Reintroduction

“I really need to figure this out,” I grumble to myself. “I cannot continue doing nothing all day every day. There has to be some reason that I am here, there has to be a reason that the portal only seems to take me into a random tavern in fire country. I need to figure this out but I do not have enough information to start. Seems like I do not have a choice, I must continue to visit the tavern.”

“Even the voice in my head does not know what I am doing here,” I drape myself in a thick black cloak. “He seems to know far more about me then he lets on but I am certain that this is something that he truly knows nothing about. I have no choices here and it turns out that I do not like not having choices. Gods, no one should have to live this way, having only fragments of memory.”

“I remember in my dreams,” I pull up the hood of my cloak to conceal my face. “But I have no control. I am not learning anything of consequence, at least not fast enough so now I have no choice. I have to sit in a tavern and drink until something interesting happens, without knowing who I am I cannot reveal myself. I cannot predict the consequences of revealing myself without knowing who I am. No, not who I am, who I was, I can guarantee that I am not the same person that I once was.”

“Just once I would love it if things were simple,” I turn to face the door that hides the portal. “I would love it if at least one of the puzzle pieces would fall into place without me having to fight for it. I do not even know my own name and now something is changing, I can feel it, there is something coming. Only I cannot identify it without the right memories, all I know is that I have to wait for it.”

“Pep talk over,” I cross through the portal. “Agatha, I will take the usual if you do not mind, I am going to the bathroom. I expect a meal as well, I do not care what it is, you may choose, something different from last time. My drink should be sat at my regular table, alone, by the time that I get back. I had a rough night, I could really do with a drink and you know that I do not enjoy waiting.”

“Of course,” Agatha sounds terrified. “There is just one small problem, it would seem that your usual table is occupied. I tried to tell them that it was reserved but they threatened to harm me. The rest of the customers too, there are other tables free, I will det you up with one of those if you like.”

I raise a hand and Agatha immediately stops talking as I stalk over to the table that I usually use. The tree men seated there turn to me and a deep growl emanates from my chest and they quickly get up. I jam my hands into my pockets as I watch the man scurry away, trying not to draw attention to themselves.

“You should leave this establishment,” danger lurks in my voice. “Never return or I will be a lot less polite.”

The men scramble for the door as fast as they can.

“You have my thanks,” Agatha tells me. “I will bring you your drink immediately and I will send word to the kitchen for you. To show my appreciation for getting rid of the riff raff it will be on the house. I will be back momentarily, you make yourself at home, my lady, though you have never needed permission before.”

“That will not be necessary,” I place a chunk of amethyst on the table in front of me. “You have more need of this than I do. There are few people who would show someone like me any kindness. You have always done so, you treat me no differently that you treat any of the others here. The least I can do is pay my way and I have more riches than I could spend in a life time, I require no charity. I certainly do not require payment for getting rid of those fools, you just tell me if they come back.”

“Of course, my lady,” it’s clear to me that Agatha is choosing her words carefully. “You have my apologies. I never meant any offence, you have always been good to us here and from what I understand my little establishment is the only one that you visit. In fact, it would seem that no one has ever seen you out side of here. I am sure you are aware of the criminal element that runs out of here. Some of them have voiced there interest in working with you, they say that anyone who can disappear so completely would be very valuable to them. I told them that I would pass on the message.”

I shake my head and Agatha nods her understanding before bustling away to the bar to be quickly replaced by the pretty serving girl she employs. Alice places a tankard on the table before me. I’ve spent enough time here that the staff are aware that they should only stay if I speak to them. Unless I initiate a dialogue I simply won’t participate in it, I don’t want to reveal the few things I know about myself. Knowledge has become the most precious of commodities for me. I know more about the other patrons of the tavern than I know about myself which is a very odd feeling. That’s all I do these days, I eat, I drink, I watch, I learn and then I do it all over again.

