Author's Note: First, thank you to those who reviewed. I really appreciate it.
Second, as I went back and reread over the first chapter of this series, I was awfully disappointed and ashamed. It seemed clear to me that the writing style in the first chapter sucked! I am terribly sorry to those of you who were pained by that. I will do my very best to improve. Feel free to tell me how bad the first chapter was and – hopefully – that I improved drastically in the second one.
And third, I am going to begin altering the story line starting with this chapter. It won't be anything drastic; the characters will still undergo all the same events. But now I have another character to mix in. I hope it's not too much for you. Thank you. R&R!
My head buzzed in confusion as I tentatively entered the Inn of the Last Home. Darkness had been tugging at the corners of my mind since the moment I first arrived in Solace. This darkness and confusion was swirling the thoughts in my brain almost to the point of making them incomprehensible. It wasn't that I didn't know who I am; in fact I remember most of my life in pain staking detail. It was only the past few days and how I arrived here (not to mention where I am) that rested just beyond my conscious thoughts. And not knowing made my fear increase that much more.
Despite not knowing where I am or how I got here, I figured standing out in the middle of nowhere was not a very smart decision. It didn't take me long to spot some extra garments and an inn. In fact, it looked like one of the only buildings left in Solace. With no where else to go, I chose that.
A long, dirty cloak covered my figure and face as I walked through the Inn. Even I in my confused state still had the sense of mind to try and look like one of the locals. I even found a leather pack that I transferred all of my belongings into. However, to see just how out of place I really am, all you would have to do is rip off the cloak. Then you would find black athletic pants, a black racer-back shirt, and tennis shoes. Needless to say I was praying that no one happened to see my shoes from beneath the cloak.
I know there would are people out there who are wondering why I didn't change all my clothes. I will be kind enough to provide you with an answer. I have concluded that I am somewhere back in the middle ages (although I didn't know a place called Solace existed) and people in the middle ages didn't have much care for hygiene. Therefore, the smell of the cloak and bag alone were enough to make me gag. There was no way in hell I was going to take off my comfortable clothes to put on ones that would make me itch and smell even worse. Besides, they didn't even wear bras or underwear. Gross.
The Inn of the Last Home didn't look like any inn I had ever been to. It actually reminded me more of a Bed and Breakfast. There were tables and chairs set up all around the room, a bar, and a set of stairs that led to the rooms for rent. But there was also black soot that covered most of the space and gave off an odor so terrible that it was hard for me to breathe. Holding my breath I took a seat in the corner near the fire, far away from everyone else. Huddled in the corner, I gazed around the room to get a better feel of my surroundings and hopefully spot any danger.
All in all, there didn't seem to be much business in the Inn tonight. Another stranger sat near the door, alone and suspicious like myself. A small group of men were laughing and drinking at another table. There were only three other groups of customers, all of which made me catch my breath in fear and disgust.
One group was far dirtier and smellier than any other in the room. There skin was slightly pinkish and they were having a loud, crude conversation that involved the mention of a young barmaid. I couldn't believe my eyes or my mind for thinking this, but they looked like everything a goblin was supposed to look like.
If the goblins looked scary, they had nothing on the second group. I truly could not come up with a name for them. They had slimy, scaled skin and leering eyes. They were also talking loudly about the young barmaid and ordering her over. I bit my lip as I looked them over. To me they seemed deformed and repulsive. They looked almost like they had once been creatures of divine reptilian beauty and power, but they had become hideously deformed by some heinous act. Tearing my gaze away, I examined the last group.
The third noticeably larger party sat huddled across the room from me, which was all the better since they made knots form in my stomach. One man was huge and reminded me of a linebacker, another seemed fairly normal with a red beard; one was dressed in a knight's armor that made me smile in disbelief (the thought of seeing a real knight was so farfetched to me at that moment). A strangely dressed couple (well, compared to the rest) sat together talking quietly. I guess I could have called them barbarians, even though the word seemed to describe everyone else perfectly, too. Then there were two people that I didn't know how to describe. The first seemed to remind me of a dwarf only that his white beard covered most of him. The second left me completely bewildered. He looked almost like a child, young and impish, with the exception that he seemed so much older. The last man in the group sat quenched in darkness, surrounded by his red robes. He drank quietly and made no sound. Yet the feeling that he was looking at me sent chills up my spine and I swore I saw a glimpse of gold before I finally averted my eyes.
They were undoubtedly where any trouble would arise.
In the time that I was examining the others, I didn't notice the young barmaid make her way over to me. Her red curls bounced as she walked. "Can I get you something?" she asked coldly.
I made the mistake of looking up at her as I shook my head. She peered inside the hood of my cloak and saw my face. Her expression softened as she did. After all, we had to be around the same age.
