Chapter 34: Clubbing, Anime Eyes, and Fainting

“This is the place,” I told my followers. Today, we were all there; Magali, Paytin, Tak, and even Tess and Kolin had tagged along with us.

We stood outside a large, brick warehouse in the industrial sector of town. The same general area as before, but closer to a hard working-class area, instead of what was very much the slums we’d visited last time. The structures were old, with faded paint wearing off of well-worn building bricks and sidewalks that had been swept clean for so long they had to be inches shallower than when they were laid down. The area was obviously well loved and taken care of with pride, with a strong feeling of history behind it.

After double-checking the freshly painted numbers over the front door of the warehouse—305 Mueller St.—I lead us around the side of the building to the back, as per Master Alric’s note. I tried, well, I guess all of us did (undisciplined young punks, pfft)—technically you’re younger than me, so can it!—to peek in the darkened windows, just to see what was inside. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? I could make vague shapes of boxes of all sizes, and possibly some movement to indicate people inside toiling. There wasn’t even a name to go with the painted address above the entrance.

“Place must be so exclusive, it doesn't need a name.” Tess was thinking along the same line as me, it seemed.

“Yeah, one of those ‘if you know, you know, and if you don’t, then you don’t need to know.’” I…he-he, knew… that Tess would kno…understand what I was saying. The others? Nope, attested by Tak’s scathing comment.

“What are you babbling about, now?” The fiery redhead was definitely in her non-professional role at the moment. I wonder if there is a way to find her trigger switch and toggle it manually (that’s just dirty, bro) to adjust her personality waffling. Maybe jamming it somewhere between the two extremes. Of course, nobody would ever want to adjust my personality! (hmmm, there is this thing called a lobotomy in these fleshy memories…interesting)

I stumbled, tripping over my own stunning. “Damn, loose stones…careful of your footing, guys.” Sure, brilliant way of covering, I congratulated myself.

“Oh, people back home like to say dumb-ass shit like that, like only the most elite could know of a place—bar, club, or something—that is so exclusive regular people were kept in the dark about it.”

Thank you, Tess, for coming to my rescue!

“Club? You need to carry a weapon to the bar?” Ah, Magali the curious. Of course, he’d pick up on that.

“That’s all you, dude.” I laughed at Tess.

“Yup, not like you’ve been in an exclusive club, huh Book?”

Ouch. Touche.

“A club is kind of a real fancy bar,” Tess went on to explain, after drawing blood on her jab at me. “Not a tavern—there’s no food—and there is every kind of alcohol you can think of. And some you could never. But the main thing is the music, loud heart-thumbing and mind-numbing, glorious music! And you drink, and you dance, completely let loose.”

“Don’t forget the glow sticks.” I may never have set foot in one, but I watched a lot of TV, OK?

“That’s right, you wave around these glowing sticks, and the light flickers with the music. It’s…”

“Seizure inducing.”

“…awesome…”

“Brain damaging.”

“…and liberating!”

“Your wallet.”

“That sounds just awful!” Yeah, Magali would likely be by my side, not Tess’s.

“Honestly, it sounds kind of scary to me.” So, Paytin was with Magali and I.

“That…sounds incredible!” No surprise, Tak shared Tess’s enthusiasm. “We need to find one around here, I so want to go!”

“You know it, girl,” Tess let go of Kolin’s arm to shoulder bump our taciturn friend in solidarity. The adventurer just smiled and shook his head, the smart man that he was.

“What dances, though? I can’t imagine any fitting into that.” Tak was all in on the concept. No, the medieval style of dance that elves only knew were not a fit.

“I’ll show you sometime,” Tess said. How would you describe modern club dancing? And would anyone believe it without seeing? “First, we need to find a Bard we can corrupt.” She actually rubbed her hands together in glee, how about that?

