The misadventures of the necromancer

As he fell, Tevat heard shouts of shock and chairs scraping or toppling to the floor as the other patrons of the inn jumped to their feet at the sight before them.

“Grumpy!!” he heard Nero shout, looking in surprise at his companion, who was standing on the opposite side from where Tevat lay sprawled on the ground.

From Nero’s reaction and Grumpy’s posture, it wasn’t hard to guess who had just sucker-punched him.

“Bastard,” Grumpy said coldly, his calm voice filled with menace as he stared at Tevat like he wanted to kill him.

“Damn it,” Nero exclaimed, moving toward Tevat — which made Tevat, for a moment, think the other was about to attack him too.

But Nero jumped over Tevat’s fallen body and seemed to lunge at something coming from that direction.

When Tevat looked up, his suspicions were confirmed — that was where Fendat was. And although his bodyguard had also been caught off guard by the sudden, treacherous attack, it didn’t take long for him to react.

Unfortunately, Nero intercepted him, forcing Fendat to back off — probably to get a better footing for the fight. From experience, Tevat knew it wouldn’t take long before Fendat had both of these fools under control. Though not without injury, if the two rats left here alive, they should count themselves lucky.

Tevat saw Fendat draw his knife before Grumpy came at him again, stomping hard on his legs in a quick motion. That brought Tevat’s attention back to the unexpected threat.

Up until now, this one had seemed the more reasonable and approachable of the two, which was exactly why Tevat, and probably Fendat too, hadn’t paid him much attention.

Compared to Nero, who had looked ready for a fight, Grumpy had seemed like he just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

That assumption had cost them, allowing Grumpy to drop Tevat with a single punch. And now, with him on the ground, defending himself was much harder.

He tried to kick the robed young man away, to at least create some distance, but being on the floor made it hard to put much strength into it — and Grumpy’s furious assault kept him pinned.

“You bastard... damn you... I try to calm him down, and you keep provoking him...” Grumpy was muttering, each word fueling his attacks with more anger and energy.

Relief came from an unexpected source — Ena. She grabbed the young man from behind, wrapping her arms around him to stop his assault.

“Please, stop! You’re only making this worse!” she pleaded desperately.

As things briefly calmed, Tevat looked around the room. Everyone was standing now, having stepped away from the fight. Even the maid who had been nearby had apparently been pulled back by the innkeeper he’d spoken to earlier.

And by the look of it, no one seemed willing to intervene. Which immediately reminded him of how Ena had called them cowards earlier when she’d asked for help against him.

Worse yet, while several faces showed worry or fear, a few even wore faint smiles — as if they were enjoying seeing him like this.

For a moment, he thought about memorizing those faces so he could make them pay later.

But then, seeing Fendat, his priorities shifted — his bodyguard wasn’t having the easy victory Tevat had expected. The man, knife in hand, was launching small strikes while backing away slightly.

He looked confused — even concerned — while Nero advanced slowly and almost lazily toward him, as if on a casual stroll. But each slow step forced Fendat to retreat, or risk close combat.

Normally, Fendat wouldn’t hesitate to fight hand-to-hand — a single well-placed slash could end most fights. Yet now, he seemed afraid to commit.

Finally, Fendat shouted, “I cut you! I’m sure I hit you!”

Nero paused and touched his chest, revealing that his shirt had indeed been slashed — but there wasn’t a single wound on his body.

“Beautiful. Just beautiful. First, they stain his clothes; now they tear them. You people really do have a death wish, don’t you?” Grumpy bellowed, pulling away from Ena and preparing to lunge at Tevat again.

But Ena still held on to him, crying, “Please, Mr. Grumpy — it’s just clothing! We can solve this another way!”

Grumpy’s eyes nearly popped, and he turned to her with an expression as if she had attacked him. Startled, she let go of him — maybe out of surprise at his reaction.

Unfortunately for Tevat, Grumpy took that opportunity to turn back toward him and stomp him again with renewed fury, shouting, “Adar! My name is Adar! Don’t call me Grumpy!”

