Archives: Hunt for Kiran
Chapter 11: The Hunt Begins
Adriel awoke after a restless night. He had woken several times, thanks to his anxiousness to get on with the journey, but it looked to be early morning, and there was no chance he’d get more sleep. The dark elf got out of bed and ran his fingers through his silky white hair. His fingers tangled in the knots created from all his tossing and turning, so he began to straighten his hair.
Yrsanne slept well and rose early, as was a tradition for her. By the time Adriel had risen, she already was dressed and brushing out her hair by the window. Her things were in a neat pile and her bed was made. “Bed too rough?” she asked, the corners of her mouth curling. His head was a mass of tangles and he had shifted half a dozen times since she rose.
Adriel gave a small, tired smirk to Yrsanne as he worked another knot out of his hair. “I feel as if we may have made a mistake by waiting the night away,” Adriel said. “But how likely would it be that my father is here, in Shinning Hill, of all the places in Lodoss, right now?” He shook his head.
“As likely as any other place, I suppose,” Yrsanne said, shrugging. “A lot of travelers hit port and never leave though. Who knows?”
“Hmm...Well, I cannot say I know much of traveling habits,” Adriel replied. He finished another knot in his hair, then ran his fingers through to make sure there were no more. “We should go wake Mica and Sythenra, then prepare for the day’s searching.” The dark elf stood from his seat off the bed, then went to the door and headed out into the hall. Mica, Parsley, and Sythenra had the room next to his and Yrsanne’s. Adriel knocked on the door and waited for a response.
Sythenra opened the door of Adriel and Yrsanne’s room and looked to Adriel. “Oh Adriel.. Is it time to go?” she asked. She closed the door to get into her armor and strap on her equipment.
“Oh, by the way, Mica and Parsley, have them seen them Adriel? They never came back to the room last night,” Sythenra said as she finished putting on her equipment. “Ah, good morning Yrsanne. Did you sleep well?” she asked with a soft smile, then she looked back to Adriel. “I’m serious with that question Adriel. They didn’t return to the room last night,” she said to him. She was saying this as a sort of back up comment, to make sure he fully understood the situation.
“No, I haven’t,” Adriel said, a furrow developing between his brows. “Where did Parsley go? I left her with you last night. Did she leave with Mica?”
Sythenra shrugged helplessly. “She said she was going for a walk, but she never returned to the room,” she replied.
* * *
Mica returned to the Broken Cup Inn with a bang, forcing the door open with a vicious kick. The door, having landed on some morning patrons, interrupting their quiet meal. One of them got up growled at Mica. “What da hell do ya think yer doing ya punk!”
Mica grinned. He’d been fighting and boozing all night, starting off the day with a fight would be more than a happy way for the violent half dark elf. “Starting a fight with a bunch of pussies,” he said, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. Without another word he rushed in and bull rushed the man who growled at him. Driving him through the wooden table, Mica shoved his fist into the man’s throat. The two others jumped upon Mica and tried to pry him off their friend.
* * *
Suddenly, the sounds of Mica shouting and and crashing around in the common room gave him some sort of answer. At least Mica was here now. “There is Mica,” Adriel said dryly, in reference to the ruckus.
Yrsanne moved out of the room, shaking her head. “We won’t be welcome here now. I think its time we leave.”
Sythenra let a groan leave her throat when Mica had returned, of course creating problems. “Can he never bring trouble when he comes back?” the dark elf asked with a small sigh, putting her hand on her hip. Mica was always causing a ruckus and she nodded in full agreement with Yrsanne. “Thats more than likely. We better leave now Adriel,” she suggested to him.
“Indeed, I do not believe our host will be tolerant of our presence now,” Adriel replied with a groan.
* * *
Mica shook off one of the two men trying to keep him off their sputtering friend, and elbowed the other viciously in the solar plexus. While the man who was shaken off was recovering Mica stepped on his foot and drove his head into the man’s face, shattering his nose. Mica stepped off the man’s foot and let him fall to the ground. The three men would require some time before they’d be able to mount a counter attack on him, which left him little in the way of entertainment for the moment.