While we talked like old friends—I was feeling familiar vibes, soothing me—we reached the back of the brick warehouse. It was…bare, to say the most. No door or windows were apparent on the ground level, but a pair of oversized, multi-paned, arched windows stared down at us like anime eyes on an animated barn. A wooden staircase led up to a deck outside of a singular door set between and below the eye windows. Obviously the nose, while the slatted deck railings provided the teeth to complete a whole ‘look.’

I took the lead, leading my line of comrades up the sturdy steps and to a place on the platform. I rapped two hard knocks on the door, then reached for the handle. Too impatient to wait and see if there was an answer, I turned the knob and swung the door inwards.

Before I could take more than one step, a gloved hand seized me by the neck of my robes, yanked me around in a n half arc, and slammed me into a brick wall. Except it wasn’t brick, but rather slabs of muscle clad in stiffened leather.

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“What the fu…!” Brilliant, I know, my whit on point as usual.

“Book?!” Tess was the first to react, following on my heels and leading with hers. Her foot caught the jaw of my initial attacker, the black-clad elf’s head whiplashing to the side and causing him to stumble.

Kolin came next, the adventurer bursting past the door with a battle cry. This all happened as I was clutched tight against the solid wall of flesh imprisoning me. My back arched as I was raised off the floor, my head thrown back in a silent scream. Air! Please, God, air! My ribs creaked, pinning my diaphragm and forcibly exhaling the breath from my lungs.

Grunts and thuds filled the dark space, with the odd curse coloring the fight behind me. I couldn’t breathe, so I focused on those sounds, praying my friends were winning. I was in desperate need of rescue!

(Do something!) ‘Like what?!’, I shot back in my mind. I felt a dump of adrenaline in my system, sudden and borderline overwhelming. My heart rate tripled from its already frantic pace, my enhanced muscles swelling past a strength I’d never before known. It almost wasn’t enough. My arms were pinned to my sides, so I flexed out with everything I had until there was a slight give. I needed to breathe, fill my lungs with life-sustaining air, but I held off. The darkness narrowing my vision grew tighter, urging me to gasp, my instincts screaming at me to do it. Instead, I wormed my palms between us and planted them on my assailant's chest.

My thoughts came at light speed, the processor in my brain slowing my perception of time to a crawl.

Leather armor->leather->organic->animal skin->parchment.

I felt wetness on my palm, having cut the skin on one of the metal rivets holding the armor together.

Blood->iron->ink.

I smeared my bloody hand, leaving a blotch and imagining it as a gout of flame. I poured in mana and intent, keeping it sloppy and letting the bleedover infuse the leather. I pushed the mana, filling the cells of the material until they burst into chained micro-explosions.

Ffwooomp!

There was a flash and bang, followed by the scent of roasting pork before a sheet of acrid smoke separated me from my attacker. We both cried out in pain, the big elf staggering backward and letting me fall to the floor. I hit flat on my back, expelling the single second of breath I managed in the plummet.

My lungs spasmed as I gaped like a landed fish. The behemoth recovered before me and hovered over me with a raised boot.

This was it, damn. My life was going to be ended by a heavy-footed stomp before I even had a chance to suffocate. I wish I could see my Dad one more time…

A large form fly-tackled the elf from the side, the two of them plunging out of my line of sight. A foot caught me in the ribs—whose, I have no idea—and spun me over and off of my back.

“Huuunh…ooof…huuhahhh!” Oh, thank Go…Bless her roots! Air, sweet blessed air filled my lungs, pushing back the darkness. I continued the roll, coming to my knees, and struggled upright. When I pressed my right hand against the wooden floor, fresh agony let out the scream that I now had the breath for.

“Aiiee!” I lost my balance, falling back on my butt, and clutched my hand to my chest. Afraid someone might get me from behind, I scooched on my ass until the brick wall—the real one, this time—propped me up and protected me. I let my eyes close for a second, using my centering technique to slow my panicked breathing and control the pain. Opening them again, I looked around and tried to take stock of the situation.

Kolin and Tess were working to take down the big elf, who to my chagrin was faring better than myself after my improvised [heat-blast]. Magali was in a position similar to mine, except Paytin was his wall and a smear of blood painted his face. A dark form lay crumpled at their feet. Had Magali taken it down?

