The sky had been clouding up for hours as Terry drove down the back roads to somewhere in southeastern Mississippi. He had been feeling pretty good about his situation and his choice of partner through their snatches of conversation, gliding down old roads and passing abandoned farms. She'd told him about her life in Biloxi and job at the mall. He'd told her about his adventures in the wilds and defending Raymond and Jackson.
Just as they saw the sign pointing off the highway for Hilochita the rain started. It was light at first, but the clouds bore the promise of worse to come. As they hit the main drag, Terry realized the town was in shambles. The entire thing looked like it had been hit by a tornado. None of the businesses appeared to be open. He glanced over his shoulder to Delores.
“Storm damage?”
She shook her head.
“No. The storm died in Biloxi. We haven’t passed anything like this until we got here.”
He nodded. The more he looked the more he saw how right she was. Fire damage appeared in a few places, which a storm wouldn't have caused. Broken windows were everywhere. Some were boarded up but not enough. Recovery had stalled and no building was truly untouched by the chaos.
“Criminy,” he said, “the drow really destroyed this place.”
“Right.” She said. “The drow.”
Terry picked a side street at random and turned down it to see what there was to see. All along the road were the bizarre, quasi-rural neighborhoods you found in the state. Close together near the main street and becoming more distant quickly. Until it was just rural pastures and farms. These houses were as dark as the commercial area and many were just as damaged.
In several he thought he saw the movement of curtains.
“Did you see that?” he asked Delores.
She nodded.
“They’re hiding.”
The rain became stronger.
Terry spent a quarter of an hour exploring. Neither he nor Delores saw anyone outside. They never saw a light turn on in the windows, even as the clouds thickened and the rain picked up. By the time they reached the main street again the storm was upon them. Visibility was nearly gone. The rain stung his face. Delores made herself smaller against his back. The helmet spell on their goggles would help with her head, but not enough.
He was loath to do it, but Terry removed his goggles. He could see a little better without the glass collecting water, but it wasn’t much of a trade off. He felt Delores shift against him and put her mouth close to his ear. He shivered.
“We have to get out of this!”
Terry nodded vigorously hoping she’d feel it if not see it. He scanned the street for some kind of lights or signs but visibility was nearly gone. Delores’ arm shot out pointing ahead to the right.
“THERE!” she shouted over a peal of thunder. There was only one lit sign and it was down the road. What happened here that there was only one open business? Even with the damage?
He saw the beer branding on the sign when they finally pulled up and his heart sank. They both jumped off. He pulled Delores close and tried not to speak too loudly.
“I’m parking Thunder in the alley. It might keep the rain off. Head in. If there’s danger come right back out. We’ll deal with it together.”
She looked at him and opened her mouth to say something. She tilted her head and smiled. “Got it!” She jogged to the door. Terry watched her as he manually pulled Thunder into the cramped space between the bar and the building next door. He shook his head. She seemed like she was going to disagree but something changed her mind.
For a second he just stood there thinking about her face. She was bald. That was weird, but she was so. . .
Lightning struck and the thunder hitting with absolutely no delay reminding Terry he was standing in the middle of a monsoon. He patted Thunder quickly after covering him with a tarp and ran to the door. He paused again before entering. The exterior light gave just enough illumination to see the graffiti by the door.
LAWLESS IS RIGHT
He wondered if Delores had seen that. She hadn’t come out he realized, so it must be safe. He opened the door and rushed in.
Elton Beasley, Millsaps graduate and Troubadour of the Order of St. George, sat at the bar known to some as “The Lounge” and others “The Lunge”, and stared at the head of Sir Robert Lawless and imagined how much fun it would be to split the thing open with a big rock. He’d not been with the man long but he’d come to hate him deeply in that short time. He’d had “The Plan” though. He’d enacted “The Plan”. “The Plan” had done jack so far and Lawless was still sitting there.
Lawless had light brown skin, was balding, and had a red curly beard that Elton continually noticed collecting scrambled egg fragments in the morning. From a distance he looked experienced and dangerous. Up close he looked disgusting and dangerous.
Elton glanced down at his own paunch. He was 27 and looked like he’d lived a well provided for life up till now. Unlike Lawless, he kept his hair clean and slicked back. His polo and khakis were as clean as the current situation would allow. His shoes, well, there’s some things you can’t compromise on over price.
The bell on the bar’s door chimed and a bald lady came in ignoring them. She removed her coat and started ringing water out of it into the garbage can by the door. The barkeep, Sam with his white ZZ Top beard, was about to say something when she looked up at him with such a stare that he dropped the finger he’d raised and went back to cleaning glasses. Elton smiled. He looked back at Lawless. Lawless smiled. When Lawless smiled the whole world was going to regret it.
The bell rang again and in walked a young fella, probably of an age with the girl. He would probably be dashing if he didn’t look like he’d been drowned. He flicked his bangs out of his face and Elton stared at a chiseled face and a pair of keen, dark eyes. The young man looked at Sam, looked at Elton, and when the man saw Lawless, he grinned.
“HOLY SPIT!" Lawless shouted. "Elton! We’ve got us an Errant Apprentice and a heathen!”
“You’re Sir Robert Lawless, right?” the Errant asked.
Elton’s hopes sank. The last thing he needed was what looked like an idealistic Errant Apprentice who was up for a bout of hero worship. Lawless looked at Elton in surprise though and Elton gave him a self satisfied grin back.
“Told you it’d work.”
The fire in Lawless’s eyes flared and the grip on his empty pint glass tightened. Elton prepared to duck and run.
All that Lawless did was give him a weighted look followed by “Shut your hole.” Lawless turned his attention back to the newcomers.
“Have a seat! Let’s jaw! Always good to see someone else from the Order!”
Elton leaned back on the bar again, drinking some rum with a little Coke in it and got ready for the avalanche of bullshit to start. Lawless had his charms when he decided to use them. The man could tell a great story as well. Complete fabrications, but he was good at them. That was actually one of Elton’s biggest problems with Lawless. Elton’s job was to put a positive spin on a knight’s deeds. Lawless was such a braggart that not only did it leave no room for him to get creative, it took all the fun out of the job.
The kid took a seat across from Lawless and looked at the multiple empty pint glasses in front of the other man. Elton noticed his eyebrow twitched. Judgment, he thought. Maybe this kid isn’t so dense. The mage took a seat a few stools down from Elton himself.
Comments (0)
See all