by Pirateaba
“I hope not. Not if I have anything to say about it. I think this one will stay in the Hive.”
“Okay. Why are you telling me, then?”
Relc hesitated.
“He looks—familiar. Just don’t freak out, okay?”
“Sure.”
The Drake scratched at the spines on his head.
“Right. Well, I’ve got to go back to work. Oh—that’s right. I’m supposed to give you a warning.”
“A warning?”
“Yeah. Apparently you got into a fight with a bunch of adventurers, right? Beat them up and stole their stuff?”
Oh. Erin felt like slapping herself. Of course.
“Um, yes. I did. But they were attacking—”
“The damn Goblins. Whatever. Don’t worry; I’m not going to arrest you. I’m just giving you a warning. I also hear you’ve got a pet skeleton.”
“Yes. His name’s Toren. Uh—”
“I don’t care. It sounds creepy, but whatever you Humans like is fine by me. Just keep him out of the city. I just needed to give you a warning.”
“Not to do it again?”
Relc looked surprised. Then he grinned.
“Oh, no. When we heard about three Human adventurers getting their tails kicked by an Innkeeper, some Workers and a few Goblins we laughed our scales off. We don’t care about what happens to those Humans. Just keep the skeleton away and if that crazy necromancer tries raising any more bodies, stop him.”
“You’re not going to do anything? Really?”
“Maybe if we had time – but we don’t. The Watch is overwhelmed right now. Those damn adventurers keep disappearing into the ruins and we’ve had to patrol the area to catch all the things that come crawling out of there.”
Relc made a face and twirled his spear in one hand.
“Things? Like…what kind of things?”
“Squiggly things. Lots of white tentacles and flesh. Disgusting. We think there’s some kind of brood monster in there, but no one who goes in that far has come out to tell us what it is. And the rest of the cowards are just clearing the rooms one at a time.”
Relc sighed, muttered a bit about humans and adventurers in general, and glanced at the sky.
“I’ve got to get back there.”
“Oh. Okay. I’ll see you around.”
“Maybe.”
The Drake raised one hand in farewell as he trotted off. Erin watched him go. Her eyes turned back to the ruined street.
Misery and devastation. It wasn’t hers, but she still felt for the people affected by the fire. A thief and the ruins.
None of these things were her problem. But they were her problem because she lived here. Not by choice, but Erin felt like the city was suffering. Suffering, and she wondered what it would take to heal.
At the very least, Erin wouldn’t get her pillows today. Not unless a certain Gnoll had any in stock.
—-
“I am sorry Erin Solstice, but everything is chaos, yes? I was lucky not to lose my goods, but many have lost all. Pillows must wait. Come back another day, yes?”
Krshia barely had the time to spare as she talked seriously with a bunch of angry Gnoll and Drake shopkeepers. The merchants of Market Street were gathered together in some sort of conclave, and Krshia was one of the more influential – and vocal – shopkeepers in the crowd.
Erin left them to it, especially because she was getting a lot of casually hostile glances. It was completely understandable that the shopkeepers were angry, and there was more she could do. Like talk with friends.
—-
“What?”
Selys had to shout above the clamor in the packed Adventurer’s Guild. She and the other three receptionist Drakes were trying to deal with multiple adventurers at once while the room was full of arguments, minor scuffles, spirited dialogue and not least, the clank of countless weapons and armor rubbing together.
The female Drake shook her head as Erin repeated her question.
“I can’t, Erin. We’re all working overtime as it is. All the adventurers coming through—excuse me, the Human with the red hair and face-thing?”
Several adventurers looked up, and the mustached adventurer stepped forwards, holding a bag of dripping somethings.
“Give that to Warsh, please. The Drake over there? The one with yellow scales? Thank you.”
Selys turned back to Erin and shook her head. The other girl nodded, tried not to touch the shouting adventurer covered in blood and…guts and made her way out of the inn.