“Your meal is ready,” Agatha slides a plate onto the table. “Raspberry, almond and oat breakfast biscuits. They are still warm from the oven, the chef made them for the staff but I know the kind of things that you like. I believe there is also some yogurt, I can send Alice to fetch some for you if you would like. I expect that you will be here all day, you usually are, we will keep your tankard full. Just ask if you wish for anything else to eat, one of the local farmers paid with a bucket of fresh raspberries. The chef’s imagination really does surprise me sometimes, who knew you could make so many different things from a berry.”

Agatha disappears and just as I’m finishing the first biscuit Alice appears with a bowl of yogurt studded with yet more tart berries. She offers me the bowl and I nod so she sets it on the table. She’s a sweet girl and a pretty one which is an unfortunate situation for someone in her profession. It’s only mid morning and no one has been sat here for as long as I have but still some of the male customers have already started pawing at her. I keep an eye on her, the same as I always do.

“Alice!” I call the girl back and she has to extricate herself from the grasping hands of yet another man. “I do not like the way that they treat you, I cannot imagine that you feel any differently about it. If you find yourself getting into a situation that you do not like then all you need to do is call for me. I am more than I appear, I am certain that I could handle anything they might throw my way.”

“The girl will be fine,” Agatha has overheard my words. “Most of the regulars feel the same way about her as you do. It’s mainly those that are passing through that take things a little too far. These people may be criminals but they protect their own and Alice is one of outs, even if she does live the straight life.”

“You need not concern yourself,” Agatha assures me. “Besides if anything deadly were to happen I’d rather lose one of these cheapskates. You always pay and you pay well, your business is the only thing keeping this place running.”

“Don’t worry about me, my lady,” Alice smiles. “I’m used to it and Agatha’s right, the regulars will step in if it goes too far.”

Alice scurries away to continue her work.

“I told the men that were interested in you that you didn’t want to get involved,” Agatha tells me. “They keep telling me that they only want you to steal something but I think they’ve finally gotten the message.” I draw a long wooden box from within my pocket and place it on the table. “They wanted to speak to you themselves but I was able to convince them that it would be a bad idea.”

“You have my thanks,” I tell her. “I doubt that anything that they want me to steal would be something that I would want in their hands. Agatha, I know that you are aware of the nature of your clientele. You are aware that you need not do business with people such as this, I can get rid of them for you. They would never come back and I could keep you running until such a time as some more respectable customers were to arrive. It would not be any trouble, I might even enjoy myself.”

“I pray that I cause no offence,” I tell her sincerely. “I know that for many of the people here crime is a way of life. It is who they are and it may well be who you are and if you choose to remain in this life then this will be the last that you hear of this. I will not bring this up again, I will simply wait for you to make a decision. You may come to me with your answer at any time but until then I will not speak of it again.”

Agatha looks uncomfortable for a few moments, shifting her weight from foot to foot and wringing her hands. With a sudden burst of movement she takes the seat opposite mine, refusing to meet my eyes. It’s clear that she wants to say something and whatever it is it must be important. There is no way that she would make such a bold move if she didn’t think it was necessary. Agatha is a woman who blends into the background but most people don’t seem to realize that she does this on purpose.

“Whatever it is that you think you need to say you should go ahead and say it,” I say softly. “You need not concern yourself about upsetting me, contrary to popular belief I actually have a pretty solid hold on my emotional state. It takes quite a lot to make me snap and besides I have been watching you. I watch everyone, I know that you have noticed because you watch everyone too. You actually talk to these people, you have far more context to what you see than I could ever hope for. It you have seen something that concerns you then you can tell me about it.”

“You’re right,” Agatha grunts. “I’m the eyes and ears of this place, it’s why I hired Alice, so that people would pay more attention to her than they pay to me. As you said yourself, she’s a sweet girl. She attracts attention without ever meaning too which means that people are generally looking at her rather than me.”

“I’ve heard word of a man by the name of Kai,” she says softly. “He’s making the rounds of all of the taverns. He visits a different one each day, people seem to think that he’s looking for someone. He’s looking for someone and you appear to be hiding from someone, I wanted to let you know.”

