Closed Snake's Path on the Rock (Stefan Teagan)

[Chandray]

Continues from Coil's Club Complications. Timestamp: Day 6 of Spring 514 AV , in the small hours of night, the very beginning of a new day Location : The steep streets and stairs of Riverfalls middle tier Chandray and Stefan had finally made their way out from Coil's Club and looked around for the thief they were following, the dhani dancer who had suddenly snatched Chandray's six gold mizas. The warmer weather and heavy rain the previous day had made the ice and snow melt and it had seemed like spring was finally on it’s way. But it was night now and they came out from Coil’s into the raw, damp, cold air of the night. Chandray stopped for a tick to gaze up and down the steep street. There was a stair leading upwards, not far from where they stood outside the entrance and many people were on their way up, but she didn’t spot the dancer. She looked the other way. It was night but not completely dark, as there were lanterns here and there, not too many, but enough to guide a nightly wanderer reasonably well, if you didn’t mind passages of darkness between the fait spheres of light. She saw nothing … nobody. So instead she looked at Stefan and noticed that he was one of the people who had trusted spring to come quickly and be warm : the bard wasn’t wearing a cloak, just his shirt and pants. “She was fast and she’s gone. I’m going to search the streets downwards though. Just in case.” she said to him. “But she seems gone and it’s cold. And you have no cloak. I’ll likely just waste my time Stefan, so I’ll go alone, you’d better go home so you don’t catch a cold and… what… ” Chandray had already started to turn while she spoke. She left the sentence uncompleted and started running, because now she had happened to see the dancing thief. The snake-girl had obviously been hiding in a patch of darkness between Coil’s and next lantern, and when Chandray looked at Stefan the dhani had taken the opportunity to run through the circle on lantern light, towards the stair downwards, at the end of the street. One hand on the rapier hilt, Chandray ran as fast as she could. The cloak billowed out behind her like a dark wave of cloth in the night’s darkness and she didn’t care that the sound of her winter boots against the pavement was hearable to her prey. She just ran, down the slightly sloping street, at a pace she wouldn’t be able to keep up for a longer time, but hopefully she would catch up before she had to slow down. The dhani had stopped for a few ticks in the middle of the circle of light from the lantern, likely going down the stairs now. Somebody else would perhaps have give up now and thought it wasn’t worth the while to chase somebody when the chance at success seemed so small. But Chandray was optimist and her first thought was always that she might succeed at things, so just tried to run faster. The sound of her own breath, labored now, filled her ears, but she could hear the sound of steps too, her own and … she realized Stefan Teagan hadn’t left, he was still there too, running together with her after the thief.

[Stefan]

The Dhani thief was nowhere to be seen, even though Chandray and Stefan did their best to hurry. But in the end, it all seemed in vain. The only ones out there, except for them, were the patrons that went home for the evening.

This was simply awful; his dear friend, mentor, fellow musician, and especially someone he was interested in was robbed, and not only that, but robbed in the most ridiculous way possible; it was the work of someone that never picked a pocket in his life, and that honestly made Stefan angry. And on top of that, it started raining; clearly, everything was getting better and better.

Stefan immediately cursed his lack of foresight when he stepped out; he hadn’t brought his cloak, even though the night was chilly and it was raining. He didn’t mind the rain, but he couldn’t stand the cold... he honestly hoped that the spring would have come quickly and be warmer. Still, when he was about to tell Chandray that he didn’t mind the rain or the cold at all, she started to run again towards a stair that went downwards.

On the dark, barely illuminated by the lanterns near the Coils Club, there was the Dhani dancer, running away and being followed by Chandray. The snake-woman was particularly good at hiding, he had to recognize that... but nonetheless, she was discovered first by his fellow musician, but there was no valid reason in the world for Stefan to let her have all the fun. He ran along with her, rain splashing into his face and the cold wind in his hair, ready to take the thief that tried to flee downwards, towards the first tier of the city.

