Bile

Farengas

This day could have gone so well. He could have lit a cigar, strolled over the cobblestones on the main promenade, and not worried about anything. It could have been just another quiet day in Fiedestala, but that was only if he hadn't stood up for his mother—last time, committing to settle his debts and fulfill a few promises. Sadly, one of them was to track down Otrem and his band of weirdos, but he had no clue where to look, so he made up his mind: If he didn't find them by evening, he would give up on everything and try to leave.

It immediately occurred to him that he could join the expedition to the west and attempt to make contact with the local settlements. It had been a long time since a caravan had come from that direction, and the locals were quite nervous, and let's be honest, those who are nervous also pay, so it was basically decided for him. But today, he would stroll through Fiedestala and hopefully not run into Otrem. He definitely didn't want to fulfill the promise to join him and get killed by the carcasses.

Noon turned into afternoon, no sign of Otrem, so he relaxed with a half-full glass of wine in one of the many taverns in the main square. It wasn't from the Highlands, but it went down just fine, so he didn't complain, and he took an interest in a truly stunning woman standing at the bar. She had bronze skin as if she were a mix between the Emirans and people from the central kingdoms, but her features were purely from the centrals. She was probably from the second generation, where her Emirian blood had become quite diluted, but she still retained that exotic charm that always attracted him more strongly than gold coins.

"Hey, don't I know you?" He got up from the table and began with his old reliable line. But she didn't seem very impressed.

"Eh, no?" She grimaced.

"Well, now you do," he smiled, making his mustache stand out prominently, "my name is—"

"I don't care," she interrupted, "I don't want to have anything to do with you." With that, she turned around, left a silver coin on the counter, and walked out of the tavern. This hadn't happened to him in a long time, actually never if he remembered correctly, and he remembered well. He had always been able to gauge the situation masterfully; he was a realist, knew when it was right to approach a woman, so why didn't it work today?

Am I getting old? Do I belong to the old guard now? he thought, and after a brief reflection, he had to admit that maybe he did. No one had called him "young man" for a long time; everyone greeted him with "good day sir," held the door open for him and that wasn't the way to treat a young man, definitely not. So now it was up to him how he would handle this new reality, and an idea immediately flashed through his mind: Get drunk.

He turned back to his half-empty glass, which he intended to down in one gulp, but froze in place. A little way from his table sat another mixed woman, this time first generation, with fuller lips, rounder features, and a flatter nose.

"Do we know each other?" he tried his old—though not so reliable—line again.

"I don't think so," she replied calmly, or at least much more calmly than the previous one. She was also a few years older, so he might look younger to her. This was chance to take advantage of.

"I'm sure we do, and if not, we do now," his mustache stood out again, "can I buy you a drink?" To his great pleasure, she agreed, and within moments, they were drinking wine together. His glass was full again, and with the woman, whose name was Kati, he successfully engaged in a casual conversation.

"So what are you doing here, of all places?" he asked. Fiedestala, along with Grund, was one of the furthest colonies of the central kingdoms. Both settlers who established themselves in the city and adventurers trying to survive on their own land far from civilization headed there. The latter had become much more dangerous with the arrival of the carcasses.

"Why are you so interested? Am I under interrogation?" She responded with a question but after moistening her lips with wine, she began to talk: "I'm just passing through, I belong to a group of such, such—" She struggled to find the right word for a moment before finally looking down at her glass with a guilty expression. "Just a bunch of losers, that's it, losers who have lost everything and some even everyone."

"Heh, you're not alone," he laughed sadly, "with all the carcasses around, the city is full of such losers." Maybe even me, he wanted to add, but kept it to himself.

"So we're among them, but we want to put an end to the carcasses." As soon as she said that, it was clear that Kati belonged to Otrem and was talking about his band—no one else had dared to confront the carcasses so far.

"That's a coincidence," he said, though he didn't believe in coincidences, "I'm actually looking for you."

"Why?" She widened her eyes.

"I want to join you," he said through gritted teeth because, of course, he didn't want to join Otrem, but it wasn't evening yet, and breaking a promise on the same day he made it was even for him a bit too harsh.

"To join us?" She continued to widen her eyes.

"Strange?"

"No, actually yes, it's strange because we're just a handful. It's quite possible that within a few weeks, there will be nothing left of us."

"I and despite that, I want to join and end this disaster once and for all. For the same reason, you must have joined too, right?" Kati paused for a moment before nodding: "Yes, that's right, it just surprised me. You're not, you're not broken like the others."

"I'm not, but I made a promise I'd like to keep. I know, I'm a fool."