“From the sounds of things this man is getting closer to here,” she whispers. “I would expect that you don’t want him to find you. As I have pointed out we value your patronage around here. From what I have heard there is a good chance that he’ll be here today so you have a couple of choices. He travels alone and the only strangers here are the group that you pulled Alice away from. That means he isn’t here yet which means that you could leave now and check back in the morning. Or you could slip through the door behind the bar, it leads to my home, if he comes in you can hide in there.”

“I truly appreciate you coming to me with this,” I assure Agatha. “But you are mistaken, if he really is looking for someone it isn’t me. At least not as far as I am aware, as far as I am concerned there is no one searching for me. I do not hide to protect myself, I hide to protect others. Do not bother to ask me what that means because I will not tell you but you can be assured that I am in no danger.” I flick open the box before me, ignoring Agatha wrinkling her nose in distaste.

“I am glad of that,” Agatha sounds completely genuine. “I’d prefer to keep you around, you’re like unofficial security for this place. We used to have at least four fights a night but since you have been coming here we hacen’t had a single one. I’d have given the same warning to anyone.”

Agatha takes a good hard look at me now, even though there is no possible way that she could make out my features within the darkness of my hood. Even though I know that she can’t see me her scrutiny makes me nervous. That’s when I realize that she’s scared, the rumours about this man have her terrified. She places her hands on the table and I know that she’s about to get up.

“Please do not get up,” I say softly. “I may look like a person who is trying to hide but just stop and think about that for a second. Look around, I stand out like a sore thumb in here, I may be hiding my face but that means that I immediately arouse suspicion.” I quickly roll a cigarette using the materials in the box. “Not a good tactic for actually hiding. Now think about what little you know about me, I am territorial, I care about others and I have no problem with threatening large groups of armed men. Do you really think I would be that scared of a single man?”

“I think that you could snap a single man in two and play with the bits that fall out,” Agatha chuckles. “Everyone is afraid of something and if a woman like you can exist then it only makes sense that you would have a natural equivalent. As for the hiding, not hiding thing, I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Love the imagery,” I snort. “You are right, there is a person that I am afraid of but it is a woman, not a man. I may not be afraid of this man but you clearly are so I have made a decision about what will happen. When he gets in you are going to be the one who goes through that door and I will remove him from the premises.”

“You really do not need to worry about this,” I try to reassure her. “It does not matter who comes through those doors. Whoever it is all you need to do is give me a signal and I will handle it. I will get him out of here and he will never come back and perhaps one day you will tell me why he is looking for you. Relax, I do not need to know but I will not pretend that I am not curious.”

“He’s not looking for me,” Agatha whispers. “He’s looking for Alice, she’s a runaway and her Father is searching for her. Rather he’s paying an obscene amount of money to have a mercenary search for her. Put that bit of information together with the fact that there’s a stranger going from inn to inn and everything becomes a little clearer.”

“You thought that it was me,” it’s a clear statement, not a question. “That is why you suffered my presence when I first came here. Even though I never spoke, you made sure that I was fed and watered. The world is a dangerous place, you should have gotten rid of me but then you would not be able to keep an eye on me. Then I think you knew that you wanted me here when he came.”

A small smile spreads over Agatha’s face and rather than being irritated I find my respect for her growing. She played me and up until right now I had no idea what was going on and a mind like that is one that I can get behind. She may have been using me for her own ends the entire time that I have known her but then again I always knew that she was a criminal. The only part of this that actually surprises me if that she’s done all of this in an attempt to protect Alice. I understand the risk that she’s taken in coming clean with me but when I Iook into her eyes all I see is honesty. It kills her to ask for my help but she’s done it anyway and she’s done it for Alice. However these two women came together they have formed a bond that is clearly closer than blood. I find myself drawn to that connection, though I don’t quite know why and the intensity of my reaction surprises me.

