> Dave

>

> Dark Elf Village

>

> 55th of Cycle 2, 1015

I didn’t have much money left in my pouch after leaving Elrund’s shop, and I was never one to enjoy window shopping, so I decided to make my way to the tavern. I had unfortunately forgotten the exact route that led back, and during my attempt to ‘wing it,’ I ended up in a shady alleyway. The stench of alcohol filled the air, and there were a few dark elves slumped over with bottles next to them.

One of the elves saw my face and spat onto the stone floor. “Fuck you looking at,” He slurred out.

I turned around to leave the way I came, only to see a burly dark elf blocking the way. “You remember me, boy?” He asked in a deep voice.

The voice reminded me of the dark elf who started a fight with me in the bar earlier, but I wanted to mess with him a little. “Hmm, you’re quite a big fella’ ain't ya? I would think that I’d have remembered someone like you, but I’m drawing a blank here.”

A vein bulged out on his forehead, “Well, it doesn’t matter if you remember me or not. What matters is that my face is the last thing you’re ever going to see.”

I gasped and put my hand over my mouth. “What a truly terrible fate! Please spare me!”

“It’s too late to beg, boy.” He approached me slowly.

“At least let me look at the wall when I die, please. Anything is better than that monstrosity you call a face.”

“Oh, you’ve gone and done it now,” He clenched his fists. “I’m gonna enjoy killing you.

I was pretty scared despite the calm front I was putting on, and flashbacks of a fat white man throwing me into a door popped into my head. Fuck, there’s no way I’m going to die for nothing again.

I didn't have my bow, but it wouldn’t have done me much good in this close-quarters situation anyway. I unsheathed the dagger I recently bought from Elrund’s shop, and it felt as light as a feather.

“Coward,” The burly elf said. “Real men fight with their fists.”

“Real men don’t corner people in an alleyway.” If I could rile him up, maybe he’d make a mistake. “I think I remember you now, you’re the circus clown from the bar right? Is this a part of your act too?”

That seemed to get under his skin because he dashed at me without responding. I activated my vision skill and made a quick slash at his arm, but my dagger clanked off like it had hit a rock. The shock left me wide open, and a fist drove into my chest, flinging me backward onto one of the drunken dark elves who let out a slurred yell. I scrambled to my feet and looked back towards my attacker, who was approaching slowly with a grin on his face.

He got the first hit, but now I knew that he was slower than me. I grinned back at him and started running deeper down the alleyway.

“You can’t run from me in these slums, boy,” He shouted as he ran after me.

The ‘slums’ were a connected series of alleyways that created a maze-like structure. After running past a few groups of shady looking dark elves and making a few sharp turns, I arrived at a pitch-black alleyway. I activated my sneak skill while hugging the wall, and soon enough, my attacker reached the area I was hiding in. He didn’t seem to notice me.

This might work.

He continued running down the alley, and just as he was about to pass me I lunged at him and stabbed him in the side of the gut. He turned to face me, but I had already stepped back by the time he could counterattack.

“You fucking bitch! You’ll never get away from me!”

I wanted the cut in his stomach to bleed as much as possible before I engaged him again, so I ran away. He chased after me quickly so I wouldn’t leave his sight, and after a few turns, I was staring at a dead-end. I gulped as I realized it was do or die now.

“Nowhere to run anymore,” He said, panting. “Now yo-.”

To his surprise, I turned around and lunged at him before he could finish his sentence. He tried to block my dagger with his arm once again, but I activated my vision skill, and the world around me slowed down as I guided the dagger around his arm, plunging it into his chest. He slammed his other fist into my stomach and flung me into the wall of the dead-end, but the damage was already done. He fell to his knees.

I looked at my blood-soaked hands and shuddered. Did I just… oh my god. My vision blurred and my breathing became more rapid. He attacked me first. I had to do it. I had to. I…

I scrambled to my feet and ran. When I got near him, he tried to swing at me from his kneeling position, but that only made him lose his balance and fall face-first to the floor.

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“Where *cough* are you going? Finish the job, or I'll come back to *cough* *cough* kill you.”

His words didn't even register to me as I ran aimlessly through the slums. My mind was too focused on the fact that I had just taken someone’s life. I felt sick to my core like something was physically eating at me from the inside.

What if I hadn’t riled him up at the bar? What if I had just stuck with Jason? Would none of this have happened?

I slapped myself across the face to clear my mind. I need to get back. Right now.

I kept running, opting to go down alleyways that were better lit than the rest until I emerged out into the streets of the village. I was attracting a lot of strange looks from the people passing by, but I didn’t pay it any mind.