The steps of the stair were slippery, but that didn’t stop them both for chasing the agile dancer. But oddly, both Stefan and Chandray noticed something: the thief was slowing down for no apparent reason, some steps away from the next tier... was it the cold? The rain? But even though Stefan didn’t know enough about Dhanis to know what exactly was going on, he took the chance. He pushed Chandray slightly to the side, and took a leap from the step he was in, aiming towards the Dhani. A reckless move, yes, but it was the only chance that Stefan could see.

He pounded her as she was trying to get down the stairs, and send both of them rolling down against the wet steps and towards the floor. Stefan was lucky to have landed on top of her, so the damaged was not as severe... but petch did it hurt. He separated himself from the dancer and winced in pain, but took soon to notice his position. He stood up of as quickly as he could –a somewhat hard task considering the state of the floor –and drew his rapier, pointing towards her. He knew that he couldn’t do much about it, as he was still a beginner... but he just needed to buy time for Chandray to come. Still, he took the chance to give the Dhani a piece of his mind, that even though it was purely a distraction, he actually and honestly meant it.

“Alright lass, listen up: you screwed up, and badly, up there, and the fact that we caught you is proof of that. You want to know why? You technique was sloppy; really petching sloppy. It was a petching easy job, for Yshul’s sake! Just wait for us to walk out, talk a little, and when were distracted, pick our pockets. Not only could you have gained double of the coin, but we wouldn’t have noticed until it was too late; but no, you just grabbed it like a freaking apple on a fruit stand. Honestly, I'm disappointed, though you know how to hide, I’ll give you that. Now, hand me the money right now and we’ll part away and pretend than this never happened, or things will become messy, got it?” He said in almost one breath, with the point of his rapier still pointing at the dancer, who had a baffled expression on her face.

[Chandray]

Chandray was relieved to see the thief had been caught at once, quickly and efficiently. For a moment she had imagined a long chase down the streets, with a cunning dhani tricking them over and over again. But Stefan really was a surprise … She had thought he was a velvet eyed troubadour with no particular fighting skills. She ought to know, she was his one-time fencing trainer after all. He’d been an absolute beginner when they had been in the training location. But now he had his new rapier and she supposed this meant he had done lots of training afterwards, on his own or with somebody else. Wonderful! “Good Stefan” she yelled. “Keep her there! At swordpoint!” Sadly, the happiness over the quick victory and the fact that she was listening to Stefan’s words made her lose focus. The stairs were very slippery, the pavement was slippery too, and Chandray didn’t pay attention to where she put her feet. She was just very eager to arrive to the final showdown and get her money back, now ! So she rushed on, and fueled by the triumph she felt she even managed to increase her speed. Disastrous … It took her only a tick to thread on a wet spot on a smoot pavement stone and be sent flying toward her fellow musician and fencer. Unable to stop with the momentum she had, she continued forward. The fact that they were on the sloping streets of the cliff enhanced her quick way downwards and she slammed into Stefan’s back, so hard that the unprepared man lost his balance and they fell in a heap with Stefan crawling on the ground and Chandray crawling groggily on top of him. Sometimes you just need to make one misstep and miss a single tick …and the prey is gone ! Chandray and Stefan got to their feet pretty fast, but the agile dhani was obviously able to move with lightning’s speed. She had disappeared into the darkness ahead. It was a very long distance to the next lantern this time, and the lack of light made the steep street seem to continue down into a black tunnel. Far down, at the end of it was next lantern, just a faint light, dim, the sight of it blurred by the rain. Chandray was about to rush forth, but something made her hesitate…she didn’t know what. But something was weird. She just couldn’t say what. But weird it was. She put her hand on Stefan’s arm and attempted to make him stop too, though she wasn’t sure if he would. “Wait Stefan, something is amiss …” She had let go of him again at once and turned to the darkness ahead. But instead of gazing into it with her eyes, she shut them. It was time for something she seldom used : auristics. She would use it now, because of this odd feeling she had, she would try to discern … she didn’t know what she would try to discern really, auristics wasn’t instant and she would need to focus first, and try to catch the impressions … of something. Chandray stood with her rapier in her right hand and her eyes shut. She focused and listened. The cold rain made it hard to focus though, She focused harder, put her whole attention on trying to catch impressions , and felt something there, only vaguely … ...gold… stillness…something that was maybe the aura of a cold and lethal presence… and then, while she still was focusing on auristics, she realized that what really had made her react was something totally else: no sound of running feet against the pavement could be heard. Like there was nobody running. Or like there were no feet … no feet ... “Stefan!” she whispered with sudden urgency in her voice. “I think …” She realized she wasn’t even sure if he was there or if he had continued past her. She had focused so hard on the search that she had blocked out everything else, Stefan Teagan too. Tearing herself out of the auristic focus with a jolt she opened her eyes again …

