Chapter 34:

  Stryg wandered the dark streets of Hollow Shade. Various people were out for an evening stroll in the villa district. The patrolling sentinels ensured the high-class’ safety. How different the villa and commoner districts were. No one had to worry if they were going to be attacked in these polished streets. He wondered how the rich felt about the warlords that roamed the Valley. They probably didn’t care, confident that their warriors and the commoners would act as a buffer. They probably looked down at the commoners, just like that Maeve vampiress. Stryg would settle the score. His stomach growled in protest. He’d deal with Maeve another day, for now he needed to get something to eat.

  The dining hall in the academy was no doubt closed by now, as were the food stalls in the trade district. That only left a tavern. Looking around at the expensive mansions that decorated this part of the city, Stryg doubted there were any taverns nearby. He needed to head over to the trade or commoner districts if he wanted to eat.

  Stryg’s night vision made it easy for him to navigate through the moonlit night. He walked block after block, eventually making his way to the commoner district. The long walk and cool air helped dry his wine-stained pants and calm his nerves. The stress from his classes, constant studying, and harsh training from Loh, was beginning to add up. He just needed to relax, get something to drink maybe. 

  Stryg soon found himself in front of the Merry Crescent and the lewd crescent sign that hung from the roof. Light poured out from the windows. He could hear the loud chattering of common folk eating and drinking their worries away. He could use some of that right now. 

  Stryg’s eyes scanned the crowd as he walked in. The tavern was completely packed tonight, people of all sorts were laughing and talking with one another. There were a few guards chatting and drinking at one table, but the guard captain, Rorik, was nowhere to be seen. He would be drinking by himself tonight then. 

  Stryg looked for an empty table, but there were none. There weren’t even any empty chairs. He’d have to settle for standing, like a few dozen others. Stryg raised his hand and tried to get the attention of one of the barmaids. He easily spotted Feli’s purple hair, a few tables away. But, the tavern celebrity’s eyes passed right over him. He frowned. Was it because he was short and she just didn’t see him, or was it because he was a goblin? She normally didn’t pay much attention to him in the first place, but it would have been nice if she could at least serve him some dinner. 

  “What do you want?” Carla, another barmaid, walked up to him. She tapped her foot while her hands held platters of food.

  “Where’s my food?” A patron shouted.

“One second!” Carla shouted behind her. “So, what do you want? Food? Something to drink?”

  “Can I get something to eat, I’m quite hungry,” Stryg answered.

Carla nodded, “We only have some soup left. I’ll bring you some in a bit.”

  “Can I also get some honey mead?”

But Carla had already left for another table. 

  “I’ll get some myself,” Stryg sighed. He began weaving his way between people and headed over to the front counter where the tavern master worked. 

  A human abruptly stood up, pushing his chair right into Stryg’s face. The goblin staggered a few steps back from the blow.

  “Watch it, short stuff,” the man warned, the scent of alcohol wafting from his mouth.

“You hit me, you lumbering halfwit,” Stryg glared at the human.

  “Giving me lip, huh?” The man sneered. 

  He pointed to the symbol etched onto his armor breastplate. It was a grey skull with black sun tendrils sprouting from its center. The symbol of Hollow Shade. Stryg looked over the man and the ones he sat with. They were all guards. 

  “You’re a guard, so what?” Stryg asked.

  “Hey guys, get a load of this goblin. He thinks we’re lightweights. Not important whatsoever,” the human bellowed.

  The other guards looked at cyan goblin as if he was the most bizarre thing they had ever seen. They burst into drunken laughter. 

“Teach him a lesson!” “Kick his ass!” “Make him pay our tab!” The guards each voiced out.

  The guard turned back to Stryg, “You heard them. You can either pay all our tabs, or we can make you pay them,you might even get lucky enough to spend a night in a cell. Or we can forgo all that and just throw you outside the walls to the shades?”

  “Hey, wait,” said a drow guard at the table. He narrowed his eyes, “Isn’t that...? Wait. Leave him alone!”

