three of them walked to our table, Ivan had pulled his shield and his hand was on his sword, Doctor Nash had his hand at his sides in arcane preparation, Michaela raised her hands in a small prayer and I readjusted my mask.
They stopped short of our table, their leader then started “Two days ago, an entire unit of legionaries was attacked and their cargo was stolen, witness report that it was the work of a man wearing all black and red, and we receive information that man was here.”
“That was you wasn’t there you little shit, you attacked our soldiers and stole their cargo!” he yelled once again pulling his weapon, the other two following suit.
“Yes, I attacked your men. But only because their cargo was nothing more than a group of elven slaves, captured from a village that your men burned to the ground!” I said raising from my seat and staring at their leader in the eye.
“Please, no fighting in my tavern!” the bartender called from behind the bar, but the minotaurs ignored him.
“Attacking soldiers of the Empire is a serious crime, you are to come with us to Tapista where you will receive your punishment.” he said pulling out his weapon, the other two followed suit. “Of course, if you were to resist we would be forced to more extreme measures.”
I moved to stay in between the legionaries and my friends, I glanced at the bartender who was looking to us with worry. I gave him a silent nod and turned to legionary leader.
“Malpetrim is a free city, you have no authority here! But if you really want to talk about crimes, how about we talk how that unit of yours razed that village, how they killed almost all men and took all women and children to slavery? Who are you to call me a criminal when your soldiers commit such atrocities?”
Upon hearing my words his face once again contorted in anger, unleashing a primal roar he was flanked by the other two minotaurs and raised his sword to strike.
*VOOOP*
With a smooth movement I had released my sword from my back and has struck his descending weapon. The stunned legionary leader was now looking at his broken weapon, cut perfectly in half. The other minotaurs, the tavern’s patrons even the bartender were now staring slack-jawed to the golden blade I was now holding that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
With their leader still stunned, one of the axe wielding legionaries took a swing at me. I stepped back avoiding the attack and letting Ivan move forward in my place shield raised. Ivan bashed the assailant with his shield, sending him tumbling to the ground unconscious and with a bloody snout.
The second legionary made mention to strike Ivan from his left flank, but froze in place. Doctor Nash had cast a paralyzing spell on him, turning him harmless. Their leader finally snapped out to reality, anger flooded his vision, he threw away his broken sword and shield using only his fist to attack.
It was Ivan’s turn to step out of the way dodging the leader’s clumsy attack and giving me a chance to strike the leader with my sword. The legionary went down, wounded but alive. He coughed struggling to get up to no avail.
“Stay down. You’re finished!” I said to the fallen minotaur strapping my sword on my back.
“You -cough- should have killed me…”
“No, I didn’t. You are just a low ranking officer with visions of grandeur, that thought that taking down a rogue adventurer would be both easy and a great way to be promoted. Now go take a swim!”
Before he could react I snapped my fingers. A blue portal opened under their feet, letting them fall through it. They barely had a chance to scream before a loud splash was heard and the portal closed.
The tavern was silent for a moment, but this moment was short. Soon after the portal closed the tavern patrons that were watching our little drama cheered and applauded, raising their mugs to us in ovation. I gave a small nod to the bartender, who looked relieved that no blood was spilled, before we returned to our seats.
“ ‘Go take a swim’, really?” Nash asked once we had taken our places at the table and the chatter in the hall had died down.
“What? I dropped them at the harbor. It sounded appropriated.” I said chuckling a little.
Doctor Nash shook his head and was about to say something, but Ivan spoke first. “That sword, from where it came? I am sure that it wasn’t with you before, also it’s different from your previous one, where did you get it?”
“It’s called Sol Blade, I got it very recently.” I said tapping the sword on my back. “As for where it came from, it was with me the entire time. I had it concealed with magic. A very useful spell when carrying a claymore sized sword through the middle of town.”
Michaela until this point was very quiet. She was looking at me with concern, and finally asked.
“Nero. What you said about the village. It was true?”
I stared at the table for a moment. There is no easy way around this, it’s better to say the truth now.
“Unfortunately, yes. On my way here I came across a small unit of legionaries, they were transporting cages full of refugees being taken to slavery. I ambushed the unit and after I defeated them I freed the to be slaves. That’s when they told me about their village. I checked the location they gave me and indeed it was the scene of a massacre.”
Michaela stretched across the table placing her hands on mine. She gave me a look I knew all too well, one that was caring and worried at the same time.
“You should be more careful, attacking the minotaurs like this by yourself.”
“It was just a dozen or so legionaries. Nothing I can’t handle.” I said smiling down to her.
“Still you shouldn’t be that reckless. I worry that one day you get hurt because you did something dangerous.”
“If that happens it’s to protect others, that I assure you.”
This seemed to calm her. Michaela gave me a sad smile and a nod before sitting back at her chair. We stayed in silence for a while, the tavern’s sounds of laughter and loud conversation being the only things that kept us from total stillness.