It was completely fine. Selys had a lot to do, after all, and the Adventurer’s Guild in Liscor was never meant to deal with the huge influx of treasure seekers. It was too bad. But it was just—it was just—
—-
“It’s just that I don’t know what I should be doing, you know?”
Erin complained as she moved a knight on the chess board and stole one of Pawn’s rooks. The Antinium made a sound of dismay but kept staring at the board as Erin chattered away.
“I get that Krshia and Selys are busy. And so is Relc although we barely talk and he hates my guts. But what should I do? I mean, obviously I’m running the inn, but I feel like there’s something else I should do. Something…useful besides cooking, eating, and paying for pillows.”
Carefully, Pawn moved one of his knights forward. Instantly Erin took it with a bishop, trading the pieces. It wasn’t a good exchange as bishops were technically worth about the same strategically as knights, but it did open up Pawn’s king for a lovely attack by Erin’s queen.
“I mean, what should I do? I need money, but it’s not as if this inn is hopping at the best of times. And I need several hundred gold pieces. That’d take years. The only way I might get that much money in one go is to become an adventurer, but I don’t really want to stab stuff or have my insides yanked out through my nose.”
Pawn desperately tried to search for a winning strategy in his invaded side of the chess board. He found one – the same strategy that would end up in a checkmate eight moves down. Erin had noticed that three moves ago.
Delicately, the Antinium moved a pawn forwards and spoke.
“I am not sure I have any advice to give you, Erin Solstice. I am not experienced in the ways of this world.”
“You probably know more than I do.”
“It may be so, but my knowledge extends mainly to my Hive. I was not I until very recently. Thus, my awareness is only now expanding.”
“I get it.”
Erin sighed, took one of Pawn’s pieces and waited for him to take her rook.
“I just wish I didn’t feel this way.”
“Which way is this?”
Pawn took her rook. Erin took his queen.
“So useless.”
A faint groan escaped the Antinium Worker. He studied the board and then shook his head.
“I have lost.”
The other Workers nodded in agreement as they stared at the board. The pairs that were playing glanced up and stared silently at Pawn’s board before returning to their games.
“Good game. You want to play another round?”
Pawn nodded and the two players began rearranging the board. It was their fourth game, and they’d been playing long enough that the sun was already fading behind the mountaintops.
It was fun to play. But Erin had the same feeling she was trying to express to Pawn. It was fun to play, but she never lost. And thus, she had the definite sense she wasn’t growing as a player, or growing too slowly.
“I just wish I could do something important, that’s all. Something useful.”
“Was Erin important back in her world?”
“What? No. Not at all. I was just a girl who played chess. Heck, I wasn’t even in college yet. I was trying to save up money for that.”
“Then the Erin of now is surely an improvement as she is both an [Innkeeper] and one who teaches chess. I fail to understand the problem.”
“Well, yeah but—”
A few table
s down, Rags snorted loudly. Erin looked over. The Goblin stared silently at her, and then reached over and poked the Worker’s king with one finger. It toppled over.
“Hey! That’s really rude!”
Rags made a face as Erin glared at her. But the Worker she’d been played bowed its head towards Erin.
“This one had lost the game. This one apologizes for time wasted.”
“It’s not your fault. Even if the game’s nearly over, you’re the one who decides that. Knocking over someone else’s king is rude. Got it?”
The Worker bowed his head, but Rags just scowled. Erin amped up her death-glare and Rags reluctantly muttered something.
It was pretty much the only problem that reared its head when Erin had everyone playing chess. In the hierarchy of skill within the inn, Erin was the undisputed champion. After her came Pawn and Rags, with Pawn being the better player, but only just. Below them were various Workers who could play decent games, but Rags was never quite happy unless the little Goblin was playing Erin.
It was an issue of arrogance, and Erin remembered what it was like – being impatient at having to play mediocre players. But Rags was still a rank novice by Erin’s standards, and rudeness in chess was something she wouldn’t tolerate.
