Disclaimer: Same as before, my characters go both ways. If that bothers you, this might not be a story for you. The adventure continues as the three navigate a day in town.
Gabriel's eyes slid open. The fire was only a little lower than it had been when the three of them drifted off to sleep. Ethreal was sleeping in his arms, her deep regular breaths causing the steady rise and fall of her torso under his arm.
Tobias was missing, the petite cat-boy wasn't curled up in Ethreal's arms as before. Something felt wrong. Then he heard it, a rustling down stairs followed by the sound of a heavy blow landing on flesh and a crash. Then the whimpering, a small pathetic pained sound that tore at his core. He sat bolt upright in bed, shaking Ethreal to wakefulness.
"Something's wrong, someone's in here with us. Toby's gone and I just heard someone..." Gabriel paused as Eth opened her mouth.
"I hear it to, where's Toby?" Ethreal asked, fear growing in her voice.
The sound of fear creeping into the little elf's words seemed to awaken something in Gabriel, a cold and oriented anger. He became aware of his muscles moving under his skin, as he stood up from the bed. He stepped into his trousers and silently stalked towards the door, reaching down to the chair his belt hung on to draw the short bearded ax that Ethreal had given him when they left for the village.
"Stay here. I'll come back for you when it is safe" Gabriel's voice a deep rumble that anchored the petite elf woman to the bed.
The whimper continued until Gabriel heard a brief, harshly spoken command followed by the sound of another impact. A ball of ice formed in his gut when the whimpering fell silent. He knew, just knew that the whimpering was Toby and the very idea that someone would attack the small, joyous, creature drove his anger to a deeper purpose. A dangerous calm fell across the human as he crept to the top of the stairs.
He delicately made his way down the staircase, his ax held at the ready. Halfway down, he knelt so that he could see into the tavern. There were four shapes there standing over a curled, heaving lump on the floor.
The largest of them was a few inches shorter than Gabriel, with a much lighter build. The rest were several inches taller than Ethreal, with the same slight build but a more muscled shape that led him to think that they were male.
"You should have paid up, bitch boy." The one closest to the shuddering mass on the floor taunted before arcing a kick into his side.
As a quivering moan escaped from what he now knew to be Tobias, the world slowed around Gabriel. Suddenly, at the bottom of the stairs he threw the ax into the back of the large one. The weapon burying itself between his shoulder blades causing the creature to pitch forward and land on the floor in an un-moving heap. Before he knew, he was on them. The middle creature's head in his hands, he twisted and pulled feeling the sickening crackle of breaking bones as it's body went limp in his hands.
He threw the dying creature into the one next to him like a rag doll, sending them both across the room to smash into the wall. Finally, he was near enough to the one that had been kicking Tobias to get his hands on him. He briefly became aware of the fact that the creature looked like a drow as he grabbed him by the throat and drove his fist into the middle of his face. He felt bones give way under the blow and the dark elf's body went limp. He let go of his throat and let him fall where he stood.
He turned in a full circle making sure that they were now alone in the room as the world began to come back to regular speed. He crouched to scoop up the little felinid, ignoring the pained moan as he cradled him in his arms. He turned once again and sprinted back up the stairs, moving faster than he ever had before.
Ethreal sat at the top of the bed, her knees against her chest and her eyes the size of saucers. She was shaken by the sight of what entered the room. Gabriel quickly moved to lay Tobias on the bed next to her.
"Can you heal him?" Gabriel asked in a cold business like tone.
"I'll try," she mumbled quietly as Gabriel disappeared back down the stairs.
Ethreal pointed to the lantern, causing it to re-light and grow bright very quickly. She looked down at the bed next to her, surveying the waifish cat-boy laying barely conscious on the blankets. He lip was badly slip and his cheek and eye were swelling rapidly with a bruise already beginning to form across the kind and gentle face. He was drawing shallow, ragged breaths that seemed to hurt as if he had one ore more broken ribs.
"Oh, baby. I'm so sorry, what happened?" Ethreal muttered to herself as she began passing his hands over the felinid's shaking form. She could feel his injuries as the magic flowed from her hands. He was barely conscious, several of his ribs were broken along with his jaw and nose.
Gabriel walked back into the room and stopped dead in his tracks a blinding light fell upon Tobias, lifting him to float a foot or so above the bed his arms and legs dangling limply as the star-bright light played over him.
As he watched the felinid settle back onto the bed and open his eyes Gabriel's limbs became very heavy and a deep fatigue came over him. His vision swam and blinked in and out as his knees sagged and he dropped to the floor. As the world went black, the last thing he saw was the frightened faces of the two little forest dwellers looking down at him.
Gabriel came to as light started to peak through the window. He was back in the big bed, he slowly opened his eyes to notice Tobias' brown hair and cute ears laying on his chest, his thin arm laid across him. He placed his hand on the small of his back and felt him shift slightly, he looked over to the other side to find Ethreal sitting up against the pillows reading a small book bound in purple leather. Had it all been a horrible nightmare? The attack on them in the night, Tobias being horribly beaten, Gabriel killing the four men in a ferocious whirlwind. It couldn't be real, they were all right here in the same bed they had enjoyed each other's bodies in the evening before.
He noticed how incredibly sore he was as he reached to touch Ethreal. Noticing his movement, she looked up and passed her eyes over him with great concern.
"Goddess, Gabriel are you ok?" Ethreal asked with worry and a little fear furrowing her brows.
"I think so, what the hell happened? I had this terrible dream" Gabriel murmured gently, keeping his voice low so as not to disturb the sleeping Tobias.
"You didn't dream, Toby was attacked and beaten by some local gangsters. You saved him, and... I didn't know you could do that..." Ethreal seemed shaken by what he had done to protect Tobias.
"I didn't know I could either, I've never..." Gabriel's voice trailed off as he remembered the ease with which he had dispatched the attackers. "I've never even been in a shoving match before... I don't like this..."
"Never? How are you so strong then?" an edge of distrust in her voice.
