Werond grumbled, shooting a glare at the crowds around them. Serena simply smiled and pushed herself closer to Werond, their shoulders touching as they walked. She had to. For whatever reason, the city seemed especially busy today, the crowds that clogged the sidewalk and streets larger than they normally were.

Anxiety flickered in Serena’s chest, though she paid it no heed. Despite having been in the city for close to a month now, she still wasn’t used to the sheer number of people that it contained.

An angry mumble sounded in her ear – swears that Werond was too fond of. When Serena glanced at her, she couldn’t help but laugh at just how irritated Werond looked. It clashed with the brilliant diamond necklace, the one that Larion had given her, that rested around her neck, obscured slightly by the collar of her purple tunic. Werond – not one for jewelry – had tried it on before they had left the house that morning, and it was only at Serena’s urging did she wear it now.

“Do you hate people this much?” Serena signed, one eye forward as they shoved through the busy sidewalk.

“I don’t hate people, Serena.” Werond leaned towards her ear and spoke up. “I hate crowds. There’s a difference.”

“I don’t think there is.”

“Oh, there mostly certainly is.” She looked down at Serena’s hands. “Damn your sign language, I can barely hear myself.”

Serena stuck her tongue out at Werond; her old teamster rolled her eyes but slipped her arm through Serena’s. She grinned as Serena’s face turned a faint shade of red.

“I suppose I shouldn’t complain.” Werond began, stepping around a group of dwarves, all shouting angrily, as they shoved their way through the congested sidewalk. “Gods damn…anyways,” She leaned back towards Serena’s ear. “it’s been a while since I’ve had any free time. Suppose I’m pretty lucky if I get to spend it with you.”

“Well, when you constantly come home so late.” Serena glanced back at the dwarves as one smashed into the back of someone else, who flipped around and let loose a stream of colorful and extremely racist slurs.

“I know.” Werond sighed. “Everything is almost cleaned up though, so I think I’ll be able to start leaving early again. Hopefully.”

Serena nodded. From the look in Werond’s eyes, however, she didn’t believe her own words.

She understood why though; despite a few days having passed since the tournament, the mess that Harshnag had left remained unresolved. Serena had only heard bits and pieces of what Werond chose to rant about each night before bed, but from the sounds of it, the number of issues the giant’s participation had caused was staggering. From finding someone to repair the coliseum to paying out extra for the attendant’s overtime wages, it seemed like a never-ending problem. It didn’t help that the Masked Lord that had suggested, and allowed, Harshnag to compete in the tournament in the first place took no responsibility. Serena remembered yesterday when the news came out that the meeting of the Lords that day had almost come to blows, and that Damian and the other Lord’s guard had actually drawn swords on one another. Serena felt herself lucky, then, that she was perhaps one of the few people in Waterdeep who received a detailed explanation of what had happened, later that night.

With how complicated every was then, Werond barely had time to kiss Serena goodbye each morning. And, so late did she work, she practically passed out into Serena’s arms each night when she returned. Werond had felt awful about her predicament, but Serena had reassured her plenty that everything was truly okay. Werond had an extremely stressful job, and Serena understood that. It had taken some of the stress off Werond’s shoulders, but Serena would have been lying if she’d said she hadn’t been lonely lately.

It seemed as though everyone else had been out doing something while she had waited at home for Werond each day. Cruck’aa rarely stayed at the house, doing Bahamut knows what, and Pavel and Jo came and went as they pleased. They had invited her out plenty of days – with urging from Graham as well – but Serena hadn’t wanted Werond to come home when she wasn’t there. With the amount of pressure she’d been under lately, Serena worried that not having someone there for Werond to rant at would only make her feel worse.

Serena had received quite the look from Werond when she explained this to her. Apparently, that wasn’t exactly a normal thing to do in a relationship, though Werond reassured her plenty that she appreciated the gesture.

A blush crept into Serena’s cheeks. How was she to know? She’d never done anything like this before, and after everything in the coliseum, she was well within her rights to wait for Werond like that.

Her source of worry mumbled again as they wove their way through a mob of people clogging up the sidewalk – many had stopped to listen to one of the newspaper-boys that stood on the street corners shout about the latest news. It was about the food shortages today, as it was yesterday, and all the horrible things that were happening because of it. Serena hadn’t seen anything happen to Waterdeep however, and a part of her wanted to see if the newspaper-boy would mention anything about that. She didn’t have time to listen further though, as she and Werond crossed the intersection, barely stepping back onto the sidewalk in time as the wagons behind them refused to wait any longer.

