So-Nobu was the first one to wake after Charlie had woke from her nightmare and gone back to sleep. The sun was still just considering showing itself as he y there waiting for Andro’s morning rituals of indecent exposure to conclude. As he did his best to block out the sounds of the other two bickering like adolescent siblings (which they were not by any definition of the words), he thought more about what the Spider had said, what the significant acquisition of coin would mean, but most importantly what the hell happened in that tunnel…

  “—but Nobu doesn’t mind it one bit, do ya bud?” Andro was standing pantless with one leg up on a short stool as he mocked doing morning stretches. His heathy undercarriage swayed to and fro as he smiled and looked at So-Nobu for some sort of acknowledgment. So-Nobu did not mean to look at it for as long as he did, and upon realizing this, quickly averted his attention to somewhere opposite the room. His response came out as a stammering sequence of “uhhs and guhhs” which made Andro’s smile grow wider.

  “See? I told ya, Charlie. It’s a guy thing. You have to understand that we gotta let ‘em breathe from time to time.”

  “It’s not something you need to do in front of me though! Asshole! I don’t do it to you all!” Charlie squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she spoke.

  “Hey, you could if you wanted. I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen your uhhh…parts?” Andro was picking at his toenails now as he maintained his extra exposing posture.

  “My parts? Seriously? Parts? Wow. And, asshole, we agreed that we would never talk about that time ok? I had a lot to drink and I’m almost positive I was drugged or something.” Charlie’s eyes were still closed as her defined, dark eyebrows danced with emotion.

  Andro chuckled, “You were definitely not drugged. I, however, was on drugs. The best kinds of drugs. The finest weed I think I’d ever smoked. And, if I remember correctly, and I do remember correctly, you were the only one that didn’t smoke that night. Man, I’d kill to get some more of that shit…” Andro’s voice trailed off into a tone of longing. It’s true, it was in fact the best weed he had ever smoked, and he had smoked lots of it in the past. No matter what the situation, he always seemed to find a way to get his hands on some sort of recreational, experimental drug. Usually, this was just weed or something to that effect, but he was no stranger to the stronger stuff.

  “Yea, shit, even Nobu had himself a couple of hits, didn’t ya buddy?” Andro once again looked directly at So-Nobu who was now matching Charlie in the eyes closed department.

  “Yes. Yes, I do remember having some of the…good shit? Uhhh…it was a good time.” So-Nobu seemed shy to speak about it—he wasn’t much for anything that could hinder your ability to fight, unless of course it was a tall mug of ale. He did enjoy a good booze cruise from time to time. “Nobu-dy’s perfect…” he said after downing a half a keg of mead by himself one evening. He couldn’t stop ughing at this awful py on words and kept reciting it all night to the patrons who would come and go—mostly he repeated it to the ones who were there, he simply forgot he had already said it to them. This was a rare occasion, and most times So-Nobu was able to handle his booze just fine. He could negotiate a fight under the influence of a pint or two if he needed. Charlie on the other hand, was not so fortunate.

  “Really, Nobu? Ugh, you two can be such fuckin’ knobs sometimes you know?” Charlie was now under her bnket.

  “Hehe. Knobs. Hehe.” Andro chuckled. Charlie and So-Nobu heard the spping sounds coming from Andro’s thighs as he shook his pecker back and forth against them.

  “WILL YOU PUT SOME FUCKING PANTS ON ALREADY?!!” Charlie was always the loudest of the group, despite being the smallest. She was only five foot two inches compared to the other two who were at least six feet.

  “They are on. You can stop whining now.” Charlie uncovered the bnket from her head with a sigh as she sat up to face Andro. His pants were not on.

  “That’s it. I’m cuttin’ it off! This sunnuvabitch keeps fuckin’ with me, and I’m done dealing with it. Where are my fucking daggers?!” Charlie was up now, walking around frantically lifting bnkets and clothes to locate one of her many (twelve to be exact) daggers. Andro attempted to stifle his ughter as he spoke, “Oh fuck. Ok, ok. I’ll put some pants on. Fuck, NOBU! Fuck, shit. C’mon Charlie, I’m getting my pants on. NOBU! She’s gonna cut my dick off man!” There was a sense of real panic in his tone, yet he didn’t seem to take it as seriously as he probably should have. So-Nobu did not budge from his sleeping pce as Charlie finally found a dagger. She pointed it towards Andro who was now wearing pants…sort of.