[Stefan]

The shout of Chandray distracted Stefan, especially when she tripped on the slippery floor of the first tier, and landed on top of him. At this point, the baffled Dhani wan away, hiding into the shadows, with the rain gaining strength; that only made it more difficult for them to see her, and where she was.

“Chandray, my dear... no offense, but if you wanted to get on top of me, you could have just asked...” he said sarcastically, as he got up with his fellow musician, just to notice that the thief was nowhere to be seen.

He was about to tell her something, to continue, but then she seemed to simply stop... she seemed to be like a trance. It was really concerning... did the hit affect Chandray? That simply couldn’t be...

“Lass, are you alright?” he shook her in the shoulder, with his rapier still in his hand. Still not response. The rain poured down her silky, hazelnut hair; straightening it, as she closed her bright, grey eyes... this was no good. Stefan didn’t know how to react, so he just did whatever came first to his mind. “Wait here, Chandray... I’ll grab her...” and with a quick kiss to the corner of her mouth, he stormed towards the darkness, where the dancer was seen last.

Even though it was dark, except for a few lanterns that fought the hardest to illuminate the heavy rain, Stefan could see it: the Dhani showing her true colours. It was an unusual show, to say at least, to see the woman’s legs fuse together to become a tail, and her skull change so drastically in the lapse of a few seconds, in which Stefan watched baffled. He had heard before of these type of transformations, but didn’t had the chance to see one in person... still, he couldn’t help but find the snake-woman oddly attractive.

Still, the young bard knew that he must not show surprise... that would have ruined everything again. He pointed his rapier at her again, again using it to keep distance; who knew what other trick under her sleeve would this woman have? He wasn’t going to risk it. “Nice trick, lass, very impressive, but now the game’s over: you have nowhere to run, so give me the money and...” he couldn’t finish the phrase; someone surprised him grabbing him from behind, like a unpleasant hug. And it was growing stronger, a lot stronger.

At first, the hug of the constrictor just took the breath out of Stefan, but it took mere seconds for him to start chocking him. Stefan couldn’t breathe at all, and the pressure in his limbs... he could almost feel his bones break. “Oh... petch... no!” with a loud scream, he leaped backwards along with the strong Dhani that he didn’t even had the opportunity to see coming. The hard stone wall hit his back, making him loose his clutch. Stefan squirmed away from his attacker, and took a deep, cold, relieving breath.

Now, Stefan liked Chandray’s fight style. Her lightning-quick movement, her elegant yet deadly posse, like a professional, born to fight with a rapier for honour and glory; he could almost picture her, clad in studded leather armour, fighting countless enemies on her own and winning without a scratch, always with a smile on her face, though it was just his imagination.

Stefan, on the other hand, liked to play dirty. He was a scoundrel, after all.

The first thing he did was lounge with his arm, rapier punting over the head of the constrictor Dhani; the tip of the rapier hit a lantern, which fell down on top of the wrestler’s head. It gave enough seconds to jump back, get into the right position in question of seconds, and lounge towards the snake-man, piercing his shoulder. “Damn, I aimed for the throat!” he said in frustration as he pulled cleanly the sword.

A slithering sound behind him warned him this time, and he managed to duck a leap from other Dhani, that landed just alongside him. Taking advantage of the position, he hit the fighter’s lower back with his shoulder as hard as he could. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make the snake wince in pain. After that, it just took a hit to the Dhani’s head with the rapier handle to stunt it.