I have done something that I never expected to do, not only have I shared something about myself, I have shared almost everything about myself that I even know. Something about their connection really resonates me. I must have had an experience that I don’t remember, a relationship similar to the one that they have. Knowing that I don’t remember it leaves a dull ache in my chest. I don’t spend all of my time alone because I want to, it’s more like I have to, when I woke up at home for the first time I went exploring. I found an entire bookshelf and one of the shelves contained diaries. They were all mine and I began devouring the information but I had to stop pretty quickly. My dreams are a natural way of recovering my memories whereas forcing them by reading the diaries started a cascade of memories that nearly knocked me out.

“I will help you,” I assure Agatha. “When the man enters I am certain that you will know him for who he is. What that happens I want you to take Alice upstairs, you strike me as a woman who can take care of herself. Do you think I have not noticed that the rail on the inside of the bar is actually a spear? I would be surprised if you did not have more weaponry upstairs, if anyone comes up there that is not me or someone that you trust I want you to do what you have to do. For all we know this man simply appears to be alone, he could have others working with him. Appearing one way and actually being that way are two very different things, you know that better than most.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Agatha agrees. “But you should know that this may not be as easy as you think. I know a fair few of the innkeepers who’ve already met with them, one of them’s a good friend of mine. He spent his youth working in forges, he’s a large man and very strong. He tried to eject him because he was making his customers nervous, it quickly escalated into a fight. I’ve never heard of my friend losing before but he did lose this time and he lost badly, I saw him a week later. He was still bed ridden and the doctors were unsure of when he’d be back on his feet.”

“I appreciate the warning but I am not concerned,” I tell her. “When I try to get him to leave he will attack. I will fight back and you have told me how long it has been since this place last saw violence. These people are afraid of me, they will attack him rather than me and then it will not matter how good he is. These people all have a bit of bloodlust built up inside of them, sheer numbers will handle him. Even I could not stand against all of these men, at least not without sustaining serious injury.”

I get up from the table and disappear into the bathroom, knowing that Agatha will be gone by the time that I return. Once I’m alone I reach for a small bump somewhere inside of me, a bump that contains magic. I don’t really know how to control it but I do know how to change my appearance. I don’t wear the glamour often because it’s itchy but now I have a reason to and when I emerge from the bathroom the cloak is over my arm.

Wearing a false face I swiftly join Agatha and Alice behind the bar, making a point of stowing my cloak so that they can easily see it. I meet the eye of both women and they both nod, they know who I am. I can also tell that they’ll keep their mouths shut, this way it will be easy for me to confront the stranger without it seeming too out of place.

“I really must thank you for agreeing to allow me this position,” I tell Agatha pointedly as a customer approaches. “I will not be in town for long but the opportunity should help me to gain enough funds to continue my journey.”

“Business has been picking up,” Alice picks up the thread easily. “It is you who are helping us.”

She smiles brightly and heads out to clear tables.

“It would probably be best if you remained here,” Agatha has anticipated my plan. “I’ll go out and give Alice a hand.” I fit my cigarette between my lips and though Agatha frowns in disapproval she doesn’t say a word. “Once you know a few of the customers and your way around you’ll take over. Then I can get back behind the bar where I belong, just give a shout if you need any help.”

I nod, plastering a beaming smile across my face as Agatha disappears onto the tavern floor. It’s becoming more than a little obvious that today is going to be busy, it’s not even noon yet but still the only table that isn’t occupied is the one that I have recently vacated. There aren’t any people seated at the bar yet but it won’t be long until there are. This was not what I had in mind when I said that I wanted something to happen. Still, it’s better than just sitting around and I find myself going about the work with a practiced ease. I don’t remember ever having done this before but I’m fairly certain that I have. I even seem to know where everything is back here but the best part is that I have an unobstructed view of the door. I light my cigarette with flint and steel.

“I need to call you something,” Agatha’s voice comes quietly from behind me. “I call all my staff by their names. People will notice if I don’t do the same for you but something tells me that you aren’t going to tell me what your name is. I’m going to call you Sylvie, unless you have any objections.”

