The Wandering Inn_Volume 1, page 19
Erin nodded.
“They’re vicious, evil little monsters. And they’d probably eat me if they could.”
“Undoubtedly.”
“And they’re murderers.”
“This is true. Over a quarter of the deaths of travelers on the roads around Liscor are due to Goblin attacks. They are murderers.”
“Yeah.”
Erin mumbled. She stared at her hands. Her clean, whole hands.
“They’re murderers. And so am I. Don’t kill them.”
Silence followed her last remark. Erin stared at her hands. At last, Klbkch’s staccato voice sounded next to her ear.
“I do not understand your reasoning. But I will accede to your requests. Know that I will defend myself with lethal force if attacked, however.”
“That’s fine. They’re gone, anyways. They ran off when they heard him screaming.”
“Very well then.”
Klbkch fell silent. Erin stared at the spot where the body had lain. She felt lightheaded. At some point, she felt, she should have clung to Klbkch and started crying. Or was that too stereotypical? Was it a normal reaction? But instead she just felt a bit—empty.
“One more thing.”
“Is there something you wish to ask of me, Miss Solstice?”
Erin nodded vaguely. She pointed at her chest. It was still bare. Oops. She pulled her shirt down. Good thing her bra was still on.
“After I killed the Goblin—I gained a new skill. Two, actually. [Tavern Brawling] and [Unerring Throw].”
“They are worthy skills. Unusual for the [Innkeeper] class, but not unheard of.”
“Really? Why’d I get them? And aren’t skills like…set?”
“Another sign you do not belong of this world, Miss Solstice.”
Erin looked up with a frown. Klbkch waved one hand.
“I mean no offence. It is simply that all beings know how classes and skills work.”
“Well then, explain it to me.”
Klbkch was silent for a few seconds.
“To put it simply, classes are general ways of life that individuals take. In life, one might choose to become a [Butcher], or perhaps a [Musician]. It is simply a matter of fulfilling the requirements. Often they are known, but there are exceptions. One cannot simply take the [Ruler]-type class for instance.”
“Right, you’ve got to be born into it.”
“That is indeed one of the ways to learn such a class. But in any case, classes increase one’s proficiency at their role with each new level. And with that increase in ability, skills may be learnt. But there is no one set of skills for a class.”
“Really?”
“Indeed not. Two individuals taking the [Soldier] class for instance, may learn different skills at the same level. It is a matter of need and inclination which allows individuals to learn skills. For instance, while Relc is a higher level [Guardsman] than I, he still does not possess the [Detect Guilt] skill.”
“Okay.”
Klbkch looked at Erin. She shrugged.
“Do you understand?”
“Not really. Sort of. I guess? But why are there levels in the first place?”
“It is the way of the world. All races that think are given the ability to level and take classes.”
“By who?”
Erin sighed and slapped her face lightly.
“Or whom. Who did it? And why?”
“It is not known. But our oldest texts tell us of this truth.”
Klbkch recited in his inflectionless voice:
“All those that Think—Feel. From Feeling do we Act. It is in Action that we Level. All those who Think have a Class. And it is in that Class which we find destiny.”
Erin snorted. Then she realized he was being serious.
“Did someone teach you that?”
Klbkch nodded gravely.
“It is part of the lessons any child learns. The exact wording comes from a book: The Book of Levels, which was originally written nearly a thousand years ago.”
“But why is that how things work?”
Erin was getting frustrated. Klbkch’s calm, matter-of-fact tone wasn’t helping matters either.
“It is simply how we live our life. This is a universal truth throughout the world. Is yours not the same?”
Erin scowled at him.
“No, it’s not. We don’t have levels, and we don’t learn skills like we’re in a video game. We don’t have classes except for ones in school, and we don’t need levels to learn things.”
“Learning skills is not merely a matter of levels. Classes and leveling are simply the basis of our lives so we may grow faster from what we do. It is a fact of life.”
“That’s stupid.”
He looked at her in surprise.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Your leveling is stupid. Your skills are stupid. I hate your world’s classes, I hate your city, and I hate you.”
She shouted those last words at Klbkch and then buried her face in her hands. After a while she felt him place a comforting hand on her shoulder. It was cold, smooth exoskeleton. But it was still comforting.
“…I didn’t mean that.”
“I took no offense, Miss Solstice. I realize you have gone through a traumatic event. The fault lies with me for not being more receptive to your distress. I should have provided more comfort and companionship. In that my partner Relc is occasionally more effective than I.”
“You’re fine.”
Erin mumbled that through her tears. She’d begun crying. Not bad crying or loud crying, but her eyes were suddenly filled with tears.
“I’m just having a bad—I mean, it’s been—I hate this world. But I didn’t mean that last bit about you. You’re okay. Everyone else can go to hell.”
“I see. Here. Please accept this.”
Klbkch handed Erin another piece of cloth. She blew her nose and sniffed loudly.
“I’d like to be alone now.”
Klbkch hesitated.
“I will remain here with your permission. It would be unwise to—”
She cut him off.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Respectfully, I must disagree. Though the Goblin Chieftain is dead, his tribe may seek vengeance.”