  “If I see it again, at any point in time, I will chop it clean off and throw it as far into the distance as I possibly can. Are we clear on that?” Charlie pointed the dagger from his face to his pecker and back to his face.

  “Wait…” Andro looked slightly panicked and finally took a serious tone. “Are you sayin…”

  One of Charlie’s eyebrows raised nearly to her hairline.

  “You wanna grab my dick? Whooaaaaa! Nobu, she wants to grab my dick man. Charlie, that’s not appropriate. Wow.” Andro was now being chased by Charlie who was still wielding her dagger. She chased him out of the wagon. As Andro took his first few steps out of the wagon, he fell. His shirt was not long enough to cover most of his ass as he y there, facedown in the grass and dirt. A muffled, “I yield…” was enough to get Charlie to retreat back into the wagon with her dagger, calling him a dumbass as she did.

  So-Nobu y quietly on his mat, thinking again about the tunnel. A clown? No. Not a clown. A jester…

  It took the three of them four and a half hours to walk to the mining town of Raggenwold where they were to meet with the informant. They had no horse, cattle or mule to take them there any quicker, and in their frugality they unanimously decided not to hire a carriage (they overcharge terribly around the city of Amhull). Charlie would hum and toss her dagger in the air, flipping and catching it as she walked. Andro would sometimes join in on the humming, always off-key but that was never by choice. He would occasionally bite into an apple and chew it loudly, again never by choice. So-Nobu walked quietly, focused on the tree lines and forested areas on either side of the dirt path that led them to Raggenwold. These roads were often littered with bandits and vagabonds, both of which would gdly count your coin after leaving you for dead.

  There was also the occasional owlbear, a rge bear-like creature with immense cws and feathered body. It walked on for legs like a bear, but hosted facial features of an owl. These creatures could snap an arm or leg off with its beak at any given time. They did not often seek out humans (or giths for that matter) as prey, but they were exceptionally territorial. Other than owlbears, there were a smattering of venomous snakes, spiders, bats, rodents, and rge insects.

  The three hat salesmen did not encounter any of these things in their travels this day. In fact, it was a rather nice day for such a long walk. The sky was a brilliant azure with some small, lined clouds scattered here and there in the sky. A gentle breeze met them head-on as they walked, keeping them cool but not slowing them down. There was the sound of birds chirping and the occasional scurrying rabbit that ventured too close to the dirt path. They would look up at the three for a moment before bounding off at high speeds into the darker forested areas that lined the road. It was, by all accounts, a good day.

  Their deliberations on how they would travel that day, accompanied by their indecision of what to pack for the hike, caused them to leave shortly after noon when the sun was just overhead. By the time they reached Raggenwold, the sun was hanging just over the short rooftops of the less than exquisite mining town.

  Raggenwold was a simple mining town in every sense. There were no illustrious buildings or ornate decorations, save for one smaller fountain in the vilge square which was dirtied and did not produce water—the pooled area was coated in mosses and growths, so at least the local bacteria had a comfortable pce to reside in this town. The popution was very few and those that poputed it often turned in early to their residences to prepare for mining work the next day. As they walked through the entrance of the town, they could see all the way to the other side of the town itself. Not a soul was out walking on this clear, cool early evening. The only sounds that could be heard came from the tavern nearby. It was well-lit from the inside and a few voices could be heard hollering and singing. The voices were gruff and clearly inebriated.

  “If we are going to find an informant…” Andro pointed to the tavern without finishing the thought. The others understood as they walked towards the entrance. Charlie reached for the handle but was pulled back by So-Nobu. He shook his head, “Wait. We should enter separately, so as not to draw unwanted attention as a group. I will go in first, you two follow shortly after. Keep an eye out for any suspicious persons out here.”

  The other two nodded silently and walked back a bit to take position in a nearby, darkened alley between two buildings. So-Nobu lifted his hood over his head and entered the tavern.

