Morden awoke suddenly to the feeling of pressure in the air. The voices immediately started whispering and hissing angrily all around him. He looked around him half panicked and saw nothing strange.
The feeling couldn't be explained very well, just uncomfortably different. He walked over cautiously to the window and glanced outside. The street was dark with only one street lamp lighting the narrow alleyway. The air was rippling several feet away from the window in certain areas.
There were specific areas that were rippling as if something was being stopped. By a force field.
'The magic barrier', he thought. 'Someone is either affecting the barrier or doing something near it. Knowing my luck, its the former.'
After a few moments the rippling settled down and the voices calmed down with it. Morden looked around the alley and on the roofs of the nearby building to see if anyone was nearby casting magic. When he saw that nobody was nearby, Morden relaxed.
'Looks like whatever it was, it stopped.'
The next moment, the voices started grumbling violently and the air began to ripple once more but with an intensity Morden had never seen before. The air in front of Morden seemed to warp and bend almost like a river crashing against a rock.
BAM!
Morden felt as if an avalanche slammed into the barrier in front of him. The pressure from the magic was so intense that he doubted the barrier would hold. It felt as if he was hiding from a predator behind a tree. He had never particularly felt like the hunted before so this was a feeling he was not planning on feeling again. The air around him had the smell of sulfur as the crashing intensified.
The barrier began to show itself to the naked eye and Morden could see that it was being crashed into by some kind of glowing force that looked like a purple and blue river stream.
Right when Morden was certain that the barrier would give way, the onslaught ended as quickly as it started. Cautiously Morden walked over to the door and walked out to the bar where Marsa'hal was. He had his back to the bar and looked as if he was sleeping.
"Marsa'hal, I think someone may have just attempted to go through your barrier with some sort of magic."
Marsa'hal quickly stood up and turned around to look at Morden and leaned over the bar. He hissed and said, "What makes you think ssso?"
"I just felt and saw an incredibly force slamming several feet in front of my window. It was so powerful that it woke me up."
"I'll take a look. If sssomeone tried piercing my barrier, maybe they left a trace."
Marsa'hal lumbered over hunching to a room nearby and opened it with a key. Morden could see that it was rippling as well.
'I think that this rippling is magic energy. The voices respond to it as well. I'll have to test that theory out later.'
He turned the key and Morden could see a small burst of energy travel through the door. He opened the door and Morden followed him. The room was fairly dark so Marsa'hal said a short chant and several lights in the room turned on with magic.
The glow was very unnatural, lighting up the surroundings with a greenish yellow hue. In the middle was a formation with several ingredients lining the surroundings. Some looked like leaves, others like rocks, but each at a corner of the formation.
"By the godsss... Sssomeone tried and failed to break my spell barrier and failed." Marsa'hal exposed his fangs in what looked like a twisted smile.
"Thisss will cost me a good sssum to fix. I will find out who did thisss. They will pay for it." His snake like tongue twirled around as he spoke menacingly making Morden feel sorry for the poor soul who would incur the wrath of this creature.
'Wait, did he mean pay literally or that they were going to suffer?' The thought was better left alone.
"Do not worry, I will call a friend of mine, he ssset this barrier up. He will fixx it and find the culprit." The two left the room together and walked over to the bar.
"Give me something strong, sir," said Morden. "I don't think I will be able to sleep without it."
Marsa'hal went behind the bar and grabbed a bottle from behind the counter and a mug. He opened it and poured a black liquid into the mug and slid it over to Morden. He grabbed the mug and looked at the viscous liquid inside. It looked absolutely horrid and thick and the smell was like vanilla and vinegar.
"If you're going to poison me at least make it look presentable." Morden continued to look at the contents with suspicion. With a chuckle, Marsa'hal poured himself some in another mug and wolfed it down. He showed all his teeth and hissed in victory.
"Thisss is 'Flower's touch'. It is my favorite drink on thisss continent. I don't share it with many, but you are in my inn and you were disssturbed. This one is on me."
With a bit of hesitancy, Morden tapped the mug against the table and drank it all in one go. It tasted sweeter going down than he expected. A moment later it felt as if his throat had caught fire. Morden coughed profusely as he gasped for air.
"That's the strongest shit I've ever had!"
With a laugh from his belly, Marsa'hal slammed his mug on the table and poured another shot for the two of them.
" My tradition is three drinks. One gets you fired up, two liven you up, three messses you up, any more and you throw up."
"I don't know if I want any more." Morden paused after thinking about the after effects that two drinks would have on him, let alone three.
"My inn, my rulesss. Now drink." Marsa'hal looked at him like a true predator, so much so that it sent a cold chill down his spine.
"Fine, but if I am forced to recover from a hangover here, it's on you."
