"Kaela!" Orion rushed towards the woman lying on the floor, her hand pressing against her stomach to stem the bleeding. A large pool of blood had already formed around her.

As Orion charged forward, his fists crackled with lightning, his eyes burned with an intense light, and his growl sounded more like a beast than a man. Effortlessly, he plunged his electrified fists through the ribcages of the assassins, leaving gaping holes as they collapsed lifelessly.

"Kaela, no, no... Stay with me, girl. Look into my eyes. Don't let go of the light; hold on to it..." Orion cried, trying to stop the bleeding with his large hands, but the blood still flowed freely. Her consciousness had already slipped away.

More hooded figures emerged from the crowd, causing panic as common folk shouted and trampled over each other in a desperate search for an exit. Amid the chaos, Burps, the bartender, grabbed a crossbow and shot the nearest assassin in the back of the head.

"There's a sign on the door that says no killin' in the Burpin' Dwarf! 'Cept for a burpin' dwarf, of course!" Burps shouted as he jumped onto the bar, firing three more bolts, each one dropping an assassin.

I rushed towards the disoriented Orion and knelt beside Kaela. Tearing a strip from my cloak, I stuffed it into her wound, from which green veins began to spread. The knife was either poisoned or infused with some dark magic; either way, the bleeding stopped for now.

"Snap out of it!" I yelled, grabbing his broad shoulder in hopes of reaching him. "She's not gone yet! Take her and get out of here!"

Orion looked at his blood-soaked hands and then at me. Clarity seemed to return to his eyes as he stood and lifted Kaela's unconscious body into his arms.

"Thank you, kid. I won't forget what you've done for me," Orion said with a respectful nod.

Just as he was about to leave, the floor grew warmer by the second, and a strange smell filled the room. Something was about to happen, and we needed to get out of the tavern fast.

"Run!" I screamed, grabbing Orion by the shoulder and diving through the window. He was too big to fit through, so he crashed through the wall instead.

By a stroke of luck, we made it out before the explosion. Once a humble establishment and a home to every common man in Buckleberry, The Burping Dwarf was now reduced to rubble.

While we made it out safely, others were not so fortunate. Dozens of townsfolk lay buried in the debris; some almost managed to escape, but death loomed above them as the rubble fell just as they saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Silas!" I called out, but there was no response.

I rushed to the rubble where The Burping Dwarf once stood and began clearing rocks with my bare hands, praying not to find who I was searching for. There were those whose lives were lost, but there were also those whose lives were spared. I carried those whose heartbeats still fought bravely out into the open. The rest of Buckleberry gathered, helping to the best of their ability.

"There goes my home; first my barn, and now the trusty Burps..." Silas lamented as he emerged from the alley. "Maybe I'm destined to sleep on fresh grass and gaze at the ceiling of a starry night. Maybe I'm meant to roam forever lost, with no destination awaiting me, only the cold and dark embrace of death," he spoke poetically before collapsing to his knees and weeping like a child.

Seeing him alive lifted an unbearable weight off my shoulders. I rushed towards him and knelt beside him.

"Thank goodness you're alive!" I said, hugging him tightly.

"Why are you so damn happy to see me? I don't know you!" Silas pushed me away.

"But I know you, Silas the Bard!"

"W-what? How do you know that name?" he exclaimed in shock, his eyes lighting up for a moment at the mention of his name.

"How could I not know your name? Your songs traveled far and wide, and the tale of Silas the Bard reached many ears. You will forever be known as the second mortal granted entrance into the home of the fey! You sang under the veil of their kingdom, where no bard had ever sung before! You are a legend! Never forget that," I implored.

His eyes shone even brighter than before, tears streaming down his cheeks like a waterfall. He tried to brush them away, but they kept pouring.

Above us, shadows flitted silently from roof to roof—there must have been over fifty of them! They quickly surrounded us, positioning themselves on the surrounding buildings. Clad in black light armor and dark hoods and cloaks, their faces were obscured by black owl masks adorned with golden ornaments around the eyes and beaks of the same color. Scarlet-red gemstones set in the foreheads of the masks exuded a faint magical aura.

"Your journey ends in silence. Orion the White, by order of the Night Talons, your life is forfeit," declared one of the assassins, pointing a silver ornate dagger at Orion.

Orion ignored the assassin and instead approached a little girl, no older than fourteen, who was tending to the wounded. He gently laid Kaela's body next to her and handed her a silver pendant with a blue gemstone embedded in the metal.

"This necklace could bring you fortune beyond imagination if you wished. But if you set aside the riches and continue to walk the path of good, it will bring you far more than all the wealth in this world combined," he said.

"I-I can't take this! I am not worthy of such a valuable possession!" the girl panicked, pushing Orion's hand away.

"Of course you are," he replied, placing the pendant around her neck and looking deeply into her eyes. "All I ask is that you take care of this woman; she is precious to me."

"Y-yes! I'll do my best!" the girl exclaimed, rummaging through her medical bag and turning all her attention to healing Kaela.

With Kaela in good hands, Orion finally turned his attention to the assassins who called themselves the Talons.