“Oh no,” the second waitress that Agatha actually employs has arrived. “Have you replaced me? If this is about the fact that I was late because you know that my son is sick, you promised me that it wasn’t going to be a problem. Now I show up to find that I’ve been replaced and this place is packed. All of our regulars are here, with the exception of our hooded friend and there are more strangers in here than I’ve seen since I’ve been working here. Please, Agatha, I can do better. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I need this job, I’ll do whatever you want just please don’t fire me. I’d climb on this bar and dance naked if I thought that would help, if you thought that would help. I can barely feed my family as it is, when I say that I’d be willing to do anything I really do it. Just tell me what it is that I need to do, I need to keep this job and if I have to find some way to get rid of this new girl to do it then I will. Not that I particularly want to but I’m sure I could find a way.”

Agatha quickly takes Caroline by the elbow and leads her away to a deserted corner of the room. Hopefully she’s calming the girl down and reassuring her that she still has a job and that I’m not her replacement. I only intend on being here long enough to deal with the man that has Agatha so scared. After that I won’t be working behind this bar and my presence has nothing to do with the fact that this place is packed.

“You are aware that I do not actually expect to be paid for this, are you not?” I ask Agatha when she reappears. “I am going this because I want to, you never actually asked, I offered and like I said funds are not an issue for me. This will not cost you anything, the kindness that you have shown me is something that I have not experienced in many years.”

“I got the impression that if you wanted something in return you would have asked for it before you took the cloak off,” Agatha assures me. “As for my perceived kindness, you may not have had it if you were not in possession of such a large amount of funding. I am a business woman after all.”

“I would expect nothing else,” I chuckle. “The fact still remains that you have been good to me. You need not have been, I would not have gone somewhere else, even if I had not received such a warm welcome. My reasons are difficult to explain, I am not even going to try but suffice it to say that your kindness was something that I sorely needed. Yet I never expected it. That is all the payment I require, you helped me more than you can know, now it is my turn to help you.”

“You already have helped us,” Agatha laughs. “The payment you gave the first day you arrived was more than enough to pay for every visit you have made in the last four weeks. You’re here every day. Yet I will not pretend that I’m not thankful for your help, the regulars won’t confront him alone.”

“The criminal element here is much the same as it is in the rest of the world,” she continues more quietly. “It is one great big family but when pushed each and every member of it will look out for their own interests first. There is a huge amount of fear surrounding this man, I cannot even guarantee that they will step in to help you. You may well be on your own here, which could easily mean your death. There are other ways of removing him from the premises than a fight. You are a beautiful woman, you could use that to your advantage, either as a damsel in distress or as a woman filled with lust.”

“I don’t know you well enough to suggest a course of action to you,” she snorts. “All I know is that you are going to do what you want to do. It doesn’t matter what me or anyone else is going to say to you. I just wanted to present you with some options that you may have overlooked. I’ll apologize if I offended you in any way. All I want to do is keep Alice alive and preferably you as well. If anyone were to die protecting her it would destroy Alice, I think you know her well enough to know that. Just because the spear is here, doesn’t mean you have to use it.”

I nod my agreement of her words but I know that if simple words won’t suffice then I will use the weapon. The idea of trying to seduce this man fills me with a dread that I don’t understand. The idea of playing the damsel in distress just goes against the grain of who I am completely.

“I have a feeling that whether or not this is going to be a fight is not going to be in my hands,” I nod over to a group of six strangers seated at a table by the door. “Those men are mercenaries. They did not place all of their weapons in the check in, every one of them has at least two daggers. I would probably see more if I got closer and they are definitely not after Alice. There is always one of them with his eyes on the door and for all intents and purposes they are ignoring all of the staff and patrons.”

“Keep an eye on them,” Agatha suggests. “If they really are waiting for him then odds are at least one of them has seen him before. Their reaction will likely tell you he has entered before I even see him. Definitely before I can get Alice upstairs, the sooner you get involved the less likely there are to be fatalities.”