That’s the only thing he liked about fighting: it was exciting. It made his blood pump, his heart beat like a drum... but that sentiment was soon gone. Stefan’s excited smile faded quickly as he realized that there were not only two Dhanis. There were more, coming from behind the rain and the darkness. Stefan tried to count them as he pointed his rapier at them to make distance, but the rain made it difficult.

“Chandray...” he said, nervous “A little help here, if you please?”

[Chandray]

Stefan was gone … and then she heard him call out for help. With a sinking feeling she peered into the darkness and saw nothing, but heard Stefan’s voice again, calling out in a louder and more desperate way now. And then … he actually screamed … and his voice seemed to start to fade away. Extreme pictures passed by in her imaginations. There was no other way than forward. She had drawn the poetic dreamer and velvet eyed bard into this crap, her rapier apprentice who wasn’t too skilled with a sword yet … she thought of Stefan, the music they had shared, and how his eyes had been gleaming and glittering with happiness when he showed her the new rapier he’d bought at Arma’Drex. It was out of question to leave him to his fate. Chandray wasn’t one to play dirty and leave a friend in distress to cope as best he could … or couldn’t. Good people helping each other was what made the world go round, it created all their days and made their lives be something more than just a temporary meaningless wait for death. In this lay the hope for the world. Without it there was nothing, nothing… Laviku help me, she thought, but I’m going after him. With the rapier at ready in her right hand , she stepped into the darkness ahead. There was nothing, and she realized whatever was in the long tunnel of darkness the street was looking like, was already moving downhill, towards the lowest tier. She could still hear Stefan’s voice, hollering or maybe even ranting, but it sounded like the sound was moving away from her. Laviku, what was happening to the bard! Chandray dropped all cautiousness and started running as fast as she could. It was of course stupid of her to rush on like that, but it wasn’t like she was a military strategist, she was only a reasonably experienced woman from the Suvan Sea region, with a rapier and a belief. She had put her life and her success in the sea god’s hands and now the only thing she could do was trust the god to help her, while she did the right thing. Do the right thing. Nothing else matters. This earned her a coil around her wrist and a head over heals fall. She managed to catch herself with her hands, though she hurt them on the stones of the pavement, and she dropped the rapier in the process. There was no sound though, like the weapon hadn’t hit the street. Chandray drew her breath and tried to think. But she was stunned, and before she knew it she was scooped up by a being bigger than her, and on her way down the street, in a surrealistically gliding and slithering way, that told her all she needed to know. Or didn’t need to know, to be honest. She was turned towards the circle of light down there at the end of the street and could see when two dhanis in half-human form entered it and stopped there, like waiting, one of them with a flailing, kicking, shouting smaller being in its grip. Stefan ! The dhani had captured him ! And … yes, she seemed to have been captured too. Chandray and the dhani who had her in it’s grip arrived in the dim circle of light and joined the group. The dhani dancer - who wasn’t looking like the dancer anymore, though it was her, no mistake - seemed to be in charge here. Chandray realized this when she spoke. “I am Rississarajor, from Kenash. Answer my questions, fiddler, or else my friend here will have your little mandolin player for dinner. Now, tell me. I saw the design of the hilt of your weapon and arranged this trap, and I have been waiting all the evening to spring it. I have seen the rapier, so don't try to deny anything! Why are you carrying my brother's sword ? Where is he hiding ?” Chandray’s rapier was tossed through the air by the dhani that held her, and Rississarajor caught it. Looking at Stefan, Chandray realized the dhani who was coiled around him was in full snake form, huge and monstrous. And now it was opening it’s mouth slowly. “I bought the rapier in winter” she said. “At Arma’Drex. They said it had been crafted for a man who never turned up again. They had waited for a long time, but finally they sold it. “ Laviku! This answer didn’t seem to be sufficient and Rississarajor seemed displeased. Or maybe just indifferent. Chandray suddenly realized they would both end up as dhani fodder if they didn’t have anything more to offer than just this. That cruel, hungry, monstrous snake was about to start eating Stefan ! Negotiate, for Laviku, now or never ! Or else they had both played their last tune ! “Stop !” Chandray yelled desperately. “If he eats my friend, I swear I will take everything I know with me in death and you will never get your answers ! I will keep all my secrets about your brother and you will never get to know!”

