Arrows Part 2 (fantasy)

The thunder roared as lightning tore at the deepening twilight above the small coastal town of Diamo. Wind hurtled through the empty streets, and over narrow rooftops, whipping trees into a frenzy and sending tiles crashing to the cobblestones below. In the harbour, mammoth waves tossed the sizeable trading ships like matchsticks sending huge torrents of water flooding onto the nearest streets. Inside the town's only Inn, The King's Sword, talk was far from the weather...

The Innkeeper, Jarlan Sorbay, frowned to himself as he handed a mug of beer to the man sitting on the stool opposite him. His name was Daron Melvah, a merchant and probably the most widely travelled man in Diamo. He was a tall, thin man, in his late forties, Jarlan supposed, with jet-black hair and just a tinge of grey at the temples. To say he was not generally well liked in the town would be putting it mildly, but right now, he had each man in the Inn hanging on his every word.

"I'm telling you. True as I';m sitting here now," said Daron, in his sinewy rasping voice."I was passing through Silverpoint just last month and I got the story straight from a group of refugees from Cedervale. Too scared to go back they said."He paused and raised the mug to his lips. "Sixteen of the town guard. And the Lord Mayor. Oh and the local Innkeeper too..."Daron eyed Jarlan wickedly and was met with a cold stare in return. "Koldram Bal, he was the mayor you know, cut to ribbons, like he'd been attacked by an animal. Apparently, it took them three days just to find all of him." Daron buried his face in his mug once more; a satisfied smile on his lips, on seeing the pale faces that now crowded round him. He was enjoying this, and he hadn't even reached the good part yet. He opened his mouth to continue again, when the innkeeper interrupted. "And you expect us to believe ONE man did all of this Daron? And why Cedervale? A tiny village in the middle of nowhere. What could they possibly have of any worth to anyone but...?"The merchant smugly eyed the man coolly as the blood drained from his face and his words trailed off.

"Anyone but the Shanna'Ai?"said the merchant, cool as midnight. There was not a sound in the inn now, except for the crackling fire, and the occasional intake of breath from one of the listeners. Sorbay looked as though he'd swallowed a live frog.

"Surely you have more sense then to put stock in child's tales Mr. Melvah?" said a quiet but commanding voice, cutting through the silence like a knife.

All eyes were now on the owner of that voice, a tall slender woman, a few stray silvery hairs falling over her face, eyes concealed beneath the hood of a blood red robe that covered all but her porcelain pale hands, resting on a weathered oak table. Strange that he hadn't noticed her enter, thought Jarlan. He liked to keep an eye out for strangers, especially strangers as strange as this. You never knew what useful information you might ferret out that might net you a gold coin or two. His trail of thought was interrupted as the merchant swivelled on his stool to face the woman.

"Of course I do not mean to insinuate anything m'lady" he managed to put as much venom as he could muster into the last word. "All I'm saying is ..."

"I know exactly what you are saying" Her calm but steely voice cut him off instantly, daring him to even try to take that tone with her again, "The Shanna'Ai are myth. A memory of a memory half-remembered. I'll thank you to keep it that way...

Daron opened his mouth angrily when suddenly a look of confusion crossed his face, and he grimaced and shook his head groggily. Trying to focus on the voice, on the woman, he forced his eyes open. Everything was wrong! Upside down and back to front, the tavern room swelled and contorted, tables and chairs twisting, hazy clouds billowing over his vision. With a groan, he lurched forward and hit the ground hard. As a heavy blackness crept over his mind, he was dimly aware of The Innkeeper kneeling beside him and that cool, calm voice echoing through his mind.

"I think perhaps, my merchant friend has had a little too much to drink..."

More to follow

-Dark Phoenix

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