But still, Rags hadn’t played Erin yet. Reluctantly, Erin looked at Pawn.
“Sorry, but do you think—?”
The Antinium was already shifting from her table. His courteous nature never failed to surprise Erin. She sighed as Rags jumped off of her chair and marched over to her table.
“Okay, let’s play. But if you touch my king I’m going to chop you up, got it?”
The Goblin didn’t answer. She was already rearranging her pieces.
Sighing exasperatedly, Erin waved a hand.
“Tor! I’ll have some water.”
The skeleton who had been moving around the room with a huge bowl of acid flies turned and nodded. He disappeared into the kitchen and reemerged with a tall glass of water in his bony hand.
There were some benefits to having a skeleton waiter. Not least of which was that Erin could devote all of her time to playing chess. She sat back as Rags studied the board and waited for the first move.
The Goblin played unusual strategies all the time, which made her a delight to duel. By contrast, Pawn had the fundamental moves memorized and played solid games. It won him more games, but Erin had to admit she admired the Goblin’s daring in her aggressive tactics.
Rag’s fingers closed around a pawn and then the Goblin froze. Her pointed ears twitched and she stared at the door.
Erin looked up. A few seconds of silence passed and then she heard someone knocking politely on the door.
“Come in!”
The door slowly swung open. Erin caught a glimpse of a familiar black body and four arms and smiled. Another Worker to play with. But then her thoughts hit a snag. Workers couldn’t leave the city without Pawn. They were—
The Antinium stepped fully into the inn and Erin froze. She was dreaming. Rags had stabbed her in the chest and Erin was dying on the table. She’d had a heart attack—or a stroke and this was the last thing she saw before she died. It had to be that. She had to be dreaming.
Because the Antinium who walked into the inn could not be who she thought he was.
On first glance he looked like any other Antinium. He had four arms, antennae, large multifaceted eyes, and the two curiously segmented legs all lined with brown-black exoskeleton. That was normal.
But this Antinium was different. He was built slimmer than the Workers, and his carapace might have been a shade darker. But more than that, he resembled someone Erin knew. In every small detail, in every part of his body from the way he stood to the two swords and two daggers at his side he looked exactly like—
“Klbkch?”
The Antinium turned his head and Erin felt her heart stop for a moment. He bowed his head to her and approached.
“Good evening. Am I speaking to the [Innkeeper] known as Erin Solstice?”
His voice was exactly the same as Klbkch’s. Erin wrestled with words around a tongue that had stopped working.
“Yes—yes I—are you—?”
The Antinium nodded.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am not Klbkch. My name is Ksmvr of the Antinium of Liscor. I serve my Queen as Prognugator. I have come on business of the Hive.”
It wasn’t Klbkch. But it was. Erin was struck dumb for words. She was trying to come up with a response and not start crying at the same time while she digested his words.
Ksmvr paused, and then nodded.
“I understand my resemblance to my predecessor has caused issue. I apologize for any confusion.”
“Oh, no—”
Erin wanted to say ‘it’s nothing’, but it would be a lie. She sat still, rigid in her seat as Rags stared hard at Ksmvr. All the other Workers were frozen in their seats. But Pawn—
Ksmvr looked around the room. His silent, studying gaze found each Worker as the other Antinium stared at the floor. Then he spotted Pawn. The Worker hesitated and half-rose from his seat.
Instantly, the air rang as Ksmvr’s blades shot out of their sheathes. The Antinium held his all four arms on guard and pointed one of his daggers at Pawn.
“Remain still, Worker.”
Erin gaped. Pawn began trembling and the other Workers instantly began moving out of the way. Ksmvr advanced swords at the ready.
“Wait. What are you doing?”
Ksmvr’s head moved sideways a fraction as he spoke. But his blades never shifted an inch.
“I have come to ascertain the state of the Worker which refers to itself as ‘Pawn’. I will bring this Worker back into the city with me. I apologize for any inconvenience.”
