Chapter 2
-Trog
The sign above the inn said “The Green Scorpion”. I was the first one inside. It smelled like mead and dried leaves. I didn’t hate the smell, but didn’t love it either. It was dimly lit. The staff hadn’t lit up the night torches, but the clouds and the snow blocked out the natural light, giving the floor a gray, melancholy look.
It was a wide place with a low ceiling. There were at least twelve red painted tables with a variety of occupants, and there was a very long bar counter which was painted green. Cardinal said “Krissmuss colors.”
A warm hearth crackled on the far side of the room. One of the hands stoked it with a new log and some fiery light lit parts of the room.
Everyone in the bar looked toward us when we came in, but I don’t think they saw us. I think they were looking at the storm outside the door, which was getting worse with each moment. The weather in the Laskmeer mountains was a thing to behold.
I looked behind the bar counter and saw an assortment of bottles and flasks.
Sareash kicked the snow off her boots.
Edrei grumbled to himself.
“What do we do now?” Cardinal asked as we all stood bunched together at the threshold.
“Get a drink of course.” I said, and that’s what we did.
The four of us lined up at the bar counter, me on the right, Sareash in the middle right, Edrei at the middle left and Cardinal on the far left. That’s the order in which we sat, if that matters.
“I’ll take a bumper of your hardest ale.” I said. That was usually what I said when I came into a bar. It usually yielded the best results. The bartender was a human man. Old. Bald. Fat.
“Whatever the special is.” said Sareash, “Um, preferably something sweet? Do you have anything sweet?” She always had to have a damn conversation.
“We have a brown-sugar port and a whitecap wine.” the man said.
“The port please, heavy on the brown sugar.”
“Spiced wine,” said Edrei. He could handle a drink or two, but bloated easily on something with a lot of body. Just a thing I’d noticed. He wasn’t a hardy man.
Next came mister predictable, “Swolt please.” said the Red Boy, “Hot.”
Sareash looked to me, then to the two boys, “Should we be drinking heavily? We don’t have rooms yet and we don’t know our next move.”
“Relax.” I said, “No one said anything about drinking heavily. This is just for sipping while we talk.”
—
The score was:
Trog 5
Sareash 3
Edrei 2
Cardinal 2
But you would have thought that Cardinal drank the whole bar. He was singing to himself and going on and on about some holiday from his homeland.
“You guys have the feats of lights. We have Krissmuss.” he said, for the fourth time, “I don’t remember much about Krissmuss but I still miss it. There were lights, and eggnog, and presents.” His hat was off and his eyes were rolling around like stones in his head.
“Where did you say you were from again?” I couldn’t remember.
“Amureka, or Homule. I guess either one is fine.”
Edrei was bent over like a stalking fiend. Even while he addressed Cardinal, he was side-eyeing Sareash, “One of those countries isn’t real. I’m certain.”
Cardinal, “Yeah, Homule might not be real.”
Edrei, “I’ve been to Homule you blasted dullard. I’m talking about the other place you mentioned.”
Cardinal, “I haven’t seen a Krissmuss movie in . . . I don’t know how long. Do you guys have Krissmuss movies?”
Sareash still had her wits about her. She drank conservatively and had a strong constitution. She beamed with curiosity wherever Cardinal made up a word, “What is a movee?”
Cardinal, “Right, no movies in Laskmeer. It’s kind of medieval here.”
Edrei, “For once we agree. It is somewhat evil here.”
Me, “I’ve been to eviler places. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen the castle of the Blood Drinker.”
Cardinal, “Do you remember how all of us did Krissmuss together, back at Night-Star?”
I took a long gulp of my drink. I had been trying not to think about Night-Star.
Edrei growled, “What in the hells is Krissmuss?”
Cardinal, “Sorry. I meant Feasteve. The festivus of lights.”
Sareash, “It wasn’t all of us. Edreim wasn’t there.”
Cardinal, “Oh, right, the good old days.”
Edrei, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Cardinal looked Edrei in the eyes, waited for a few solid moments and then said, “Who knows?” before taking a sip of his swolt. I laughed because Cardinal was not usually so mean and funny.
I took a deep breath and let myself remember, Elmanthian, Memuenta, Releeze, Drathe, everyone was there, before the beast. Before it all went to blood and carrion. “Yeah, little Sareash won the trial of flames. Another drink here please. Yes the same kind.”
“That’s right.” Sareash said, pride in her eyes, “I barely remembered.”
