Chapter 5

The shirtless Elven bard plucked a few strands on his guitar and began to yell over the din of the Egress Bar. “Hello, good patrons! Welcome to Egress Bar! I’ll be your bard tonight…” The crowd continued on in their revelry and conversation as if the bard wasn’t there.
Another elf walked over to the bard, dressed in a leaf-themed outfit with a pair of bongos. Her short, feathered hair wobbled a bit when she leaned over and said, “Mar-val, maybe they don’t want to see this new girl tonight.”
“Ti-man,” Mar-val shot back, “this is the girl’s coming out! We can’t let her down! Besides, Donovan is paying us extra.”
“Ah,” said the enlightened elf. Ti-man got up on the stage and yelled “HEY!” at the top of her husky voice. When the crowd stopped dead, she said, “Thank you. Now, we’d like to show all you men a new girl who’s just joined our family here at Egress Bar. Please welcome our new girl…Rysa!”

As the curtain pulled back, a petite body slithered into view. Her hair was curly, stopping at ears adorned with simple blackwood hoop earrings. The yonic shape of the earrings was overly obtuse compared to the striking curves of the dancer who wore them along with a snakeskin string bikini. The tanned skin stretched over thin yet capable arms and legs gave off more than enough sex appeal for the already entranced crowd. The dancer’s smile was radiant as she surveyed the crowd in a quick glance with sultry gray-green eyes.
Many of the men who were there had seen this young lady before and considered her forbidden fruit. The fact that she was here—dancing at the Egress Bar—was a sign that there was a God. The dancer called Rysa began to shake and shimmy her way across the stage barefoot as the musicians Mar-val and Ti-man played their melody. She worked her way to the pole and used it as a prop in her dance, unaware of what it meant to the crowd. Rysa felt good to stretch the length of her body against the pole, slowly reaching down to the floor and letting the elves’ music take her to that place she knew when she felt her needs tugging at her body. She arched her back and finished the dance with a descending pirouette that let her fall to the stage floor.
The place erupted into applause at Rysa’s finale. The dancer looked up at the crowd and saw nothing but the faces of an entertained audience. It’s exactly how the Enigman Kitty described: the rush, the people, everything. Looking about as she pushed herself off the stage deck, she saw a familiar face—but while his hands may have been clapping, his face was stuck in an O of shock and surprise.
It’s that guy, the dancer thought with a smirk. She left the stage as the two musicians gathered up all the food and candy their basket allowed. Rysa worked her way past the grabbing, groping hands wanting their own personal encore and stopped at the man sitting at the bar who stared at her, unsure of what to say. She said the only thing that could have confirmed his suspicions of who Rysa was.
Through glossy lips she purred into his ear, “Hey, Rashad.”
“I-Inia?”
“Shh!” she said into his ear. “They call me Rysa here. Just use that name.” She sidled next to him at the bar and said, “It’s really good to see you here, Rashad. How’d you know tonight would be my coming out night?”
“I didn’t,” Rashad said as he took in Inia’s half-naked body on the stool next to him. “Wow.”
Inia cocked her head in mock confusion. “Hm?”
“Uh…I’m just looking at you, girl. I mean I knew you were hot,” confessed Rashad, “but not this hot. You put Mount Natrius to shame!”
“Yeah,” Inia said. “It helps in this job when you don’t have any, so it all works out.”
Rashad took another swig from his Fireflower special and said, “Speaking of jobs, I thought you were working at the Loom House.”
“The Loom House is my normal job,” she said. “More like a cover job. I use that job to earn money and keep a low profile with my Auntie. If she knew about THIS job, she’d kill me!” Inia began to fan herself and say, “Wow, I never really noticed how hot it gets in here with all these guys around.” She lifted her hair away from the tie that kept her bikini in place. Inia looked back at Rashad and said, “By the moons, I’m so tense after that dance. Can you massage my shoulders?”
Like a dumbass, Rashad asked, “I’m sorry, what’d you say?”
“Gimme a massage, please. I’ll pay you back.”
“OK” was the quickest answer he could muster. Inia shifted around on the stool so that her back faced Rashad. He placed his hands against her shoulders and began to rub. He leaned to the bar and called for the bartender.
“Yo,” Shuya answered. “What’s up Rysa?”
“Mmmmmm” was all Inia said with closed eyes.
Shuya looke over at Rashad and said, “Another Fireflower Special, sir?”
“Yeah,” Rashad said. “And a glass of water for…Rysa.”
“Hmm. Big spender.” Shuya went to work.
Both Inia and Rashad were getting into the massage when Cyan showed up. He had a bit of blood trickling from his mouth and a light scratch on his neck. Rashad had to ask upon seeing his co-worker, “What in the Hells happened to you?”
Inia opened her eyes and said playfully, “He’s been with Kitty.”
