Cold, vicious green eyes stared back at her from underneath a mop of ratty black hair. “Names. Both of you,” the girl snarled at them. Dandy balanced on his tiptoes, hardly daring to move, as the sharp metal poked at his skin. “Now.”

Maine forced herself to step back and take a breath. “I’m Maine Maierson. That’s Dandy– Dandelion.” The girl’s eyes flashed to both of their faces, and Maine had the distinct impression she was memorizing their faces. “We’re here to see Tilly–”

“No.” The knife flashed towards the gap in the wall and then was back against Dandy’s neck in an instant. “Go back outside, forget you came here.”

Dandy made a squealing sound, pleading with his eyes to Maine, but she shook her head. “No. We’re not leaving until we see Tilly.”

Before she could blink, the girl was suddenly in front of her, the point of her knife prickling underneath Maine’s chin. Dandy dropped to the floor behind them, coughing and trembling.

“Last chance,” the girl warned her. All Maine could see of her face through her matted, greasy hair was a long, pointed nose and those cold, glittering eyes. “Leave her and don’t ever come back. Children don’t belong here.”

“Children!? You’re younger than I am, what are you– Ow!” she suddenly sucked in her breath as she felt a flash of pain at her throat.

“You’ve got a smart tongue,” the girl said matter of factly. She brought the knife back, letting Maine see the dot of blood on the tip. “You should really learn to watch it.”

This close, Maine could see that her knife wasn’t a proper blade, just a broken off piece of a metal strut. She held it by the bottom of the strut, her fingers poked through a hole in the metal, but the rest of it had been filed down to a razor sharpness. Suddenly, the metal was back at Maine’s throat, dancing from one side to the other, so close she could feel the breeze from its passage.

“Maierson,” the girl said softly. “Maierson... I always wanted to meet your Grandmother. She was impressive. Not you.”

Ifri started to growl from within Maine’s bag and the girl’s eyes grew even flatter. She bared her teeth, small, sharp little things, and hissed. Maine could feel the knife trembling against her throat.

She swallowed. She’s trying to intimidate me, she realized. It was working, but she wasn’t going to let her know that. Gran would never forgive her if she turned tail now. Forcing herself to move slowly, Maine tilted her head down, till she could look the girl in the eyes.

“Look, I didn’t come here to waste time with you! I’m here to see Old Lady Tilly. It’s on a matter of great importance, and I’m not leaving until I do it!” She felt the knife twitch against her neck, but she held the girl’s stare. Dandy gaped up from the floor, holding his breath. “Now are you going to take me to her, or not?”

For a moment, none of them moved. Then suddenly the knife was gone, shoved back into a belt at the girl’s waist. She pushed past Maine roughly, padding forwards through the darkness on bare feet. “Follow me.”

Maine almost collapsed, gasping for breath. Her fingers clutched at her neck and she looked down, seeing a small spot of blood on her hands. Rubbing at her neck gingerly, she looked over at Dandy. “You okay?”

He was still lying in shock on the floor. “Yeah,” he stammered. He started to climb to his feet, his legs looking as wobbly as her own. “Are you–”

“Are you coming or what?” the girl asked them irritably. She was waiting at the end of the row of barrels.

Maine nodded absently to Dandy and they started to follow. The girl led them through the stockroom unerringly, making so many turns here and there that soon both of them were completely lost. Just when Maine was starting to suspect she was deliberately leading them astray, the sound and light from the bar was right ahead.

Stepping through the door, both Maine and Dandy were temporarily overwhelmed; the sudden burst of music and laughter, as well as the lights and people crowding around them, caught them off guard. The bar was packed with patrons, drinking, talking (or shouting) at each other, not just on this level, but on the stairs and even above them on the upper floor. Goblin girls danced on a tiny stage to the music of a band of Halflings and Gnomes, while the patrons hung over the railings and cheered.

Maine saw the girl ahead of them through the crowd, heading for the bar. She started after her, but immediately had to jump aside as an Elf stumbled into her, blinking woozily.

“Excuse me! Sorry, trying to get through!” she had to keep jumping as people lurched by her, pushing and shoving. Suddenly, she took another step and a wide open space yawned in front of her, black and empty. She fell forwards, swinging her arms in the air.

“Watch out!” Dandy said, grabbing hold of her bag. Maine hung in the air, feet on the edge of the wooden planks, with nothing but open air and the ocean waves in front of her. He tugged her backwards and she stumbled into him.

“Thanks!” she said breathlessly. Dandy mumbled something, his cheeks red, but Maine was too busy looking at the hole in the floor to notice. It was huge, nearly twenty feet square across, too big to be anything but deliberate. Railings ran along three of the sides to keep the guests back, it had been Maine’s luck to find the only unblocked section. But why have such an open space in the first place? Surely it just cut down on the available floor space?

