“You gotta have boundaries, darling. Everyone pays. Everyone.” Rimath tapped a fingertip on the felted tabletop. A gold ring gave a muted glint in the dim candlelight. “Even I pay my entry!” His smile was disarming and his voice was just a note too loud--and on this obvious cue, the bartender polishing his glass nodded with a grunt. Rimath didn’t even look back, but this was obviously a familiar and rehearsed exchange.
Maths’ audience gave him a baffled look in return. The draenei was pretty and she clearly expected to sneak her entry fee off on someone else. Or to use her decolletage to distract from the absence of gold deposited. Rimath would never be distracted. He tapped his finger again, looking over the rest of the smoky bar. Her perfectly painted pout complimented a soft huff as she reached for a small bag. She paid.
Poker, cigars, bets, laughter, and booze. It was a good night. He won more than he lost. Easy made her way in, fashionably late as usual. She slid into a newly open seat at the table, next to Maths, nodding at the others. Dealt in without word, Rimath was surprised when the player from earlier pointed tapped her lacquered nail on the felt top with a flat look at Maths.
“Oh, well, she makes her ~own~ boundaries. I don’t question her.” He never even looked at Easy, still smiling at the woman across from him. “You can,” his voice dropped and his gaze widened a little, “if you want.” His ears flicked back a little. Yikes!
At the table, there was only the noise of the cards as they were dealt; otherwise, it was silent as the women stared each other down. Without asking, without looking, Easy reached over and took a stack of Rimath’s chips and dropped them into the pot.
The draenei and Easy grinned at each other with a light in each of their eyes. Neither of them looked at Maths much the rest of the night.
~~
He lost more than he won by the end of the night, but he was tipsy and feeling cheerful as he walked their glasses back to the bar--only the slightest slur, only the hint of a shuffle. “Oh! Hey, Easy! Have you heard my latest statistics joke?”
“…Probably.”
“Prob--Hey! That’s my line!” Maths grunted and set the cups down, giving the tauren behind the bar as long-suffering look, seeking commiseration.
@daily-writing-challenge
@rimath (Maths) and @aezeira (Easy)
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Lyn turned the elegant invitation over in her hands, reading and re-reading the details provided. It had been some years since she’d been active in society, for the best of reasons, but Vixannya had given her the opportunity to get back on that particular horse.Â
Meryn had already agreed to watch Ash for the whole weekend — partly because he did adore his nephew, but he did understand that it was going to be nice for her to have a day or so to recover after such a big soiree.Â
She’d heard the fabled after-party mentioned at a couple different small socials, but no concrete details. There was some comfort in knowing that there was a focus on privacy, and no small amount of intrigue. Sure, curiosity killed the cat, but didn’t satisfaction bring it back?Â
It was a chance to have fun around other adults again, within her own comfortable boundaries.Â
But, that also meant figuring out something to wear. The symbols on the front of the card — The Elements — made it a little easier to hone in on an idea. At the very least she knew she wanted to look absolutely fucking stunning.Â
These days, there was no doubt in her mind anymore about how easy that was going to be to achieve. She’d stayed in shape, and her freckles, tattoos, scars and lean muscles were all some of her best assets. If ever there was a time to show them off, it would be there!
Albert took a long pull from his bottle as he stared out a the sea, his face calm as he watched the sun slowly dip on the horizon shedding it's red streams across the blue mirror of his exile. Â It was beautiful. Â But he wasn't only out there watching the boundaries of his self made prison for a pretty ending to begin the beautiful night of paradise.
There was something out there.
Someone out there.
He'd first seen them last month after his ordeal, the flash of green hair and shimmer of a form on the surface. Â It was thought to be a heat induced dream or a part of the hangover that usually followed him on those nights. Â He'd created stranger boogie-men to haunt him upon waking.
But then Albert saw it again. Â A shadowy shape swimming through the clear waters with the speed of a dolphin but the lithe frame of what he thought was a shark. Â He'd been most certain it was shark as quickly he'd scrambled back to the beach, vowing for an hour never to swim on this side of the island again.
A week later he'd been spear fishing in the same spot, finally getting over his fear of losing a foot to a tiger shark or something. Â The shadow passed again, but the frame was leaner in spots and wider in others. Â Hardly a fish but not quite sure what else it could. Â An eel? Â A snake?
A person?
Doubt clung to him like his shadow, always at his feet but just as easily in front of him as it could be behind him.
Since that day he'd come out every evening to keep watch on the water, having found that he caught sight of the shadow the most when it day came to a close. Â Imagination was all he had to keep him company other than the many dead or soon to be authors he had in his well used library and now it come to touch upon reality.
"Maybe I'm going crazy."
The horizon broke with a flash of green, streaming behind a shadowed face.
Everything hurt. Moving sent jolts of pain up and down his body. Even breathing was uncomfortable. Banagan sat on the ground. He had managed to crawl to a spot in between a couple boulders and leaned back against one. He closed his eyes and wished that everything would stop spinning.
Banagan rode towards the back of the party, letting the more experienced adventurers lead the way. The plan was to attack another encampment of djaradin and hopefully free some more of their Niffen allies, and Banagan happily volunteered to join in the raid. But as they got to what they figured was the perimeter of the encampment, a call went out. They were discovered!