He stood over Pawn and raised one sword just under the tip of the other Antinium’s chin.
“Stand. Make no sudden movements. You will be questioned.”
Meekly, Pawn did as he was instructed. Erin was staring, horrified. It seemed like—
“Wait, I don’t understand. Why are you taking him? Has he done something wrong?”
Ksmvr paused. He seemed reluctant to explain.
“…It is common knowledge that those Antinium who refer to themselves as individuals or have names are subject to fits of violence and unpredictability. More I cannot say, but my role is to judge such errant individuals and terminate them if necessary.”
The casual way he said it made Erin’s blood run cold. And now that she was thinking again, she saw Pawn was trembling as Ksmvr held his sword under his chin.
“Wait a second. Wait a second. I know Pawn. He hasn’t done anything wrong, and I’ve been playing chess with him every day for the last few weeks. Why are you taking him now?”
Again, Ksmvr paused before replying.
“The Hive within Liscor has been in—disarray. My appointment to this position was out of necessity. All shall be restored to order shortly. Until then, I carry out my roles.”
He looked at Pawn.
“We will return to the Hive. Any actions will be met with appropriate punishment. Is that clear?”
Pawn nodded. He slowly moved with Ksmvr’s blade poking into his back. The Prognugator would have pushed him out the door, but Erin was suddenly in the way.
“Hold it.”
“Please move aside Erin Solstice.”
“You haven’t explained anything. Pawn did nothing wrong. He has a name, but I was the one who gave it to him. What do you mean you’ll terminate him? And—and why do you look like Klbkch? What’s a Prognugator?”
“I am on business of my Hive. I cannot answer your questions. Please move aside.”
“No.”
Pawn spoke. His voice trembled with nerves as he spoke to Erin.
“Please, Miss Solstice. This is a matter of the Antinium. I knew it would come. Do not interfere—”
Ksmvr moved. His sword flashed and Pawn screeched, clutching a severed antennae.
“
The Worker will remain silent.”
Quaking, Pawn clutched at his bleeding stump and shut up. Ksmvr prodded him forwards, blade tips sinking into the Worker’s exoskeleton, but now Erin was right in front of him.
“That’s enough. Pawn is my guest. I won’t let you take him.”
Ksmvr stared at Erin expressionlessly.
“Interfering with my duties is a crime.”
“You cut him for speaking. I’m not letting you anywhere near him unless you explain things. No—better yet I want to go with him.”
“That is unacceptable. Move aside.”
“No.”
“I will not request twice. Be warned—”
“I said no. Didn’t you hear me?”
“I did. Very well.”
Erin didn’t see the Antinium’s hand move. But she felt something solid strike her so hard she saw stars and tasted blood. Erin stumbled away, and heard a furious clatter.
Toren rushed at Ksmvr, barehanded except for a spoon it had picked up from a table. Ksmvr turned his head calmly and two of his arms moved.
The hilt of his sword and dagger smashed into the skeleton, so hard that the undead construct paused. Ksmvr’s arm blurred again and suddenly Tor was headless.
With one leg, the Antinium kicked the skeleton across the room, scattering Toren’s bones. He turned calmly back to Pawn.
“Move. Walk slowly without deviation.”
“W-wait.”
Erin could only see stars. And her jaw was already swelling, but she still staggered towards Ksmvr. She stopped as two daggers pointed her way.
“Your interference has been noted. Your complaints will be heard by my Queen once she had completed her business. Regrettably, she is indisposed at the moment but you may request an audience at a later date.”
“I won’t—let you take Pawn. You don’t have to do this.”
Ksmvr paused, and then shook his head. He spoke inflectionlessly.
“My position is temporary. But any possibility of a Worker becoming Abomination must be dealt with swiftly. Interfere, and I will be forced to consider you an enemy.”
He opened the door. Pawn meekly walked through it. Ksmvr paused, one hand on the door. He nodded at Erin as the girl stared at him, horrified.