As if on cue, the Enigman cat-woman called Kitty sidled up to Cyan’s right side. She wore very short shorts, letting the rest of her body be seen au natural. The Enigman regarded Rashad with keen yellow eyes and said to him, “Puppy love doesn’t last forever, human. Try a little bit of Kitty, baby.”
Cyan chirped up, “C’mon, twerp. It’ll change your life!” The Halfling reached around Kitty’s waist and gave her a squeeze. Kitty liked that and let him know by purring and running her rough tongue over his right cheek.
Witness to the entire scene, Rashad said, “NO THANK YOU.”
“Heh…humans,” was all Kitty said as she walked off with Cyan in tow, leaving Inia and Rashad behind to watch her twitching tail.

“Thanks for walking me home, Rashad,” Inia said, “but there’s really no danger out here. You didn’t have to.”
“I wanted to,” Rashad said. “I can see Blackheart Estates from where I work at the Town Hall site. In the time I’ve been here, I’ve never had the opportunity to see this house up close.” The two walked in the light of a rising Rza toward the back of Blackheart manor. There was a high wall and trees blocking the view of what was in the backyard of Blackheart manor.
“So, why do you have two jobs?”
“Well,” Inia began, “my Auntie’s a businesswoman and she wants me to get into the world of work. She wants me to work like everyone else to know the value of a loaf of bread. So, Auntie set me up with a job with Moira at the Loom House, which is great, ‘cuz they know each other. Getting the job was a shoo-in.
“The thing is it’s so BORING! Set up the loom; make this pattern and that pattern, blah blah blah. It gets repetitive and I hate the job. Not only is the job boring, the pay is low and my boss is boring, too. Moira’s got some kind of mental problem, so she’s REALLY messed up and can’t even focus on what she’s doing. I guess that’s why I’m there; to help Moira.”
“OK,” Rashad said, “so if you hate that low-paying job and you have the job at Egress, why not quit the Loom House and stay at Egress?”
“ I wanted to prove to myself that I could get a job on my own,” Inia said, “doing what I like and getting paid well for it. I know Auntie won’t approve of the job, but I really like dancing! I like the attention! She doesn’t even know how much I need the attention. She’s always stuck in her books and stuff. For all the times she doesn’t even notice me, she sure likes to tell me what to do.
“I don’t think I want to make Auntie mad anymore. Last time I disobeyed her, she gave me a spanking so bad I couldn’t sit for the rest of the day. Can you believe?”
“Sure,” Rashad said, remembering all the spankings that his father and mother gave him as a child. “That’s how parents are.”
“See, that’s the thing” Inia said. “Auntie’s not my mom, but she acts like it. I even treat her like it. To tell her that her niece is out shaking her ass at night would not only make her mad, but it’d break her heart. So I don’t tell her what I really do.”
Rashad looked about and said, “What do you tell your aunt when you come home late at night? You spent all night sewing?”
The tanned teenager looked a shade of olive green in the moon’s light as she adjusted her cloak. “Sometimes I tell her that, but mostly I tell her that I stay over at Moira’s because I am so tired from sewing.”
Rashad nodded in understanding as they made their way up the steps to the door of Blackheart Manor. “Well, here’s where we part.”
Inia held onto his arm and said, “No, come inside. I want you to meet my Auntie.”
I barely know this girl and she wants me to meet her folks, Rashad thought. He asked, “Why? What’s up?”
“Look, I really like you and you seem cool. None of the other boys in town that I know would even come within a mile of the house.” Inia pleaded at him with an intense stare. “Come in and meet the person who you’re really working for. You’ll like her; I promise. Please?”
“Alright, fine. Got nothing else better to do but sleep,” Rashad said.
The two of them walked through the doors and into the nearby kitchen, where Inia poured Rashad a glass of water. “Here you are,” she said with a smile. Rashad took the glass from her, looking into her eyes and thinking that not two hours earlier that she was half-naked and writhing on the floor in the most suggestive way. “Well, I think it’s time you tell me about yourself, Rashad. I practically spilled my guts to you on the way here,” the young woman said.
Rashad began to answer the question, but stopped and thought about all that had passed before he reached Karmor’s Bend. The memories of the killer robots, the war between the Elves and Draconians, and even the fateful quest for the Grand Trident came to his mind in that moment. The thought that reigned supreme in his mind was the memory of Sa-ren.
It had been almost a full week since he thought of his late wife and how much she meant to him. He remembered her as if she had never left: pink hair, pointy ears and blue-green eyes that held the world in awe every day. He thought of all the time he would have died had it not been for his wife, contrasting them with all the time he’s saved her life…except for that one moment when he could not. Rashad was so caught up in the adventure that day, running with the magic treasure that granted him such speed. He just assumed that everything would be okay, even as the temple collapsed about their heads. He still couldn’t get over the fact that she was so far behind when it all happened, didn‘t understand why—WHY—he didn’t look and check…
“Rashad?” Inia said softly. “Are you okay?”