“They won’t.”
“May I ask how you know?”
“I just know. Please. I’d really like to be left alone.”
Again he hesitated, but at least Klbkch stood up. He walked over to the door of the kitchen. There he turned.
“One last question Miss Solstice, if I may? What caused the Goblin Chieftain to attack you in the first place? It is rare that the tribal leader takes any aggressive action if unprovoked.”
Erin closed her eyes. She felt so tired. And the events of…was it this morning? They felt so long ago.
“Relc. He killed three Goblins and beheaded them.”
Klbkch paused. Out of the corner of her eye Erin saw him close one of his four hands. Then he bowed deeply.
“Allow me to apologize on both our behalves. Words cannot express my shame.”
She nodded shortly.
“It’s okay.”
The lie said, she waited for Klbkch to leave. When he didn’t leave after a few minutes, she looked directly at him.
“I’m going to sleep.”
He nodded.
“Well then. Take care, Miss Solstice.”
He didn’t close the door since the door was broken. But he did prop it against the hole in the wall and prop it up with two chairs. That done, the ant man disappeared into the grasslands, quickly becoming a silhouette against the orange sky.
Erin put her head up against the wall. Her eyes were burning and her body felt slow and fuzzy after the healing potion. At last he was gone. It wasn’t that she didn’t want his company. In fact she wanted to hold him or maybe him to hold her. But she wanted to sleep now. To forget.
But she couldn’t sleep.
She wanted to sleep badly. Her mind was crying out for her to close her eyes. But when she did, she saw things. So she kept them open.
She smelled the burned oil and burning flesh, still. Klbkch ahd opened a window and an evening breeze was blowing through the kitchen. But she still smelled death. She still saw it in the Goblin Chieftain’s eyes. He was looking right at her—
Thump.
Erin smacked her head against the wall behind her. It hurt. She did it again.
Thump. Thump.
The image of the dead Goblin’s eyes disappeared for a second. But the instant she thought about them, they were back, staring into her soul.
Thump.
Erin bumped her head again. The pain made the vision fade briefly. It also made her head swim. Still, if she had to chose between that and the Goblin’s—
Thump. Thump. Thump.
She wanted to sleep. But couldn’t. And the night was coming. With it came uncertainty, fear, but worst of all was that one thing she couldn’t escape.
Memory.
Thump.
—-
Klbkch walked through Liscor’s western gates and nodded at the Drake on duty. He received a scowl in reply but made no comment. Politeness was important. Fostering strong ties and goodwill towards the Antinium within the city was important.
What was also important was turning in a bounty. Klbkch had a large cloth bag he’d fashioned out of what remained of Erin Solstice’s shopping bag and it was weighing down his left side by quite a bit. But the bag was necessary, and besides, it kept the smell and sight from disturbing the other civilians he passed.
Yes, the bounty. He would fill it out tonight. But before that he had another mission that took higher precedence.
Klbkch walked through the streets until he came to a bar he knew was frequented by many Drake customers. It was a loud, raucous joint filled with many reptilian bodies, but they made room for him. Not out of respect for his occupation; he was off-duty, but out of a desire not to touch him.
The lone Antinium walked through the crowd of Drakes until he heard his name being loudly called and the smash of a tankard being hurled his way.
“Oi, Klb! You won’t believe what that stupid human did this time.”
Klbkch approached Relc from across the bar. The Drake weaved him over to a seat and turned unsteadily. He was with a gaggle or as the proper term was, cluster of Drakes. Some were male; the majority was female. Or not. Gender was still difficult for Klbkch to ascertain at the best of times.
“Good thing you’re here. Let me tell you, that Erin girl? Stupidest human I’ve ever met. Do you know what she did this morning?”
Relc launched into his story. By the looks on the other’s faces, this was not his first retelling. Klbkch ignored Relc and ignored the seat the Drake was trying to shove him into.
He placed two of his hands on Relc’s shoulders to steady him. Proper posture was critical. Then Klbkch hit Relc with his other two hands as hard as he could.
The Drake saw the punch coming, but he was too drunk to dodge properly and Klbkch’s hands held him in place. He smacked into the floor hard as both punches caught him in the jaw and stomach at the same time.
For a moment all was stunned silence. Then Klbkch heard a loud hiss that turned into a screeching bellow of rage.
Relc surged to his feet with a roar and caught Klbkch’s foot coming up. The blow smashed him in the jaw again and this time stunned him for a few seconds. Klbkch nodded to himself. Proper posture was critical for a good strike.
Relc lay at Klbkch’s feet. He got back up, received two more punches again, and decided to lie down. Klbkch nodded to himself and walked away from his partner.
The atmosphere in the room had turned hostile. Klbkch glanced around but decided not to draw his daggers. The other male Drakes were glowering and clenching their clawed hands, but experience told him that they would not attack unless he made further provocations.
Klbkch estimated the public perception towards Antinium within the city had lowered a degree from his actions, regardless of the reasons. Antipathy within the City Guard would also be substantial, at least in the short term.
It was a costly consequence, but it struck Klbkch as fitting. He nodded to the silent bar of onlookers.