“Why is everything so busy today?” Serena asked as they were swallowed up by the crowd again.

“It’s always like this a few days after the tournament.” Werond leaned back in.

“But why?”

Werond shrugged.

Serena blinked, and almost stepped on the back of some woman’s shoe as she shot Werond a look.

“Shouldn’t you know?”

Werond shrugged again; this time, she smiled at Serena, and despite herself, Serena couldn’t help but glance away, heart beating just a bit faster.

“How much longer are we going to walk for?” Serena walked on her toes for a moment, trying to see above all the hats, heads, and horns. Silver Street seemed to go on for miles, and the entire sidewalk – and road – was packed to the brim.

“Normally? A few more minutes.” Werond growled in her ear. “Now? Maybe another twenty, I’m not sure.”

“And where are we going again?”

“The door guy.”

“The door guy?”

Werond nodded, as though it was a completely normal thing to say. “The door is still busted up from Harshnag, need to have the guy come out and look at it.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“I thought you fixed it?”

“Well, Graham thought so, but after it fell off its hinges yesterday –”

“Hey!”

Werond and Serena jerked to a halt as a boy – no older than ten, with ruby red skin, thin black horns and dirty hair – leapt out from the crowd and pointed towards Serena. Around them, heads turned to glance in their direction.

“You’re that fire lady from the tournament!” He yelled, voice painfully high. “Fire lady!”

Serena’s eyes went wide, though she couldn’t help but smile.

“Uh –” She began to sign.

“Are you the fire lady?!” The boy asked again. “Are you?! Are you?!”

“Yes, she is.” Werond said over the crowd; Serena glanced over and was surprised to see an annoyed look painted across her face. “But we’re very busy, so –”

“Whoa!” The boy yelled, casting more looks their way. “Can you do some more fire stuff?! Please? It was so cool when you did it!”

“Uh, I –”

People around them began to stop and look their way, recognition flashing across their faces. A spark of excitement seemed to ripple through the crowd as many began to stare at Serena, talking excitedly to those around them. In a few seconds, the sidewalk was almost completely blocked; a ring of people had surrounded Serena and Werond, forcing foot traffic to squeeze between them and the buildings, or step out into the street to get around them.

“Do some more fire!” The kid jumped in place. “C’mon! More! Please?!”

“Yeah, like in the coliseum!” Someone else shouted.

“Make it super bright!”

“Can you change colors?”

“How do you do that?!”

Panic began to creep into Serena’s chest as a flood of voices washed over her; she’d never had this many people staring at her before.

She glanced at Werond as more voices began to speak up, all wanting to see fire magic. Werond shook her head and leaned back towards Serena’s ear.

“Just give them a little bit.” she said. “So we can get through. Nothing fancy.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Werond jerked her chin towards the crowd. “they won’t leave us alone until you do.”

Serena glanced around, her heart beating faster. The ring of people was thick, and she couldn’t see a way out if they tried to push through them. Not that she wanted to anyways; behind the excitement, it felt as though she were surrounded by wolves, salivating in anticipation. As she looked around, the voices from the crowd began to grow louder, everyone quickly growing impatient at her hesitation.

She sucked in a breath, ignoring the tightness in her chest; something simple then, would suffice.

Serena held out a hand and focused on that well of power within her. For a moment, she swore she felt the choker tingle against her throat before an orb of fire sprang into existence in her palm.

Werond blinked and leaned away from the sudden heat. The ring of people around them, however, broke into a thunderous cheer, harsh in Serena’s ears.

“Yes!” The boy screamed, fire reflecting brilliantly in his eyes. “More! Make it bigger! Bigger!”

“Bigger!” Another yelled.

“Can you throw it?!” Said a second.

“Change it into something!” Shouted a third.

“Make it bigger!”

“Can you show me how to do that?!”

“More!”

Everyone’s voice rose at once and crashed against Serena, causing her to jump; the flaming orb in her hand winked out of existence as she lost focus on it, causing the crowd to yell. So thick was their excitement that the entire ring closed in, as many clamored to get closer to her and Werond.

Panic tore through her as people stepped too close, all shouting at once, grabbing and gesturing at her in an excited frenzy. Next to her, Werond was pulled away and almost swallowed by the crowd, only to fight her way back, shoving people away as she grabbed Serena’s arm again. She yelled something, but her voice was lost in the cacophony.