  The tavern was poputed, but to qualify it as busy would be an overstatement. The tavern was simple if not a little underappreciated over its years. The left side of the tavern hosted six long, rectangur tables that mixed and matched chairs, stools and long benches. The right side of the tavern had four round tables with stools and chairs to accompany them. On the far end of the right side of the tavern sat two rger chairs atop an old bearskin pelt which y in front of a quaint firepce. Just beyond that was an old piano and stool which looks as though it hadn’t been pyed for quite a long time.

  At the far end of the left side of the room was the bar which stretched almost all the way to the old piano. A rge kitchen and pantry section jutted outwards from the bar in the farthest left. There were some prep tables covered in everything from simple meats and vegetables to empty gsses and mugs. A small, deep sink separated the kitchen from the keg spouts that lined the back wall. There were a grand total of six, but only two would work. The bar itself had a hodgepodge of stools that looked like they were collected from other taverns in different vilges. Finding two that matched in this tavern would be a near-impossible challenge given their decrepit state.

  So-Nobu scanned the room and noticed the patrons within seemed to not pay him any notice. To his left, at one of the front rectangur tables sat two younger tielflings. They couldn’t have been much older than teen years if that. The male had blue skin and horns that curved straight up. He was handsome and dressed well, better than anyone else in the tavern save for his company—she was a tiefling girl with red skin and horns that stretched back and around her head. Her long, silky hair fell around them neatly as it id itself on the shoulders of her clean, embroidered dress. They spoke quietly amongst themselves, not wanting others to hear their conversation.

  At a table behind and to the left of the two tieflings sat an old elf. His ears pointed almost straight back from his head and were covered in patches of grey hairs. The deep wrinkles on his forehead were slightly hidden behind two very bushy grey eyebrows. His hair was salt and pepper, drawn back in a middle part before rejoining more scraggly grey hairs that bunched up in the back by his neck. His hairline was clearly receded and the lighting shown just how many years his face had been through as more deep wrinkles shaped his gaunt face. His eyes were slightly sunken and dark around the edges. He sat alone at the end of the table holding his mug of ale half full (or perhaps half empty by the looks of it), hunched over and silently staring at the bubbles that made their way to the top. A hump in his back jutted outwards, forcing his head and neck to sit just below his shoulders which were also very gaunt and frail. Occasionally, he would mumble something seemingly inaudible.

  Just behind his table, closest to the kitchen’s small swinging door which stood no taller than a grown human’s waist, was the source of the racket that could be heard outside. Three dwarven men sat covered in bck dirt and long beards. Two of them had on simple attire such as cheap scks and a musty shirt. The third one, the only one with a white beard (the other two had orange and brown beards) wore an incredibly dirty miner’s jumpsuit. The buttons were almost all undone to the trousers, revealing just behind his full beard a simir dirt-stained shirt to the ones the other wore. They were very clearly miners, and fresh out of the “jackpot” from the looks of it (the jackpot was jargon for what miner’s referred to as a particurly bad or dangerous work area). They were ughing, singing and incessantly clinking their mugs together for cheers of some outrageous affair.

  “To bein’ bit by that filthy dog!” *CLANK*

  “To that filthy dog that bit ye!” *CLANK*

  “To bitin’ that filthy dog back!!” *CLANK*

  Their ughter filled the tavern as much as it jiggled their paunch bellies. The smming of mugs and fists against the table made silverware jingle on their mostly empty ptes, though they seemed to be saving some for ter in those bulky beards from the looks of it.

  “Wheressat redhead at, enh? OY, FIRECROTCH! Anotha round fer me and my buzzies, yeh?” This was not another jargon term for the dwarven miners—he had simply mispronounced the word “buddies” and mashed it with…something that wasn’t “buddies”. He yelled this back towards the kitchen without turning around.

  “You lot ‘ave seen just abowt enuff of it, haven’tchuz? An’ oi’ll toss ya roight proper if’n ya calls me that agin, you ‘ear me?” A rotund, redheaded woman came out from around the corner of the kitchen where some barrels were stacked nearly to the ceiling and shoved through the small kitchen door with her waist. Her belly and apron nearly caught on the edge of the doorway as she slid herself quickly through it. Her long red hair sat in long, bounding waves upon themselves until they rippled down over her sizeable breasts—her cleavage nearly busting out of the apron top she wore. Her face was pretty but looking worked with beads of sweat, causing some stray red hairs to stick in clumps to the sides of her temples.