Marsa'hal shuddered at the thought for a moment but quickly agreed. After another shot, Morden felt like he was drinking ignited tar. breathing was a challenge, but the effects of the drink were glaringly obvious. Morden felt like the entire world was on a top as he drank the last shot.
-
Even though he did not remember taking the last shot, Morden felt it when he woke up in his bed. The sun beaming through the window felt like it was some form of offensive utility magic that was designed to blind any creature. The headache he felt was not eased by the fact that the voices were also grumbling.
'Quit your bitching, I didn't have a choice.'
He walked, or to be more exact, stumbled downstairs and saw Marsa'hal laying half naked across the bar.
'Guess his size didn't matter. Still got fucked up.'
He continued to the bathroom and proceeded to vomit any contents in his stomach. Feeling much better, he went back upstairs and cleaned himself up as best he could. Not wanting to leave was not an option for Morden. He needed to get in contact with several people as soon as possible.
He walked out the door and into the alley. As he left, the feeling of paranoia hit him again.
'I don't know if it's just me or if-'
His thoughts were interrupted by Karaia standing just feet in front of him. She was crying and holding her stomach which was covered in blood ruining the white sundress she wore. Through sobbing tears she looked to Morden and said, "Why weren't you there? You could have saved us, changed everything. But you hid the whole time. Why?"
Morden shed a tear as he looked at his best friend. He walked past her without saying a word. She turned to him and let out a mumbled cry while trying to grab him. "Why do you ignore me?!"
"You're already gone. Don't hurt me anymore. Please, let me move on."
"You'll forget me."
At those words he turned to look at her, but when he lifted up his head, she was gone.
'Will I?' Morden doubted himself. What if he does forget her? Will he one day think of her for the last time?
The noisy street behind him snapped him back to reality. Morden walked out there and walked for a few minutes aimlessly. He walked around and saw looked at the street vendors' wares. They mostly sold food and trinkets for tourists but nothing caught his eye. Some of the stalls sold jewelry enchanted with minor magic that fascinated Morden. The ripples they had all moved differently according to the enchantment and it fascinated him to no end.
He noticed one stand in particular sold quite a few trinkets that had a minimalistic design yet had a good amount of energy about them. The elf girl at the stall looked quite young. 5'2" (1.57m) with bronze skin and brown eyes. Her looks were enough to draw several people over to her small stand at a time. Unfortunately for them she was looking for sales, not suitors and quickly turned away any potential spouses. Morden decided to look closer at her wares. As he approached, most of the men around the stall parted a path for him. It was hard for anyone to not feel intimidated by a human standing next to them.
"Do you plan to buy anything, human?" The elf girl behind the table asked. Her soft smile made it difficult to say no, but Morden had no choice as he did not have much money to spare. All he had was 200 Soma. It was what he received from the villagers and that only amounted to enough to purchase some a stay at an inn for a few weeks and some food. Not enough for spending on niceties.
"It's only 50 Soma for this one," She said while holding up a bracelet with a tiny light cyan gem in it. "It can make any girl fall in love with you!" She gave him a flirty look while batting her eyes. A bit straight forward for his taste, but Morden appreciated her technique.
"Forgive me, I am just interested in magical trinkets and how they work. I do not have the funds to afford anything as of now."
"If you need money, I know of a place you can make some. For you, it should be particularly easy."
He paused for a moment. With his interest piqued so he asked her to continue.
"There's a brawler's club here in Gorod just a few blocks away. People sign up to fight and people pay to watch. You get paid based off of how many people watch and if you win, you get some more. I'm sure you could earn enough to buy half a dozen trinkets from one fight."
He understood what she was hinting at.
"Okay, if I fight, I'll make sure to stop by again and I'll buy something, I promise."
"Just be careful if you do go. There are champions of the arena that specialize in magic and other forms of special combat. There are plenty who want to prove themselves capable of defeating a human."
Morden thanked her for the information and left the stand. She smiled to him and let him know he was invited any time to stop by and talk or look at more wares.
Morden made his way over to where the elf girl had pointed him to. After a short walk, he came up to a building that had a very large sign next to it labeled 'Machon Arena: Where Legends Are Born'. The building itself was three stories tall and had a balcony overlooking the street with several people on it talking and laughing. Morden walked in through the doors into the foyer where there were several dozen people making casual conversation. The conversations slowly died down as everyone stared at the human in their midst.
A tall orc in the corner of the room leaned against the wall next to a hallway. He was 6'7" (2m) and wearing light armor that covered his chest but left his arms exposed. He wore a cloak that covered the rest of his body but his muscular figure could still be clearly seen through the fabric. Upon noticing Morden walk in, he turned into the hallway and disappeared into the darkness.