  The human guard shrugged his shoulders, “Oh come on. We can’t let people talk to us like that. We have to show them who runs this district.”

  “No, you don’t understand what he is!” The drow guard shouted.

  “He’s just a goblin. An ugly one at that.” The human guard poured the rest of his ale on Stryg’s head. “Now he looks so much bette-”

  Stryg tackled the man’s knees sending him to the ground. That was the last straw. All of Stryg’s anger that had just begun to settle beneath the surface exploded. 

  Stryg shouted as he began clawing at the man. The guard’s armor took most of the damage. He raised his foot and kicked Stryg with all his might, launching the goblin several feet away. Stryg rolled, landed on all fours and hissed. People began shouting in excitement as the fight began to unfold. 

  “Take it outside,” The tavern master shouted.

  Feli saw the guard draw his sword. She sighed in frustration, the guards were picking on some other poor bastard. It would take hours to clean up the bloody mess once they were finished. Maybe she could get Carla to take care of it. 

  Feli stiffened as she recognized the goblin fighting. He was one of Rorik’s friends. Why were they fighting? Why wasn’t the captain stopping them? Feli looked around and noticed Rorik was missing. She lamented the fact that the drow captain would soon lose his friend. A goblin didn’t stand a chance against a trained armored guard. Feli let out a shallow breath, such was life in the commoner district. Cruel and short.

  “No, stay back!” The human guard raised his hand to his comrades. “This little bastard is mine.” He drew his sword, “I’m gonna carve you up until your own mother won’t recognize you.”

  Stryg grinned, a savage look in his eyes, his small fangs glinting in the tavern light, “Right back at you.”

  Stryg charged the man, but the guard swung his blade in quick short movements. Stryg dashed to the side to avoid the blows. He swerved behind a table as another swing passed by. Stryg tried to find an opening, but his enemy kept his distance, using his sword to cross the gap between the two. 

  “What’s the matter?” The guard taunted him.

  Stryg’s eyes glanced around, trying to find a weapon. If only he had a spear, he could fight toe-to-toe. He needed to close the distance. The firelight glanced off the guard’s blade as he kept swinging at Stryg. Stryg needed a weapon, fast. Or maybe not? 

  Stryg jumped back and took a deep breath, letting the black mana within flood through his veins. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t make tangible shadows. He didn’t need a weapon, only a distraction. The shadows around him darkened to a pitch black and surged forth. The crowd screamed as the inky tentacles soared over them. 

  The guard shouted in panic as he swung his sword against the shadows to no avail. Stryg ran low to the ground, his shadows covering him. He came up from behind the flailing guard and jumped up high onto his shoulders. His claws sunk into the guard’s face. The man shouted in pain as Stryg grabbed hold of his head and threw himself back. Stryg twisted in midair and landed nimbly on his feet. The guard’s head smashed into the wooden floor, his sword clattered to the ground a few feet away. 

  Stryg was on top of the man in a flash. His sharp claws dug into the guard’s flesh. He screamed in wretched agony as Stryg clawed his eyes out. Stryg paid no heed to the sound as he ripped the man’s face. In only a matter of seconds he tore apart the man’s skin and muscle. The guard’s weak struggles quickly stopped, but Stry did not.

  The ebony black shadows slowly receded from across the tavern. People’s panic began to die down as they realized they were unharmed by the spectral limbs. Feli’s screams of fear caught in her throat when she saw the shadows leave her body. Her heart raced in her chest as she tried to understand what happened. Everyone warily watched the shadows shrink away. The Merry Crescent fell silent as all the shadows pooled into Stryg’s own.

  The shadows’ disappearance revealed the lone goblin who stood above the guard’s corpse. Stryg’s hands were covered in blood and bits of flesh. Feli’s eyes fell onto the guard’s face. Or rather what once was. Now only a bloody skull remained where his face had been. Collective gasps rose through the stunned crowd.