As she stared, something seemed to flash in the water for a moment, a burst of blue and green in the darkness. Dandy stirred uncomfortably as she edged closer, peering over the side, but all she could see were the waves lapping against the wooden piers.

A Goblin gave a low chortle from a nearby table. “Watch your step, girlie!,” he leered. “There’s plenty down there that’d love to gobble up a pretty morsel like you!”

Maine stuck her nose in the air as she stepped back from the edge. The Goblin continued to laugh, until the girl from before appeared behind Dandy’s shoulder, making him jump. “Stick close and try not to get lost,” she said flatly. She turned, but before she left, she gave the Goblin a withering look. “Something the matter?”

He wilted, shrinking down in his seat. “N-No Miss Pea, not a thing!”

She watched him sweat for a moment, then turned and headed across the bar, with Maine and Dandy scrambling to keep up. They noticed it was much easier to move through the crowd on the young girl’s heels, the patrons seemed to automatically make way for her, parting like the sea.

Maine looked at her curiously. “Is your name really Miss Pea?”

“It’s Sweet Pea.”

“Why is that?”

The girl turned quickly, hand flashing to her knife, and Maine jumped back, her fists raised. Ifri ducked down in her bag. Sweet Pea just stared at her though, head cocked to one side. “Because I think it’s a pretty name,” she said finally.

“Fair enough,” Dandy said, sweat trickling down his face. “It’s a good name.”

Maine realized she was holding her breath and let it out. “Yeah, really pretty.”

Sweet Pea started from one to the other, then she relaxed her hold on her knife and started to walk again. Both of them shared a long look at each other before they hurried after her.

She led them across the floor and past the wide bar at the other end, crowded with patrons of all sorts, leaning against the edge as they talked, laughed, and shouted orders. The few people behind the bar scrambled to keep up with all of them, while a chubby, round looking man, nearly as tall as Uncle Paicus, stood in front of a side door, smiling happily as he watched the bar. There was something open and almost glowing about his face, as if nothing could ruin his day; even when a fight broke out at a nearby table and two Elves started to roll on the floor, breaking bottles over each other heads, he did nothing but smile and nod to a pair of Trolls, who swiftly grabbed the two men and hustled them outside. The action continued in the rest of the bar without missing a beat, and the man rocked on his heels, whistling along to the music.

Sweet Pea stopped in front of him. “Got someone to see Donovan, move aside.”

The man shook his head, his chins waggling. “Sorry, no can do, little Pea.” Maine and Dandy took a step back automatically.

The girl’s mouth twitched and her hand went to her knife, but at least she didn’t start stabbing. “I told you, don’t call me that, Oskar,” she warned him, then looked at the door. “What’s he doing in there? Sleeping?”

“No, big important meeting,” he told her, smiling absently. “Not to be disturbed; said so himself. You and your friends will have to wait, I’m afraid.” He tipped an imaginary hat at both Maine and Dandy, then went back to watching the crowd.

Sweet Pea stamped one foot. “This is more important, you big tub of lard! Move it or–”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“--And I said you’re cut off, Vogul!” a loud voice cut through the noise of the crowd. The man held up a beefy hand sharply to Sweet Pea, looking towards the bar.

A slim, bare-shouldered Dryad, intricate carvings running up and down her arms, was leaning away from a muscular looking Half-Man at the counter. “Go home and sleep it off,” she said scornfully, her branches shaking above her head.

“Gimme another!” he yelled, bringing his fist down on the counter. The wood fractured and bar patrons started to scramble out of the way, the music fading in the background. Those at a safe distance craned their heads to see what was going on.

The Half-Man lurched up, his eyes red and full of anger. He had two stained tusks and a wide, flat nose that sprayed snot as he hit the bar again. He grabbed an empty glass and hurled it at the Dryad, missing her only by inches. She cried out and fell as the glass shattered against the wall, sending full bottles tumbling to the floor.

Sweet Pea’s hand flashed to her knife and the security Trolls against the wall started to move, when Oskar’s voice rang out. “Now why are you making such a fuss, Vogul? You know the rules: general rudeness won’t be tolerated and disrespect to the staff is cause for banning.” The chubby man waddled awkwardly over to the bar, adjusting his belt over his large, round gut, and shaking his head. Unconcerned about his own life and limb, he laid a gentle hand on the Half-Man’s shoulder. “You don’t want to go back to drinking at the Leaky Gutter, do you? You know how they water down their–”

The Half-Man’s fist lashed out and smashed against Oskar’s jaw, and there it stopped. The look of vicious joy on the pig-like man’s face faded, replaced by confusion and then growing pain as Oskar reached up and lightly took hold of his wrist.