Cardinal, “The fire part was kind of terrifying. But the rest was fun.”
Edrei, “Was it?”
Cardinal, “Yeah. We watched fireworks, and gave gifts-”
Edrei, “So you played childish games. Like children.”
Sareash got everyone’s attention by pounding her mighty fist on the counter. If she were a bit more intoxicated she might have broken it, “It is not childish! It’s a proud tradition of my people and all followers of Bal’Zomest. Other cultures celebrate it too.”
Edrei, “Not the followers of Jerath. Such petty indulgences are beneath us.”
Cardinal, “Wow, that’s right. He’s a jorite. A grinch!”
Sareash, “Oh, I’m beneath you, am I?”
I could see the panic filling Edrei’s pale face, “No . . . I . . . let me rethink my words.”
Sareash, “Let me rethink my company. Cardinal, Trog and I will be celebrating the holidays while you wander the mountains alone.” She was joking, but it was a biting joke. I didn’t think Sareash had been affected by the drink, but it was possible that it was dulling her empathy, a quantity that was always flickering like a flame in her case.
Cardinal waved his hands in front of his face, “Wait . . . wait . . . does this mean that Worm has never celebrated Krissmuss?”
I said, “Cardinal, what in the hells is Krissmuss?” and laughed aloud. Everyone laughed. Everyone but Edrei.
Then we all got silent and looked with terrible pity at Edrei, who shyly averted eye-contact.
“No.” he said, very softly. I could only make it out by watching his lips move.
“What was that?” demanded Sareash.
“I couldn’t hear you!” mocked Cardinal.
“No.” growled Edrei, “I’ve never celebrated the feast of lights, and I don’t want to.” he was blushing a little bit. For a brief moment I think I saw what Sareash saw when she looked at the half-elf. He was so soft and timid, like a small boy.
“That’s mad!” belted Sareash so that the whole bar could hear her, “That’s insane! That’s . . .”
“Sad.” finished Cardinal, “Terribly sad. It makes me want to cry.”
“Move off it.” Edrei moaned, “I have no need for a childish, materialistic feast of indulgence.”
Sareash, “Next year I’m going to force you to celebrate! We’ll feast together at the palace! You have to see the crystals!”
I scoffed at the idea of Edrei going to the palace. He hated human society. How would that ever happen?
Cardinal and Sareash were on a different track.
Cardinal, “Wait! I’m having an idea!”
Sareash, “What kind of idea?”
Cardinal, “The best kind of idea! Listen to me . . . are you listening?”
Sareash, “Yes, I’m listening.”
Cardinal, “Trog, are you listening?”
Me, “Sure.”
Edrei, “Do I need to listen?”
Cardinal, “No. In fact, cover your ears.” he didn’t.
Cardinal, beaming, “We could have a Feast of Lights right now! Tonight!”
Edrei, “What.”
Me, “Huh?”
Sareash nodded slowly in agreement.
Cardinal, “It’s only like a month passed. It’s snowing here, we have nothing better to do.”
Edrei, “This is a terrible idea. Your worst idea, and that’s saying something.”
Sareash, “I think this is the best idea you’ve ever had, Cardinal.”
Cardinal, “I know, right?”
The two of them were in a world far away, and Edrei was getting more and more glum by the second. His face looked like an entire storm cloud.
Cardinal, “Trog? What do you think?”
I took a big gulp, “I think it sounds really stupid.”
Cardinal deflated, “Really?”
Me, “Yeah. Let’s do it.”
Cardinal began positively glowing. I hadn’t seen him this happy, maybe ever, and that was reason enough for me. Edrei looked like he was going to have a fit if we did it. That was another reason I wanted to.
Edrei, “I don’t want this. I seriously don’t want this.”
Sareash, “Why not?”
Edrei, “It’s against my religious beliefs! The followers of Jerath don’t celebrate holidays. They don’t feast and waste time and energy on frivolities. We only celebrate when our enemies suffer anguish.”
Cardinal took a humongous gulp of his drink, like he was trying to give himself courage, “Man it might not be very PC of me, but screw your religion! It’s all about cruelty and genocide!”
Me, “Yeah, screw his religion.”
Cardinal stood up, “Okay, to me my holiday minions! Let’s go and plan a feast to end all feasts!”
Sareash and I stood up. We followed the drunken fool off to find a room, while Edrei sat and drank alone in the dark.
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