[Stefan]

It wasn’t really hard for the Dhanis to overpower Stefan, and it actually only took one of them, a constrictor, to make him lose his balance and drop his rapier. And then, there was that deadly embrace again, but this time he couldn’t move at all.

“Chandray...” he called weakly, as the enormous snake that dwarfed him constricted his limbs “Chandray, please, help me!” now his voice sounded more desperate, as he started to breath rapidly, trying to take as much air as he could, without knowing than that actually made the constrictor press harder and harder. In the end, all he could do was scream incoherently, as he started to kick, flail and shout insults at the big snake. If he was going to go, he was going to do it cursing his cause of death with his last breath, as he could do little more.

But he stopped when Stefan felt his bones getting pressed under the embrace. At this rate, his ribs would break, but the snake seemed to give up when he was about to pass out, and actually gave him room to breathe.

It was only a show, though: the constrictor let him breath, just to show Chandray the way he opened his mouth to eat him. Wait, Chandray was there? Even though Stefan could barely think straight, he was still surprised... she actually came to help him, not with much success as he could see, but she came nonetheless. But now... it seemed that someone cared for him? Now that was something strange.

He just wanted to say to Chandray to save herself, that it was not worth it, but in reality, all he wanted to do was survive. He didn’t want to go that way, eaten by something. But in the end, it was no use, because he couldn’t speak clearly, and could barely see –though he could see the snake’s mouth getting bigger and bigger –but he could hear.

He could hear an exchange of words, something about Kenash, the brother of the dancer, Chandray’s sword. And in that exchange, he could hear something... Chandray, his fellow musician and teacher, someone he thought was a woman of honour, knew something about the owner of the sword? Not only that, because as far as he understood, she lied about where she got the sword... or was she lying about knowing to save his arse? He couldn’t know, and honestly, he didn’t care.

He just forced a small smile on his lips, because Chandray was such a good liar, and that was something he didn’t expect.

[Chandray]

Rississarajor made a sign to the dhani who held Stefan and it put him down and let go of him, then went back to half human form again. It was a smooth process, but it was surreal to watch it. How could a living being shift shape like this? “As you wish, we have released him” the dhani Rississarajor said. She spoke in a low, calm voice. “So tell me now where my brother is … if you don’t want me to change my mind.” Chandray had no idea whatsoever what the dhani was speaking about. But the only option was to negotiate as well as she could, despite how bleak this looked. She had never tried this before, but she had heard that it could be smart in negotiations to ask for even more. When you had managed to get your wish one time … wish for more! So she negotiated for more : “Give him his sword back too ! I’m not saying a word before you give the rapier back !” Rississarajor had both the rapiers. She tossed Stefan’s on the ground in front of him. “We aren’t scared of your small weapons, little one” she said to Chadray. “And now. Are you going to answer or do we need to SQUEEZE the information out of you ?” She said squeeze like it was an order, and apparently it was, as the dhani who was holding Chandray coiled around her and started squeezing. It didn’t squeeze so much, just a bit, just enough to warn her… Chandray looked desperately at a half-open tavern door nearby. The Rat’s Hole. What kind of name was that ? She had never been there. And the windows were dark, like the place was closed, though the door was not. It was just a little bit down the street - and could see that the street in front of the tavern was flooded, and it looked like the water had entered the tavern. Perhaps that was why it seemed to be empty. “Go into the tavern over there and close the door Stefan” she said to the bard. She looked at him. The bared looked just like anybody would look after the treatment he had been given. “Close it and lock it, if there's a lock.” She didn’t know if he would do it, this was his own decision. But she had tried to show him an escape route. The dhani who held her squeezed again and this time it was harder. It was definitely time to say something … the dhani had asked where her brother was hiding, so Chandray said a few very vague things and asked a question: “He didn’t tell me he was hiding” she said. “He didn’t seem to be hiding … when I asked where I could find him he just told me … ‘don’t contact me, I’ll contact you’. So I’m waiting, that’s all I can do, it’s not like he told me anything. He didn’t say anything about you either. Why are you looking for him?” “None of your business. So. You seem to be useless for us …” “No…I mean, he will contact me, right, because he sent me for the sword … sooner or later he’ll come for it and then I can tell him you are here and want to find him.” The situation was desperate. Chandray didn’t want to be useless. Useless seemed to mean the same as dhani fodder. “I promise”. “You will not tell him anything! “ Rississarajor interrupted Chandray’s flood of words. “But I see. I see. He will come back to you. And when he does, when he contacts you … then you will come to Coils and speak with me. And you will not tell him I’m here. “ She made a paused before she continued: “Promise to serve me! If you promise to serve you will be released. But if you try to cheat me you are dead. And not a word to the authorities … not a word ! “ The only option seemed to be to promise to serve Rississarajor. Chandray promised. She had no idea what it all was about, but she promised all the same. She had no idea who the dhani's brother was, or if she would ever meet him. To be honest she wasn't keen on meeting him...she already had too many dhani's in her life.