“By all the gods...” the innkeeper growled. “I thought I told you yesterday to not pick a fight in my establishment. What ’re you daft? Git outta ’ere before I call the guard!”
Mica cracked his neck and gave a menacing glare to the innkeeper. “...Call them. I still haven’t worked up a proper sweat,” he said with a smile curling on his broken lip. “I’ve always wondered whether or not the guards of Shining Hill were any good, or whether they were just pushovers that allowed the Marmo to invade oh so easily.”
The innkeeper shivered but attempted to stand his ground. “I-I’d suggest you leave,” he grunted a little lower in volume than his last threat.
Mica fished in his pocket and pulled out a gold piece, tossing it to the innkeeper. “That should cover for the damages,” he said slowly. “But let that be a lesson to you. Dark elves are nothing compared to the savagery of a human who lusts for blood.” Mica laughed while leaving the inn, and, once outside, sat against a wall. I think I’m going soft. I didn’t kill a single person today.
The dark elf went downstairs to see the destruction in the common room, and groaned again. Mica had stepped out, apparently, but the innkeeper was still shaken. As Adriel approached the bar, the innkeeper’s slightly jaundiced eyes widened. However, Adriel only set down the agreed upon payment, and a couple extra pieces of gold for the damage—unaware that Mica had already paid for that.
“Did our other female companion return last night?” Adriel paused long enough to ask. He was worried about Parsley, but he also thought she might have become fed up with Mica’s treatment of her and left. Though meek for a dark elf woman, she did carry a spear, and he imagined that she was probably proficient with it. He didn’t look forward to telling Mica of her absence, and Mica would have to decide if his wife or father was more important. Perhaps, if Mica actually did go after Parsley, which Adriel doubted, he could proceed on his search with only Yrsanne and Sythenra.
“I don’t know nothin’ ’bout yer lady friend,” the innkeeper replied with a sneer, then quickly scooped the coins off the counter. “Just git out, the lot of ye!”
Adriel took the angry response with grace; there was no sign of emotion on his face, this sickly human wasn’t a threat to him. “Thank you for your time,” he replied, then turned away and walked to the door, showing no signs of rushing.
As he stepped outside, he found Mica leaning against the wall of the building, waiting for them. Though he maintained his outwardly cool composure, he was afraid of how to break the news of Parsley’s departure to Mica. He opted for quick and to the point. “Parsley is gone.”
Mica shrugged at Adriel’s news of his wife’s departure. “Oh well, shit happens,” he grunted. “Did you sleep well?” He wanted to change the topic away from Parsley at any cost. Her presence must have been what was dulling his killing instinct.
As unpredictable as ever, Adriel thought. He assumed Mica would be at least a little upset, but he didn’t seem to care at all, nor want to hear more. “Not exactly. How should we proceed?” Adriel said, skipping over the pleasantries. After spending the entire night agonizing over the search, he wanted to get on with it, not exchange small talk. They had missed breakfast, but Adriel didn’t exactly have an appetite and they weren’t welcome in the inn anymore.
Mica sighed. “Let’s see, out of the four inns I took a peek in, crashing around and whatnot, it seemed like our ‘father’ didn’t stay in any of them. No invisibility spirits present. The other inns that this town has to offer is the Tiger Lily and the Red Brute. I haven’t checked those two yet.” Mica pulled up his legs into his chest. “...There is another possibility that occurred to me just recently. That woman that I had thrown from the boat...she could have made it here before us. If she found Kiran before us, she would have pleaded him to leave the town with her.” Mica grunted and rubbed his temples gently. He was beginning to feel the effects of a hangover. “If that’s the case, then he’s already gone.”
“She may have swam to shore with the help of Undine, but she probably would have swam to the coast, not up river. The length of the river to Shinning Hill would be a much longer walk on land than it was a ride on a boat,” Adriel replied. “Besides, how do we even know he is here now? He could be anywhere in Lodoss.”
Mica nodded. “I dunno. I feel like someone I wanna really hurt is in this town. I figured it’d be him, since the only other person I really really want to hurt is in Raiden last I knew.”
