The sun hangs low over the low-rise buildings that make up the small city of Varden. Most of the working class have just completed their shifts, and Valter Kerrigan, the owner and head bartender of The Red Masque Tavern, is at the bar preparing for the early evening regulars to arrive. 

“That’ll do it,” the middle aged man says as he finishes polishing the wooden bar to a shine.

Just as he starts to give the same treatment to the tables, a series of sharp knocks come from the front entrance. Still a half hour before the tavern opens officially, Valter nevertheless unlocks and opens the doors to welcome his early customer. To his surprise it is not one of his regulars but a conservatively dressed young woman carrying a small bag.

“Excuse me, would you happen to be the owner of this establishment? May I have a moment to speak with you?”

Valter blinks before regaining his composure. “Yes, come in and take a seat.” He motions her into the building and hurries ahead of her to clean up the nearest table before she takes a seat.

“Would you like something to drink? It’s on the house,” he offers with a warm smile. 

She looks upon the bearded man’s kind face but politely declines. “I apologize for arriving here before you open. I am looking for someone, finding him is very important to me.”

“And do you know this person’s name?”

“I do not. He is a blue-skinned half-orc with bright green eyes. I-” she pauses for a second, “was told… that he can be found here.”

Valter’s face brightens as he immediately recognizes his good friend from her description. “Oh, you mean Garik! You can find him here just about any night. In fact, he should be here soon enough if you want to wait for him.”

“Actually, um, I need to be going now. Can you give this to him please?” She looks around as if she’s afraid someone might see them and then pulls out a letter from her bag. 

“No problem,” Valter replies as he takes it.

The woman stands up from her seat. “Thank you very much,” and starts to leave the tavern.

“You are most welcome. Feel free to stop by again. The offer of a free drink still stands,” He calls to her as she exits the building. 

Now alone, Valter turns the handwritten note over and over in his hands. I wonder what she wants with Garik? Valter resumes tidying up the place as his mind goes back to the time he first met the half-orc.

Five years earlier

Valter’s POV

The gods must have blessed us with perfect weather as my wife and I walk down the empty street towards our home. Aritha and I had been so busy running our bar, The Red Masque Tavern, that we had neglected going on a date for some time. It had gone perfectly, I surprised her with a private dinner at the best restaurant in our, albeit small, town. We both enjoyed every minute of it.

I take my wife’s hand while she gives a glowing review of the food, along with some praise for me for setting the whole thing up I might add, when she is interrupted by the sound of a flurry of quickly approaching footsteps. Before I am able to react, someone plows into me at full speed, knocking us both to the ground.

Dazed, I look around to see a masked young man scrambling off of the ground. Above him are my wife, who managed to avoid the attack, and another masked figure with panic in his eyes.

“Get up! We gotta go, now!” the boy shouts at the person who had run into me. Without any regard to us, the two teenagers continue running until they are out of sight.

“Come back here, you miscreants!” I yell at them to no avail.

“Are you okay?” my beautiful wife comes to me and checks for any bruises.

Truth is, my pride is the only thing that had gotten wounded in that brief altercation. “Disrespectful young kids,” I mutter under my breath as Aritha helps me back to my feet and dusts off my clothes.

The stars come out as we continue walking home. The worried expression written across my wife’s face does not go away.

“They were wearing masks, but they didn’t try to steal anything from us,” she muses about the hooligans, “and why were they so scared?”

“They probably got caught doing some prank and lost their nerve,” I tried to reassure her. I pull her in closer and we continue towards home. After a couple minutes, Aritha stops in her tracks with a loud gasp.

“VALT!”

Her face is contorted into a look of pure horror. I turn to see what has distressed my wife and freeze in shock. 

At the closest end of the alley there is a half-orc, only clothed from the waist down, unconscious with blood running from a gaping slash wound in his neck. From the looks of it, he couldn’t have been any older than the boys we saw running away from this direction. I shield my wife’s eyes from the grisly sight, but she pushes past me to go to the injured boy’s side.

Being a bartender, many of the rumors that go through the city have reached my ears. One of them being about a half-orc, native to the tribe of blue-skinned orcs living to the south, moving into the city. From what I had heard, the tribe was very territorial, but a researcher residing in Varden at the time had gone to their village and ended up marrying the tribe’s leader. I had assumed the newcomer was their adult son, and, as with most rumors, dismissed it from my mind. The horrifying scene before me reveals what those delinquents were up to.

Why would they do this? He’s still just a child!

I try to go over to them, but stop a few steps short after realizing I have no idea what to do. While my wife checks the boy’s pulse, I look down the alley and find a brown shirt and fur-lined jacket, presumably belonging to the victim, as well as a bloody knife. I collect them and return to the two. Waiting for my wife’s diagnosis, I pitifully look at the boy’s face but what I find there shocks me. 

“He’s alive, but he needs help quickly!” 

Aritha’s distressed voice shakes me from my thoughts. Still unsure of what to do, I tie the boy’s shirt around his neck and put pressure on the wound. Knowing that I won’t be able to carry him myself, I turn to my wife, “I’ll need your help with this.”

Without hesitation she puts his other arm around her. Although I’ve grown used to it, I am still sometimes surprised by what a strong woman my wife is. I don’t know what I would do without her. Together, we lift him up and take him to get treated.