He shook off the reverie to wipe away tears and answer, “Yeah, I’m okay. I just don’t talk about my history much.”
“Well, do you wanna go? I mean…”
“Yeah. But you want to know my history, okay.” Rashad pulled himself together and said, “I’ll give you the short version: I’m from a small town in North Cordoba. I used to be an Adventurer; now I’m not.”
“Don’t go just yet, Master Adventurer,” a mocking voice came from everywhere. “I haven’t seen what’s got my niece in the kitchen this hour.”

Rashad turned about to look and see where the voice was coming from. The figure standing in the doorway of the kitchen wore a dark green apron over her purple high-collared dress. The highlights in the fabric that pointed out the Blackheart’s womanly curves competed for attention with the small metal tube she held. A smile as sharp as a dagger greeted Inia as she said “Good evening child.”
“Hey Auntie. Sorry I’m so late. I came back for a change of clothes.” Inia stood and introduced, “Master Rashad, from North Cordoba. He works for you.”
“Does he?” the dark mage said. She looked at Rashad as he started to rise and greet her. Thinking back to all the lies that she had been told as a young girl growing into womanhood by all manner of males, she knew this one would be no different. “Tell me, Master Adventurer, what have you done? Perhaps I have heard of you.”
“I retrieved the Grand Trident, ma’am,” he said, “from the island of Jankenpon.”
“Surely you must be joking; the Grand Trident was lost ages ago!”
“Yes, it was. I held it in my own hand, Madam Blackheart, for it was I who retrieved it.”
“Well then,” Blackheart teased, “where is it?”
“Fortunately, it’s in the hands of Archmage Friday, madam.”
The dark mage’s expression transformed from one of levity to burning indignation. “You DARE to insult my intelligence by speaking to me of a mage dead before my time? You, a male,” Blackheart snarled through her teeth, “would lie to my dear Inia in my own house? Corrupt her with your worldly ways? I’ll stake my word that you’re not even an Adventurer.” After Rashad told her he was, she said, “Show me proof!” He had enough of this lady already and was gonna end this discussion. Rashad produced the Adventurer’s Guild Medallion from his pocket and showed it to Blackheart. The medallion bore the words “ADVENTURE GUILD” split between a wheat stalk, on a bordered pentagonal shape. She looked it over once and said, “Hmm. Impressive. Perhaps I was wrong, master…”
“Rashad” the annoyed man spoke.
“Yes. Well, I thank you for working for my construction company. Would you accept my humble apology for this misunderstanding?”
“Whatever.” Rashad walked out of the manor’s front door, oblivious to the black hooded figure standing in the shadows of the dining room. The hooded figure made a move to follow but a slight glance from Blackheart kept the thing at bay.
“Inia, go upstairs to your room” the dark mage said. “We will talk later.”
“Auntie, why do you always do that?” Inia shouted. “He’s nice, he has a good job and he was respectful to you until you insulted him—“
“HE’S A MALE! A MALE!” Blackheart shouted back. Her black eyes glowered when she gripped the young woman by the upper arm. She stared into Inia’s fearful eyes and said, “He lied to you. Did you know that? His medallion is a fake! I know this because I have a medallion of my own. I was also a member of the Adventurer’s Guild back in my days before the Academy, child.”
“Wh-what?” Inia said. “Have you stopped to think that maybe the guild changed emblems? Your days at the Academy were more than twenty years ago!”
“I know how many years have passed between my self and my Academy days, child.” Blackheart said with a growl. “And of those years, I spent them all making sure you were fed and clothed and educated. Sadly, each year, you drift farther and farther from me into the world of Men. And I, for one, am tired of the resultant conflicts of our parting.
“You will go upstairs. You will go to sleep. You will go to work on the morrow,” Blackheart spouted, “and by the moons of Cordoba, you will never see that male—any male—again. Ever.”
The dark mage started to drag the Inia to the stairs to take her to her bedroom. “Auntie, you’re hurting me!” she screamed. She pushed against Blackheart and said, “Please stop!”
In response, Blackheart slapped Inia across the jaw. A burst of green energy erupted from the point of contact and threw the young woman to the floor. The black hooded figure, still in the dining room, moved forward to grab the young woman. As it picked Inia up, the dark mage spoke to the creature:
“Take the young miss to her quarters. Guard the door.”
The shadow-clad thing carried Inia up the stairs and into her room, where it laid her onto the bed. It walked out the room, closing the door behind it and standing in front of the door. Blackheart stormed to the coat closet after the hooded minion did its work. She opened the door and pushed aside the many coats she owned, some smelling like tea and others like tobacco. Kneeling to the floor, her hands found the pull ring to the trap door and she pulled it open.
The opening into the cool earth below had a ladder that led into it and exhaled the coldest of chills into the closet. The dark mage’s breath turned to vapor in the confines of the coat closet. Blackheart grabbed a coat of mottled leather and lowered herself into the hole, taking her mind off that “male” and turning her focus to the job at hand.