Clearing his throat Doctor Nash brought us back to reality. “Well, how about we go sleep for the night. It is getting pretty late.”
“Agreed, me and Michaela didn’t get a chance to truly rest since we arive on Malpetrim.” Ivan said with a nod.
“Shall I talk to the innkeeper then?” I said getting up.
Doctor Nash waved off my question and said “I already took care of that. Our rooms are paid for the night, and we can stay ‘till tomorrow.”
The morning started with a brisk breeze from the sea. The salty winds rolled over the streets of Malpetrim during dawn. As ever I had awaken at the first rays of the sun, and now I was admiring the sunrise from the outside of the tavern. It was calm, a moment of peace in this bustling mercantile city.
I was lost in thought, thinking about where to go next and what to do when I get there. I thought about this world, Arton, with all its troubles, all its kingdoms and magic. I thought about my friends here, where all of them have found their place in this world I had not.
I was pulled out of my thoughts by a hand on my back. Tuning I saw Michaela at my side.
“I knew you would be here, you were always the first to wake up from everyone. Sometimes just so you could see the sunrise.” she said getting closer and leaning on the rail at the side of the street.
“Mornings are my favorite time of the day. Everything always looks so peaceful at the early hours.” I said turning back to the sunrise. The sun was already above the horizon, starting its slow ascent to the sky.
We stood together like this for some time, resting our weights on the railing. Every now and again I would glance at Michaela at my side, she looked sad, worried and although I knew what was wrong I had to ask.
“Michaela, is something wrong?”
“You are going to leave again, don’t you?” she said without looking, more an affirmation than a question.
“Yes...”I said with a sigh.
“Oh…” She said looking down, suddenly finding the cracks on the stone very interesting. “Can’t you stay a little longer?”
“Maybe a little but not long. I need to go back traveling soon, I still have to find my home.” I said placing my hand on her shoulder.
Michaela didn’t respond right away. She stood there staring at the sunrise for a moment, letting the winds from the sea roll over us as the city started to wake up.
“You know…” she started “They say that home is where the heart is. And I never felt more at home than traveling with everyone.”
I looked at her but said nothing. This was something new and important, something that I felt I needed to listen.
“We were always on the road.” she continued “We never stayed in the same town for very long, but I never felt happier than amongst our friends. We would stop in a small village for the night, Nash would search for people to cure with his medicine, Elarah would search shelter and food, Aran would run to the nearest library.” she giggled at what I’m lead to believe a memory of our friend’s enthusiasm when looking for new spell books at a library.
“I would help Nash taking care of his patients, Ven would get in trouble only for Ivan to help him out. And you would search for people to help, no matter how poor they were, or fro what race you’d always listen to them and try to help. And all of this made me happy.” She gave a sad smile, still not looking at me.
Michaela gave a heavy sigh before speaking again. “But as days passed I realized that no matter where we were, either on the road or in a village you never was comfortable. You were always trying to adjust, to fit in for our sake, but I now see that you couldn’t.”
Michaela then turned to face me. Staring into my eyes I could see that small tears forming on hers.
“Your heart was never in this world, was it?” she asked me very calmly, but the height of the question still hung in the air around us.
“No, It is not.” I said in a low voice. To this day I still feared what could be her reaction, but instead of the hundreds horrible scenarios going to my head she just smiled.
“I knew it!” she said giggling and to my complete surprise embraced me into a hug “And yet you still make a great effort to keep in touch with us. You never change, always thinking about others!”
I was still dumbfounded by her actions but returned the hug nonetheless. We parted soon and we returned our attention to the horizon. The city around us started to wake even more as merchants prepared for another busy day.
“It’s not that I don’t like Arton.” I said “I just feel that my place is elsewhere. Does it make sense?”
“You mean your world?” she asked turning to me again.
“ I honestly don’t even know if I will ever find my world anymore. And even if do find it, who knows how long I was gone, and if my family is still alive.”
Michaela looked thoughtful for a second, she then took my hands on hers.
“Promise me something. Promise me that no matter what you will find someplace that can make you happy, a place where you can call home.”
I once again, for what may be the hundredth time that mourning, stared down into her eyes. That jade orbs stared me back full of love, compassion and most of all determination.
I smiled at her, for it was my turn to embrace her into a hug. “I promise Michaela. I will find my home, be it my world or another, I will find it and when I do I will show it to you and say ‘This is my home, come visit me anytime!’”
Michaela laughed as she allowed me to pick her up in my grip. She then went mysteriously quiet. I looked at her to see what was wrong and saw she was blushing slightly.
“Umm.. Nero could you give me one of those hugs?” she asked her face became even hotter than before.
I mere chuckled at that and said. “Fine.”
From my back muscle and bone shifted and expanded. In seconds two leathery wings sprouted from my back, passing through special cuts in the fabric of my clothes and growing to a spawn of twice my size. Giving my wings a small flap, I carefully folded them around Michaela’s body, covering her entirely and pressing her even tighter against me.
She closed her eyes and smiled in my grasp.