The Awakening: Darkness from within

Chapter III: The great city of Jerasa

I sat down at a table and only a few seconds later a waitress was already standing at my table.
"What can I get for you?" She said. She was still very young, probably younger than me. Somewhere around 16. She had a kind somewhat chubby face with a blond ponytail.

"Uuuhm, I don't really know, what do you suggest?" I asked.

"Hmm, well if it's food you're after I would recommend the boar stew, it's our specialty. Otherwise I would always recommend our Proud Ale. The best in all of Argaeia." She smiled patiently at me.

"Yes, I'll take the boar and the ale." I said thinking about the fact if I drank or not. Or if I was actually old enough. Ah well.

And with that she went back to the bar to give in the order. It was quite rowdy in here. A lot of people were talking, drinking with each other.

"Say Zyra, don't you need to eat? I've never seen you eat anything." I said trying to find where he was hidden.

I heard him answer "I'm sitting under the table, so no one can step on me. And no, I don't eat physical food. I live of the energy that flows in this world. Now stop talking before people think you're crazy."

"I'm talking to an invisible creature who talks to me telepathically, and it turns out I have magical powers. Strange black things come out of nowhere trying to kill me and I have no memories of my past whatsoever. Think I'm pretty crazy already, like I'm on a bad drug trip or something." People started looking at me for talking to myself. I gave them a friendly smile. Yep, pretty crazy.

"Well, if you put it that way. I think I'm going to scout around the city a bit. Think you can handle yourself? Or should I get you a psychiatrist?" Zyra asked.

"I guess that wouldn't hurt.,the psychiatrist I mean." I replied.

As Zyra was about to leave a hefty man walked past by my table, stumbling over Zyra and smacking onto the wooden floor. There was a loud, dull sound of his body hitting the floor, then there was silence. For a moment no one dared to move, anticipating what would happen next. The man stood up, his face red of anger.

"You want a fight, eh!" He said, pointing at me with his meaty finger. "Well you can get one!"

The man was obviously intoxicated, which certainly didn't help my situation. And what was I gonna say anyway? You accidentally tripped over my invisible, maybe even imaginary, magical pet?
No, there was no escaping this conflict.

He threw a right punch. I managed to evade it, causing him to stumble and slam onto a table. He stood up, food dripping of his face. He was about to engage again when the man at the table grabbed him and punched him in the face. Not before long the entire situation had escalated into an enormous brawl. Trying to sneak out myself I got grabbed by my collar and thrown back in. The last thing I saw was the angry bloodied face of that man.

***

"Ouch!"

"Sorry!" The waitress said while wiping the blood of my face. The fight itself didn't end very well. By the time the guards had arrived the fight had already escalated. They arrested the remaining troublemakers.

"My tavern!" The owner exclaimed seeing what havoc had taken place.

"How could this happen?" He whimpered. He looked at me, "You, i-it was you who caused this. Yo-you will p-pay for this, to the l-l-last coin!"

I checked myself only to come to the realization that I didn't have anything. The owner was about to get the guards involved when the waitress stopped her.

"Wait father, I'm sure he's be able to pay us back." She turned to me, "You're a mercenary right? You look the part."

"S-Sure..." I said.