"Are you sure?" she asked in a noticeably softer voice. "The ale's good tonight."
I shook my head again. Ale (whatever alcohol knock-off) did sound nice. But in this world I am poor and penniless. I doubted American paper money would go over well here. Yet she seemed to understand because she gave me a sympathetic look and walked over to the largest and most diverse group.
It struck me that I had made a mistake when I saw the red headed girl whisper quietly to them while passing out plates of potatoes with a nice spicy smell. Several members of the group turned slightly and I felt their eyes on me. Yet at this point I was terrified enough that I wasn't too affected by their looks. It was my growing desire to be near the reptile-men that scared me senseless. I didn't what drove me to thinking this way. There was absolutely no logic in it!
As I contemplated this, the barmaid walked back over and placed a mug of ale as well as a plate full of potatoes in front of me. I stared at it dumbly. "I can't pay for this," I muttered.
She gave me a generous smile. "It's on the house." I gave her a small smile and thanked her. At this point I didn't really care why she did it. I had food to eat.
This thought led to a whole array of sudden epiphanies, most of which scared me out of my mind. Sure, I had to food to eat now. But what about tomorrow and the next day? Where am I supposed to sleep? How am I supposed to survive in a place like this with no money and no survival skills!
I choked back a gasp as those sudden realizations hit me. Luckily, I didn't have to suppress it for very long. From the corner of my eye I noticed the man sitting alone by the door rise and walk over to the large group across the room. However, one of the reptile-men stopped reached out with a clawed hand and grabbed at him. Yet just as that happened, the door to the Inn burst open with such force that it slammed into the wall and created a dent.
"Thief!" the man in the doorway roared. He pointed an accusatory finger at me strode across the Inn to where I was sitting. In terror, I leapt up from my chair with so quickly that it toppled over onto the floor. "Thief!"
"No!" I began feebly. "No! I didn't steal it!"
He didn't seem to hear me or if he did he didn't care. He grabbed my upper arm dragged me away from the corner. In the process, the hood fell back from my face and everyone in the Inn could see me. The knight in the corner immediately stood and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, but he didn't come to my aid. The angry looking man slammed me against a wooden table that dug painfully into my back. Then he drew a lethal-looking sword.
"Ok!" I gasped in fright. "So I stole a cloak and pack. What's the big deal!" I didn't honestly think a missing cloak was enough to make him cut my throat, but apparently I was wrong.
"A liar and a thief!" He snarled. "Ya stole my money, too!" Shit!
The man, nasty, dirty, and rugged, pressed the sword to my throat. The goblin-looking creatures were cheering wildly at the sight of violence, hoping to watch me bleed. It was one of the reptile men who saved me from death at that moment.
"Don't kill her!" one said in a drunken slur. "She 'ould be worth a sumthin' as a slave."
I felt the blade of the sword retract slightly, but it was still there. The man snarled. "I'm not gonna kill 'er. I'm gonna take 'her to the slave market – after I've taught 'er a lesson!"
Two reptile men, now eager to see me in pain, lurched forward and grabbed my flailing arms. They pinned me to the table as the man raised his sword above me. I heard the knight's armor clank as he made a move to come closer to me, but there were shouts of protests from his companions.
"Let go of me!" I shouted. The clawed hands instantly released me though I wasn't sure why. The man gave them an angry, quizzical look. I took advantage of the moment to employ some basic self defense. I kicked the man hard in the groin and then rolled off the table. As he doubled over in pain I grabbed his head and slammed it against the wood. He fell to the floor with a thud.
The goblins jumped at me, hatred and bloodlust in their eyes; the reptile men turned their attention to the man they were calling "elven scum." Now was apparently the time that the odd assortment of people decided it was time to intervene, because the knight clanked over to me while the big man and the bearded man assisted the "elven scum."
"Let go of her," the knight demanded while doing something that I concluded was a salute. The goblins must have deemed the knight more worthy of their time because they flung me away from them in a direction that ended up being the fireplace.
I hit the wooden wall with a thud and groaned in pain. As I gasped for breath I looked down to make sure that I wasn't on fire. To my amazement – and horror – my right hand had missed grabbing the wall and was now dangling in the fire. But I felt no searing pain or consuming heat. The flames only tickled my hand. I jerked my hand out quickly and noticed that my necklace, which had previously been tucked safely beneath my shirt, had been thrown free.
I studied the pendant and was once more lost in its design and beauty. The mighty dragon that was sitting atop it drew most of my attention and I barely noticed that the five gems had disappeared. But I did notice that the necklace was now humming softly. It may not have been very loud, but the melodic sound filled my ears and mind.
