The moon sat in the sky, it was full and the tavern was half empty of it's normal students.
Many student's were studying for the exam tomorrow, while every other student was relaxing and celebrating, having finished with the exam.
Sofia let me lead as we walked through the assortment of tables filled with more locals than normal. "I guess they got the memo that students were going to be low tonight."
"What was that Delsanra?"
"Oh, nothing Sofia. Just thinking out loud."
The bar was filled as a group of elves and a few orcs watched the television. They drank, laughed and slammed their mugs down as a tournament was being broadcasted. I tried to squint to see what sport it was, but the line of strong builds impeded my viewing.
"How about right here?" Sofia pulled on my dress.
Despite never wearing a dress before, it felt nice. I made sure to not wear anything that will take eyes off of Sofia. So, I made sure to wear cuter clothes. I placed a black band that held my hair back and my dress was a light blue with small yellow flowers dotting all over.
Sofia sat down across from me and I had to admit, we had grown friendly the past day. Which was more time than the original Delsanra ever cared to spend with her. But she looked stunning, if I didn't know she was looking for another man I may have tried to hit on her.
She sat in the red leather seats gracefully, the homely woman I had been living next too was dressed in a long black dress that really brought out her cleavage. Her ass was shapely as well, really showing how curvy she was.
Once she was seated she immediately hunched over.
"Sofia sit up!"
She shot up.
Clearly she was nervous, I decided to look at who was in the tavern. Plenty of decent looking guys, but I realized I was missing a very big detail.
"Sofia, what kind of guys are you into?"
Her eyes went wide for a second as she hunched again and fiddled with her thumbs.
"Gr mm mhmh" I didn't understand a word she said.
"What?"
"Grind mmmh mm"
"Sofia, you can tell me."
"Fine! Grinduil!"
Who? That was my first reaction, but after a second a memory came to me. He was the captain of a sports team. I couldn't remember which sport he was from but I could picture his face.
He was a human with a midpart and wore a hairstyle reminiscent of a curly curtain style. Despite his manly and model like appearance he was also distinct in the fact his eyes were gold. A very rare trait for humans that was dying out. Perhaps I am remembering incorrectly but no one on earth has gold eyes.
"I don't think any one like him exists except him Sofia."
She turned red again and hid her face. "You think I don't know that!"
"What specifically about him do you like?"
"Oh just his looks and how confident he is. He is the best Hard Ball player in the world too. He donates most of his paycheck to charities and he is a loving family man..."
She rambled on about him for a while, telling me all about his career and childhood.
A cheer came from the bar that caused the two of us to look to see the commotion. Who else but Grinduil in a replay showing how great of a player he was. Making a goal from center field was not ordinary in any sport.
To briefly explain Hard Ball, imagine if Soccer/Futbol players were allowed to use a certain type of magic on the ball and use other parts of their body, besides their torso, head, and chest to move the ball and make goals.
The ball was reset in the center similar to soccer where the side who just got scored on gets the ball and both teams are divided onto their side of the field. Grinduil was strangely not a forward but a center fielder. Having the ball get kicked to his feet he started dribbling with it up the field.
Despite being able to use any body part to score, you couldn't grab the ball with your hands. So dribbling with your feet was still used to move the ball. Strangely they didn't dribble the ball with their hands, but that was probably because a strike was needed to use the hands. Even if they did dribble the ball letting the hands guide the ball was common in basketball and would call for an immediate penalty in Hard Ball.
As Grinduil approached a defender he kicked the ball up as the defender came sliding to steal possession. Using the side of his fist that glowed orange, Grinduil sent the ball flying at the velocity and speed of a kick to an open player.
"What a weird sport." I said not thinking.
"Sshhh Delsanra, please Hard Ball is great! Not only is it so exciting to watch but the National Hard Ball League is the hardest division in the world. Only Pros can make it to the division and it is in our country Delsanra!"
I forgot that although I wasn't that big into sports I should know to not talk bad about it in front of a fan. That goes for any obsessed fan in any fandom though.
...
The night was a slow one, most guys were too busy watching the game like everyone else to even notice us.
The few that were, were drunk and clearly only wanted sex. I already had so much sexual interactions I needed a break.
After the game finished we started heading back to the carriage that would bring us back to the college.
"Did you see that! The final goal where Prier leapt off of Hurkel just to fake a spike into the goal and instead pass it to Grinduil who just had to bounce the ball off of his foot!"
She was laughing and going crazy with excitement. It was a great game, but very one sided. The other team tried various strategies but Grinduil's team was too good to defend against.
The night air was cold but thankfully we were nearing the entrance of the town.
We were on a popular street that was pretty dead this time of night. Owls could be heard hooting in the distance and stray cats ran through the alleys. The few lights that lit the sidewalks were spread out awkwardly and began flickering.
Sofia wrapped her arm around mine, she was shaking.
"Are you afraid of the dark Sofia?"
"No I just don't like being out this late." She was clearly lying.
It was getting more worrying as the flickering increased. I thought to myself, "I don't think the 'electronics' in this world work on electricity. Why are the lights working that way? Hopefully they don't break." Than as if the lights heard my thoughts they went off.
Sofia squeezed much tighter and wouldn't let me go. "Delsanra! WHAT IS HAPPENING!!"
"Chill Sofia, no need to worry." Thankfully the moon lit up the area just enough to get under a stores light. Some of the stores had independent lights but most were farther down. This one was in front of the glass door to a place I could only make out the letters "a", "k", & "e".
"Sofia, just let me grab my wand and I can get some light for us."
"You have a wand?!" Sofia's mouth dropped. "Okay Ms. Money Bags." She smiled as she poked my stomach.
"Aaagh!" I dropped my purse. "It's not like that, two of my friends got me one as an early christmas gift so I don't have to wait till next semeseter."
"That is so thoughtful!" Sofia sniffled as she was beginning to cry at this fact. She really was drunk.
Bang!
We jumped up as a loud sound came from the store we stood in front of. Loud breathing could be heard getting closer.
"DELSANRA GRAB YOUR PURSE AND LET'S GOOOOO!" Sofia yelled in a breathy voice. She was tugging on my arm she was practically driving me out of the small illuminated area. Bang Bang!
The noise was getting closer.
I reached out my finger tips to my purse. Once I had a loose grip on it I felt a tug pull me back causing my wand too fall out and roll near the glass door.
"Wait!" I shouted at Sofia who was trying to pull me away, as I grabbed the wand I looked up.
Bang! A hand print slammed into the thick glass in front of my face.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah"
We sprinted all the way to the carriage.