Then another, worse thought took me. Shit, it wasn’t Tak, was it?

No. She was silhouetted in the open door, the sunlight glinting off her red hair proved it was her.

There were two more lumps on the floor, making it three attackers down. My focus shifted to the center of the room. Tess had the last elf in a choke hold, her feet clear of the floor and wrapped around his waist for leverage, she rode the attacker’s back like a bull rider fighting for their 8 seconds. Kolin landed body blow after body blow to the elf’s midsection. Slowly, the giant’s legs started to buckle, gravity and Tess’s dead weight bringing him to the floor. With a great sigh, he went down, his knees hitting hard before he toppled over on his side. Tess hopped off at the last moment.

Kolin and Tess stood over the downed elf, panting heavily from exertion. They stood ready, in case the fight wasn’t over. After a tense minute, the two straightened from their fighting stances and shared a grin. Are they actually having a good time?

Time returned to normal, and we all took stock of what had happened. Eyes shifted and locked, questioning gazes warring with terror and relief that it was over. Or giddiness, in Kolin and Tess’s case. Weirdos.

“What just happened?” Paytin was the first to say it out loud.

“Dammed if I know,” I said. “One second I’m opening the door, the next I’m being crushed against a mountain of muscle!” My voice trembled, my fear still evident.

“Yeah, you disappeared, Book,” Magali stared at his open hand, blood from his head wound staining the flesh. “Then Tess was flying through the door, Kolin right behind her.”

“And then you, you dolt,” Paytin’s tone warred with her words.

“A lot good I did,” Magali said forlornly. “Something hit me and I went down like a sack of turnips. If Kolin hadn't come to save me...” The scribe trailed off, looking at the unmoving body on the floor in front of him, shuddering with the implication.

“Hey, Magali, you tried.” Paytin shot a glance at Tak, who was still standing silently in the doorway. “Me and…I didn’t even do that much.”

Magali made to get up, and Paytin helped him get to his feet, where he wobbled.

“Yeah, Tess,” I told my friend. “You saved me…again. You too, Kolin. Thanks, man.” I used the wall behind and slid upright, cradling my hand against my chest. Magali wasn’t the only one wobbling on their feet.

“Getting to be a habit, huh, dude?”

“You don’t have to look so smug, Tess.”

“Oh? Don’t I?” She laughed, obviously still feeling the high.

“You’re welcome, Book,” Kolin said calmly, coming back to an even keel sooner. He had experience with combat, after all. “Though, Tess was faster.”

“Damn straight, I was.” Her breathing was slowing, but her eyes sparkled in the dim light. I could see being a [Courier] was all but over for her.

Kolin gave Tess a knowing look, then paced over to check on me. “Are you hurt, Book?”

“I fried my hand.” I held it out to show him, palm up and shaking. “How bad?” I was carefully not looking at it, afraid of what I’d see.

“Ah..ssss,” Kolin hissed through his teeth. Now, I really didn’t want to look. The throbbing pain intensified at the thought. “Not…great. Hang on.”

The adventurer let go of my hand and rummaged in his pockets. He pulled out a small tin, unscrewing the lid. Then taking two fingers of the goop inside, he held my hand steady and smeared the stuff across my palm. I tensed as he applied it, warding against anticipated agony. It never came, Bless her roots. Instead, a cooling numbness spread from his touch, the pain fading to an annoying sting.

“What is that?”

“Healing salve,” Kolin told me. “No adventurer ever leaves home without it.” He put the tin away, shaking his head as he muttered under his breath. “Unlike my sword. Never thought I’d need it to look at real estate.”

I gave him a rueful look, totally agreeing. A wave of complete exhaustion overtook me then, the adrenaline washing out of my system. My arm and shoulder muscles seized, freezing in a flexed rictus as the torn fibers screamed in protest. Blood rushed to my head—out of my head?—and the darkness settled in as I fainted in slow motion.