“I would rather not have to close down for repairs,” she continues. “And by the looks of that lot there’s a good chance that they’re going to cause some damage.” I take a pull on my cigaret The sooner you get him out of the door the better.”

“I will get him out,” I assure her. “But I cannot promise that there won’t be any damage, I can pay to have it repaired though.”

Agatha disappears and we all get back to work.

****

A large man, rippling with muscles enters the tavern and I know before the mercenaries even flinch but this is the man that we’ve been waiting for. My hand moves to the spear on reflex but after that I can’t seem to move. The man’s eyes lock with mine and he freezes too, giving the mercenaries an opening. Before anyone else can react one of them darts in and plunges a dagger into the stranger’s stomach. Both of us snap into action as if it was synchronized as I vault over the bar and he snaps the neck of the man whose blade had injured him.

“ENOUGH!” I snarl. “There is no need for bloodshed here, all of you need to leave, right now. You mercenaries are no longer welcome, there is a policy here, you may not take your seat until you have given up your arms. Even your target chose to obey the rules, though it appears that things seem to have happened before he was able to finish placing that staff of his into the basket. Just look at him, he looks like an idiot stood there all awkwardly, trying to keep the thing outside.”

The man slowly begins to move, opening his hand to drop the staff to the ground and straightening his massive frame. Unfortunately the mercenaries take this as a cue and within seconds thay’ve piled on him. Blades glint and blood spills and the frenzy spreads, soon there are more than twenty men all going after the stranger. Something inside of me snaps and I enter the fray. I allow my instincts to take over which somehow culminates in me defending the stranger rather than ejecting him.

“All right,” I grunt to my new companion during a lull in the fight. “It looks like you and I are on the same side. I do not know how and I do not know why but that is an issue to deal with at another time. I will not, however, allow you to place hands on the woman that you came here for. All of the men that were actually here for you are down, all you have to do to end this is leave.”

“For your information I was going to ask the girl why she ran,” his deep gravelly voice rumbles from behind me. “If her reasons made sense I was going to go back to her Father and tell him that she was dead. He’s running around telling people that she killed a stable hand, it never quite sat right with me. As for leaving, we’re surrounded, I’ll still need to fight my way through them.” I take a drag of the cigarette that still dangles from between my lips without ever touching it.

“AGATHA!” I shout over the sounds of the fight as the people in the tavern begin to attack each other and not just us. “I can see that the door is open, I know that you can hear me, there has been a mistake here. I need to know you to tell me why Alice ran, how she came to be here. If you tell me then he will leave, that was always the plan, it’s complicated but I need you to trust me.”

“She fell in love with the stable hand,” Agatha immediately calls back. “Her Father arranged her marriage. When she refused to go through with it for a servant her Father had him killed. He thought that she would agree to the marriage but instead she ran, she came to me because he was my son.”

“You need to make a decision,” I growl at the man behind me. “You need to make it now, you have no reason to trust me but I believe her. If you decide that we should leave, you should place your hand on my shoulder. Do not break the contact until we are on the other side of the door. That wound to your stomach is serious, without treatment you will die but I can help you as long as we stay together. It seems to me that you are working for the villain and something tells me that is the last thing that you would want.” I blow a long plume of smoke out of my nostrils.

“Eventually this lot are going to remember what started all of this in the first place,” I snort. “They may have been scared of you to begin with but now they have seen you bleed, they will not think twice about coming after you this time.” I continue puffing away at my cigarette without touching it. “I would rather not have to deal with that, especially seeing as I am between you and most of them. I do not plan to do any bleeding of my own today.”

“You need to get out of here,” I know that Agatha is talking to me. “These guys are going to be at it for a while. The longer that you are in the middle of it the more chance that something escalates. They’ll all tire themselves out faster if they don’t have an opponent their pride forces them to overcome.” I spit the remains of my cigarette from between my lips into the face of the man before me.

