Ezra jolts awake. He breathes heavily, holding his chest before realizing that all his limbs were still there. His shoulder ached as if he had lifted 200 lbs, but it seemed intact. Huh.
The memories race back, and Ezra remembers the mage. His cold, calculating eyes that didn’t feel a single emotion even as he was about to slice the throat of an innocent 18-year-old. The very memory sent shivers through Ezra’s spine. He had definitely almost died.
Out of curiosity, he touches the aching shoulder and feels the awkward texture of dried blood. However long he was out was long enough for blood to dry. Speaking of his surroundings, Ezra looks around. He had crash-landed in a massive stack of hay inside a barn. The hay must have cushioned the fall, and led him into a comfortable sleep. He had slept in hay before after massive arguments with Soleil, it wasn’t that uncommon to him.
Ezra steps out of the hay, looking around. There were horses and cows fast asleep, so it was more than likely nighttime. Ezra tentatively steps towards the giant barn doors. He pushes them slightly and is happy to find that they creek open just enough for him to slip out.
The stars shone above him, the moon illuminated his path. The familiar landscape of the Dividing Mountains was nowhere in sight. Only a small path that traveled from the barnhouse to a splitting path stood in front of him. He approaches the crossroads and is pleasantly surprised to see a sign pointing to the destination of each path. To the left was the “Shrouded Forest” while to the right was a “Bar & Inn”. Ezra didn’t feel in the mood for forests right now, so he decides the inn would be the safest bet.
Soleil was nowhere to be found, Ezra notices. That was worrisome. The last thing he had told her was to go apologize to Gramps herself when they got back. It seemed silly now, Ezra had no idea where he was. And as of right now, he has no idea whether or not Soleil escaped that Darkian mage. He hopes that wherever she is, she’s safe and finds people to trust.
Ezra hopes that will be the case for him too.
As he approaches the inn, Ezra sees the lights are still on and a general rowdy and public crowd still seems quite active there if the noise was any indication. It’s a small building with two floors of windows, with a rustic cobblestone architecture unlike the wooden structures of Acre Falls. This was all rough stones and vines growing around the fence surrounding the inn.
He walks into the inn and finds himself surrounded by people of unfamiliar dress. The men sported rougher clothes, made of leather or linen, quite unlike the light wool and silk clothes Ezra had grown up around. He had a simple wool tunic with a silk coat and baggy pants to call his own. Most of these men had long coats and tight pants… not unlike what the mage had been wearing. Ezra suddenly feels the urge to find out where he is as fast as possible.
He goes up to the nearest person serving drinks to customers and taps them on the shoulder. He was a younger-looking man, with black hair sporting long bangs that hid the right side of his face. He had on a tight black tank top, exposing toned arms, and he wore the black pants to match. What seemed like a long coat was tied around his waist. With a darker complexion not unlike his own and stormy grey eyes, the young waiter gives him a kind smile.
“Can I help you? I’m sorry we don’t have any open tables but are you here to stay the night?” The young man asks in a merchant like tone.
Ezra looks around before staring at the guy straight in the eye, “This is gonna sound crazy, but I need to know where I am.”
Concern appears in the young man’s eye, “Uh… we’re on the outskirts of the Shrouded Forest. Beyond the forest is the city of Glimhagen, but if you instead continue on the path outside the inn, you’d eventually reach Cindergate. Does that help?”
These names didn’t sound Litian at all. They sounded more Darkian than anything.
Ezra hesitates before asking, “Am… Am I in the Darkian Empire?”
The waiter nods, “Yes…?” Ezra feels the blood draining from his face. The young waiter quickly places his tray down and holds Ezra up, “Are you okay, sir?” He then yells towards the bar, “Penny, handle the customers at table 34, please!! I have to take care of something, sorry!”
One of the customers at table 34 laughs, pointing a filled beer mug at Ezra, “Looks like that kid couldn’t handle his drink, huh?
Another customer chimes in, teasingly saying,“Make sure not to trip up the stairs, Akui!”
Akui gives them a forced smile, heeding their warnings. He guides Ezra upstairs to a room and sets him down on the bed. It wasn’t a tatami mat like Ezra knew. Ezra was in the Darkian Empire. Oh, Goddess.
Akui removes Ezra’s coat, placing it on top of a bedside table. He had planned to let the boy sleep comfortably, Ezra wasn’t the first person he had tucked into bed due to alcohol-related issues, but he notices the dried blood on Ezra’s shoulder. “Wh-what is that?”
Ezra vaguely looks at the injury, “Oh… It’s nothing… I just tripped in…. The forest, yup.”
