Markkason Ashworth
Newtale
February, 1703 AR
Anthea's cloak falls from her shoulders and onto the floor. With a grin, she moves forward and places her slim hand on my shoulder. I shudder, brushing her away as I near the bed. My eyes are drooping, my body aches, and Ghendri's paws are sore and raw.
"Hey," she says with a smile as she delicately grabs my elbow and pulls me back to her. Her face is inches from mine, "Are you tired?"
"Um...yeah," I say, feeling the disapproval of all lonely men in the world bearing down on me, "So I'm just going to lay down for the night if that's alright."She simply laughs and snaps her fingers. There's a small flash between them and just like that, her clothes begin to burn away from her, vanishing to nothing until she stands there, naked as the day she came. I feel my ears redden as she strokes her painted nails down my shirt.
"I've shown you me..." she whispers, "Now show me you..."
There's a long pause before I try to push her away again.
"No, that's okay," I mumble, "I'm just going to sleep on the floor...I do have a bedroll."
"Why were you so upset over not getting a room if you own a bedroll?" Anthea asks me."Fair point."
"But I insist," she continues, "So, you take off your clothes or I will."
Ghendri meows, suddenly concerned. She notices him and nudges him gently with her foot until he scratches her. She grimaces at the red lines on her ankle and nudges him a little harder into the bathroom, which she promptly locks.
"Hey!" I say, standing up straight, "What makes you think you can do that?"
"The fact that I can do this," she grins and snaps her fingers. A warm, tingling sensation floods my body and I see my clothes burn away as my pouches of spell components fall to the floor. She takes the belt of them and begins digging through the pouch marked Enchantments. With a swish of her hand, she tosses a pinch of sage in the air above her hair. Anthea turns to look at me and laughs when she sees how awkwardly I'm struggling to cover myself with the bedsheet.
"I hope you don't mind," she says as the scratch heals and her eyes flash a bright blue.
Anthea begins walking towards me and kneels at the foot of the bed, slipping her hand up my leg. Everything goes numb for a second and I try to kick her away. I feel the bottom of my foot make hard contact with her face, wetting the bridge with something. She suddenly yelps and I hear loud thump against the rug followed by a painful silence.
"Anthea...?" I ask, slowly sitting up.I see her lying there, unconscious and bleeding heavily from the nose.
"Son of a hag..." I gasp, more exhausted by the situation that anything, "So, I'm locked, naked, in an Inn with a strange woman who I just kicked unconscious...great."
It is only then that I hear Ghendri scratching against the bathroom door, the sound of his claws only broken by his desperate calls. We can't spend much time away from each other, at least with a structure between us. Somehow walls and doors and closed windows, when placed between us, make us emotionally ill. I open the door and feel a rush of relief as I see he's still there. He jumps up on to the dresser and sits down as I scratch his ears.
"Help me find some clothes," I say to him.
He glances at the violet cloak on the floor.
"Not that..."
Suddenly there's a loud bang against the wooden door at the south wall of the room. I jump.
"Anthea!" blairs a heavy voice from behind the door, "I know you're in here, open up!"
Ghendri's eyes widen in fear.
"There better not be another man in here!" the voice growls, "I won't put up with this again!"
"What?! You're promised?" I ask her sleeping form in a hushed scream.
The door explodes open and a huge barbarian, clad in boiled leather, stands on the other side. The man stares at me, then at his possibly dead wife and back to me, his expression filling with more and more rage.
"You little half-elf piece of COW SHIT!" he booms, causing the room to shake slightly, "How dare you rape my wife!"
It's only now that I actually look at the scene I've put myself in. I'm naked, half aroused and my foot is covered in blood while this bear-of-a-man's naked wife is completely limp on the rug beside me, bleeding and unconscious.
"By the gods, it's not what it looks like," I plead, gradually moving towards my spell component pouch on the dresser."I am going to ground your abomination of an body into the floorboards!"
"Please, hear me out! I can explain everything!"
Though that might make things worse, I think.