“Now you’ve gone and done it,” he chided the man. He twisted his hand, and the Half-Man tumbled head over heels, landing so hard that the floor seemed to shake. He started to waddle towards the door, dragging the stunned man behind him as if he were no more heavy than a bag of laundry. “I was going to let you off with a week’s ban,” he continued to lecture him, “but now you’re looking at a full year. And I’ve always thought you were such a sweetie...”

Slowly, the music picked back up and the rest of the bar started to return to normal. Maine stared wide-eyed at the retreating Oskar, a grin breaking out across her face. “So cool…” She turned to Dandy irritably, “Why didn’t you tell me about this place before?”

Dandy gaped at her, unable to speak, but a man with a thick Irish brogue answered for him. “Because usually children aren’t allowed, Miss Maierson.”

An older man with salt-and-pepper hair and a scarred chin had appeared out of the back room, shutting the door behind him. Some people in the crowd cheered at him, and he waved a lazy hand, nodding in particular at the girl at the bar. “Why don’t you fix our guests something suitable, eh Holly dear? And a little something for me as well, a little less suitable, if you catch me drift?”

The Dryad nodded, wiping a space at the counter clear of liquid and broken glass. Maine ran up and hopped onto a stool, leaning over the bar excitedly. “Double-shot, hard,” she advised the woman, feeling like an outlaw out of her dime books.

Holly snorted. “Green Leaf’s the best you’re getting, sorry.” She brought out two short glasses and then a heavy bottle full of grainy, green liquid. Dandy climbed on a stool beside Maine as she poured for them.

Maine made a face, pushing her glass back. “Bleh! Green Leaf’s an old lady drink.”

“Couldn’t agree with ya more,” the man said, sitting on the other side of Maine. “I hope you’ve got another bottle under there for me?” he asked Holly, concern in his eyes.

“You’re as bad as they are, Donovan” Holly shook her head. She picked up Maine’s glass and drank it in one gulp, slamming it back down on the bar. “It’s nutritious and good for your digestion, what’s not to like?”

He put up his hands quickly, his face innocent but his eyebrows wagging mischievously. “On me honor, I’ve got all the greens in my diet any sane man could handle. Why would I go looking for anything more?” Holly gave him a lop-sided smile, then brought up a bottle of whiskey from under the counter. As she poured, Donovan sniffed the air, crooning softly. “You’re an angel, that you are.”

Maine looked between the two of them curiously, feeling like she was missing something in the conversation. The man looked completely Human, perhaps the only one in the entire bar, aside from herself, but from the way he gave orders, and the way everyone seemed to treat him, he almost seemed to be in charge. How did that happen, she wondered. Before she could think to ask, Donovan turned to her and smiled.

“So what brings the young Miss Maierson into our den of iniquity and sin?” he asked. “Run out of places to burn down in your own home? Or are you getting an early start on your rebellious years? If you are, I have to warn you, you’re going to have to wait a few years before you’d be allowed inside.”

She glanced back at Sweet Pea, who was standing behind them, watching the crowd. “She’s allowed inside,” she pointed out.

“Well she works here, and she’s very scary. Do you expect me to say no to her?”

Maine leaned forwards quickly. “I want to talk to Tilly. I have something to ask her.”

He took a drink, breathing out with pleasure at the taste. “Ya don’t say.”

She waited, but all he did was continue to drink. “Well? Can I see her or not?”

He put down his glass. “The Lady,” he told her, stressing her name, “only sees who she wants to see, and she talks to even less. You’ve got something to ask her, you go through me. Understand?”

“You?”

“Yes, consider me in charge while she’s away.”

“But it’s important!”

“You know, you’d be amazed how different people’s definitions of ‘important' can be,” he said, unconcerned. He finished his glass and tapped the bar, throwing a wink to Holly. “Same again, love. Now, if there’s nothing else we have to discuss…” he told Maine, his voice trailing off.

“Wait!” she said desperately. She hesitated, biting her lip, then decided to risk it. She motioned him to lean close, and lowered her voice. “I need to find the Firstborn. They stole–”

He held up his hand. “I know they stole from you, Ms Maierson. By now, all of Old Coney knows they stole from you. My question is, why should the Lady do anything about it?”