Akui sighs, “I shouldn’t be asking questions, and it’s definitely not my business but… first, you almost pass out at the mention of the Darkian Empire, and second, you have signs of a magical injury on your shoulder. Who are you?”
Ezra holds his injury defensively, “Hey wait a sec, how can you tell it’s magical? I tripped in the forest!”
The waiter looks at him expectantly, then explains, “Judging from the wound, it’s too precise for it to be a natural wound like taking a nasty fall in a forest.” Ezra pouts, refusing to answer. Akui continues, “There are plenty of travelers here that showed up with wounds so I know my way around them.” He stands, “Come with me to my room, let’s get you patched up.” Ezra doesn’t move. Akui smiles, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you, I’m just a waiter, after all, I have nothing to gain.”
Ezra doesn’t really have a choice. And Akui seemed trustworthy enough. The customers seemed to know him. He sighs internally, this might as well happen. He follows the waiter into a room at the end of the hallway.
It was a simple room, the cobblestone walls, a bed with a bedside table to match, and a dresser. Two sheathed swords sat on top of the dresser. That didn’t seem like something a simple waiter would have… Although these days, he assumes the Darkian Empire wasn’t particularly safe.
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Akui takes a first aid kit out of the dresser and instructs Ezra to sit down. “Ah, do you mind dragging your sleeve down so I can just patch up your shoulder?”
Ezra shakes his head, dragging his shirt sleeve down for the waiter to cautiously apply alcohol and clean up the wound. He winces at the sting, but sits in comfortable silence, before he hesitantly begins to speak, “Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but bear with me. I’m from the Litian Kingdom…” Akui stops momentarily, processing the fact before continuing to patch up the wound, letting Ezra finish his story. “... And, well, also crazy, but this Darkian mage attacked my friend and I in the woods, and my friend, she like, broke the space continuum or something and opened a portal right as that mage shot a magical laser at me. I know I must sound insane, but it’s all true. That Darkian mage says he had to kill me because I was a ‘witness’, whatever that means… It sounds crazy out loud, and trust me, I can’t wrap my head around it either, but you seem like a sane enough guy. What the heck should I do?”
Akui finishes applying a bandage, and sits beside Ezra, taking the information all in. His expression was a mix of seriousness and deep concern. Ezra awkwardly puts the sleeve back up and puts his jacket back on.
“... That Darkian mage.” Akui says, “He didn’t have dark skin, white hair, and blue eyes, did he?”
Ezra nods vigorously, “Yes he did! He looked at me like I was some ignorant rat. Which I definitely am, but that’s beside the point.”
Deep concern is apparent on Akui’s face. “You were attacked by Lucil. One of the Knights of Cethin.”
“‘Lucil’? ‘Knight of Cethin’? What??? Isn’t Cethin like… the great overlord of the Darkian Empire right now?”
“You can put it that way, yeah. The Knights of Cethin are his personal lackey, they do all of his biddings. Whoever you are, you’re on Cethin’s radar.”
Ezra shakes his head, “Nu-uh, the only crime I’ve committed is stealing the hearts of every person in my village.” The joke falls flat. Ezra groans, leaning back on the bed, “Why the hell would a ‘Knight of Cethin’ attack my friend and me? That makes no sense.” He sits back up, looking at Akui suspiciously, “Wait... How come you believe my story anyway?”
Akui gives him a sly smile, “I’ve heard stranger stories. Travelers from all over the Empire come here. We’re at the halfway point between Glimhagen and Cindergate after all, they’re two of the biggest cities in the Empire although you wouldn’t know that, I suppose. That story is too crazy to be fake, anyway. Who would spend the time coming up with something like that?”
“I guess you’re right… Well, thank you… uh…?”
“Akui. Akui Devta. And your name would be?”
“Ezra. Well, Akui, thank you for your help. Now not to harass you for more help, but where should I go find some answers? I’m still very lost, and some guidance would be helpful.”
Akui rubs his chin, “Going to Aethis’ Shrine would be a good start. There’s one on the outskirts of Cindergate.” He notices Ezra’s long stare. Akui quickly explains, “Uh, Aethis is our Goddess of Magic, she would probably know about the portal magic that brought you here.”
“You people have multiple Gods?”
“Yeah, we have six Gods.”
“Darkians are weird,” Ezra mutters under his breath. That makes Akui crack a smile. This kid was a whole lot more interesting than he thought.
Before Akui suggests Ezra should stay the night before leaving tomorrow, the door to his room is roughly opened.
“Yo, Akui, we got issues.” It’s one of the bartenders. He’s fidgeting in place, looking behind him every five seconds.
Akui stands, a serious expression back on his face, “What’s going on?”