[Stefan]

Stefan fell to the flooded floor, gasping for air, when the Dhani let him loose. He coughed loudly, trying to see if any ribs were broken, and thankfully it seemed that none of them were. But now, he was thinking about how he owned Chandray a hug, a kiss, a romantic dinner, a wild night and all the bottle of the city of Riverfall; she saved him from being eaten by a giant snake, and that did mean something.

“You don’t have to tell me that twice...” he said as he grabbed the rapier and quickly fled towards the door of the Rat’s Hole, though he didn’t lock the door. He had his rapier in hand, and was watching and listening at everything. He was not going to let everything go just like that; he was going to wait for the perfect moment to attack and kill all those scaled bastards.

But again, he was hearing everything. Apparently, Chandray lied to him about the origin of the rapier... or perhaps she was lying to the Dhani? He knew very well than that to save one’s skin, the wise thing to do is say any bullshyke to buy time. And Chandray seemed to do it quite well; Rississarajor was paying attention to her. But he didn’t forgot something, even though it was something unimportant right now; Chandray’s money.

Stefan sheathed his rapier and breathed deeply, crouching slightly in the shadows. The Dhanis were distracted by his fellow musician’s speech, as they were discussing some sort of arrangement... it was the perfect moment to strike, but sadly, Stefan couldn’t... he didn’t had the proper weapon, like a dagger, to slit Rississarajor throat, and even if he had, the other Dhanis would react... he would have to set for just taking her money back.

Walking slowly and silently, hiding himself in the shadows and the rain, Stefan reached from behind the dancer's purse, which was still in a belt with her clothes, which were on the floor behind her. She was completely distracted, and even the one holding Chandray was. It took a quick movement of his hand to untie the purse and then back away, again in the shadows. He lost the fight, but at least got the reward nonetheless.

As he listened to the conversation, it seemed that the both of them reached an “agreement”, so to speak... he sincerely hoped that Chandray would simply say yes to her to save her skin, and then stab them in the back when they weren’t lucky. That was the only reasonable thing to do, after all.

[Chandray]

