Warwielder - Book 1 of The Evernoth Odyssey

Chapter 18 - Brawl

The street around Marschal was alive with bustling activity.

He guided his horse down the crowded cobbled path while weaving through the mass of Ciper residents. When Marschal reached Ciper, he was welcomed to the sounds he would expect in a city: moving conversations, sellers hawking their wares, clusters of footsteps, horse-drawn carts. He gazed up to see two rows of wall-like buildings and alley entrances bracketing his path. Marschal noticed taller buildings towering over the ones around him and even higher ones looming above them further into the city. Beyond them all, the Paravellan took note of three spires spouting columns of white smoke atop a hill overlooking the whole city. Marschal stared at the distant structure for a few seconds before looking back down at the path ahead of him.

Not too far from him was a tavern that seemed misshapen and out of place as the only wooden structure in a place full of stone. It was squished between two neighbouring buildings which gave it the appearance of a crumpling creature. There was a horizontal post set up outside the entrance with several horses tied to it. Marschal approached the tavern.

After he reached the establishment, he tied Penelope up against the post with the other horses.

When that was done he was just about to enter the tavern when he noticed a lean, dark-haired man across the street wearing a brown satchel and a red cloth tied around his forehead. Marschal found his age difficult to discern: he had a youthful face but it wouldn't have surprised the Paravellan if the man was older than him.

While the bulk of the surrounding public paid the man no mind, Marschal was the only one who seemed to notice the slight lifts, the deft swipes, the gentle grabs, the items missing from the market stands and the ostensibly accidental bumps into strangers' bodies. The Paravellan's eyes were the only pair that tracked the thief's hands and how they moved confidently and subtly through and against the crowded mass.

Trinkets, food and other small things continued to vanish into the thief's possession until he suddenly stopped. The thief then glanced up at the Paravellan, meeting his studying gaze. Marschal jerked up and looked away as though he had stumbled onto a private and personal matter. When he turned back to the thief, he found a youthful face grinning back at him from across the street. The Paravellan could only arch an eyebrow as the thief winked and placed a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture before slipping back into the moving crowd.

Then he was gone.

Marschal scanned the packed street for the thief but he instinctively knew that he would never see him again. Not unless if the thief deemed it otherwise.

The Paravellan stroked Penelope's snout before finally heading towards the entrance.

However, after he took a single step into the building, he was met with a confronting silence permeating the alcoholic air. The sounds of the outside street wafting through the open door was the only thing that could be heard. Remarkably and disappointingly, the tavern interior matched how Marschal imagined it would look like: a wide and stuffy room with splintered walls that enclosed the space around the quiet patrons. To make out those details, he had to squint through the dim lighting even though all the windows were open. He could see well enough to notice the bartender in front of him, inhabiting a pocketed area against the wall near the entrance.

Marschal scanned the empty dark faces looking back at him before he eventually sighed. The Paravellan then reluctantly ventured into the tavern, trying hard to ignore the eyes following him. When he reached the counter, he took a seat on a bar stool and looked up at the bartender who offered him a hard stare. He seemed to have been expecting something.

"Umm," said Marschal. "I'll...I'll have ale. If you don't mind."

The bartender continued to stare at him for a few seconds until he eventually moved off to grab a cup. Marschal took this time to slowly peek over his shoulder at the rest of the tavern.