Chapter 4

         "What?" asked Rory the bartender, stopping his incessant glass polishing.

         "I'm leaving," Crystal repeated, nervously wringing her hands. "Town. I'm ready for a change of pace, so I'm, uh, leaving."

         Rory smiled understandingly and nodded. "No," he said flatly.

         "No?" she echoed.

         "You think I'm gonna let the only thing bringing money into this place leave because she suddenly decides she wants a change of pace?" he asked, laughing. "Forget it!"

         "You don't understand, Rory," she said, leaning against the bar. "I'm in love! I have to go where my heart leads me."

         "Then tell your heart to fall in love with your career and quit bugging me!" snapped Rory. Crystal sighed and cut across the barroom to where Magbert stood waiting.

         "Hi," she said. "Where's Ian?"

         "Outside haggling over a broadsword almost as used as the one he's got," Magbert replied. "How's it going?"

         "Not well," she sighed. "Rory says I can't go."

         "Whadaya mean, you can't go?" asked Magbert. "You have a contract with him or something?"

         "A what?"

         "A contract. Like, a document saying you'll work for...listen, if you don't know what they are, then you either don't have one or you got tricked into signing one. You haven't signed any papers since you've been here, have you?"

         "No."

         "Then you don't have to ask permission to leave!" said Magbert indignantly.

         "I don't?"

         "No! The nerve of that guy!"

         "Yeah, the nerve!"

         "Tell him you quit and let's get outta here."

         "Right!" Crystal stormed proudly over to the bar and slapped her palm flat on the counter. "You lied to me! I quit!" she said angrily, then turned to leave.

         Rory grabbed her arm and whipped her back around before she could. "I had a feeling you'd say that," he sighed. "Rdhei!" he barked. An ogre of epic proportions emerged from the corner and came over to them. "Get her upstairs and lock her in her room until the show," said Rory. "Drug her if you have to."

         Crystal kicked the ogre viciously in the ankle and he let her arm go to grab at it. She was doubling up her fists angrily just as Magbert made it across the room, drawing his broadsword. "Get back, Crystal, I'll handle this," he said.

         She gave him a look of surprise. "I can handle this, thank you!"

         "Crys, you might get..." he began, but his sentence was interrupted by Rory breaking a large bottle against the side of his head. Crystal turned and threw Rory back to the wall with a quick song, knocking enough bottles and glasses to the floor to attract the attention of the locals.

         "Fight!" someone yelled and everyone flew into battle. The ogre, Rdhei, took advantage of Magbert's momentary stun by knocking his sword away and tackling him into a table.

         "Crystal, my sword!" Magbert gasped from underneath the hulking beast.

         "Got it!" she said, grabbing it by the hilt. She yanked at it in an effort to move it, but only succeeded in lifting it about an inch.

         "Crystal!"

         "I'm coming, just a sec!" she retorted, dodging a chair. She yanked at the sword again and moved it less than before. A hand reached past her and grabbed the sword, then easily tossed it to Magbert's waiting hand. Crystal looked at the man in astonishment. He was elven, not much taller than herself and was now beating the ogre's back with a quarterstaff.

         "Uh, thanks," she said, as the ogre turned to attack him.

         "Man's job," he replied, sweeping the back of Rdhei's legs, then bashing his face with the staff. "I wouldn't expect a woman to be able to do something like that."

         Any gratefulness Crystal had felt disappeared as the elf moved into the melee.

         By the time Ian entered with his new sword, the entire barroom was literally up in arms. He calmly hacked his way through the melee to Crystal, who was watching Magbert swing his sword with a vengeance.

         "Whatcha doing?" he asked casually, deflecting a bottle with his sword.

         "I don't know exactly," she said, ducking shards of glass as she watched Magbert worriedly. "I don't know how to help. I don't fight very well and I don't think my little songs will work."

         "You could...(here he paused to punch a stray fighter in the mouth and throw him back into the thick of the fray)...try singing something stronger. Something that would make everybody but us stop."

         "But they'll know I did it!"

         "By the time they figure it out, we'll be gone!" shrugged Ian.

         "Well, I..."

         "Like a mere woman could do anything to stop this," said the elf, returning to the bar, slightly winded.

         Crystal stood fuming as Ian grinned. "Lokey, where've you been? We thought we'd lost you in Thewain!"

         "Just trailing you a few miles back," said Lokey. "Those guys you threw through that window put a reward out on you and Magbert."

         "Figures. You still traveling with us?"

         "Yeah. Who's this?"

         "Magbert's love interest," said Ian. "Crystal, Lokey, Lokey, Crystal. She's coming with us for a stretch."

         "She has that helpless female look," scorned Lokey, looking her over.

         "You have that stupid male look," she retorted, climbing up onto the counter.

         "Decided to try the song, eh?" said Ian, grabbing an apple from the counter and taking a bite. "Make sure it doesn't affect Magbert, Lokey or me, 'kay?"

         "You don't seem worried," said Crystal.

         "I'm not. Even if you screw up, I can still hack my way outta here and you three can follow me, if you have to. At least I'll know what to expect from you."

         Crystal frowned, hearing this last statement, then began singing rather quietly at first, but with an increasing power that extended throughout the room. Everyone stopped, mesmerized by her song, and stared at her.

         Magbert stopped battling in surprise and made his way over to Crystal, who was singing with all her might in the sudden silence. "Crystal?" he called up to her. "Crystal!" She kept singing, but looked down at him. "I think you can stop now."

         She stopped, or rather, let the tune die off and its melody reverberated through the room a few moments more. "Oh," she said distantly. "Good." She collapsed into a dead faint and Ian caught her effortlessly.

         "She's a witch, isn't she?" Lokey groaned. "Why didn't somebody tell me she was a witch? You know I hate witches!"

         "She is not a witch," said Magbert. "She's a sprite and she spellsings. The strain of the enlargement spell she already had and her holding song was too much for her."

         "Yeah, well, the strain of all these people uprising against us when they come to is gonna be too much for us if we don't get out of here." said Ian, shifting Crystal to his shoulder as he strode across the room.

         "I think it's safe to say we've worn out our welcome," suggested Magbert as they left.

         "I think it's safe to say we've done more than wear it out," said Lokey, looking back at the slowly recovering brawlers.

         "Oh, good, then we can get started, then?" asked Ian, with a grin.

         "Yes!" retorted both Magbert and Lokey, shoving him forward as Rory came out and pointed them out to a group of outraged men, presumably his henchmen.

         The three, carrying Crystal, headed rather hastily toward the safe cover of the forest surrounding the town of Uther in the light of the setting sun.

 

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