The Misadventures of Kayla Foster

Chapter 16

  Kayla picked up the still hissing Vega and did her best to calmly face the five men who were obviously there to start a fight. She moved to stand next to Thorn and gave the men a good look. All the men looked like adventurers and all of them had the tell tail scent of alcohol on them. Their clothes looked like they hadn't been washed in weeks and had an unpleasant smell emanating from them. 'They look like adventurers who have hit the bottom of their pockets.'

  "Is there a reason that y'all are interrupting our lunch?" Kayla wrinkled her nose as a nasty smell wafted in front of her.

  "Yeah. We don't like how that fairy is prancing around town, acting like he owns the place."

  "You do realize that he is literally from this planet and has more of a right to be here than you or me." Kayla's sarcastic, yet true, statement made the men grit their teeth.

  Both Thorn and Kayla fully expected the attack that came next. What they didn't expect was Tubbs, the innkeeper, appearing with a heavy wooden table and slamming it on the heads of the five men. Two of the men dropped, passed smooth out, while the other three men were on the ground groaning in pain.

  "You lot, out." Tubbs' authoritative voice boomed off the walls, making there no room for any arguments.

  The three men dragged their buddies out. None of them would look Thorn or the innkeeper in the eye and simply gave Kayla a grumpy glace when they all limped by. It would seem that the liquid courage only got them so far. 'I bet they thought that they were stronger than Thor and me.' Kayla shook her head at the stupid actions of the men. She felt Thorn's gaze. He was studiously studying her for any injuries.

  "I'm ok." Kayla smiled at the obvious concern that Thorn was showing her.

  "Good."

  "Aye, that's good, lass. Those men have been causing trouble for a few weeks now. Felt good to get them out of my inn." Tubbs laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, "If you need me to take care of them again, just holler."

  "Thank you. I appreciate it." Tubbs nodded his head at Kayla's words, then returned to the front desk of the inn. 'I knew that Tubbs wasn't just some normal inn keeper.'

  "Let us return to your room."

  "Yeah, ok." Kayla led Thorn back to the room and when she entered the room, she let out a large sigh.

  "That could have been bad." Thorn let out a non-commensal hum as Kayla sat down on the edge of her bed. "Anyway, let's open the trunk and the other box."

  Kayla got out the small box from under her bed. She had put it there in hopes that nobody would break in and steal it. She fiddled with the lock for a few minutes, trying to figure out how to get the thing off. Finally, Thorn took the box from her hands and, with a simple flick of the wrist, broke the lock.

  Kayla looked at him in surprise. Thorn smirked in return as he handed the box back to Kayla. She squinted her eyes at him but knew that the man wasn't going to explain. With an eye roll, Kayla opened the small box.

  "It's a space box." Kayla said as the inky blackness stared back at her.

  "Well. Find out what it holds."

  "I'm gunna. Sheesh, impatient much."

  Kayla smirked at the irritation that flashed across Thorn's face. She was of the mind to continue to make Thorn wait, but she herself was quite excited at the thought of what could be in the space box. Kayla reached in and, with a look of shock on her face, started pulling out the contents of the space box. Thorn and Kayla stared at the items in amazement.