Chapter 43: The Inn of the Crow
First there were stars, then clouds, and finally the rains poured from the vanishing heavens upon the little guild. Raindrops the size of coins fell upon the gravestones and made puddles on the road. With no immediate shelter the guild did the best they could and suffered the weather. Chase kept his eyes focused on the dark path before him and swore he would not allow whatever spell had lulled him to be tricked again.
“Chase!” Brent had to shout from the back in order to be heard over the falling rain. “Do you see that?”
“See what?” Chase refused to turn around and Brent had to lean close to be heard.
“That!” Brent’s arm extended past Chase as he pointed into the murky distance. “It’s a light!”
Sure enough up ahead was a small smudge of light. Chase shielded the rain from his eyes and squinted intently at the little glow. He could not tell what it was.
“We will be there soon,” called back Chase to the guild. He did turn around now and saw them all huddled together in misery. “Be prepared for anything. This may be a trap of some kind.”
The rain fell harder the closer the wagon traveled to the light. Soon the light grew and Chase could make out the shadowy outline of a building set against the storm. Soon another light appeared and then vanished with the tell tale rhythm of a door being opened and shut. A figure was walking towards them, holding his arms above his head against the rain.
“Welcome!” said the man as Chase brought Moonshine to a halt. “This is the Inn of The Crow. I can take your horse and wagon to the stable.”
“Who are you?” Shouted Chase. The rain seemed dead intent on bludgeoning his ears with noise. “Is this some kind of event?”
“All your questions will be answered inside the Inn of the Crow.” The man pointed back where he had come at the door. Chase could make out shapes moving behind the window.
“And what if we don’t?”
“Then you’ll never make it out of this place,” said the man. He crossed his arms and sounded impatient. “Well? There’s food and fire within. Why don’t you join us, Chase?”
“How do you know my name?”
“We’ve been waiting for you,” said the man, shrugging in the rain. “Shall I take your horse and wagon?”
Seeing no way but to comply, Chase signaled for the guild to dismount. He placed the reigns of Moonshine and the wagon into the waiting hand of the man. With just a nod the man pointed once more at the door of the inn and then began leading Moonshine to the stables.
“What’s the plan?” Shouted Brent once the man was gone.
“Come on,” said Chase. “Let’s get this over with. If this were an overly dangerous event we would know by now. Let’s just do what we need to and then leave.”
Despite the noise of the rain the closer Chase got to the door of the inn the more voices he could hear from within. With a small prayer, he opened the door and stepped across the threshold where the light and the noise passed over him like a warm blanket and the sounds of the rain became a distant rumbling far away. Chase held the door open while his guild filed inside.
It was a lively scene, and one which caused him not a little bit of unease. There were close to a dozen people sitting around drinking and chatting, but only two by his count were of the human variety. A pig with leather skins and a sword strapped to his back was sitting at the bar like a human, pensively sipping from a tankard of ale. A pair of capybaras sat in the corner of the inn at a small wooden table. One had an eyepatch and the other sported a farmers hat. Like the pig they were dressed as a human and were sharing a bottle of spirits between them. The largest group was a pack of monkeys of various shapes and sizes who occupied a pair of tables that had been pushed together in the center of the inn. They were howling and chuckling as one of their own, a large orange orangutan, juggled half a dozen empty tankards.
“What the—,” muttered Chase.
“Chase,” said Thomas, tugging on his sleeve. “Why are all the animals talking like humans?”
“I have no idea,” said Chase. “We should just find a table and—.”
“Look at that one!” Said Thomas, pointing at a table shoved into the corner of the inn. A large owl with grey feathers was sitting alone. A small drink sat before it and it was staring at them with an unblinking stare. Occasionally it would dip its beak into the drink and then immediately return its gaze to the guild.
“YOU’RE A FOOL, OLD MAN!”
