At first, there was only darkness. But it wasn’t long before Richard heard the sounds of a busy tavern wash over him – clinking glasses, laughter, music, revelry, and, of course, a crackling fire. He opened his eyes and the scene exploded into view. He was seated by himself at a table in the middle of the large common room, surrounded by other patrons and guests staying in the rooms upstairs. The innkeeper’s wife and one of his daughters – her name was Gwendolyn – were weaving their way between tables to take orders and bring food and drink to the tables around him. Genevieve was usually with them, helping to serve patrons and clean tables on busy nights such as this. Looking around for her, Richard realized that she wasn’t there, and breathed a small sigh of relief. Gwendolyn made her way to Richard’s table, her breasts nearly spilling out of her bodice as she leaned in close to be heard over the noise.
“What can I get ya, love?” she asked, as a few strands of her long blond hair fell in front of her eyes. She brushed them back with her free hand, expertly keeping the three mugs in the other from tipping as she moved, before giving him a winning smile.
“Just an ale, I think” he said back.
“Not on duty later, then?” she asked, taking in his armor and the lion’s head crest it bore, as well as the sword at his hip.
“Not tonight.”
“Right you are, m’lord” she said, bowing her head slightly. “One ale, coming up.” And then she was gone, ducking into the smaller private room to take the orders of the knights secreted away inside.
Looking around, Richard took in the sites of the tavern for what was probably the millionth time. Most of the tables around him were occupied by groups of peasants. The majority of them were drinking boisterously and laughing good-naturedly. A few of them at a table next to Richard were playing dice. He thought about getting up to join them, but decided against it. At one table set along the side of the room near the fire, two men-at-arms dressed similarly to Richard were hungrily devouring a roasted chicken.
Just past them, all the way in the darkened corner of the room, a single figure hunched forward over his table, studying something intently. He wore a dark cloak and his hood was up, so that nothing about his features could be seen. In fact, he was positioned in such a way that he was barely visible at all, with other patrons at other tables blocking Richard’s view. He probably wouldn’t have noticed the man if he hadn’t been looking for him specifically.
Just then, the door to the tavern was thrown open and Mark walked in. He was dressed in hunter’s garb, a dark green cloak with a brown doublet and pants. The doublet looked plain enough, but Richard knew it was made of a hardened leather that would turn aside a glancing blow. Spotting Richard, Mark made for his table and sat down across from him.
As if by magic, Gwendolyn reappeared, setting Richard’s beer down with a wink and leaning in close to speak with Mark.
“What can I get ya, love?” she asked, again brushing away a few strands of hair from her eyes before smiling at him. Unlike Richard, Mark took his time, admiring the view. Then, he reached out and put his hand inside her bodice, giving one of her breasts a squeeze. “Nice tits,” he said, letting go before moving his hand to grasp the other. Gwendolyn remained frozen in place, the smile taking on a vacant quality not because of a change in character, but precisely because it stayed on her face, unmoving, as Mark fondled her. The tavern dwellers continued their revelries, seemingly unaware of the scene playing out amongst them.
“Just order something, would you?” Richard asked, annoyed.
“Oho, well,” Mark said, removing his hand from Gwendolyn’s dress. “How long have you been in here?”
“I came in just before you did,” Richard replied.
“And already in a bad mood? I swear, if you would just take me up on my offer –“
Mark’s offer was cut short by a commotion erupting in the back room. One of the knights stumbled backwards into the main room. He tripped and fell to the ground, just as a second knight, much taller and broader than the first, stormed into the room after him. As soon as this started, Gwendolyn sprang back to life, backing up against the wall with a worried look in her eyes.
“You bloody cheat!” the larger knight declared, bearing down on the other, who scrambled to his feet and made a move to draw his sword. Before he was able to, the taller knight grabbed him and threw him towards the door, which burst open as he thudded against it, spilling him out onto the street. The bigger knight followed, and the sounds of arguing and shouted accusations were followed by the sound of swords being unsheathed. Most of the tavern’s patrons rushed to the windows to observe the fight, with some of the braver ones stepping outside to get an even closer look. Suddenly, the inside of the bar was quiet, save for the crackling of the fire and the noises of the fight outside.
The near-emptiness of the tavern gave Richard a much clearer view of the stranger at the table on the back wall, and as soon as he looked in his direction, the man rose to his feet. Turning to face Richard and Mark, he slowly made his way over to their table. Sitting down facing the two of them, he looked each of them over thoughtfully. Beneath the hood, they could see a grizzled face with a stubbly grey beard and long grey hair. An eye patch covered his left eye, and the right shone with a cunning glint. “Well,” he said, his gravelly voice perfectly matching his features, “I can see you two aren’t strangers to fighting. Faced many dangers in the past, have you?”
“And what if we have?” Richard answered.
“Well, as it happens, I have a proposition for you. The dragon that’s been terrorizing the nearby towns… I happen to know where she’s made her nest. And it only cost me an eye to find out,” he said with a small laugh that didn’t contain any mirth. “If you can spare me a few gold coins for my trouble, I’ll give you a map to the nest, and you can make your money back a thousand times over.”
“I’m sure we could,” Mark said. Calmly, without hurry, he pulled a sawed-off double barrel shotgun from beneath his cloak, put it to the stranger’s head, and pulled the trigger. The stranger’s head exploded, showering the tavern behind him with blood and brain, and his body crumpled sideways, falling to the floor. The gun’s report echoed throughout the tavern, and the patrons still in the tavern turned from the windows, startled by the sound. Taking in the grisly scene behind them, they fled as quickly as they could, stumbling over one another and throwing terrified backward glances towards Richard and Mark.
As the ringing in Richard’s ears subsided, he became aware that Gwendolyn was screaming. She had collapsed against the wall of the tavern, and had her face in her hands. The innkeeper and the rest of his family were nowhere to be found. Following Richard’s gaze to Gwendolyn’s cowering form, Mark unhurriedly shifted in his seat and aimed the gun at her. Richard’s hand shot forward and knocked the gun to the side just as Mark fired, the shotgun blast blowing a hole in the wall next to Gwendolyn.
“For fuck’s sake!” Richard said as Gwendolyn, still screaming, clambered to her feet and ran from the tavern.
“What? Been wanting to try this bad boy out since I programmed it in as an end-game reward!” Mark said, bringing the barrels to his lips and blowing across the top of them.
“The learning system for the AI!” Richard shouted. “I finished it. He’s one of the characters I’ve been testing it out on! I’ve been playing this scenario out for the past week, over and over again, monitoring his progress,” he finished, resting his head on his hand.
“Richard, that’s great!” Mark said, putting the gun aside and clapping him on the shoulder.
“Significantly less so, now. You just sent him back to base state. All that work…gone.”
“Well… shit,” Mark said, having the good grace to look away and let the grin fade from his face. “You could have told me.”
“I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“I’m sorry, man” Mark said.
“It’s all right. You didn’t know. I just wish you would’ve talked with him first. The learning system works better than we ever expected. You can’t imagine… they really start to seem human after a while,” Richard said.
“God, I hope not. Can’t have little Gwen slapping me every time I feel her up, now can we?” he asked with a wink.
“Come on,” Mark said, standing up and walking over to where the stranger’s body had fallen beside the table. Kneeling beside the body, Mark reached beneath the dark cloak and pulled out a map, the off-white parchment now spotted with red. Mark tucked the map into a pocket in his breeches. “Let’s go save the day.”
Vincent Valkier 