Heart smashing in her chest, shouting in her face, Serena whipped her head about, searching for a way to slip through the ring. The crowd pressed on them further; some tried grabbing Serena to pull her away from Werond, only for others to pull her a different way, causing her to go nowhere. All the while, everyone continued to shout and scream, each person getting caught up in the excitement of those around them. At some point, Werond swung a fist at someone, spitting out a string of curses, which only served to rile the crowd further.

Serena couldn’t breathe. Her head remained on a swivel, searching for something, anything –

Two men, side by side, moved in just the right way for Serena to see across the street, and towards the sidewalk on the other side. Between two buildings, an empty alleyway caught her eye.

Serena grabbed Werond’s hand and twisted a quick sign in front of her.

In a flash, they were across the street, stumbling into the mouth of the alleyway.

Serena caught herself against the stonewall, though Werond fell flat on her face, right into a puddle of rainwater. She yelled as she shoved herself to her feet, hair now a tangled, wet mess. Thankfully, she hadn’t lost her necklace.

“What the fuck was that?!” Werond yelled, wobbling, her purple shirt completely soaked. “What –”

“Shh!” Serena signed, looking over Werond’s shoulder; she could barely make out the confused ring of people all the way across the street, some waving away the cloud of silver mist she had left behind. The people she did see, however, were looking around, their faces twisted in fury.

“We need to go!” She snapped her fingers a few times, drying Werond’s clothes and her hair. “They might see us!”

“Wait, what did you –”

“Teleport!” Serena grabbed Werond’s hand again. “Run!”

Without waiting for a response, Serena turned on her heel and sprinted down the alleyway, pulling a stunned Werond behind her.

It didn’t take long for them to sprint the length of the alleyway and burst out onto the other side. The sidewalk looked identical to the one they were just on, though no one seemed to recognize her. Many people, however, did glanced at them oddly, giving them a wide berth as they passed by.

Serena bent over, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. As she did, Werond, who seemed only slightly winded, slapped a hand on her shoulder.

“Gods!” She said as Serena stood up. “That was…something else. You okay?”

“I…” Her signs came out ragged. “I guess? I…too many…people, why…why did they…”

“You seemed to have made a name for yourself from the tournament, I guess. That happens to all the winners for a while, but you didn’t really win so…I guess they just liked you?” She shook her head. “Doesn’t excuse any of that though, gods.”

“Lovely.”

“Yeah. I’d say go to the City Watch, but there really isn’t much they’re going to do for us.” Werond squeezed Serena’s shoulder. “You going to be okay?”

“Yeah.” Serena signed, still winded. “No. I’m…okay, I think. Just…” Despite her words, her heart still hammered in her chest. “Just a bit shaken up…I guess.”

“You sure?” Werond asked through narrowed eyes.

“Yes…I’ll be…” Her hands began to shake – why were they shaking? It wasn’t that bad, it was just people. Terrifying people.

“You want to go home?”

“I…” The tremor in Serena’s hands spread throughout her body. “N-no, I’ll be fine, just…”

“You don’t look fine.”

“I am.”

Serena met Werond’s concerned gaze; something about it made her eyes well up, and before she could stop, tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Werond shook her head.

“Nope, let’s get home. Not when you’re like that.” Werond pushed down Serena’s hands. “It’s fine. Just an errand, I can go later. I’m more worried about you right now.” She stood on her toes, looking above the crowd. “Think I know how to get back. Come on. Hold onto me.”

Werond laid her arm around Serena’s shoulders and pulled her close, before wading into the sea of people. Serena clung to her in response, letting Werond lead, as the gravity of the situation finally overwhelmed her.

…

The horned boy weaved his way through the crowded sidewalk with ease, scampering back into the alleyway in which he was first beckoned. Just beyond the threshold, a lone man, dressed in plain leather armor, sat atop a steel trashcan.

“Did you get a good look at it?” He asked the boy, who caught himself right before running into the trashcan.

“Yup yup!” The boy beamed. “Got right up close!”

He stared at the man, who cocked his head and gestured for the boy to continue.

“Oh, right! Yeah, I saw it, it’s like you guessed! A little moon in front of a thing of arrows.” He made a circle in the air with a finger. “It looks really pretty too! Is it worth anything? I didn’t get a chance to get close to it.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” The man said, hopping off the can. “You did well. Here.” He fished out a silver piece from his pocket. “For you, like I said.”

The horned child, eyes alight with joy, snatched the silver piece from the man’s palm, and sprinted out the alleyway.

“Boss is going to have a field day with this one.” The lone man muttered to himself.

After a moment, he stepped out of the alleyway, and let himself be swallowed by the crowd.