Maine stopped, confused. “Well… But my family… After everything my Grandmother did, shouldn’t you owe us–”

He smacked the bar with his palm, laughing aloud. “Don’t be so sure we owe your Grandmother anything,” he told her. “Oh, they were never enemies, but the Lady and she never did quite see eye to eye. The best they did was stay out of each other's way, if you catch my drift.” He took his refilled glass from Holly and sipped, smiling again. “You’d have to give her a very good reason to change that now…”

“Well, I…” She couldn’t think of anything. What could she say? What could she promise him? As her mind raced, Oskar reappeared, waddling out of the crowd.

“Donovan! There you are,” he waved. As he made his way over to them, he winced, putting his hands to his lower back and shaking his head. “Oh, it never gets easier, does it?” he moaned, adjusting his belt once more.

Maine blinked, looking again at his gut and his heavy waddle, and then since her brain was already working overtime, a thought popped into her head and out her mouth before she fully finished thinking it.

“Are you pregnant?” she asked the bouncer.

Donovan coughed, choking on his whiskey as Oskar’s ears started to turn a bright shade of red. He spit out the rest of his drink and turned on the larger man.

“Oh you great Suet pudding! How long has this been going on?”

“A couple months now,” Oskar admitted, smiling rather bashfully. “Benjamin’s hoping for a boy, but I’d be happy–”

“I don’t want to hear it!” Donovan said, throwing up his hands in disgust. He looked at Holly suspiciously. “Did you know about this?”

“Of course,” she shrugged.

Sweet Pea hopped up on the bar beside her, sitting cross-legged. “What did you think was happening when he got so big?”

“I thought he was getting fat!” he exploded. “Where I come from, men grow big bellies all the time cause they love their beer, not cause they’ve got a bun in the oven!”

“Well, I’m not a man,” Oskar said helpfully, “I’m a Jotun.”

“Oh don’t remind me, you big rain barrel,” Donovan snapped. He started to swear under his breath in Gaelic.

Oskar’s face fell as he cradled his stomach and Holly looked at Donovan reproachfully. “You handled this a lot better last time,” she reminded him.

“Cause I thought you were all putin’ me on!” He shook his head then, and gave a great sigh. “Oskar, love, congratulations,” he told him. “Now please, for the love of all that’s holy, get behind the bar. I don’t want you working security while you’re…” he trailed off, struggling for words.

“Knocked up?” Sweet Pea offered.

“In a delicate condition,” Holly supplied.

“That one,” he nodded. “Please,” he gestured to the bar.

Oskar nodded gratefully, almost in tears. “Oh, Donovan! On behalf of Benjamin and myself, thank you!” He waddled quickly over and joined Holly, grunting slightly as he squeezed his bulk behind the bar. The wood groaned and a few bottles fell as his backside brushed against them, but he didn’t seem to notice, proudly grabbing a damp rag and starting to polish an empty glass.

Donovan covered his eyes and muttered again. “Anything further, Miss Maierson?” he asked tiredly, making Maine jump.

She opened and closed her mouth, but she still couldn’t think of anything. He nodded to himself and turned to Sweet Pea.

“Please see Miss Maierson and her friend to the door,” he told her. The girl nodded, a cold little smile on her face. “Oh, and make sure someone sees them safely home,” he added. “It’s a bit late for children to be running around unescorted.”

“Wait!” Maine said, starting to panic. “I– I could, ah… Maybe…” but he was already turning to the back office door. Sweet Pea jumped down off the bar, starting towards her.

“Boss!” The tense yell seemed to cut over the background chatter of the bar and heads turned. A goblin was scurrying towards them, his face shiny with sweat. Donovan leaned down towards him and listened, frowning, as he whispered in his ear.

“Well, isn’t that interesting,” he said, his eyes lighting up. “We’re awash with unexpected guests tonight.” He nodded to Holly and the others. “Battle stations,” he told them.

The security Trolls against the walls straightened, suddenly looking alert, and on stage, the music cut off mid-note, the band packing up their instruments with astonishing speed. The crowd stirred uneasily, looking around, and Donovan held up his hands.

“Please remain calm everyone! Just go about your evening, nothing to worry about here.” He grabbed hold of Maine and Dandy, dragging them off their stools.

“Hey! What’s going on?” she asked, struggling to see, as he dragged the both of them to the office door.

Instead of answering, he kicked open the door. It was a tiny little office, barely room enough for a shabby desk and a pair of chairs, one of which was occupied.

He shoved them through the door. “Just stay inside and be quiet!”

“Hey!” Maine shouted, stumbling into the room, but he’d already slammed the door shut behind them. She banged on the door in frustration. “You can’t keep us in here! Let us out!”

Dandy meanwhile, grabbed her hand. “Maine! Look!”

“What?” She turned, then stared as someone rose out of the chair. “Matthew?!”