Mikax stumbled back towards the Valedge Inn. The town had lost all color to him. He wasn't even looking forward to the food and drink that he had enjoyed earlier this morning. The one hope he had to get him thru his time in Bedel was going to be staying active with the ladies. He had seen some lookers as he wandered around but he had also noticed just as many rings on their fingers.
By the time that he had found his way back to the inn it was right at lunch time. After he had entered and said his greeting to Onas, he was actually surprised at how busy things had gotten. Last night was steady but not busy, so looking around and having no place to sit was just another slap in the face for him. He turned to walk towards the stairs when a female shouted his name, "Mikax! Where are you going?!"
He knew the voice immediately as there were only 4 people in town who knew his name, of those 4 only 1 was a female. Mikax turned towards Lyra and forced his best smile, "there's no where to sit so I was just going to go lie down."
Feigning surprise Lyra put her hand over her mouth and gasped. She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the bar on the end where he had sat yesterday. She then tapped the man who was sitting there on the shoulder. The man looked back at her confused before looking at Mikax even more so. He looked to be store clerk of some sort wearing well maintained pants and a button down shirt.
"I'm sorry to say this but we will have to ask you to give up your seat. This one belongs to my good friend here." Lyra said in a sweet voice that held just a hint of authority as she presented Mikax.
"What's an outsider done to get a reserved seat? I've been coming here regularly for most my life!" The man asked Lyra, clearly annoyed, however Mikax had picked up the way he had said 'outsider' specifically held some connotations which piqued his annoyance level almost instantly.
Smiling Lyra leaned in to whisper to the man, "if you get up I'll give you a bottle of your choice." She had no idea that Mikax could easily hear the exchange.
He was starting to get the idea that this Inn was so busy because it made some amazing alcohol. It would be an understatement to say he disagreed, if Lyra had made him that offer he would have gladly stood up and went on his merry way. Much like the fantasy that was occurring inside Mikax's head, the man grinned ear to ear before bowing to Lyra.
"Come back tonight please Mr. Akkar, I have a VIP to attend to." Lyra ushered the man known as Mr. Akkar out of the way and began cleaning the area he was sitting at.
After sitting down on the chair at the bar, Lyra didn't even ask what he would like. Within a minute he had a mug of a completely different drink than the night before and the morning. Mikax was in heaven as he downed mug after mug. Before too long he noticed the crowd slowly starting to disperse and soon there were very few people in the room.
It was at this point the Innkeeper Orion appeared to relieve his wife. Another young man took over for Onas at the front desk at the same time. Seeing the already tipsy Mikax at the bar, Orion came and sat down with him. "How was your day Sir? I heard you've been being spoiled by my wife."
Laughing it off Mikax just nodded and continued to drink the mug in front of him before asking "So how did a man like you score such a woman in a town with almost no females."
As soon as the question had finished leaving his lips Mikax could tell that he struck a sour cord. Orion's face had twisted into one of sadness and anger.
"You know that the demons have been invading this area, right?" Orion asked softly trying to make sure that none of the other patrons heard.
Nodding Mikax replied "I have heard that, yes."
"So then it should come to you as no surprise that there aren't any women here." Orion said this so matter of fact that it confused Mikax. He had been in plenty of towns near demon invasions before and there was never a shortage of women, usually there were more to try and find work among the people who were coming to fight them off.
"I hate to say this but I'm not following you old man." Mikax simply scratched his head while looking into his mug.
"Boy do you know nothing of how demons do things?" Clearly the world of E2 and Bedel did not function as similarly as Mikax had originally thought. "The demons start by slowly picking off travelers, once that either gets scarce or too heavily guarded they sneak into towns at night and steal pretty women to become their breeders. No woman is going to stay around for that. The King has sent no help so people stopped coming fairly quickly. Only heavily armed groups come and go. After the first few girls disappeared most the young women took off for safety. Only the loyal wives stayed, though I wish some of them wouldn't have."
It was clear that Orion had meant Lyra, and Mikax couldn't blame him. If he didn't have the power to protect her then the safest thing he could do would be to send her further within the borders. Mikax nodded his head in understanding and agreement.