The inn became quiet, and all heads turned nervously to the great hearth and its roaring fire. A pair of leather seats were turned to face one another where two humans had been in quiet conversation. A women dressed in black was now standing up and pointing threateningly at an elderly looking man who had his hands up in resignation.
“Peace, Xem,” said the old man. He had a long white beard and hardly a wisp of hair on his pate. “I’m only stating facts.”
“Your facts are rubbish to me,” she hissed before sitting back down. She was wearing a black robe and its plainness contrasted sharply with her beautiful features. She appeared to be in her mid twenties and had pale skin and rosy cheeks. Her dark eyes stared at him furiously and her dark hair fell about her shoulders fetchingly.
She inclined her head towards the door without looking.
“Your guests have arrived, by the way.”
“So they have,” said the old man. He stood up and came over to Chase and the guild. He wore a cheerful smile and before he reached Chase to shake his hand the entire inn had begun to chatter again as if nothing had happened.
“I’m the owner of the Inn of the Crow,” said the old man as he took turns shaking everyone’s hand. “You must be Chase. And Brent—good, strong grip lad!—young Thomas, looking a mite wet, eh?—Claire, so nice to meet you. And Mr Alexander, is it? Welcome, welcome.”
The owner smiled and placed his hands on his hips.
“Sir?” Said Amelie. She was standing behind Alex and pushed her way through the guild so stand in front of the old man. “My name is Amelie, it is nice to meet you.”
Without a word, the owner of the inn took her hand and expertly kissed it, eliciting an arched eyebrow from Alex to Chase who just rolled his eyes.
“I’m sorry my dear, I didn’t forget you,” he said. He studied her face for a moment and looked for all the world like a grandfather seeing his kin after many years apart. “Here they call me Charles. But I prefer Mr. Chuck if you don’t mind. Please, come and sit by the fire so you all may dry off. I have a table reserved especially for you all. I’ll go and fetch some drinks for all of you.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“We don’t need the drinks,” began Chase, Mr. Chuck was already gone, bustling off to the bar while the animals slapped him on the back and raised their glasses as he passed.
“This is pretty odd,” whispered Alex to Chase as they walked over to the table. “He knew all our names. What’s going on?”
“It’s some event happening,” said Chase. He had to dodge the flailing arms of a monkey who was now hopping up and down on his seat and howling. “These NPCs were designed to know our names. Just keep your head down and let me do the talking. I’ve been through this before.”
“You’ve been here before?”
Chase took a seat at the table the owner had mentioned and the others followed suit.
“No, not this particular one,” said Chase. The woman in the leather seat was staring silently into the fire now and was close enough he decided to lower his voice. “It’s likely a new one. AION likes to design these when he is bored, I guess. If he were here right now I’d tell him—.”
“Here we go!” Said the owner, slamming six drinks onto the table at once. He had carried three in each hand by the handle and soon was passing them to each of the guild members. “A dark beer for your dear leader. A pair of wheat beers for Brent and Alex—excuse me, Alexander. Claire gets a whiskey straight. Amelie I know you love these fruity cocktails so I mixed a special one for you. And young Thomas, here’s a cider.”
“Alright, enough,” said Alex to Chase’s frustration. He stood up without touching his beer and stared at Mr. Chuck with a scowl. “What is going on here? Why do you know all of our names? What kind of event is this?”
Mr. Chuck’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Ah, yes, I heard you were the assertive one.”
“Yeah, I am,” said Alex. “What gives? Spit it out or we are all leaving.”
The owner was about to respond when a small raspy laugh came from the only occupied leather chair.
“ ‘Spit it out’?” Said the women, repeating Alex’s words in his own tones. “If this were my inn I would have you blasted into oblivion for such an affront.”
“Fortunately it is not your inn, Xem,” said the bar owner, and for the first time his face turned dark and his voice grew deeper. “We do not do such things to guests.”
“Not my inn yet, you mean” said the woman. Suddenly she stood up and turned around to face the table. “You’re a disgrace, old man. Go back to your little bar and keep serving my friends here.”