Everything seemed muffled to Banny. There was a ringing in his ears, but everything else sounded far away. He considered shaking his head, but dismissed the idea almost immediately. Just the thought of such an abrupt move sent pain down his neck and shoulders. Instead, he leaned his head back against the rock and tried to control his breathing.
Then the footsteps came close. He felt the vibrations in the ground more than he heard them. Most likely one of the large flame beasts that the djaradin used, he thought to himself. He tightly gripped his sword, briefly amazed to realize that he somehow still had his weapon and shield.
The djaradin tore into their ranks. They forced the rescue party to break formation and scatter. The young paladin immediately saw the danger. He had heard his father’s lessons enough times to know what should have happened. “The group is your strength. Stay together and watch each other’s backs!” But that isn’t happening here. Everyone is on their own.
Banagan’s thoughts came back to the present. He held his breath as the footsteps came closer. He could hear someone shouting, but the voice was still muffled.Â
Must be searching for us, he thought to himself.Â
Through the pain in his head, the paladin gripped his sword tighter still and pressed his elbow against the boulder behind him. He hoped that he would have enough strength to launch forward and press a surprise attack. But then the shouting stopped and the sounds of the beast’s footfalls moved off into the distance.
Banagan saw four enemies running at him. He spurred his mount and rode directly at them, knocking one down and trampling him as the other three dodged out of the way. But as Banny pulled on the reins to bring them back around, the djaradin had already caught up to him. One of them tore the reins from his hands as the other two grabbed his sword arm and pulled him out of the saddle and threw him to the ground.
Before the paladin could get to his feet, one of the djaradin kicked him on the right side. His armor took the brunt of the attack, but it still drove the breath from his lungs. He tried to catch his breath, but one of the others kicked him on his left side. He wasn’t sure, but Banny thought he might have heard something crack that time.Â
Looking to his side, he could see his first attacker bringing his foot back in preparation for another kick. Panic welled up inside the paladin and he slashed out blindly with his sword. The Light watched over him as his blade cut through the ankle of his attack and sending him to the ground.
The sounds of more feet came near. More yelling. More movement.Â
They’re going to find me, he thought to himself. He tried to push himself up off of the boulder, but his back screamed in pain. White light flashed behind his eyes. Somehow he stifled a groan as he slide back to the ground.
I need to heal, he thought next. But every time he tried, another wave of pain crashed against him and disrupted his concentration.
The djaradin that had pulled the reins from Banny’s hand came around and stomped on Banny’s back, knocking him flat to the ground. Roughly, the two enemies rolled Banny over so that he was face up. One of them knelt down and punched the paladin in the head. Then punched again. Banagan grunted with the strikes. As the djaradin pulled back to punch again, Banny brought his leg up and kneed his attacker in the side. As that attacker rolled to the ground, the remaining djaradin moved up and stomped down on Banny’s chest. The paladin gasped and struggled for air again.The djaradin brought his foot up to stomp again and Banny brought his shield up to deflect the strike.Â
The attacker kicked again, knocking the shield out of the way. But as he put his foot back to ground to get his balance again, Banagan pulled his sword around and drove it into the djaradin’s guts and pushed until the blade appeared on the other side. As the djaradin toppled over, Banagan held onto his blade tightly and allowed the momentum to pull him up to his knees. But before he could do more, the remaining djaradin rushed forward and punched the paladin in the head again. And again.Â
Banagan’s head snapped back, his eyes going unfocused. The djaradin roared and brought his fist around for another strike. Instinctively, Banagan ducked and his enemy’s wild swing spun him around. Banny struck at the back of the djaradin’s knee with the edge of his shield. The djaradin dropped to the ground. Banagan brought his sword up and drove it into the back of his enemy’s neck. There was a gurgling sound, and then he fell.
Banagan leaned his head against the boulder again, closed his eyes, and wished for the pain to go away.
“You’re not giving up now, are you?”
Banny’s eyes shot open. He knew that voice. Kneeling in front of him, in between the boulders with him, was a bald man wearing dark leathers and knives hanging from his belt.
“Erik?”
“You’re not giving up.”
“How are you here?”
“You are not giving up.” The rogue said each word slowly.
“I can’t win. I can’t do it.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not strong enough,” Banny answered quietly. “I’m not good enough.”
“Who says you’re not?”
“I can’t beat them all.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not good enough.”
“You’re not the first paladin to doubt themselves.”
“My father never does.”
“Your father does every day. He wonders if he’s making the right choice every single time. But he makes them anyways. And he lives with his choices.”
“I can’t beat them.”
“You beat them by surviving,” Erik said calmly. “Live and you have beaten them for another day.”
Banagan closed his eyes and leaned his head forward. He took a slow, deep breath. Finding that spark inside of him, he gently fanned it and felt a slight warmth spread over him. The ringing in his ears got fainter and the pain in his head lessened.
“Okay,” the paladin said as he opened his eyes. But no one was there. Banagan was alone between the boulders. Slowly, he pushed himself up and crawled out. The area was empty. The battle had passed by him. Cautiously he retraced his path. Along the way, he came across two others from the original party. They looked as haggard as he felt. They took turns in keeping watch or treating each other’s wounds.
“What should we do now?” One of the two asked.
“We need to go back to Loamm and get reinforcement.”
“Not yet,” Banny said quietly. We need to see if we can find any other survivors.”
The two looked at each other, then looked at Banagan. Sighing, they each nodded in turn. Getting to their feet, they slowly turned and looked back to the battlefield.
