A Tale of Two Knights

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Burn the pyre, light the fire

Burn the ashes with the pyre,

Fire burning, light and bright,

Sacrifice control, perish souls

No left of mind, burn the shrine!

-lauf chant

The Purple Dahlia tavern used to be a rich and decorated tavern. Guards that shifts were over headed there, gamblers, drunkards, and merry people all together. Now The Purple Dahlia is much more worn down, cracks filling the walls, some vines growing on the roof, floor with occasional rats scurrying looking for crumbs, and instead of the merry folk that came here, the people came with a grim look on their face, with people mostly gambling, or fighting. Brawls were common here now, and everything was mostly changed. Ever since the Volnairians took over, that is known for sure.

The moon shone through the night sky, rain pattering the ground. Regular lightning strikes hit every minute or so. Inside the tavern, loud shouts and laughing were heard.

Suddenly, the door opened.

A large burly knight dressed in a steel helm, with a T design for sight and breathing, Pauldrons decorated in white fur. Two Great blue sheets of decorated loincloth covered the sides of each of his legs, and boots that went up to his knees. His waist and below was highly unprotected, however, not could be said about the armor on his torso. Metal gauntlets he wore, with gloves underneath. Strapped to his side was a great axe, double sided, however small enough to wield with one hand.

"Aye Faron, did'ya catch any more of them snuckel ruff damn elves?" The bartender asked, while drying a beer glass.

"Caught a lot in Axis, but I failed getting the elf boy. He was the special one." Faron's voice was deep, and accented. He sat on a scuffed wooden chair near the counter, next to two drunk men, downing entire mugs of mead.

"Are there any new flavours since I left?" Faron asked. "Nope. we've been running dry on many types of mead, how d'ya expect me to get new flavours?"

Faron grunted. "Fine, I'll just have the usual black berry mead."

The bartender nodded, then straightened out his moustache. And crushed blackberries through a strainer. The juice dripped to a cup, which he then filled with honey and water. Then he added a powdered dust which was supposedly yeast, and stirred it in, creating a concoction well known in the tavern. Then, he shook the wooden mug, making the deep purple colour known. Then he set it down before Faron.

"5 gold coins please" The bartender said, putting his hand in front.

Faron sighed, then withdrew 5 golden colored coins, each which were decorated with a carving of the king's face. He threw them down on the table, which the bartender hastily grabbed.

Faron took a sniff out of the mead. Interesting He thought. They must've implemented a new flavour in the mead after all. However, that was too suspicious.

Faron reached over the counter, and grabbed the bartender by the neck, and pulled him close to himself.

"What do you think you're trying to do huh? Poison me?" Faron shouted in his ear. "No, i promise it's just a-" The bartender didn't get to finish his sentence before Faron dumped all the mead into his mouth, then threw him over.

"If you die, then I know you were trying to poison me." Faron said in a gruff voice.

The bartender swallowed all of the mead, then smiled. "Delicious," He remarked.