Chase took a moment to understand by ‘friends’ she was talking about all the animals. He looked around and saw that, although all the beasts were still chatting, there was a nervous air permeating the establishment and the focused stares of the animals on their drinks and their companions proved they were doing their best not to look at the scene by the fire.
“Spare me your condemnation, Xem,” said Mr Chuck. Then he smiled as though humoring a small child who was being naughty. “But I will give you the floor, as agreed upon. If any of you strapping young guild members need another drink just let me know.”
Mr. Chuck then spun on his heels and made a beeline back to the bar, whistling a tune the entire way.
“Ignore him,” said the woman. She was now inspecting her immaculate nails. “He’s not giving me anything. I take what I want and soon this…place…will be mine as well.”
“It’s a lovely location,” said Thomas. “All the gravestones outside really make the atmosphere what it is. I can see why you want it so badly.”
The woman rolled her eyes but ignored him.
“You all can call me Xem, for now. I heard you speak of what kind of event this is and while it may not be exactly what you are expecting we shall use your term for now.”
“So this is an event?” Said Chase.
“Again, we may call it that if it pleases you. I have a little game I would like to play with you. It’s quite simple, and the stakes are quite low regardless. Win or lose you will be out of here by morning and on your way.”
“What stakes?” Said Alex. He had a bit of a beer mustache from sipping his drink. Xem glanced disgustedly at him.
“Ownership of this inn, of course. The old man and I have a bet. He thinks my little game will be won by the likes of you. I think otherwise. So your performance will determine whether this,” she raised her voice so that all could hear, “filthy little building will remain or be razed to the ground.”
All the animals barked laughs at her words. The capybaras hooted and chuckled and the monkeys howled and beat on the tables. The pig snorted and squealed in glee. Only the owl remained silent as it watched the reaction of the guild.
“You want to destroy this place?” Said Amelie curiously. “Whatever for? Seems like a lovely place.”
“You would say that, Amelie,” sneered Xem. She began to stroke her dark hair absentmindedly. “Suffice to say this place should never had been made in the first place. A total reimagining of this inn is what is needed and I’m the one who can make it as brilliant as it was supposed to be. Before he made it what it is.”
The guild glanced at the bar where Mr. Chuck was wiping the counter down. He waved at them cheerily.
“And if we refuse?” Said Brent. He hadn’t touched his drink at all and both his hands were flat on the table.
“Then you’ll never make it to level five on your fighter contract,” said Xem. For the first time a small smile was on her lips and her eyes brightened. “I must say you are quite the handsome young man, Brent. Don’t you want to play my little game?”
“Ahem,” came Claire loudly. She was staring bloody daggers at Xem who seemed to revel in her jealously. “First of all, how do you know all our names. And second, whats to stop us from just fighting our way out of here and getting back on the road?”
“How we all know your names is irrelevant, Claire,” said Xem, the smile dropping from her face. “Let’s just say this place gives us little NPCs some extra information on our guests. As to your second question…even if you were able to kill me and all my dear friends, you would find yourself permanently stuck here forever. One enters the premises of this land by invitation, and only leaves when the master of the house allows it. Fortunately, the old man has given me permission to grant or deny that request.”
Chase noticed that when Xem said “NPC” she shivered slightly. What kind of NPC was this? He had never met her like before. There were high class NPCs such as kings and important noble men who ran the economies who had a surprising amount of verbal autonomy but this one was putting them all to shame. For the world if she had said that she was a human player he would have believed her.
“So,” said Chase. “We play your game. Win or lose, we may leave after. Correct?”
“Yes,” said Xem, staring at him imperiously. “You have my word that no harm will befall any of you while we play. And when it is over you will be released.”
“What kind of game?” Said Alex.
“Are we fighting?” Said Brent. He had finally taken a sip of his beer and seemed quite content with his contents.
