Chapter 1

    Business at the Wavecrest Tavern was brisk as usual, with many new people coming in and out.  Lorrial and Casidhe were working hard at the jobs they had been provided by their “Aunt” Trevia.  They originally would look at each person coming in, hoping it would be their sister Soulnet.  After two years of disappointment they stopped looking.

    She walked in through the gates, but it felt as if she had passed through them a lifetime ago.  She walked to the spot where the cleric had been standing the day she left, and said a prayer of thanks that he had shown her the way.  She turned to the left and walked towards the door of the Wavecrest Tavern.  Pausing, she questioned what she was doing.  Was she right to come back?  Were they better off working here and being safe?   

    She had seen a lot of death in the past few years and couldn’t bear to think of it happening to them.  The gruesome pictures in her mind would have shaken even the bravest of warriors, but she did not even shed a tear.  She couldn’t shed a tear.  Crying wasn’t possible anymore.  Soulnet had shed more tears in the last few years than most do in a lifetime.  Without hesitating any more, she took a deep breath and walked in.

    Lorrial got another large barrel of grog out of the storage room and carried it to Sigmund, the barkeep.  Casidhe waited tables and moved with the grace of a swan. 

    Both girls had grown much in the two years they had worked here, even being proposed to a few times by adventurers.  Aunt Trevia warned them to ignore these men.  “They aren’t anything but trouble” She said, “They won’t settle down and have a family.  All that will happen is they will go off and not come back one day, either having found a new woman, or begun rotting somewhere in a cave.  And the worst part,” she said, “you will never know what happened.”  Ever since they first heard this speech the two sisters had surmised that something bad had happened to her once with such a man.

    Some of the patrons looked up as the Halfling walked in.  She was dressed in dark armor and a helm that looked like a bare, bleached skull.  There was a definite confidence in her step, but also a noticeable level of paranoia with her snapping her head back and forth looking at everyone.  She made her way to a table in the back and sat down with her back to the wall.  She did not remove her helm and just surveyed the room looking for them. 

    After a few moments she saw Casidhe coming towards her.  She had grown so much, and was moving more gracefully than most of the fighters Soulnet had traveled with. . 

    “Hello, you seem new here.  I don’t remember seeing you here before.  Anyway, what can I get for you?” 

    Soulnet looked up and said in a forced low tone, “Grog.”

    Casidhe nodded and said, “I will be right back.”  She walked off and put the order in to Sigmund. 

    Casidhe was getting drinks together for her tables when a huge group came in.  Six men in heavy armor came in laughing and talking loudly.  They went to the nearest table and started to sit down.  There were not enough chairs for the men so they started to take chairs from other tables and even threatened people to get up so they could take their chairs.

    Lorrial put the barrel behind the bar and looked up towards the rude men.  Casidhe said to her, “Can you take these drinks to the back two tables so I can take care of these men?  Seems to me they have had enough to drink already."

    Lorrial nodded and grabbed the tray.  She gave two of the three mugs of grog to two dwarves at the first table, and then went to the second.  She handed the mug to a disturbed looking Halfling.  The Halfling nodded and gave her a platinum piece.  In a low voice she said, “Keep it.”

    Lorrial walked off surprised, but happy.  She hadn’t gotten a tip like that in a long time.  As she was passing the problem table of men she noticed that Casidhe was having a problem.

    Casidhe had walked over and before she could even ask what they wanted one of the men grabbed her.  He drunkenly slurred, “Come ‘ere darlin.  Ya are sush a perty lash.” And he pulled her down on his lap.  The other men howled in laughter.

    Sigmund stepped from behind the bar and approached them, “Ok, gentlemen, please let her do her job and take your order.”  

    Everyone in the tavern was watching to see what happened.  No one saw the Halfling get up from her seat and walk toward the table.  Lorrial walked towards the table and went to retrieve her sister.  She put her hands upon her arm and started to help her off the man’s lap, but he would not let go.  “No, shir, thish one’s mine.  You can have the dwarf instead.” And he pushed Lorrial back towards Sigmund.

    There was movement from the side of the man’s head, and then he slumped over letting go of Casidhe on his way to the floor.  Everyone looked to see where the movement came from.  There was the Halfling, mace in hand.  The other men stood up and attempted to draw weapons, but there was a group forming behind the Halfling,  warning the men of how foolish it would be.  They knocked over their mugs, gathered their friend, and left the tavern.

    Sigmund and Lorrial helped Casidhe to her feet, and approached the Halfling.  “Thank you for defending my girls.” said Sigmund. “You can have anything on the house you would like.”

    He turned to Casidhe and Lorrial and said, “Please get this deserving person what they want so I can clean up this mess.”  Lorrial and Casidhe started to walk away towards the bar when the Halfling spoke.

    “I require nothing from your kitchen thank you, but I do require one thing” then she removed her helmet.  With a smile on her face she said,” I need my sisters to finally join me to fulfill our oath.”

    Lorrial and Casidhe didn’t move.  Could it be her?  Could Soulnet be back?  They ran and tackled her in a huge hug.  They lay there on the floor asking her questions and all she could do was laugh.  “Ok, ok.”  “Let’s get up and try to get our things together.  We have work to do.”

(to be continued...)

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