Lowton was one of those of those towns that liked to pretend it had once seen better days. Anyone who knew anything of the place knew that the better days never came. The stone wall was never finished, not that it would have stood up to much. Ivy and other vines had overgrown most of the buildings there. With a good number of houses abandoned, smugglers and other crooks had taken up residence. As for the town guards, none of them were paid enough to do anything about it. There wasn't even enough money to properly pave any of the streets, allowing last night's storms to leave them a mud hole. At least that what Ana hoped she just stepped in.
You could have watched where you were going, you know!
Except it was Meerach's eyes she was looking through, not hers. The demon just huffed and said no more.
As she made her way to the sheriff's building, several people started to stare at her. Lowton may have been rundown to the point of apathy, but its new visitor was something quite different. From the obscene-looking obsidian armor to her almost bare backside, it was hard to tell what she was. Fighter? Whore? Both? Ana could almost smell the lust from some of the men that saw her. There might have even been a confused woman in there, too. Interesting.
"That's far enough, newcomer."
Ana turned around to see a pair of men with spears pointed toward her. Standing between them, a slightly well-dressed man. Unlike the others this man saw past her exposed skin and armor details. Like the others, however, he saw pure danger. "This is a quiet town, and I don't appreciate anyone making any noise. Understood?"
Smell the fear on him. He's about to piss himself.
The woman just smiled and nodded.
"Good," the man said with a sigh of relief. "I'm Tomas Quynn, Sheriff of Lowton. What is your business, here?"
Still not having said a word, Ana drew the scroll she had and offered it to the sheriff. He slowly took the document. As he looked at it, his eyes went wide. "You killed Percy?" The shock in his voice was undeniable.
Quickly, he walked around her and went toward what looked like a small barracks-like building. "This way!" he called to her.
Minutes later Ana walked out of the building with a large satchel filled almost to bursting with two hundred and fifty pieces of gold. The best part was with her new power, it hardly even weighed her down.
I don't understand. Wasn't it supposed to be five hundred?
It would have been if she delivered the bandit alive. It was no big deal, though. She did it for revenge, not money.
It did feel good, didn't it?
Suddenly she had a hard time standing up. The weight of the bag was not affecting her. It was...she was tired. She was getting sleepy.
What did you expect? You haven't slept in over a year!
Of all the...! She hoped she remembered where she saw that inn. It took some determination, but she was walking, again. It took longer than she had hoped, but she finally found the place she was looking for.
Inside was the usual riff raff one would see in the morning. A small group of ne'er-do-wells either playing cards, drinking, or grabbing at the barmaid. Hell, a couple of them were doing all three. Thanks to the booze, the maid was not the only one grabbed.
As she walked by a table, one of the patrons wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her over to his side. "Hey, new girl! I'm telling you right now that I'm the - AAAGH!" He took one look at the scowl on her face and ran for the nearest corner. "NO EYES! SHE'S GOT NO EYES!"
In response, all eyes were on her and her helmet. Yes, it had no apparent holes where the eyes would normally be. This unnerved more than one patron.
Ana decided to ignore them and went to the counter where the quite nervous innkeeper stood. Reaching into her satchel, she grabbed a handful of gold coins and slapped them down in front of him. "I want a room for the week. I want all my meals delivered there everyday. Other than that I do not want to be disturbed. Ever. Understood?"
The innkeeper dumbly nodded, but otherwise did nothing.
After a few seconds, Ana started to get impatient. "Well?"
A few more seconds of no response later and she got got exasperated. "Show me to my room!" she shouted.
The poor innkeeper jumped, startled and motioned for the nearest serving girl barking out orders. "You heard the...uh...lady! Show her the merchants suite!"
Moments later, the quite nervous server was all too happy to close the door behind her, leaving Ana alone in her room. It was quite a nice place. Plenty of room, a big bed, and most importantly, it was clean.
I wonder what kind of dreams you'll have. Killing? Fucking? Both? Sleep well.
She ignored the demons taunts, and before she knew it, she had collapsed on the bed, her armor instantly gone and the money dropped haphazardly on the floor next to her. She did not even bother to pull the blanket over her as she quickly drifted off to sleep.
The next thing she knew she heard the door slowly open followed by the smell of roast beef. Feeling too groggy, she decided not to do anything, while the lunch was delivered. Then she felt a familiar emotion from this morning - the confusion.
