Bard City Blues by Nathaniel Webb

Author:Nathaniel Webb [Webb, Nathaniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wyngraf

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

LIFESOIL

Alix picked worms off my sweater as we returned to the barroom. Though the fire had long since burned down to embers, it was still warm, but I found myself shivering nonetheless. I hugged myself and rubbed my arms, but I couldn’t seem to warm up.

“That your first tussle?” Alix asked.

I nodded.

“First time’s always the worst.” She chuckled. “I remember… well, it don’t signify. Stand easy, I’ve got just the thing. Actually, why don’t you run an eye over Freda and Tails? They’ll be needing a hand, and you’d rather keep busy. Go on, I’ll catch you up.”

Freda! I ducked behind the bar to find her nestled in a pile of fallen bottles, snoring. I could only guess at how the elemental had knocked her out, but I was glad she was a dwarf. If you hit a human that hard they would never wake up.

I left Freda to sleep it off and crossed the barroom to my corner, where Tails sat in the shadows with his head on his knees.

“You can come on out,” I said. “It’s safe now.”

He looked up. “I thought I was lost for sure. Thank you.”

“Thank Xolgoth.” I reached out a hand and helped him to his feet. “Though I’m not sure he’ll be able to do the dishes anytime soon.”

He stared at me. “The whole thing?”

“Most of it.”

“Incredible!”

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah, not a scratch.” Tails looked down at his body as if he couldn’t quite believe it. His chest was a little dirty between the flaps of his vest, but he looked otherwise untouched. “Serves me right for staying late to help out, I guess. I’ve been a little short of coin since Fhraff left, you know? Plus I’d hate to lose my favorite ever tavern. So I asked Freda if I could do a few odd jobs around here, sort of work off my debt and as a show of good will, like, and she said I could help clean up after she closed. So there I am, broom in hand, when up that thing comes from under the floor and starts smashing up the place.”

“It came from under the floor?” I shook my head. I had some bad news for him, and there was no sense in delaying. “Never mind. Tails, I need to tell you something. After all this…” I gestured at the kitchen, where the earth elemental lay in a decomposing heap. “I think it’s fairly obvious you’re innocent of whatever happened to Freda’s treasure map. But before we showed up, Alix and I were chasing Fhraff. We tracked him to a dance club and he ran the moment he saw us. He’s involved somehow, and that means… The night the painting burned, he must have picked that fight with you as a distraction. I’m sorry, Tails. He used you.”

Tails opened his mouth, but for once he didn’t seem to have anything to say.

“I know it hurts,” I said. “But your name is cleared. And don’t forget, you have plenty of people who care about you.

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