2:00 AM
He stepped into the room. The door clicked behind him as it closed. He swiftly glanced around the room, then decided against locking the door. It would only worsen the situation if the guards tried checking the room. Which they were bound to do at any moment now. Besides, he had another idea. The room was small, its darkness thick and oppressive. A bed waited for him in the corner; a cracked mirror hung on the wall to the left; and moonlight shone weakly through a single window opposite the door. He had to clean himself up, and fast, before anyone noticed the blood on his hands. Fortunately, a bucket of water sat in the corner. Perfect, he thought. A stroke of luck.
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Even though it was nearing 2 AM, people had begun gathering outside the tavern to see what had happened. Even McCarth had left the stables to see what all the ruckus was about.
"Oi, what's all this noise about!" he proclaimed, demanding an answer as if he were the king himself.
"Something's happened in the tavern," a woman's voice, thin with sleep, cut through the night.
"Obviously, something fuckin' happened, I'm asking what!" McCarth snapped, boots sinking into the mud as he tried pushing forward.
"Uhm, I don't know," another young girl quietly mumbled.
McCarth was a curious, nosy man. He tried looking over the shoulders of the villagers, but to no avail, he was too short.
None could get in as three chubby guards had blocked the entrance and the doors were now shut.
"THE FUCK HAPPENED HERE?!" A broad and strong man wearing all white armour shouted in anger as he entered. Anyone who lived in Flemdale would recognize the armour immediately. Xander Griffith. His voice was deep and threatening. His face was rugged, his head round. His shoulders and body were muscular, softened by a pinch of fat. His hair was a dull brown colour, falling down to his shoulders, and his eyes were bright blue. He looked young, probably in his twenties, as a scar ran down his neck from the side.
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On his back he had a massive greatsword. It was absurdly long, nearly sixty inches of steel, fitting for a man who stood over six feet tall. Behind him there were two other guards, one a veteran, skin starting to slowly wrinkle and another younger, much younger, probably just promoted, both were wearing grey armour, with their trusty swords strapped to their waists. Though, they looked average compared to Xander. The tall man looked around the room.
"Oliver, inspect the bodies, then get them out of here!" he commanded, signalling to the three corpses. One body with a gaping hole in its stomach, ribs broken. Another had a nicked sword still buried in his skull. While the last one had a stab wound in its stomach and a broken arm. They were all dead, staring up at the ceiling, eyes open, with blood still trickling down from their wounds and streaking onto the floorboards.
"Yes, sir!" Oliver's voice spoke with determination. His curly hair was bright, burning orange, definitely a ginger. Light freckles were scattered across his cheeks and nose. His face was thin, giving him a very young, youthful look, it was obvious he had not fully grown into his armour yet. As he got closer to the dead bodies, his face grimaced, the smell alone was disgusting, not to mention the wounds of all three were horrifying to look at. He was about to vomit, but he knew he couldn't, Xander was looking. He pulled out a sword which was trapped in a brigand's skull and another sword which was on the floor, he removed them, then returned to the tavern, getting to work by inspecting the wounds. Meanwhile, the daughter stepped out of the kitchen, exhausted, crying silently because of what she had just witnessed.
"Girl, don't cry. It's only three dead men," Xander chuckled, as he looked at the dead bodies. The girl then became quiet, as she looked down, petrified, her eyes still red from weeping. The father stepped in-between his girl and Xander, he knew what kind of man Xander really was.
"What happened here, Arthur?" Arthur was the name of the tavern keeper. Arthur and Xander knew each other. How could they not, the town of Flemdale was rather small. Not to mention, Xander would frequently come to ZY's to get drunk with his fellow guards, he almost always caused chaos.
The father had to make up a lie, and quick, "These brigands... they came in and started causing chaos! Harassing my girl, then they..." he thought for a moment, "Just turned on each other" he did his best to mix the truth with lies.
"No need to fret, Arthur! I'm here now." he walked closer to Arthur, "You're a weak, pathetic old man, it's no wonder you couldn't protect your own daughter." Xander tried making his voice deeper than it really was. Arthur's anger was visible, even though he was a bit old, he still had a bit of strength in his eyes.
"If the guards were out patrolling the streets, this wouldn't have happened!" he protested as his voice rose. "Instead, most of you barely do your duties!" he was right. Most of these guards were lazy brats.
Xander rolled his eyes and ignored his complaint, then he looked around the tavern. "Why'd they turn on each other?" he asked while taking a few steps in the direction of the counter.
"I wouldn't know, they started shouting, and all hell broke loose," Arthur lied once again. Xander nodded his head mockingly, "How many were there?"
"Four." Arthur said, he'd just have to frame the one which was let go.
"Four? I only see three." Arthur looked at the bodies, which Oliver was closely attending to.