Reacting on impulse I hadn't known I possessed, I grabbed a poker from the fire place and whirled around. The end of it was a gleaming, malevolent red. Seeing it gave me horrific thoughts of death and blood. My desire was only to save myself and kill anyone in my way. I lashed out with the poker. It bit through the soft flesh of a goblin's throat. His eyes glazed over and his body went limp. He fell to the floor as I withdrew the poker.
Seeing the goblin lying in a pool of his own blood, and knowing that it was my doing, was enough to break me out of my anger and hatred. Horrified at what I had done, I dropped the poker and glanced around the room. Everyone, including the barmaid, seemed to have place fighting the wretched creatures and even some humans. The only one who didn't was the red robed man still sitting in the corner. He hadn't moved but he was watching me intently with what appeared to be golden eyes. His stare didn't unnerve me nearly as much as the fact that he would remain sitting there and let his companions face death on their own did.
I returned his stare for a few intense moments. Had he seen my hand in the fire? I began to wonder. Or had he heard my necklace, too? I didn't know, but it was starting to make me self-conscious and even more confused. Only the yell of one the fighting companions returned me to reality.
"He's getting away! He's going to get the guards!"
I whirled around yet again to find a goblin jump out of one of the windows. Only a few seconds later the pink faces of more horrible creatures lined up around the outside of the Inn. A small group of them entered the doorway, one of them seemingly in charge.
"It was her, Fewmaster!" one of the goblins said to the leader. He had raised a grubby pinkish finger and was pointing it at me. I fearfully took a step towards the knight and his companions who had all gathered in the center of the Inn, including the barmaid. "She started it!"
"Did not," I muttered.
"Why hasn't she been shipped to Pax Tharkas yet?" the Fewmaster asked. "She'd make a nice addition for Lord Verminaard. So would the rest of them." I wasn't quite sure of who they talking about, but I knew what they were talking about and I cringed all the same. "We can change that tonight. Put down all your belongings. Now!" Now he was talking to all of us.
No one in the group moved, save for the barmaid who gave up the skillet she had used to defend herself. If anything, they only gripped their weapons more tightly.
"We cannot fight them, Tanis," I heard a soft, hissing voice. The red robed from the corner came forward and stood with the rest of the group. At an order from the Fewmaster a goblin lurched for his staff. The man whispered a few words in a language I did not understand and yellow darts shot from his hand and pierced the goblin's throat. He fell to floor dead.
"A magic-user," the goblins muttered. "He's a magic user."
Magic? I worked to catch my breath. Magic doesn't exist, I told myself, but just looking at the strange man told me otherwise.
He turned to the red bearded man in the group. "We cannot fight them, Tanis. We must do as they say." Grudgingly, the members of their odd group began laying down weapons. None of them looked too thrilled, but the barbarian woman in particular was dead set against giving them her pack. The red robed man moved towards her and said things that I couldn't hear. She eventually laid it down. Then he turned to me expectantly. As expected, I put down "my" pack. Satisfied, the man bent down and said more strange words. This time there was a bright flash. When he stood back up he said something that nearly made me burst out laughing.
"These items are now under the protection of the great worm Catyrpelius. If anyone who does not own these things touches them, they will slowly be devoured by the worm." His words caused a ripple of muttering from the goblins. The Fewmaster took a step back, glaring at him. It took him a few moments to recover, but when he did his greedy eyes were on me.
"Look. She has gold on her. Take it form her!" Two goblins instantly surged forward. I shook my head, anger bubbling in me. It seemed to me at that moment that the greatest injustice was my precious necklace being ripped from me. But before I could protest, a pink greedy hand reached for it.
The moment his hand touched it, there was a flash of blinding purple light followed by a scream of agony. When the light faded, the goblin was writhing on the floor in pain. His hand was withered and black, but whatever effect my necklace had on him didn't stop with his hand. The darkness spread upward from his arm, turning his ugly pinkish skin black. Slowly, agonizingly, it encompassed the goblin's entire body. Then his flesh cracked and his body deteriorated to dust.
I felt a hand on my arm. "What did you do!" a man yelled at me. He had delicate features and pointed ears. "What have you done to him, witch!"
"Nothing," I stammered. I was so horrified by the sight that I could barely speak. "I did nothing!"
"Leave her alone, Gilthanas," the man called Tanis said warningly. He gave me a look of sympathy and suspicion as Gilthanas released me, though he still glared.
Now completely fuming, the Fewmaster shouted at his goblins. "Take them away! And find a way to move these things!"
With that the goblins surged forward to take possession of their captives, though I noticed that they were awfully careful not to brush my necklace.
Sorry it was a little long and drawn out. I also apologize if I didn't get the scene right but I don't have the book in front of me. I hope you all enjoyed it. R&R!
