Hounds Rising

“Two more beers, please!”

The bartender smiled, then poured two more drinks from the large barrels behind him into steel tankards. The water genasi held his fingers up, signaling they would cost ten gold pieces. Ana laid the gold on the table, grabbed the tankards, and turned to find Lyla and Leaf, who she had seen just come into The Jaded Tavern.

Ana scanned the tavern. Her friends and the new friends, Arric and Kanadak, were nearby. Around the room, female half-elves with little clothing walked around, taking coins and placing food and drinks on the tables for the patrons. Near the door, where she had seen the two of them, she could see Leaf turning back and heading out. Looking harder, she didn’t see Lyla anywhere but assumed that they might both have left, and she just didn’t notice.

She set the tankards in front of her and listened to the viol playing in the corner. The music was slow and steady, and while she enjoyed it, she didn’t feel it matched the tavern’s atmosphere. Ana turned to her friends, ready to bring the drinks over and offer them when a loud crashing sound erupted somewhere nearby.

The bard scratched their chord and stopped, and everyone quietly stared over towards the back hallway, where the sound had come from. The bartender looked over at his staff, who looked back and nodded. Quickly, they started ushering people out, starting at the door and working back.

What is going on?

The front door opened again, and Leaf stepped back in, passing the patrons leaving. The bartender walked over, hollering over the sound.

“Where is your friend?” He shouted at Leaf.

“What are you talking about?” Leaf answered, a look of confusion coming over his face.

“The female friend you brought in with you a moment ago before you left again. Where is she?” He towered over Leaf.

Ana could see the bartender was breathing heavily and seemed frantic. Trying to be helpful, she walked over to them and spoke.

“Sir, I don’t know the problem, but our friend just arrived. What is the issue? Maybe we can help?”

“You are with them?” He turned to look at Ana. “Well, good. Then, you can stay, too.”

The bartender nodded his head to one of the servers. The server took a key out of her pocket and locked the door from the inside. The bartender turned and walked down the hallway, and Ana could hear him open a door on the other side.

“Lowell! Danas! Get your asses out here!” The bartender roared.

A swinging door opened behind the bar, and Ana saw a human and triton walk out from the back. The human wore an apron covered in food, but the triton was in nice leather and seemed unaffected by the kitchen’s mess or heat. Her confusion grew, and she felt like everything was getting out of control quickly. The bartender walked back, and the triton spoke up.

“What’s going on Surge?”

“Someone broke into the office. One of the boxes has been broken into.” Surge quickly spat out.

Surge walked over to Leaf again and started shouting.

“Where is the girl who came in with you? Answer me!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Leaf stood defiantly.

“Fine, if you don’t want to talk, maybe we can make you talk.”

Surge pulled a scimitar from his belt and plunged at Leaf. Ana heard the sound of others pulling out their weapons in front of her and with her friends behind her. She set the two tankards on the table but didn’t have time to react as the human cook walked up with his sword and plunged it into her stomach.

Ana gasped and felt the blood wet her clothes. The human’s food, ale, and sweat odor overwhelmed her senses. She dropped to the ground, and the human shouted something to the triton. He jumped onto the bar, and Ana saw him pulling out his sword and running straight toward Rhokhishi and Arric. Her eyesight gave, and everything went dark.