They had a deal … and now Rississarajor was looking around nervously, like she was scared of something. She made a sign and the two dhani thugs promptly shifted to human form, as did Rississarajor herself. Chandray was released in the process and got her rapier back. Staring at the three scandalously undressed people she sheated it silently. Had this crap really happened or was she dreaming? She would have been relieved if it had been a dream, but alas, she knew it wasn’t. The dhanis were already sneaking away up the street. Chandray rushed over to Stefan at The Rats Hole. The area was flooded and cold water seeped into her boots. When she saw his facial expression, the little she saw of it in the dim light from a lantern right outside the door, she took it he too must have seen the end of the dhani encounter. ”I wonder how they are going to make it back to Coils without clothes” she said in order to try to feel normal and stop feeling like she was in a bad dream. “The lives of the shapeshifters seems more complicated than I had believed. I wonder where their clothes are. Do you think they undressed in the dark and then shifted ? Or do you think they just shifted and their clothes were destroyed?” So who did she think she was fooling, discussing shapeshifter culture and trying to seem composed. She was certainly not fooling heself. Actually, she sounded a bit hysterical. So she shut her mouth again instead of saying the next things about undressed dhani that had come to her shaken mind. Some things were better not said. It had been a quick and explosive meeting but it felt like it had been going on for ages. Feeling totally spent she went into the empty tavern, leaned against a wall and shut her eyes. It was dark in there but she didn’t care. As long as they weren’t out on the street and about to be eaten by dhanis she was alright with everything. She loved this tavern, despite the water on its floor and it’s darkness. Laviku! How could things like this have happened in a calm and said-to-be safe city like Riverfall? “Stefan. Let’s stay in here for a while. I … need to calm down. Are you alright? Stefan?” She was breathing fast and her heart was beating hard. All she could think of was that mad promise she had made. Serve the dhani ! Report to Coils ! All she had wanted was to settle in Riverfall and start at some serious studies of archaeology, history, culture and other things like that. She had certainly been planning calm and nice things. Only. But instead she had been drawn into this sheer madness, just because she had wanted a decent rapier. “Stefan?” She tried to calm her breath and looked for him in the darkness. “Are you there?”

[Stefan]

Chandray was answered by a hearty kiss on her lips from Stefan, who was hiding in the shadows. As he broke the kiss, he left out a slight chuckle; looking at her in the aye “Scared ya, didn’t I?” he said as he left the bag of mizas Chandray’s palm “Here you go. While you were bullshyking these Dhanis, I managed to get your coin back... sad, don’t you think? My life’s worth six miserable mizas...” he said feigning melancholy, but then laughing again, as if the past event didn’t had happen at all.

Truth be told, he was terrified for a moment, but was also quite glad to get his vengeance on these damns snakes. The fact that he could see them naked was a plus.

Stefan examined the place... it was extremely dark, and flooded, without a soul to be seen. There were also some tables; completely empty, except for some stains of dry blood on them. It was nothing like the Rat’s Hole he visited before to have some cheap drinks “Well, this is depressing... but anyway, I have to congratulate you, my dear. That was brilliant! Now what’s-her-name truly believes that you work for her. It’s only a matter of waiting for her to turn her back, and then you can slit her throat like nothing had happen. It will not be too hard; you know where she and her gang works.”

The young bard said the plot like it was nothing, without batting an eye. It was easy for him; if a deal was bad then the answer was to turn it down, but if diplomatic means didn’t work, well, that’s the reason one should always carry a dagger on their boot.

However, without taking his eyes out of Chandray, he started to walk around the tavern, though he stopped right at a table at one side. She could observe as he took a dagger from that was stick on the table, on top of a puddle of dry blood, and then examined it thoroughly “Somewhat blunt at the edges, but one can do serious harm with it... by the way, Chandray, I have to say that I’m somewhat disappointed. I really liked the story about who you got that nice rapier... is that story more interesting than you told me?” as if to make emphasis, he struck the dagger against the wood of the table “I thrust you, Chandray, and I know that you know it. But it’s hard to know if you were lying to me or to that dancer, and honestly, that’s the last of my concerns. My biggest concern, though, is that you weren’t to do the wisest thing and kill that bastard when the opportunity presents itself. She didn’t kill me because you told her, but what if she doesn’t care anymore? We’re both in danger if she suddenly has a change of heart, and you know it.”

The tone of Stefan was almost threatening, and the fact that he was speaking with a dim light didn’t help. He hated to do that to his friends, but... he couldn’t risk it. He needed to know if he could thrust Chandray on this one. If he couldn’t... it would be unpleasant for both of them.