Chapter 85: Evening Chats

  Stryg left the inn, lifted the hood of his grey cloak, and turned the corner. As soon as he was out of sight he jumped, sunk his claws into the wall of the inn, and quickly scrambled up the wooden planks and onto the roof. He ignored the sounds of the lovemaking below and focused his sight on the few villagers walking past.

  One particular villager stumbled his way towards the inn’s shed where Rhian and Maximus were. Stryg could smell the alcohol coming from the villager’s ragged breath.

  “Damn queer and her whack friend,” Louise’s uncle grumbled drunkenly. “I’ll show them not to mess with our girls.”

  Stryg watched the man draw closer to the centaurs. He held a small knife in his shaky hands. Rhian was still talking to Maximus, who seemed to be uninterested in whatever she had to say. The warrior centaur noticed the drunken villager coming from the corner of his eye.

  “Rhian, quiet,” Maximus held out a hand.

“Huh?” She frowned.

  Maximus reached for his axe.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop talking,” Rhian backed away.

  “Who’s there?” Maximus called out.

  A faint figure walked out from the shadow of the inn. It drew closer with a soft shamble. Maximus raised his axe. The figure was suddenly yanked back into the darkness. A small yelp was the only evidence he left.

  “What was that?” Rhian stepped behind Maximus.

“I don’t know,” Maximus shook his head. “Don’t hide behind me.”

~~~

  Stryg grabbed the drunken uncle by the throat, dragged him across the grass, and slammed him into a far away building. A soft crack was heard as the man’s back hit the wall. He fell to the ground with a painful thud. The man coughed in pain.

  Stryg lifted him up by the collar, “After your threats at the inn I thought my master was going to kill you, to set an example for the rest not to go against her. Instead, she let you go. You were supposed to walk away, grateful to have encountered an alpha predator and lived. That should have been the end of it.”

  Stryg bared his fangs, “But, I know how people are, vengeful. So, I watched, waited to see if you would do anything stupid. And here you are, baring your flat teeth again. If you had simply left, I planned to respect my master’s wishes and leave you be. But, then you had to go and draw a blade at my tribemate.”

  Stryg’s claw’s dug into the man’s shoulder, “My tribemate.”

“I’m sorry, please don’t kill me. Please, I’ll do anything,” the villager whimpered in pain.

  Leaving a threat alive was dangerous. It opened the door to potential risks for the future. Stryg knew this well. So, he dealt with his threats, it was only natural. Byrel’s terrified face flashed in his mind. He could still remember Plum’s tears, her rage. A strange thought crossed his mind. Was he right in killing this man? Was there another way?

  Stryg sighed, “Promise me you won’t show your face around here until we leave. And if any of my companions or I spot you, I’ll end you myself.”

  “I promise, I promise, please just don’t kill me,” the villager cried.

Stryg released him and walked away.

  The old man stared into the shadows where Stryg had been. He waited a few minutes before trying to move. He rubbed his shoulder and winced as he tried to stretch his back.

  “Damn freak. He’s just like that other creep.” He spat into the ground, “We don’t want anymore of your kind.”

  “Stjerne’s judgement will come over all of you, mark my words,” the old man swore to humanity’s patron deity. “He’ll destroy all you monsters. And I’ll help him whatever way I can.”

  “Is that right?”

His jaw went slack as the shadows melted away to reveal Stryg standing only a few feet from him.

  “You plan to help kill me? A monster?” Stryg stepped closer.

“N-no, that’s not what I meant,” he shook his head vigorously. His eyes darted around in the dark, hoping to find his dagger.

  “I was right after all,” Stryg held up the old man’s dagger. “You can’t let threats live.”

“Someone, he-!”

  Stryg dashed in and slipped the dagger into the man’s jugular. Stryg held the dagger tight as the man’s body shook, his hands spasming. After a few moments the man’s death throes ended. Stryg kept the blade in the corpse’s neck to prevent blood from smearing across the dirt and his clothes.

~~~

  Rhian played with her black hair as she walked in circles outside the shed, bored. Normally, she would be training through sets on obstacles courses. The least she could do now was talk to Maximus, but he was a horrible conversational partner.