The man doesn't listen. He lunges forward at me and I grab a handful of spell components from my pouch on the dresser and toss the mixture at his face. Suddenly there's a crack between us and the man goes flying. He slams into the wall behind him in the hallway and begins turning a slight pinkish color. I grab my satchel and my pouches and start to feel a flood of panic as he stands up. He grumbles and moves at me even faster than before, drawing his broadsword from the sheathe on his waist. Ghendri scratches me as he leaps into my arms and I start to move backwards. The barbarian swings his sword with great strength but little precision, its blade only clipping my shoulder as I fall backwards through the suddenly open window, the lock broken from the blast of magic. I scream, free falling a good two stories until I feel a soft yet sharp surface slam into my back, knocking the wind from my lungs. A collective gasp sounds around me from the crowd and I open my eyes.
"Hello..." says the young dragon knight with jet black hair and the most surprised expression I've ever seen anyone hold.
After an awkward introduction, I nearly run off, trying to forget how many eyes are currently staring at my nakedness before the dragon knight kindly offers me his extra set of clothes and protection from the barbarian who I'm certain is about to crash through the doors and obliterate me at any moment.
"What's your name?" he asks as he offers me a hand.
"Markkason Ashworth," I say, grabbing his hand with such force that I have to actively will myself not to strain. Something about his calm, sturdy face makes me want to impress him. I awkwardly grasp Ghendri, my satchel and my spell component pouches in one arm as he pulls me up onto his dragon. I can't stop my face from turning bright red as I hear the townsfolk choking down their own laughter, but I hold my head high and sit behind the knight, still naked as a baby and pretending to be proud.
"You should probably put these on," He hands me the set of elegant dress clothes he explains he had been given to wear while in any royal palaces and castles. I put on the shirt as best I can but I am unable to manage putting on the pants without standing up and bending over, thus revealing myself to the whole city even more than I already have. I smile weakly, my pink cheeks blushing once more.
Thank you..." I sigh, trying to cover my face with my hands without dropping Ghendri, "Have you got a name, sir dragon knight?"
"Rael. And this is my dragon, Kasai," says Rael, "You...can stay with me in my room at the Amber Inn if you like," he looks over his shoulder at me and feigns a warm smile.
"That would be great!" I laugh, my voice cracking.
"Half elf!" calls the barbarian from behind me, his voice arching my back with fear, "Get back here! I'm not finished with you!"
"Put the pants on and stay with Kasai," says Rael in a gravely voice.
I nod and slide off of his dragon but stay near enough to wrap my arm around the saddle. I slip on the undergarments and pants, quickly tying the laces and sighing happily when I see that no one was looking. Rael doesn't look back at me. He only kicks one foot to the saddle's left and steps down onto the cobblestone road. With a smirk, he looks back at me and summons his armor. A hint of fear traces the barbarian's aggressive expression but he stands his ground as I stare in awe.
"A dragon knight..." he says, turning to me, "You think he can protect you!? He doesn't even have a weapon!"
"Don't need one," Rael grumbles.
"What kind of man," I start, "finds his wife unconscious in an cheap tavern and chases after the suspected culprit without even pausing to make sure she's okay?"
"What kind of man rapes a woman just because of her bad reputation!?"
Rael looks back at me, his eyebrow raised, no doubt, behind that slightly draconic looking mask.
"I didn't," I tell Rael before turning back to glare at the barbarian.
"Liar!"
With that, he shoots forward, his sword raised high above his head. But with one smooth maneuver, Rael steps in front of him and jabs him in the chest. The sword falls and the man's knees collide with the stone of the road. A woman gasps at this, but the dragon knight strikes again. With his fingers, he stabs the man's chest again, then his shoulder and he finishes him off with a quick jab in the neck. The barbarian collapses, his muscles tense and shaking.
"He'll be fine in a few hours," Rael assures me along with the rest of the crowd, "Give him a hot bath, his muscles will relax."
The crowd of people reply with only a minute of silence before a boy of about eleven years collapses to the ground. Rael's armor falls away and vanishes as he coughs into his sleeve.
"Sorry about that," he tells me, leaping skillfully back onto Kasai, "Amber Inn?"
"Amber Inn," I confirm before joining him.