Before I have a chance to say a word, a large hand clamps down on my shoulder and applies a light pressure to pull me backwards. I look back into a pair of chocolate brown eyes that suddenly fill with concern. A wave of uncontrollable panic begins to rise the second his skin touches mine.

“I do not have time to explain why,” I grind out. “But we need to get to that door as fast as we can.”

“I doubt it’ll take long,” he rumbles.

“Then get us out of here before I completely lose it,” I growl. “And before you ask, no, this is not just a ploy to get you out of the door faster. There just is not enough time or space right now for that. Get us out of here and I will explain it to you, you have my word on that but for now we should really get out of this damn tavern. Not to mention the fact that you are bleeding to death.”

I’m violently jerked off balance, the mans fingers digging into my shoulder, causing the panic in me to rise even higher. I know now that I’m going to lose it, no matter how quickly I can break the contact. He’s pulling me off balance because he can barely stay on his feet, he isn’t even fighting any more. He has one hand on my shoulder and the other clamped over the wound in his stomach. His face is pale enough that I can tell if I don’t get him out of here soon he won’t be getting out. I take a deep breath to steady myself and pull his arm over my shoulders, wrapping one arm around his waist.

“I have this,” I tell the man. “All I want you to focus on is staying on your feet and keeping pressure on that wound. You are going to be my eyes, I need you to keep your eyes on the main group. Let me know if anyone breaks away and comes near us, do not try to handle it yourself, I am not convinced that I would be able to carry you if you lost consciousness. I will focus on getting us to the door.”

“Get yourself out of here now,” Agatha sounds more urgent now. “Drop that idiot if you have to. There are magic users getting ready to get involved and I’m pretty sure the last thing you want is to be set on fire. Get out of here, I already told you that I don’t want you dead and I meant it.”

“You heard the lady,” I growl at the man. “Get this great useless hunk of muscle you call a body moving. Come on now, you have a whole lot of height and weight on me and I would love to avoid getting sucked back into that mess. We need to go, we are almost to the door, it is not going to be long until we are out of here. You can rest as much as you like once we are in a safe place. We just need to get through that door, I promise it will not take long but I cannot do it if you pass out.”

My back presses up against the solid wood of the door and I drop the spear to turn the handle. As the door opens there’s a pulse of magic and the pair of us fall through but instead of falling into the street we hit the floor of my lounge. I extricate myself from the tangle of limbs as quickly as possible. My eyes go wide with the panic that floods through me and for some reason it occurs to me that I don’t even know what colour they are right now. Scrambling across the floor on all fours I get as far away from him as I possibly can. My breath comes in rapid shaky gasps that have nothing to do with the fight, I can only link it to the physical contact. I don’t understand hy but I get the distinct impression that I have not felt the touch of another without it being swiftly followed by pain, not for a long time.

“Get a grip on yourself,” I grumble to myself. “That man is going to bleed to death on your floor if you do not get yourself together. All right I have this, I am going to need you to remove your shirt. I need to be able to see the wound, I will be right back, I just need to get a few things, this place is not very large. I will be able to hear you wherever I am so it may help you to talk to me. I do not want you losing consciousness until I have assessed the full extent of the damage, it could be dangerous. Close your eyes for a moment take stock of your own body, no one knows it better than you do. I will need to know if anything other than the hole in your gut feels wrong.”

“My name is Kai,” that deep voice rumbles. “I have to tell you that you remind me of someone that I used to know. It is really rather disconcerting, seeing as you look nothing like her but that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t offer my thanks for your help. When it comes to wounds there is the large one in my stomach. There are also cuts on my chest, my right thigh and my left shoulder. They’re deep but not too deep, should be able to just stitch them up, I doubt they’ll need any more than that. I’m more worried about the burn on my chest, your friends were right about magic users getting involved. It’s right in the centre of my chest and it’s already blistered, honestly I’m more worried about that than my stomach at this point. I’m still lucid which means that as long as we plug the holes soon blood loss will weaken me.” I tuck a long strand of brown hair behind my ear. “It won’t kill me but there’s still a good chance that the burn could result in a fatal infection. That’s an eventuality that I would like to avoid. What is this place anyway? Looking out of the window makes it feel like we’re at a greater altitude than anywhere in Calarabia.” I almost freeze when I hear his words and I’m glad he can’t see me now but I may as well tell him the truth.