“Good night to you. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience. I shall take my leave.”
Klbkch turned and walked out of the bar. He heard the hubbub start as soon as he’d left mixed in with Relc’s indignant and distinctive voice. Oh yes. There would be consequences tomorrow.
For some reason that didn’t bother Klbkch. Instead, he wondered what humans were like. Were they anything like Drakes? He wondered.
But the night was deepening and he still had a bounty to turn in. The proper forms needed to be filled out and an eyewitness account delivered. Things had to be done properly or not at all.
Klbkch walked into the night. There was a bounty to fill out and research on humans to be done. But most importantly, the Others must know of a human named Erin Solstice. She was important. After all, she was unique.
—-
The body was gone. But Erin still saw his face. She still smelled burning flesh, still felt her hands burn. She still heard him breathing.
She didn’t sleep. And as the night fell into day she stared up at the dark ceiling.
Listening to the breathing.
1.18
Erin sat in a chair and stared outside. It was a lovely day. A warm breeze floated through the window, warming all it touched.
Except for her. She felt cold. Cold and empty.
Shadows passed before her. They had names. Klbkch, Relc, even Pisces. But they weren’t important. The dead were far worse.
Erin held a Goblin’s head in her hands. She stared into its blank eyes and felt her hands burning. She sat next to a dying Goblin and listened to him breathing.
The sun was bright. At some point the night had turned to day. But Erin still felt as if it were night. In the inn the shadows were long and kept her in darkness. It was only fitting.
The world felt hollow. Everything echoed and the world blurred gently around Erin as she sat. She wasn’t doing anything in particular. She was just existing. Existing, and not fitting in.
A little ghost in a little inn in a little world. That’s what she felt like.
It was cold.
Erin looked up. Relc was in the inn. Was it the first time she’d seen him today? Probably. He was yelling about Goblins and apologizing. Klbkch was there. Silent. His brown carapace blended in with the chairs. Maybe he’d been here all day. Erin couldn’t remember.
“—kill all of the little bastards!”
Relc was shouting. He grabbed his spear. Erin’s hand moved.
“Whoa!”
Relc’s head jerked back as a kitchen knife flashed past his face. The blade thudded into a wall and lodged in the wood.
Klbkch and Relc stared at Erin. She stared at her hand silently. Oh. Right. A skill. [Unerring Throw]. Had she talked to Klbkch about it yesterday? Or was she going to talk to him in the future about it?
She looked up at Relc.
“Leave them alone.”
Then Erin went back to staring at her hands. After a while, Relc left. Klbkch left too, or maybe Erin just stopped seeing him.
“This is my inn. I make the rules here. And if you don’t like my rules, get out.”
Did she say that to Relc, or the empty inn? Maybe she screamed it. Erin couldn’t remember. Time wasn’t the same anymore. She just stared at her hands and felt her flesh burning. She saw the dead Goblin lying on the floor, screaming quietly.
It was all she saw.
Pisces came later. He ran in with sparks shooting from his fingertips. He was like Relc. But he cared. He wanted to kill Goblins too, or maybe just scare them away. Place a curse on them. It didn’t matter.
Erin stared at him until he flinched and looked away. She gave him one of the dried sausages. She told him if he killed a Goblin then she’d kill him.
He took the sausage and turned white when she told him she’d kill him. Then he left.
Erin sat in the inn and felt the walls closing in. She couldn’t breathe in there. So she went outside.
The sun was too beautiful and the sky was too bright. Erin went back inside and felt the darkness crawling up her spine. The shadows were moving. The wind sounded like whispers.
She heard breathing. It was hers.
It was dark. At some point the sun went down. That was the worst time. Erin saw dead things lying in the shadows. The bodies of Goblins lay underneath tables; their heads sat in the moonlight filtering in from the windows.
Erin shut her eyes. But they followed her inside her head. They dug around her mind and pulled out memories. Then they tore apart her heart. Piece by piece, until morning came.
—-
Klbkch came the next day. Relc was missing. He sat with her a while and asked her more questions. Was she well? Did she want anything? Was she hungry?
Erin answered until it was too much work. Then she just sat and waited for him to leave. Eventually, he did.
The sunlight grew brighter until the shadows retreated. Erin sat in her chair and rocked back and forth occasionally. She got up when she heard the thumping.
Someone was at the door. Erin opened it.
A giant rock stood in front of her inn. A long claw reached for her. The rock crab clicked and swiped at her, snapping at her waist.
Erin opened her mouth and screamed. The rock crab tried to grab her head with one claw. She smashed it with a chair and kept screaming. The rock crab jerked back its claw and retreated. She howled at it. She screamed and screamed until her breath was gone. Then she screamed some more.
The crab retreated in agony, trying to shield its earholes with its claws. It scuttled away as fast as it could. Miles away the pterodactyl birds took flight in panic.
Erin screamed and screamed until her voice was gone. She wiped the tears off her face and walked back into the inn and slept in her chair.
—
She felt hungry when she woke. Erin ignored the feeling and kept sitting where she was. But the pain started biting at her insides. She ignored it.