“Hey, which way to The Drunken Hunter?” I called out to one of the women who was staring at me.

“Um, it-it’s down that way,” She said in a worried voice and pointed to her left.

“Thanks.”

After a short run and a lot of uncomfortable stares, I found myself in front of the tavern. I pushed the doors open slowly and walked in. The people inside didn’t seem to mind my presence much at first, but as time went on most of the people stopped what they were doing to stare at me.

I walked towards the back room where I had left Jason and Matilda a few hours ago, but before I could reach it I heard a familiar voice call out to me. “Dave?”

I turned around and saw Jason glaring at me.

“Dave, why the fuck are you covered in blood?”

I looked around at the people giving us stares, and Jason seemed to understand what I was thinking. He pulled me into the back room where Matilda was sitting down and reading a book.

“Oh, welcome back, Da-," She paused in shock when she looked up from her book. "Why are you covered in blood?”

“Yes Dave, please explain to us how you managed to get yourself into trouble the moment you left.” Jason was not happy.

“It's um... complicated.” That answer didn't seem to satisfy him, so I continued. “You remember the big fella from the bar earlier today? Well, I may or may not have killed him in an alleyway.”

“You did what?” Jason’s eyes went wide. “Are you fucking insane?"

“No, I-,"

“What are you going to do when the guards come looking for us?” He blurted out before he regained his composure and started massaging the bridge of his nose. “Why’d you do it?”

“I didn’t want to, but he didn’t give me a choice. He ambushed me when I got lost and it just went downhill from there.”

“We need to get out of this village.”

“Now hold your horses, Jason,” Matilda said. “The guards can’t arrest you without any solid evidence. Dave, take off your clothes.”

“What? Why? I’m not a stripper.”

“I didn’t say you were, just hurry up and give them to me. The guards are probably looking for you as we speak.”

I took off my hunting gear and handed it to Matilda, who threw it into the fireplace. Those were my only clothes, but I didn't have a right to complain.

“Jason, get him something to wear from the closet behind you. Dave, wipe the blood off your hands with that towel.” She pointed to a white piece of cloth.

“This seems pretty illegal, Matilda,” Jason said as he opened the closet.

“Says the goody two-shoes who faked his death to escape a political marriage and was willing to trade high elf secrets for training.”

That shut Jason up, and he handed me a fresh set of hunting clothes as I finished wiping down my arms. Matilda threw the bloody cloth into the fireplace and I put on the clothes quickly. “How do I look?”

“Marvelous,” Matilda said. “Let me do the talking when the guards get here.”

It didn’t take long for the heavily armored guards to arrive, and I realized that I still had my dagger on my waist. I looked around for a place to hide it but couldn't find anything good, so I ended up stuffing it into my pants.

“What can I help you with today, gentlemen?” Matilda asked, blocking their path.

“Out of the way, we’re here to arrest the human boy.” One of the guards said coldly.

“On what grounds?”

“We have several witness reports that the boy walked into this very bar covered in blood.”

“The law clearly states that witness reports must be verified by proper investigation before an arrest is made. If you’re here to do a proper investigation, then I will move aside. If not, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Matilda sounded like she had rehearsed her lines, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d been through this song and dance before.

“Alright,” the guard grumbled. “Now move.”

The group of guards walked in and looked at me, then went on to search the room. I broke out in a cold sweat as I wondered if they would do a body search on me, but a few minutes later, the guard that did the talking angrily walked over to the door. Just before he left, he said, “You may have gotten away from the law, but there are people other than the guards that uphold justice in this village. You better sleep with one eye open, boy.”

The door slammed shut as the final guard left, and I let out a sigh of relief.

It wasn't over yet, though, since Jason was still glaring at me. "I swear to you, I didn't want to do it. I've never killed anyone before." He looked upset, but he didn't say anything back, so I changed the subject. “What have you two been up to for the past few hours?”

Matilda flashed me a smile and Jason’s face went red before he looked away. “Oh, you know, discussing stuff, and things. Matilda secured us a trainer, but I’m not sure if it’s the best idea to meet with them since the guards are going to be on our backs now.”

“What do you mean? Is it illegal to get training?”

“Not really, but no respectable person in the village would teach you skills that only dark elves know, so we’re going to meet with some shady people,” He said. “I still don’t like it, but Matilda insists that they’re trustworthy.”

Matilda nodded. “If you hold up your end of the bargain, they’ll hold up theirs. I can guarantee you that much.”

I'm going to do shady business with shady people after killing someone in a shady alleyway. Am I a criminal now?

No. This is just temporary. When we get out of this village, everything will go back to normal.

Hopefully.