Steampunk Heroes - Battle For Alytheria

Chapter 1

Delain the Narrator

In a town called Strutyerstuf, there is a hotel on Merryjugs Street...

For honesty's sake, let's just call it what it is. There is a popular and relatively well-maintained brothel named The Kinky Vixen Hotel. The proprietor, who has aged very well, goes by the name of Madam Lena Flusterbroek.

She currently runs The Kinky Vixen Hotel with her handsome yet shy son, Kalliann Archer. No, of course, that's not his real last name. Not knowing who his father is, he chose the name... Lena was quite popular back in the day... She had many lovers at the time... Not me, of course... Ahem.

Oh, my... would you look at the time? We should get on with the story.

Our story begins on a calm, warm night...

Something Wicked this Way Comes

Elva looks at the man next to her on the bed. He is fast asleep and snoring in a way that makes her worry about adenoids and sinus blockages, and other fun things lurking up his nostrils.

Ugh... Thank you, Nature, for herbs that make for decent sleeping drafts and apothecaries who make them with a smile.

She carefully removes the man's arm from around her waist, and it flops down onto the bed with a loud thud making her jump. She freezes, turning her head to peek at him warily, but the man just snores louder, and her tension soon turns to disgust. At least he fell asleep before she had to do anything nasty.

Lecherous bastard will soon part with his money. Serves him right. 

Quietly she makes her way off the bed and begins the tedious task of looking for her carelessly discarded clothing and getting dressed.

"Frit? Where are you?" she whispers as she looks for her scattered clothes in the dim light. "Fritty, it's time to get out of here," she whispers again and sees a bushy, white tail hanging out of a fruit bowl on the bedside table. It twitches, giving away the animal's whereabouts.

She quietly moves over to the table and finds her companion, Fritter, fast asleep amongst the fruit; judging by the state of some of the fruit, he is sleeping off the effects of a feast. A large, engorged coin pouch is resting on the table beside the bowl, drawing a triumphant smile to her pretty face. As she eagerly reaches for the distended coin pouch, a hand suddenly grabs her arm, and the once-sleeping man looks up at her groggily. 

"Where... do you think you're off to, woman?" he grumbles.

Startled, Elva tries to pull her arm free from his grasp, but despite his drugged state, his fingers are wrapped around it like a steel vice. 

Ah, shite! I am so kicking Mallow Sagebrush's arse. He didn't add nearly enough Belladonna.

"Fritter! Kill!"

A white blur flies from the fruit bowl, landing on the man's face, as Fritter awakes from its food coma to obey her command. The angry little squirrel utters a blood-curdling squeak and bites the man on the tip of his nose, causing him to yelp in shock and pain at the unexpected furry assault. He instantly releases Elva's wrist in an attempt to save his nose from the savage beast... as he imagines his attacker to be.

Elva immediately takes advantage of the moment to grab the coin pouch and an apple from the bowl and stick it in her backpack, which she hauls onto her back. She loses no time in heading for the door, calling, "Come, Frit," over her shoulder. Fritter instantly leaps onto her shoulder as the man attempts to get out of bed, cursing and grunting.