  The warrior centaur never spoke a word unless it was ‘shut up’ or some equivalent. He wasn’t even a good listener. He always had this look of annoyance on his face when Rhian tried to start up a conversation, as if her beautiful visage was somehow bothering him. The only time Maximus seemed at peace was when he was meditating, like he was trying to do right now.

  Life out in the boonies really was boring. Not to mention filthy. There was mud everywhere, the roads were literally made of dirt. Not the clean, refined red sands of the Murkton race tracks. No, this was just mud. A ton of mud that would suck in one’s hooves and threaten to not give them back. She missed the pristine cobblestone walkways of Hollow Shade and the company of her fellow showhorses. Instead, she was stuck here with a grumpy musclehead, surrounded by wet dirt and risking her life out in the wilderness.

  “Fuck my life,” Rhian groaned.

“Why does everyone want to get fucked tonight?” Stryg asked from the shadows.

  “Master? You’re back already?” Rhian perked up.

Stryg dragged the old villager’s corpse behind him.

  “Who is that?” Rhian frowned.

“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I need your help disposing of the body.”

  Stryg rather his master not find out he took matters into his own hands. His master needed some rest after fighting with the frost wolves and he didn’t plan on bothering her tonight.

  Maximus cracked one eye open.

“Not a word, Maximus,” Stryg narrowed his eyes.

  The centaur closed his eye and continued meditating, content to have these two away from him as soon as possible.

“Um, do we really have to?” Rhian smiled wryly.

  “Is that a joke?” Stryg blinked.