Under this new barrage of blows, Tevat could do nothing but think bitterly, Why the hell am I the one getting hit? I didn’t even call him that!

Ena grabbed him again, shouting, “Mr. Grum—Adar! You have to stop before the Mayor ge—”

A loud laugh cut her off. “A Mayor from some tiny town!?”

Grump—no, Adar—pointed toward his companion, who at that moment lunged at Fendat again.

He continued, “I’ve seen warriors hesitate to fight him. I’ve seen him mock, even threaten, nobility. Or just flat-out ignore royalty. You really think anyone in this little town could scare us?”

For a brief instant, even Tevat was caught off guard by the arrogance of it — until he realized how utterly ridiculous Adar’s boasting was.

Then a grunt drew his attention — Nero had managed to disarm Fendat. But Fendat had taken the opportunity to kick his leg, bringing him down as the bodyguard drew another knife.

Seeing the tide turn made Tevat smile through the pain that racked his body.

But then he heard Adar’s voice again: “Perfect! These idiots really do want to see if he’ll kill us all. Sooner or later, he’s going to lose his patience!”

The murmurs in the room grew louder as Tevat watched Adar grab Ena’s arm and start pulling her.

“Come on! Let’s get out of here before he gets tired of playing around and decides to torch this place!”

She resisted. “But what about your friend?”

“Friend!?” Adar repeated, sounding almost confused. “Oh... Nero. Don’t worry about him. Worry about everyone else.”

“But Fendat...” she began, clearly aware of what her bodyguard could do.

“What about him? He doesn't look like anyone strong enough to make Nero back down,” Adar said, making Tevat bristle with offense on Fendat’s behalf. Only the certainty that speaking up would make this lunatic attack him again kept him silent.

Ena’s curious look seemed to encourage Adar to keep talking.

“Look, it’s like Sorana once said — there are only two kinds of people who act like Nero does: those who know they can do whatever they say, and crazy people.”

He grinned. “And I can say a lot about him — strange, bizarre, infuriating — but not crazy.”

Dragging Ena toward the exit again, he added, “When he threatened to burn the place down, he meant it. He wasn’t joking or exaggerating. He could actually turn this inn to ashes.”

Then, fixing Tevat with a venomous look, he said, “And you can bet that when he does, he won’t need to call for daddy.”

Ena looked around, fear flickering in her eyes as she tried to process what she’d just heard, while Tevat—though angered by the insult—felt a certain relief that the madman was leaving.

He thought to himself, Just let Fendat finish off your friend, then it’ll be your turn.

“But what about Grigor!?” Ena suddenly cried.

“Who?” Adar asked — a question Tevat silently shared.

“My boyfriend — he’s still upstairs!” she answered, pointing toward the upper floor, obviously referring to the young merchant she’d been with — causing this whole mess.

The robed young man looked between her, the stairs, and the two fighters still locked in their chaotic struggle in the middle of the room.

Finally, he shouted, “Come on!! When he sets this place on fire, he’s not going to remember anyone still being upstairs!”

With that, he bolted toward the stairs, Ena following close behind.

Some of the patrons seemed to take his threats seriously and ran for the door, fleeing the inn altogether.

Meanwhile, at the top of the stairs, several people appeared — ones Tevat recognized as guests who had been upstairs when he was searching for Ena earlier.

“What the hell is going on here!?” demanded an authoritative voice, surveying the chaos — and finally, gaining the courage to investigate the mess happening in the hall.

No one seemed willing to explain anything, but their presence at the top of the stairs forced Adar and Ena to stop.

At that very moment, a loud crash echoed — and as Tevat, who had started to rise, turned toward the sound, he saw Nero, breathing heavily, holding the shattered remains of a chair — and Fendat’s body sprawled on the floor, surrounded by splintered wood.

The sight left Tevat speechless. He had expected anything but this — his bodyguard’s apparent defeat.

And to make things both worse and better at once, a new voice rang out:

“What is going on here?”

He didn’t even need to turn toward the doorway from which the sound came — he recognized that voice immediately.

It was his father’s.

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