“It’s of the thinking variety,” said Xem. “I am sure you have played it before. I will be giving you a…situation…and you will be playing as characters resembling yourselves with your current levels of power.”
“Hang on,” said Alex, furrowing his brow. He looked at the guild. “This sounds like that game we played during the Triple Fives.”
“I hated that game!” Said Brent. “Can I sit this one out?”
“I only need four of you, actually,” said Xem, shrugging her slim shoulders. She then drew some some papers from the sleeve of her robe and placed them on the table. “I need you to fill these out. Fill in your current contract and levels along with whatever armor or weapons you currently have on you. Each of you are allowed a single potion which must also already be in one of your inventories.”
Chase looked over the form. It was identical to the ones Ghelion had given them but instead of his neat handwriting the places were blank where their names and levels would be.
“Guess I’m in,” said Chase in resignation. “Who else is playing?”
In the end Amelie, Alex, and Claire decided to sign the papers, while Thomas and Brent ordered more drinks. Mr. Chuck came over with another beer and a cider and placed them before the boys.
“Good luck you four,” said the innkeeper. He winked at Chase and then crossed his arms as he looked at Xem. “You know the rules, woman. Any deviation from what we have established and I’m pulling the plug.”
“Why don’t you do something useful and get me some more firewood?” Said Xem, a satisfied smile on her face as she gathered the papers and looked them over. “I mean to burn this place to the ground as soon as they lose.”
“You’ve become much more dramatic since you came back into my life, Xem.”
“Why, you…you…OLD FOOL,” screamed Xem. Her eyes were like twin stars burning in the most ancient and dark nether realms of the universe and all the inn fell silent. “I aught to…never mind…I’ll deal with you soon enough. Players,” she added sweetly, “Please, join me by the fire. Bring your chairs.”
Chase motioned for the four of them who had filled out the sheets to do as she said. They brought their chairs to rest in front of the leather one as Xem took her own seat. Once they were all situated, she smoothed the front of her robe and cleared her throat.
“First, I need each of you to close your eyes,” she said. Her words became smooth as silk and as sweet and sticky as honey as she spoke. “Clear your minds and only listen to my voice. There is no inn, and there is no Esem. Only me. I want you to not just imagine but see what I am telling you. You are in a dark lit room and outside is the faintest suggestion of light…”
Thunder roared outside and the rain and the wind beat upon the windows. The crackling of the fire grew to a crescendo in Chase’s ears but he could do little but drink every word Xem said.
“…fear floods your mind and you have no notion how you came to be in this little room. This dank and dirty little cell…”
Chase could begin to see swirls of darkness dance and spin with his eyes closed. He wanted to open his eyes. The darkness formed a shadowy cyclone in his shuttered vision and threaten to consume him. He wanted to scream, to fight, to run. But no matter the fear Xem’s words were far more powerful. They held him fast to his chair and he began to feel weightless. His body relaxed and he fell head first into the darkness.
“…sink into the leviathan of my thought. Life and death are no longer your twin masters. You and all your works belong to me and mine. The game is afoot and it is far from over. The beginnings of time and of space are curling into the nonexistence of your mind. The game is not over. The game is not over. The game is not…”
Everything he had ever felt or thought. Every emotion and memory that had ever crossed his mind flooded into Chase at that moment. Though he was weightless he felt as though his body were on a ship tossing on the sea during a hurricane. His entire being was pulled this way and that and suddenly the boundary between his mind and his body was indistinguishable. Just a blur on a page of his life that had been hastily erased.
“…but one thought in your head. You must escape this place. You must find the egress for only there will you see the light once again. Now, open your eyes and begin.”
He opened his eyes.
Everything was dark and as he blinked away the afterimages of her sickly sweet words he inhaled a deep breath and realized he had stopped breathing the moment she began to speak.
“Where—.”
The inn and his guild were nowhere to be seen. He was in a small and dirty cell, chains around his ankles. He screamed into the darkness but only the echo of his fading cry answered him.