Rhian hung her head, “I’ll go grab my saddle.”

~~~

  Loh sat on the bed as she watched Louise shimmy out of her skirt. They were upstairs in one of the extra rooms. She sipped her mead as she stared at Louise’s plump ass. She was a human and her thick thighs came more from fat than muscle, but Louise still reminded her of a particular woman.

  Louise bit her lip as she took off her blouse, revealing her naked breasts, “Are you going to undress?”

“In a moment, I’m just enjoying the view,” Loh’s blue eyes drank in her visage.

  Louise took a deep breath and took off her knickers. She fidgeted a bit as she stood stark naked in the candlelight. Like so many women before her, tonight, Louise would be her replacement.

  “Have you ever been with a woman?” Loh asked.

“I have never been with anyone,” Louise chuckled awkwardly.

  “Not even your fiancé?” She raised an eyebrow.

  Louise shook her head slightly, “He never really looked at me. Even once we became engaged, his sights were always on the horizon, always looking for adventure. He could hardly sit still. Until one day, he couldn’t. I haven’t seen him since.”

  Loh stood up, took off her grey cloak and blue tunic. “Well, let’s not worry about him tonight. Let’s just focus on you and me.”

“Okay,” Louise swallowed.

  She shivered as Loh caressed her cheek. The drow’s grey finger slipped below and traced around her nipple. Louise shuddered away.

Loh saw the fear in her eyes, she sighed and sat on the bed. “We’re done here.”

  “What? Wait, please,” Lousie’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry.”

“Feel free to put your clothes back on and leave,” Loh placed two gold coins next to the candle stand.

  “I-I don’t understand.” Louise tried grabbing them, but they slipped out of her trembling hands and clattered on the ground.

  Loh looked at the frightened girl. What could she say to her? That she couldn’t stomach the look in some wench’s eyes? That it only reminded her of the pain of another’s? Of her best friend and love of her life’s rejection? Loh didn’t know what was worse. That she had fucked up everything or that no one knew.

  Loh laughed at herself, tonight was meant to help her forget the mental ordeals that plagued her. She needed this moment of respite from it all, but not like this.

  “It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand. Just take the money and forget about all of this,” Loh chugged down the last of her mead.

“I’m sorry, I was just nervous. I’ll do better, please just give me a chance,” Louise begged.

  “Why do you care? You already got your money,” Loh turned her back on her.

“...more.”

  “Huh?”

“It was more,” Louise whispered. “You promised me more gold.”

  “Ah, that I did,” Loh sighed. “But, I expected to have a partner tonight. So, I guess we both don’t get what we want.”

“Please, just give me another chance, I really need the money!” Louise fell to her knees and bowed her head.

  Loh had to admit she liked her naked appearance. “...Tell me a story.”

“Eh?” Louise looked up.

  “Tell me why you need the money and it’s yours.”

“Why?” Louise furrowed her brow.

  “Because misery loves company,” she shrugged.

“...Alright,” Louise nodded slowly. She went to put her clothes back on.

  “Stop. Tell me the story just as you are. If I’m going to hear your story I at least want to be entertained,” Loh smirked.

  “...Fair enough,” she made a half-hearted smile. “My family is quite poor, even compared to the other families in Dullwater. We rent a plot of land a few miles from here. We’re farmers, like most commoners in the Valley.”

  Louise’s lips thinned, “My dad wanted another son to help out with the farm, but instead he got me. There wasn’t too much I could do to help out. So, my dad sent me into the village to work here at the inn. The work can get rough sometimes and the hours were long. The pay isn’t even much, but it was something, not that any of it was mine. However, the job helped me get out of the house for a while.”

  “I take it you don’t like your family?” Loh asked.

“Four sisters and one brother. My siblings can get a little much,” Louise nodded.

  “I can relate,” Loh cracked a grin. “Well, go on then, don’t keep me hanging.”

  “Work wasn’t great here and I hoped for more. I always wanted to bake. Not simple stuff like bread. But, fancy foods the caravans would bring during festivals, like chocolate cake. I didn’t think it was going to happen, I could never afford such dreams. Until one day, the village butcher and my father agreed on marrying their children.”

  “Not even commoners can escape arranged marriages, huh?” Loh chuckled miserably.

  Louise pursed her lips, “I wanted the marriage. I always liked the butcher’s boy. He was cute and kind, albeit a bit daft. Still, the engagement was great. The butcher is one of Dullwater’s most respected and wealthy individuals. It could have been a lot worse. Instead, I would get the chance to spend my life with someone I wanted to be with and I’d be able to make my own family. I’d even be able to bake.”

  “Great story,” Loh rolled her eyes.

  “It was,” Louise chuckled. “At least I thought it was, until my fiancé ran away. I couldn’t marry him because he wasn’t here. And I couldn’t break the engagement off, because my father didn’t want to offend the butcher. I’m literally stuck here. They’ve screwed me.”

  “Men tend to do that.”

  Louise bit her bottom lip, “I am unmarried and unmarriageable. People whisper that my fiancé ran off because of me. I’m becoming a pariah in this place.”

  “And you have no way to escape,” Loh concluded. “Which is why you need the money.”

  “The gold is a chance for a fresh start somewhere better than this place. Just like my fiancé, I’ll run away and make a better life for myself. If you are willing to help me that is.” She looked at the drow with hopeful eyes.

  Loh pulled out a few more gold coins and handed them to her. “This will get you to wherever you wanna go.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Louise smiled and bowed her head repeatedly.

  “No need to thank me, a deal is a deal.”

“...Right,” Louise grabbed her clothes and began to dress herself.

  She took a deep breath, “I am Loh of House Noir, many people have served me throughout my life, including a few master bakers. If you ever find yourself in Hollow Shade, come find me. I can easily pull some strings and get you an apprenticeship with one of them.”

  “You’d do that? Why?” Louise paused.

Loh shrugged.

  “Because misery loves company?” Louise giggled.

“I was going to say because I love your ass,” Loh eyed her bottom pointedly.

  Louise stared at the drow’s lithe body. She took off her clothes and walked over to the bed, “I can’t promise I’ll be a good partner, but I’ll try if you’ll have me.”

  “Are you sure?”

“No? But, fuck it, tonight is the end of my old life. I’d rather end it with a bang.”

  Loh did not need another word. She grabbed Louise, spun her around and pushed her onto the bed.

“A little slower maybe?” Louise squeaked.

  “No can do,” she grinned.

Loh was too pent up to slow down. She spread Louise’s legs wide open and lowered her face in between, “Just relax.”