"That bastard was the one who survived." he proclaimed. Before Xander could ask his next question. Arthur saw the state of his daughter, her eyes were giving up due to the lack of sleep. "Maria needs to sleep." he pleaded.
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2:10 AM
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"No." Xander's voice dropped ominously low, "She's a witness, I need to interrogate her."
Hearing what was going on, the old guard with somewhat of a wrinkly face stepped in, "Sir, maybe you should let her sleep?" his voice was soft as worn leather. "Her eyes are shutting down, she wouldn't be of no use right now. I'm sure we'll get a better explanation of what happened here, if we interrogated her in the morning?" he suggested, smiling.
Xander pondered, then looked at the guard, "Yes, Llyn maybe you're right, She can go for now." he waved his hand.
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Arthur quickly took her through the kitchen, to the right of the kitchen entrance were all the ingredients, equipment and food, he then walked to the left where there was another door which lead directly to their living quarters, he opened the door and Maria fell on the bed, she definitely needed this.
"How old is she?" Xander was following behind him like a ghost.
"Eighteen." Arthur replied.
Xander gave a look of disgust to Arthur, "Stop treating her like a child. She was crying, seeing three men dead, only three! She's not a baby any more!" Xander chuckled mockingly. "My sisters have seen hundreds of dead bodies in battles," he announced, as if showing off.
Arthur looked back to where Xander stood, "We are simple tavern keepers, not fighters like you or your sisters." Arthur hated how Xander was talking to him. Xander never took Arthur seriously, why would he, he was just an old tavern keeper. Xander was slyly inspecting the room they were in, making sure no one was hiding in it. Then they both walked back into the main quarters.
"So, there was no one else in the tavern besides the four men, you and your daughter?" he went back to his questions.
"No one else." he said simply.
"Whose bowl is this?" Shit, Xander saw the bowl the cloaked man had eaten from. Arthur had forgotten to take it away.
"One of the bandits’."
"Hmph, anyone upstairs?" he pointed with his finger to the ceiling.
"No." Arthur admitted a bit too quickly.
"Llyn, go check all the rooms upstairs." Xander commanded while looking around the tavern some more.
"Yes sir," Llyn bowed and did as he was told immediately.
"Now, Arthur get me something to eat," Xander sat down on one of the chairs then quickly put his legs up on the table as if he owned the place. Arthur was more worried about what was about to happen upstairs. But he did what he was told, heart pounding faster as Llyn walked up the stairs.
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Llyn opened the first door, closest to the stairs, no one in sight. He entered it and made sure to look behind the door. There was no one at all, he left, then entered the second room, same thing. Empty. Then he opened the third and last door. The third room was the only one with a window. He looked around and saw no one, just a dry bucket.
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He walked to the open window and looked out. The wind howled, whipping against his face. Llyn had been a brilliant fighter back in his prime, and though his skills had withered somewhat due to age, he still surpassed many in the region of Kalrevon, his aged appearance made people forget his former prowess. His soft white beard was slowly being pushed back by the wind. He had mentored Xander ever since the boy was young. However, Llyn had failed to shape Xander into a true man, Xander had turned out harsh, brash and cruel. It wasn't Llyn's fault, as the Griffith family were all known for their cruelness and little sense of mercy; Xander had simply listened and looked up to his father more than his mentor. Though, Llyn still blamed himself.
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Llyn could barely see the houses, shops and streets through the window, it was dark and foggy, but the grey moon in the dark sky shone brighter than anything, he smiled lightly.
"Beautiful," he whispered to himself.
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Beautiful as it was, he had to report back to Xander. He turned around, left the room and went back down the stairs. His face shifting from a joyful smile to a serious one.
"No one in the rooms sir." he said with discipline. Arthur's shoulders loosened. Having now served Xander some bread, beer and meat. Xander shook his head then took one bite off the bread.
"You know, Arthur..." Xander said ominously, bread still in his mouth, "Some of our boys stationed at the south entrance reported a suspicious boy entering the town at about one, he was wearing a cloak... Coincidence, is it not?"
"I wouldn't know of him, Xander," Arthur tried to look clueless, but he knew he couldn't stall them for long. Now, he was just trying to give the man who saved him and his daughter as much time as he possibly could to escape the town, Xander then yawned and drank the whole beer in one gulp.
"Arthur, have any of the rooms been used lately?" Llyn asked with a pleasant smile "No Llyn, of course not," Llyn shook his head.
Llyn sighed, "Then why was the window open in the last room I checked?" Xander looked at Llyn.
"I-" he stuttered. "I must've forgotten to close it," They got me, he regretted to inform himself.
"You… fucking liar," Xander scoffed as if he wasn't at all surprised, "We've already closed both the exits, Arthur. Why protect the fourth? The cloaked boy, wasn't he harassing your girl?" Xander had misunderstood the situation completely, thinking the cloaked man was a part of the brigands group. But he was wrong.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3uLo59Q5F
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and then Add to home screen.