Timeweaver

Mistakes Were Made

"Mister! Another over here!" Griffin said a little louder than necessary, even though the pub was filled to capacity with noisy, red-faced men.

"Griffin, go home," Barnard said, eyeing Griffin with something like pity. Griffin wanted none of it. He slid a couple coins across the counter. That shut the guy up. Griffin tipped the amber-colored liquid down his throat, already used to the fire that spread throughout his body for the sixth time.

"Griffy!" A voice shouted in his ear. He lazily turned his head to identify the source of the voice. Two men -- no make that one... Griffin hiccuped and tried to get his eyes to focus. Garid. The man was Garid. Griffin, warm and slightly dizzy, remembered why he didn't like Garid anymore. Anger rushed through him faster than the liquor had.

"Outside. Now." Griffin heard himself growl. Garid's features turned serious.The older boy traipsed outside, and Griffin stumbled after him. The latter knocked over a chair and almost fell to the floor. A slightly less-drunken man reached out a hand to steady him, but Griffin just shook him off and headed out to the alley between the pub and the inn. Garid was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes dark.

"Look, man, I'm sorry about what happened, but let's talk about this when you're -" Griffin shut him up with a solid punch to the jaw. "Griffin, what the -- oof!" A knee to the stomach doubled Garid over and a voice in Griffin's head told him to stop, that was enough. But the alcohol shouted over that voice to keep going, he hadn't been punished enough.

Griffin landed a few more clumsy punches, ignoring all of Garid's pleas for mercy. All Griffin could hear was his blood roaring in his ears. Garid, who was bigger, older, and stronger, was no match for Griffin's white hot fury.

Garid's cries eventually became less frequent. After just a few minutes, Griffin no longer heard a noise coming from the man, just the dull thuds and smacks of Griffin's hands and feet colliding with his limp body. Both voices in his head screamed at him to stop and Griffin did, breathing heavily, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Slightly confused but a little more lucid than before, Griffin grabbed Garid's arm and tried to pull him up. He's unconscious, Griffin told himself. But when he pressed his fingers first to Garid's wrist, then his neck, Griffin realized in horror what he had done. Griffin ran - or staggered, rather - home without looking back.

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Griffin stumbled blindly into his mother's cottage. The alcohol had yet to leave his system. He had had so much to drink that he had a feeling his hangover would last well into next week. "Lyss won't be happy about that," he murmured to himself, knowing his mom would be upset with him if she knew how he had spent his night. She was already mad at him for getting caught up in Garid's group of thieves, ruffians, and other assorted rabble-rousers.

A potion would help. Surely Lyssandra, who used to drink heavily when Griffin was a child, would have a remedy for the effects of alcohol consumption. He had made up his mind to go towards the kitchen cabinets in search of a book of Lyss's potion recipes, but his legs didn't quite receive the message. He turned right, but one of his feet caught on a little stand by the door and a glass vase fell to the floor, shattering loudly.

Griffin took a step forward, slightly confused, and landed directly on a shard of glass. That was enough to wake him from his stupor. He bit back a yell of pain, aware that his mother was asleep not too far away. He bent down to examine his foot, but was overcome by dizziness and almost retched and fell onto the hundreds of other pieces of shimmering glass. He composed himself enough to slowly straighten up but before he had quite made it, he sensed something coming at him in the dark. Griffin reached out a hand and by sheer luck it connected with a long piece of wood. He wrapped his fingers around it and pulled hard. The object launched across the kitchen and clattered to the floor. His attacker -- a girl, by the sound of her voice -- screamed and he clasped a hand over her mouth. She began flailing her arms and a smack to the face made Griffin release her, and he stumbled back, a hand held over his hurt eye.