Yrsanne slung her things from her room onto her shoulder and came down the stairs. She moved down the stairs, her face ready to cut through ice. Mica was a monstrous fool. Uncouth, moronic, and a blunderbuss. He was a liability to them, not an asset. Normally, she would consider cutting him down if something like that began to happen again, but she was not confident that she could take such a brute down. With most foes, stabbing them could bring them to a halt. It might just make Mica mad.
She approached the innkeeper. “Are we set?”
“No,” the innkeeper growled. “Not until you people are out of that door!”
“Then consider our business completed,” she replied back coldly as she walked through the door to find Mica and Adriel.
“Then which inn do we check first?” Adriel asked Mica. He glanced over his shoulder as Yrsanne and Sythenra joined them.
“Personally, I doubt our ‘father’ would spend a night in a place called the ‘Tiger Lily’, so Red Brute seems the most logical,” Mica stated. “It’s closer to the north end of the town, near a gate so it’s good for quick escapes. The Tiger Lily is more westward and a little more central. Again, logic would dictate that if he was on the run from someone, even if he was or wasn’t aware of our presence, he’d choose the Red Brute over the Tiger Lily.” Mica shrugged. ”However, this is all speculation, as I’ve never met the man nor had anyone tell me what he’s really like.”
“Very well,” Adriel replied. “Then let us go to the Red Brute.”
* * *
Mica led the way to the Red Brute, avoiding the main streets as much as possible. He hadn’t been in town long, but the half-elf had already mapped out the route to take to every inn in the city. He wouldn’t be much of an assassin if he hadn’t. The only disadvantage to traveling through the alleyways is that they were amongst the most disgusting and vile smelling walkways imaginable. As a red tiled roof came into sight Mica pointed to it. “Kids and women get to cover the front and rear exits, I’ll take any rooftop escapes their may be. One of you unlucky individuals gets to go inside and ask if there was a Kiran there.”
Kids? I am five years older, Adriel thought disdainfully. Shamefully, he realized how naïve he seemed in comparison to Mica. “I will go inside,” he volunteered.
Adriel turned and headed down the alley between the inn and its neighbor, to the main street where The Red Brute Inn’s door was. Sythenra silently opted to follow him, so she could watch the entrance as Mica suggested. As the dark elves stepped onto the street, a few passersby gave him wide berth, and some even crossed to the other side to get away from him. There was no open hostility though. Sythenra stopped and leaned against the wall next to the door, while Adriel continued inside.
The patrons of this inn seemed to fit the name. The lot of them did look to be brutes. This seemed to be a favorite inn of mercenaries. None of them seemed pleased to see a dark elf in their midst, especially one as well-groomed as Adriel. Beauty like his only belonged on bar wenches in this establishment. He went for the bar, where the innkeeper—apparently the red brute, as he was a large, muscular man with red hair—was tending his duties.
“Pardon me, I am searching for a dark elf. Perhaps you have seen him?” Adriel inquired, getting as directly to the point as he could manage. “He is around the same height as I, with blond hair, coppery skin, and amber colored eyes. He goes by the name of Kiran. Have you had any such patron recently, or at in point within memory?”
The brute eyed Adriel, debating just what to tell him. “Can’t say I ever seen a dark elf like that, but even if I did, wouldn’t have let him stay here. Now, you’d better get out ’fore my customers get tempted to smash that pretty skull of yours,” the innkeeper replied evenly. “We aren’t very fond of the Marmo around here.”
“Very well then,” Adriel said, slightly irked by the rudeness, and company. “Thank you for your time.” He wasn’t going to stay any longer and tempt a conflict. So far, their search wasn’t turning up much. He was losing hope that Kiran had ever been in Shinning Hill.
He left the inn and returned to where Yrsanne waited at the back door. Mica was already up on the roof. “There is no sign of him ever having been here,” Adriel informed her, then looked up to the roof. “Mica! He was not there.”
Mica grimaced and climbed down from the roofs. “Damn. Then the only other place he could have been staying in would be the Tiger Lily Inn.” He scratched at his neck tearing small pieces of skin and dried blood off him. “Shall we head to the last stop?”
Adriel nodded in agreement. “Lead on, then, brother,” he said to Mica. With Mica leading, the dark elves crossed town to find the Tiger Lily Inn.