“Soldiers just arrived. They say they want a pink-haired kid with an undercut and Litian clothes.” The bartender looks directly at Ezra. Ezra feels his heart drop, this wasn’t looking very hot.
Akui unties the long coat that was vaguely tied around his waist and puts it on. He grabs the two swords and puts them around a holster at his hip. He suddenly seemed a whole lot more intimidating.
“I’ll go talk to them,” Akui says, “I’ll try to resolve things peacefully.”
“You’re our man for that, my guy. Good luck,” the bartender pats Akui on the shoulder as he leaves the room.
Ezra must have been making the most confused face in the world because the bartender bursts out laughing. “You must be new here, huh? Akui hates fights. The guy’s a real pacifist, he’ll do anything to make sure shit doesn’t go down in this inn.”
“Uh, yeah, the swords kinda gave the opposite impression, not gonna lie.”
“That’s just to intimidate the soldiers. Those guys think they have strength in numbers. They’re a nasty bunch.” The bartender heads back towards the door. “Well, see ya kid.” He leaves.
At this point, Ezra mused, he had two options. He could either stay back, sleep here, and do his best to avoid any interaction possible, or he could sneak downstairs and observe the situation because hell if he wasn’t curious.
The sudden gasp of a crowd from downstairs gave him his answer.
Ezra sneakily makes his way down the stairs to observe the situation. The customers were surrounding Akui and a woman. This woman, a bit on the 30-40-year-old side, with long dull purple hair and the outfit Ezra could only assume was that of a battle warrior, had just poured a bottle of alcohol all over Akui. Akui remained silent, his expression a cold mask.
The woman smirks, leaning in towards Akui, her emerald eyes, thick with lashes, blinked innocently at the waiter, while her tone spilled venom. “You will tell me now, Mr. Waiter. Where is the boy?”
Akui remains silent. Whispers emerge in the crowd.
“What is she talking about?”
“Akui should just hand over the boy, didn’t we see a pink-haired guy walk in? He did seem fishy.”
“Bro, I wouldn’t disobey Jadis if I were him.”
“Jadis?! Bro, isn’t she one of the Knights of Cethin?”
“I heard she fought in the Great Chaos, and that she’s the leader of the Knights.”
“I heard she can crush a skull with her bare thighs.”
At that point, Ezra stops listening, the conversations were straying a little off-topic. The woman did seem battle-ready. A battle-ax hung around her back, and he could see what could be a war scar on the side of her face. She was definitely one of those women Gramps warned should never be messed with.
Despite the hushed whispers of the crowd, Akui refuses to answer. Jadis clicks her tongue. “Search every nook and cranny of this bar!” She barks orders at the soldiers behind her. “I want that boy. He’s a witness and he needs to die.”
Upon hearing that word, Ezra’s whole body tenses up. He was still hidden by the staircase, but it was only a matter of time until they found him, that much was for sure.
Before the soldiers can begin their search, Akui holds out his hand. “The boy you’re looking for isn’t here. You don’t have the right to search this inn.” He stares at Jadis straight in the eyes.
Jadis laughs, placing a hand underneath Akui’s chin. She stood about an inch below and yet it felt that she was the one in control of his fate. “I will do what I damn well please, Waiter boy. Now. Bring me the witness.”
Another round of whispers explodes in the crowd. Ezra sees discomfort in Akui’s eye. He could tell Akui desperately didn’t want a fight to break or Ezra to be found. Ezra knows he should go back in hiding, but a part of him told him that would be the coward’s way of getting out of trouble. Ezra groans internally, he hated being torn up like this.
Akui responds once more. “Please,” he says in a strained tone, “Whoever tipped you off they’re wrong. That boy you’re looking for isn’t here. Please leave. It’s late.”
Jadis gets uncomfortably close to Akui, “If he’s not here like you say, then why is it such a problem if my men search?”
Akui grits his teeth. She had a point.
Ezra decides to move back up the stairs, but the floorboard creaks under his weight. He had been standing on that piece of wood for too long. Damn it.
One of the customers turns around in the direction of the noise. He dramatically points at Ezra. “Wait you’re the boy! Litian clothes, pink hair!”
Shit. Shit shit shit.
Before Ezra can run up the stairs to jump out some random window, the customer, along with some of his friends, grab Ezra from all angles and throw him out in the ring with Akui and Jadis. There’s a look of pure horror on Akui’s face. Jadis’ grin is wider than the Cheshire Cat.
Ezra attempts a wave and a miserable smile. Jadis unsheaths her battle-ax, letting the dull end of the terrifying weapon fall with a thud on the traitorous floorboard. Ezra feels his soul beginning to organize a prison break from his body before it's too late.
Jadis looks with all the hate in the world at Ezra.
“You die. Tonight.”