  Stryg took short heaving breaths as he looked around. His eyes settled on the other guards, “Who’s next?”

  The drow guard stepped forward and fell to his knees, “Sir Stryg, please we don’t wish to fight you. You probably don’t recognize me. We met a week ago, I was with captain Rorik when you ki-, apprehended those thugs. I tried warning the man you just fought, but he didn’t listen. I’ll tell the captain that it was all his fault.”

  People whispered among themselves in confusion. Feli shared their sentiment. What had just happened? Why was the guard bowing to the goblin? Shouldn’t he try to avenge his comrade?

  The kneeling guard placed his hands on the floor and bowed his head, “Please, sir. None of us wish to incur the wrath of a mage.”

  Feli’s eyes widened in surprise. The goblin was a mage? She didn’t even know goblin magi existed. He wasn’t even wearing a mage’s black robes. But there was no denying magic was involved with the shadowy spectacle that had just occurred. She recalled how Rorik behaved so friendly with the goblin. 

  Feli glanced at the kneeling guard. Everything was beginning to make sense. But why in all the Realms was a mage at a simple tavern in the commoner district? 

  Stryg’s anger began to cool as he looked at the kneeling guard. This was one of Rorik’s men. The captain was one of the few people Stryg actually liked. He would rather not  kill his subordinate. He glanced at the corpse beneath him. Then again, perhaps he already had. 

  Stryg remembered his master’s words, “focus your anger.” He had already defeated his enemy. One of the main reasons he wanted power was to not be pushed around. Of course, that had literally just happened, but at least now the other guards were showing him some respect. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. There was no need to fight anymore, not tonight. Stryg stared at the guard’s corpse.

  The kneeling guard raised his head, “Please, do not worry about the body. We’ll take care of it immediately.” 

  Stryg slowly nodded his assent. “I need a drink,” he muttered and walked over to the counter.

  The crowd split and made ample room for him. Everyone stared, but no one dared make eye contact. 

  Sweat dripped from the tavern master’s forehead. “W-what can I get y-you?”

  Stryg leaned his arms on the counter and looked over at all the different bottles that stood behind the tavern master. “Can I have some honey mead?”

  “O-of course, right away.” The man rushed to obey.

  “Actually, make that a shot of Fire Breath,” Stryg changed his mind. He needed something stronger tonight.

  “Uh, of course. I keep those expensive bottles in the back. It’ll take me a few minutes to prepare.”

Stryg tapped his bloody fingers on the counter top, “I don’t mind waiting.”

   “Someone can bring you the drink when it’s ready,” Feli strolled over, “I’ll help you get cleaned up while you wait. There’s a tub upstairs we can use.” 

“Huh?” Stryg tilted his head. 

  “Can we get some hot water for our esteemed guest, please?” Feli asked the tavern master.

  “Certainly,” he nodded vigorously. “Carla! Fetch some hot water for the mage’s bath and make sure it’s not too hot or I’ll have your head!”

  “I’m on it!” Carla scurried away.

  “And bring the best soap we have too!” The tavern master called out. He clasped his hands and bowed to Stryg, “I’m sorry, we don’t have much, but please make yourself at home.”

  “...Right.” Stryg wasn’t sure why they were so eager to have him take a bath.

  Sure, he was bloody, but he didn’t smell. A rag would get rid of most of the blood and gore. As for the rest, he could just take a bath once he got home.

  “If you’ll please follow me,” Feli said. She grabbed the edge of Stryg’s shirt and gently pulled him towards the stairs.

  Stryg followed, curious to why the normally cold Feli was so interested in him taking a bath. 

  Feli didn’t know what magic Stryg had done to kill the guard or why Stryg was visiting this tavern in the first place. All she knew was that he was a bona fide mage, the most important man standing in the room. This was her chance, her shot to escape this lifestyle. He was her greatest opportunity and she wasn’t about to let him slip away from her. 

  “Stryg, was it?” Feli smiled.