It was closing time at Long John Mithril's. A broken table, leftover result of the previous day's barfight, had been pushed into one corner. The waitress, a well-muscled woman with a tattoo of an anchor partially concealed under a sleeve, was doing the final cleaning up. Looking around the empty common room, she nodded, gave the table next to her one last wipe, and turned back towards the kitchen. No sooner had she reached it than she heard the front door closing. She frowned; she distinctly remembered locking it, but perhaps the latch had not caught properly.
"We're closed! Go away!" she called out, wiping her hands on a rag and preparing to eject a sailor too drunk to read the sign.
"What, and drink these all alone? That would be horribly selfish of me, Allie," responded a pleasant tenor voice.
Allie dashed back out of the kitchen, a grin lighting up her face. "Loopi?"
An elf in bright, colorful clothing was holding two black bottles together by the neck, the glass clinking softly as he held them up for inspection. "It would also probably be horribly unhealthy of me. Nobody should try to drink even one bottle of these without medical supervision, much less all alone. It is a testament to the bride-to-be's dedication to her training and her supernatural constitution that she was still standing after what you handed her, Allycat."
"Hah!" she retorted. "You come to this tavern to party, you get treated right. Wait, did you say bride-to-be? Wasn't the wedding supposed to have happened already?"
"Oh, it started on time. Between the guards, the berserk golem, and all the other stress, the vows never actually did get spoken, so it's going to happen again next month. Still, it was highly entertaining, and nobody died, so it was well worth the attendance. Since I'm bringing the drinks, could you bring the glasses, and a couple pitchers of water? You still have that bed in the cellar, I take it?"
"It's the only place dark enough for me, those are the drinks I gave you, and what kind of wimp would water them?" she retorted good-naturedly, but went back to the kitchen for a tray.
"Ah, but I brought the drinks back, just for you, that is the point. As for the water, it's not to put in the drinks, but to drink in between. And as I've pointed out before, you wouldn't have so much problem with daylight in the morning if you did the same."
She emerged from the kitchen chuckling, set down the tray, and pulled open a trapdoor in one corner. "Clever boy. You always were good with your tongue. Now bring your tongue and those bottles down here."
---
A boy's voice was yelling something from outside. Although the words were no longer discernible from the cellar, the high pitched tone carried remarkably well. Allie turned over, and caught a faceful of light streaming down through the open trapdoor, winced, and then turned her head face down again. "Loopi. Go kill him for me," she moaned, and dragged a pillow over her head.
Loopi grinned lightly and caressed a shoulderblade. Rising silently, he gathered his clothes and climbed up the steps.
Upon opening the door, the source of the yelling was revealed to be a newsboy. "Get the latest news from me, just a single coin, evil strikes Faysal, just a single coin to learn more!"
Loopi blearily walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "If I give you three coins, lad, will you go away after you tell me your tale? I'd suggest the temple district; they're more used to yelling over there."
"Let me see the coins," the boy said, narrowing his eyes shrewdly.
Loopi handed him a few coins, which vanished quickly into a pocket. "Okay, this is the story," the boy said. "Faysal got attacked by an army of the dead last night, led by a great demon. It was so strong, that it destroyed half a dozen of the Spire's golems that were sent out to meet it, and almost broke through to Faysal, except that a bunch of adventurer types got in the way. The battle was really big, but fortunately they won the day, and even all survived. Well, there was a rat-man who got killed, I heard, but all the adven..."
"Wait, what about a rat man?" Loopi interrupted, eyes suddenly focused.
"What? Oh, someone said that there was a rat-man who was helping defend Faysal for some reason that got killed, and a couple of the farmers died, but everybody important survived."
"You might be surprised about who's important, lad," Loopi said quietly. "Well, you have your coin and I have my story. Go on up to the temple district."
"I just came from there," the boy said impudently. "But I'll move on to the south gate."
Loopi watched him go, suddenly feeling a dull ache in his head that hadn't been there when he awoke. Once the boy was out of sight he went back in the tavern, closing and latching the door as quietly as he could. Silently, he walked back to the cellar stairs and went back down. He stopped at the foot of the bed for a moment, watching Allie contemplatively, before sitting down next to her.
"Is he dead yet?" she murmured from underneath the pillow.
"He won't be making anymore noise for a while." The elf paused. "I need to go."
Allie groaned. "What, already? Stay here and keep me company a little longer."
Loopi shook his head. "A friend of mine died last night. I need to go ask some questions."
Allie pulled the pillow to one side and opened one eye, staring groggily up at him. "You're serious? Anyone I know?"
The elf shrugged casually. "Someone you've seen. Not many know him. You should get up soon yourself. The sun has long since risen, and you're losing customers the longer you keep your doors closed. I've left you willowbark extract on the table, and there is still water."
Allie grunted. "Damnit, elf. I weigh more than you do. How the hell can you drink so much and not feel it in the morning?"
Loopi's eyes twinkled. "I drank the water last night. You must drink it with willow bark in the morning. As usual."
Allie sighed. "Take care of yourself, Loopi. I'll miss your tongue if you let whatever got him get you."
Loopi kissed her gently on the shoulder. "I'll see you again, I'm sure."
There was a slight rustle of fabric as he stood, and then he was gone.
Copyright © 2003-2005 by Zed Pobre. All rights reserved. This text is NOT available under a Creative Commons license.