With the mood soured from talk of demons neither party spoke much more that afternoon. However, Mikax did manage to finish an entire barrel of some very heavenly wine. Somehow it was neither dry or sweet and seemed to be constantly adjusting its taste to match his tongue's desires. By the time dinner had rolled around he was back in his fairly drunken state from the night before.
After he had eaten, a patron had sat next to him much closer than one would usually experience. This immediately annoyed Mikax as he turned to see who was courting an ass beating. It was Mr. Akkar. Seeing that Mikax had looked up at him Mr. Akkar took this as his chance to speak "so, outsider, who are you?"
It took everything Mikax had not to stab the man immediately. The only reason he was restraining himself was because he didn't want to cause trouble for the people who were making such amazing drinks.
"This is your only warning, call me outsider again and I'll drag you outside of town and they will never find your body. How's that for being an outsider?" Mikax never took his eyes off the man while he released just a tinge of killing intent.
Instantly Mr. Akkar shifted his stool a little further away. "It's just rare to see new people considering the demons have been inside town, nothing wrong with being suspicious of a man in all black." He did his best to justify his question but could tell that Mikax was not having it.
"Let me start again. I'm Mr. Akkar, I am the manager of the town treasury and bank." With his introduction out of the way he held out his hand in an attempt to shake.
'Why did he have to be the man I needed, now I can't kill him.' Mr. Akkar could see the frustration on Mikax's face as it looked like he had just lost a big hand at cards.
"Mikax, I'm just a Misfit." While introducing himself he never looked up from his cup and he ignored the mans hand. He needed to go drink something upside down, despite trying again, counting wasn't working.
Before Mr. Akkar could say anything else Lyra had appeared from somewhere in the kitchen area. Her and Mr. Akkar discussed their exchange from earlier while Mikax worked on his drink. After a few minutes Lyra had disappeared only to return with a plain looking bottle of what appeared to be red wine. It was then that she noticed Mikax's sour and sulky looking mood.
"What's got you so down Mikax?" She had leaned down to the counter and was only about a foot away from his face when he finally realized she had been addressing him.
"I hate Vikings" Mikax downed the rest of his drink before thanking Lyra and waving in who cares type of fashion to Mr. Akkar while leaving the Inn.
"Why do you treat him as a VIP Lyra? He didn't even pay. He's a thief and an asshole." Mr. Akkar wanted to know why such a nice family run Inn was letting someone like him walk all over them. They could easily get the guards to deal with a common thug type like him.
"Well since you are here and want to know the truth I'll let Orion explain it to you it's not like you won't find out soon enough." Was all Lyra was willing to say out in the open. She then went to relieve Orion so he could have a meeting with the banker.
Mikax didn't have any specific destination in mind when he left. He just couldn't stand sitting next to that man again. Tonight, unlike the night before, he had achieved his goal of being absolutely obliterated. He wasn't sure what the alcohol was made of in Bedel but it had a more lasting effect than E2.
Before Mikax had realized where he was he noticed that he was standing in front of the huge ugly wooden brown gates of Redgate. This was his last straw. The one that finally broke the camels back.
"I HATE VIKINGSSS!!!"
Mikax had shouted at the top of his lungs with every ounce of frustration that he had been letting build up inside of him. He felt like he was seeing red. 'Wait, what.' His body had relaxed almost instantly at the realization that had just hit him. A figurative light bulb was floating above his head as a devilish grin slowly formed on his face.
The guards at the gate were in full alert watching the man who had just screamed at the top of his lungs an unintelligible sentence. They all had the same thought. What or who is a Viking?
Noticing that he was being stared at Mikax immediately ran the opposite direction. He was speeding down the main road as fast as most horses galloped. While running he was sorting thru the items he was going to need.
That night in Redgate many different citizens were alarmed as they heard a sinister cackle of someone or something traveling thru the town for hours. By the time most people had woken up an alarming phenomenon had occurred and no one was sure how.
All 4 main gates had been dyed red. Not a single person had seen the culprit and none of the guards had left their post all night.