The Spider's Ballet

Chapter 004: Just a Demonstration

The light that had shot through the canopy above the town had begun its retreat to the dark. Although shadows took its place, the moon hung unobscured above. Street lights hummed to life throughout the roads of the town. The refreshing cool breeze of the day had dropped to a more chilling air that penetrated deeper. People seemed to be more intimate with one another, huddling together for warmth as they spoke more cheerfully about another day passed. A spotlight shot out from the ground towards the sky as if to declare just how important its origin was.

Demalyn and Desdin followed the locals towards the light. Demalyn had pulled her conical hat over her ears and wrapped a dark purple shawl from her bag around her shoulders. She smoked her pipe while a jubilant expression grew on her face, anticipating the night ahead. Desdin followed alongside her with hands in his pockets. A long paved road led to an enormous single floor building. Torches were lit on both sides of the path as they got closer.

Demalyn caught Desdin looking every so often toward Ingrid. She smiled sheepishly while pulling on his arm. "Cherry is going to kill you in the morning if you don't come back to the van tonight."

Desdin pulled his arm away from her. "Listen, we can go all back to the van tonight and tell Cherry that we handled this very well without her. Like adults with responsibilities."

Demalyn chuckled to herself. "Okay sure."

As they approached the building, it was apparent that this building much like the hospital had a priority in upkeep when compared to the more residential areas they had seen. Outside of the tall marbled doors stood four guards, all in white dress shirts. One woman stepped forward to greet them. "Welcome to the Leoris hunter's lodge. You are all guests of Vilsin this evening. If you would please leave any weapons and bags here with us." Desdin obliged and placed the red scabbard of his short sword in the hands of the attendant.

They all turned their attention to Demalyn and then her satchel. She took a long pull from her pipe and blew smoke towards them. "We are guests, remember? Let's move on with it." The attendants shared uneasy looks before opening the gates and forgetting about the bag.

Several stone halls bathed in blue light encircled a large courtyard in the center of the building that was lit with fire on metal braziers planted in the ground. As they passed it, they entered a massive room adorned with chrism chandeliers above and sconces crafted with care in the shapes of leaves. A sound of clanging dishes along with the smell of burning meat and roasting stews wafted from another distant room. Long tables seated the hunters from earlier, as well as several well-dressed citizens of the town. The attendant spoke up, "Master Vilsin has invited the Farland visitors to join him at his table towards the end of the hall." He gestured to a round table at the edge of the room.

Desdin looked and only saw two open chairs. "Hey, these other three will join us, if you don't mind." While only a few members of the hall had taken notice of their arrival, they soon all turned as Desdin and Demalyn loudly skid the empty chairs across the room to the main table. Sitting at the table was the mountain of muscle hunter from earlier, along with two other hunters with shrewd looks. Beside them was an older man with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail. His beard had a thin shave along his faint jawline. He looked on trying to hide his annoyance with a forced smile.

As Desdin approached the table he spoke, "Hey if you guys don't mind, can we move closer together to make room for our mutual friends here?" The table shuffled their arrangement as Ingrid and the deputies gave the room a nervous glance, seeming to apologize with their discomfort for the disturbance.

After they settled the group, the older man cleared his throat. "Good evening, I am Vilsin, the hunt master for Leoris. We are very glad to have you all here this evening. We hold this feast once a week to honor our patrons throughout the city and the best of our hunters. Our guild is not only responsible for protection outside the city walls but also fishing, farming, and bringing all of our land's bounty to Leoris." Vilsin beamed as he raised his arms up and servants brought forth cups and pitchers filled with honeyed wine. Vilsin gestured towards one servant to leave the pitcher after filling his cup. "The others at this table are my finest three hunters. Ollin, Reshti, and I believe you met this fine specimen, Stokely." The man with the shaved head flexed, brimming over with pride.