The Carnival at Moonbright

In the night’s rain, Leaf pushed through the streets, happy not to be stopped by the townsfolk as they were all hiding from the storm in their cozy homes, taverns, and places of rest. The cloak around Leaf, a dark forest green, stopped any wetness from reaching his clothes as he moved away from the Archmage’s Tower, around Haron’s Castle walls, and into Honey Barrow to the Athenaeum.

Rosemita Stonesky, the halfling librarian he was to meet with, was a friendly blond-haired, hazel-eyed, always-beaming woman who consistently seemed to have the answers available when needed. She appeared destined as a librarian and was happy to be one. Some people want to adventure, some get involved in magic, and some into politics, but Rosemita was delighted to be enveloped by tomes, knowledge, and the mysticism of the fictitious world.

Turning down an alley that was a shortcut to the Athenaeum, he could hear footsteps splashing in puddles and a female voice shouting out.

“Hey, asshole! Give me the money you stole!”

Leaf examined ahead to see a young woman running past. Leaf slowed down his steps and followed the building wall next to him to observe and witness the commotion. Hiding next to some trash bins, he looked to see the young woman rowing with an older man.

“Little girl, go home before you get hurt.” The man said as he staggered drunkenly away.

Leaf heard footsteps approaching and hid behind the bins to avoid being seen. Three men appeared out of the shadows across the street from him, weapons already unsheathed. Three more walked past him, unknowing of the voyeur right next to them. They all had comparable attire, dark gray mantles with hoods over their heads and piercing, glowing, white eyes. Humanoid figures for sure, but Leaf was uncertain if they were mages or another race of beings that may have looked like this.

The six new thugs approached and encircled the woman. She took a stance and braced herself for the impending fight. Some of the thugs pulled out daggers, some crossbows, and the intoxicated man pulled his scimitar into his hand, pointed it at the girl, and exclaimed.

“Get her!”

Immediately, the fight commenced. The thugs with daggers scuttled at her as she rushed up to the drunkard. It was evident that she was going to be surrounded quickly. Leaf remained behind the bins and prepared himself. Looking over, he started to cast his magic outward. Sounds, like bells, rang through the air next to his target as he pushed his abilities to the figure. It may not do much damage immediately, but over time it would become a concussive sound, a ringing that would make the thug’s ears bleed.

The girl never took out a weapon. Raised and instructed in martial arts, Leaf assumed, she flowed around attacks, landing blows with her fists, small cones of fire coming from her hands every so often as if her Ki had evoked it. The men with their crossbows shot at her, and while some missed utterly, the rain caused the bolts that would have hit to miss her by millimeters. Leaf watched as she caught one of the bolts behind her, spun around to kick one person, then threw the bolt back at the thug who shot at her. It was awe-inspiring to see, but she was starting to become overpowered by the attackers, so he started focusing his magic on the tiny crystal globe in his hand, using it to cast outward around him. More ringing sounds filled the air as he repeatedly attacked, causing more and more damage to those with crossbows, distracting them as the woman concentrated her attacks on the other thugs.

The man with the scimitar, clearly hurt, moved away from the rest as the men with crossbows changed their focus from the girl to Leaf. Now attacking him, the woman realized her support was in danger and ran up to guard him. They worked together to focus their attacks, getting in sync on which ones to cast spells at and which to focus their melee strikes.

“Meatshield! You are hurt. We need to back away before they surround you again!”

“Meatshield!? Just because I can take a hit and keep going doesn’t mean I’m going to keep covering you. Focus, wizard.”

They organized their attacks individually to each thug around them, bottlenecking them in the alleyway. After the last one dropped, Leaf looked at the woman.

“The other one, where did he go?” Leaf asked.

“I don’t know. I need to find him.”

“Okay, Meatshield, lead the way, and I will help.”

“My name is not Meatshield. It’s Lyla.”

“Okay, Meatsh… Lyla. I’m Leaf. Let’s hurry.”

They rushed forward, down the alleyway, and into the street. A few buildings to the east, they saw the man hunched over, his hand on the wall and slowly pushing forward. They ran up to catch up with him and watched as he stood at full attention, pivoted around grinning, and dropped the glass bottle in his hand. Leaf recognized it immediately, the red hue of the liquid inside. A medicinal elixir… Not good.

The man seemed to radiate with light for an instant, a type of chain mail glowing under his shirt. Lyla had already known from her strikes, but seeing the blackened chain mail confirmed that the armor would have no weaknesses. The man turned his head, and a deafening sound seemed to echo from his neck as his bones cracked.

Leaf and Lyla steeled themselves. The man ran at them, his scimitar out, and focused his attacks on Lyla first. Lyla was already drained from the first fight and couldn’t keep up with the new vigor of the assailant. After only a few blows, he managed to get the upper hand, and with one final impact, he struck the butt of his weapon at her head, knocking her unconscious.

Leaf threw spell after spell at the man, and while damaging him, it was not enough to stop him from moving over and attacking. Leaf felt the pain of the weapon digging into his skin repeatedly as it slashed at him. Before long, Leaf felt the tunneled vision take him. The blood loss was already too much. The pain was taking too quickly. The panic set in, then calm, then the black void of after.

Suddenly, Leaf took a tremendous gulp of air, and his lungs fought back to keep him alive. His heart beat in his ears as he looked around with wide eyes. The rain lashed his face, and he saw the man over his body, holding him up by his cloak, casting a restorative incantation.

“Where is it?” The man snarled at Leaf.

“...What?”

The man plunged his scimitar back into Leaf’s chest, falling to death once more. Then, as before, he breathed in, felt his blood pumping, and saw the man standing over him.

“Where is it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about… Wha-” Leaf started to speak, but not liking what he had heard, the man plunged his sword into him again.

For what felt like an eternity, the man awakened Leaf, asking the same question each time, and when he did not get a satisfactory answer, he took his life again and again.

On the last time, Leaf’s torn and slashed cloak fell from his chest to the side, showing the man the small stature of the gnome wizard. Reaching Leaf’s left side, the man pulled out a small book hidden under his arm and grinned.

“This will do.”

The man let Leaf fall to the ground as his hands reached for his spellbook. He needed that book. It had all of his spells and magic theories prepared there. Looking around, trying to take stock of everything that happened, Leaf saw Lyla’s body on the ground, not moving. The stillness of her body told him precisely what he feared.

The man started to walk away, chuckling as he kicked Lyla’s side, stepped over her body, and casually walked down the street. Leaf shakily stood, his knees barely holding his weight, and took a few steps forward.

No. You will pay for this.

Leaf bore his hand out, focused his magical force around him, and roared into the night. Lightning arced across the sky, and the thunder boomed from Leaf’s body. It struck the man in the back in a ray of force, who then stood motionless as if petrified. One second, two seconds went by… Then, the man fell to the earth, his heart next to his body from where Leaf’s spell forced it out of his chest.