“That is because we are not in Calarabia,” I sigh. “In fact, I am not entirely sure where we are. It is rather difficult to explain and honestly I am not entirely sure that I want to, I want to trust you but I have no reason to. The fact that I have brought you into my home should be enough.”

“It is more than enough,” he assures me. “Especially if you are as capable of treating these wounds as you think you are. If you want to know about me then I will tell you, let me see… I have told you that my name is Kai. I have two sisters, one older and one younger as well as four brothers, two of them are older and two of them are younger. Then there is my son, although I haven’t seen him in quite a while. He’s grown and has a life of his own which he has dedicated to the search for his Mother. My wife went missing when he was just a child, ever since he was old enough he’s been looking for her. I looked for her for a long time too but I’m pretty certain that she’s dead. I tried to tell him that but he won’t listen to me, she has a lot of very powerful enemies and she has been gone for a very long time. I had a one night stand that resulted in a daughter. She is living with her Mother at the moment, though I’m not entirely sure where. It doesn’t really matter, wherever she goes I can always find her, I suppose now that my job has gone sideways I can go back to her.”

I finish gathering together the items I need and return to Kai, who has propped himself as best he can against the side of one of the chairs. The first thing that I notice is the fact that this man truly seems to be the perfect specimen of a man. I have to tear my eyes away from the unruined sections of his torso. I brush off the twinge of attraction before it has a chance to take hold. The second thing I notice is that he is right about the burn on his chest. Luckily as soon as he mentioned it I remembered how to make a poultice to treat it and where all the supplies are.

“You were right about this burn,” I brush off the personal information that he has just given me. “I have what I need to treat it but you are going to be laid up for a few days and it id going to hurt. Unfortunately for you this wound in your stomach is going to need a lot more than stitches.” I make certain not to touch him as I inspect the wounds, going so far as to tuck my hands beneath my legs. “I hate to tell you this but I think that the best way to handle it is to cauterize the wound, I would need to burn you again to stop the blood loss. Then I can treat the resulting burn in conjunction with the one on your chest.”

“I had a feeling you were going to say that,” Kai groans. “Go ahead, I know this isn’t going to be a fun experience. I’m just glad that I heal faster than most, the thing that confuses me the most is that you don’t have a scratch on you. You were carrying a spear and don’t think I didn’t notice that you avoided using the pointy end. There are only a handful of people around the world who can do what I saw you do today. Almost all of them would have been injured in the process. Not to mention the fact that you managed to create a portal in less than a second, that’s advanced magic. As far as I’m aware there aren’t many people that can do that either and there is very little overlap.”

Without warning my hand begins to heat up even without me attempting to access my magic. I don’t think about it and I don’t say a word as I place my hand over the wound, the panic begins to rise inside of me once more. Kai lets out a groan, as if he is biting back a scream and when I remove my hand the wound has been cauterized. I try not to pay attention to the impromptu use of magic. I’m used to unusual things happening and brush it off easily. The panic takes a lot more effort to disperse but after a few deep breaths I find myself able to move again. I move to the hearth, quickly lighting a fire and setting a kettle over it.

“I do not know,” I grunt as I hand him a bottle of liquor. “I do not know where the magic comes from. I do not even know how to use it, it just kind of happens, I do not even know where I learned to fight. I think I am married, or at least, there was a man whom I loved deeply but who that person is I do not know. I am certain that I have siblings and children as well but I know no more about any of them. Frankly, I do not even know my name and I have no idea why I am telling you this.”