  She was a sizeable woman, and her rge, rounded arms raised a rge circur tray over her head. She may have been just over five and a half feet tall, but to the dwarves she seemed significantly taller. She approached the table of dwarves and began pulling up ptes and empty mugs on to her tray. The dwarves howled loudly in ughter upon her response.

  “C’mon girlie. Yer just wot we need after a long day a’diggin’. Hows ‘bout ya fill us up one more round and then come n’ sit right here in me p, yeh?” The one with the orange beard swiveled slightly while he spoke. He surely wanted to sound flirtatious, but there was no denying that booze had invaded his speech as his lips tripped over his tongue every now and then.

  “Wit an arse like this’un?” She was sweeping some food scraps onto the floor as she gave a slight turn at the waist towards them. “’Fraid you couldn’t ‘andle it loves. Asides, there’d be no sense in ‘avin miners ‘at can’t be usin’ their legs n’more.” Even she smiled at this as she made fixed her tray above her head once again, and turned back towards the kitchen. The brown-bearded dwarf, closest to her, gave her a little pinch on her rge bum which made her jump and make a startled “Yip!” The tray came crashing down to the ground, nearly covering her in scraps of food and backwashed ale. She whirled around to the brown-bearded dwarf who was crying in ughter with the other two who had witnessed this deplorable act. Almost faster than eyes could follow, the brown-bearded dwarf’s face was met with a swift assault from her open right hand. The dwarf fell back in his chair to the ground as the waitress stood up and fixed some of the sweat dampened hairs on her face back into position out of her eyes.

  “You lot clean ‘at shit up. I gots more work to do.” She stormed off into the kitchen leaving the dwarves speechless for a moment. By the time she got through the kitchen doorway, the dwarves had begun an uproar of ughter greater than before, even the one knocked to the ground was bouncing up and down from their hearty guffaws.

  So-Nobu walked into the tavern and took a seat at the empty bar in the back. The waitress had disappeared somewhere behind the kitchen and she hadn’t noticed him take a seat with all the raucous going on. He was not eager to get her attention, or anyone else’s that matter, but scanned the room further, nonetheless. To his right were all the empty round tables, except for one. At one table, hugging the wall, sat three hooded figures. They sat silently with their mugs of ale in front of them. The mugs were filled to the brim, but there wasn’t a hint of foam at the top anymore. So-Nobu deduced that they had been sitting there for a while. He tried to get a closer look at them when another figure came through the entry door of the tavern.

  It was Andro. Andro didn’t bother looking around the room at all. He found the first avaible seat at a rectangur table to the left, just behind the tieflings. He leaned back in his chair, seeming exhausted. He put his elbow on the table and leaned his head into his hand as if he may just nod off into a nap. In doing so, he neatly hid most of his face from the rest of the patrons at the tavern. He drew very little attention when he came in and stayed in this position for some time.

  The waitress finally came back around and noticed So-Nobu at the bar. She walked over to him and asked him, “Evenin’ love. Wot’ll it be?”

  “Mug of ale sounds good to me. Eh—” He had to stop her before she strode off to fulfill his order with haste. “Maybe make it two.” He said coyly.

  “Been one uh those days, innit love?” She curled the top corner of her lip up as she spoke, like a sneer but not intimidating in the least. She pulled a second mug with the same hand and began to pour. As she poured, a third figure entered the tavern now. This time, it was Charlie, but it didn’t look like Charlie. At least, not really.

  She had the same freckles and dimples as Charlie did, except her skin wasn’t tan and her hair wasn’t in tight curls on her head. Her skin was a deep blue, almost purple and her long, wavy hair danced around two rge horns that curled up from her forehead and over the top of her head. A long, thin tail with a triangur point at the end swished back and forth behind her, like a snake dancing up her shoulders. She took a seat at a round table to the right, nearest to the front next to the window. She had not noticed that there were two other tieflings in the tavern on the other side at first as she scanned around the room silently swishing her tail. When she did finally notice them, she immediately looked down at the table whispering the word “shit” to herself. She began to nervously py with her hair, twirling it in front of her face.

  One of the three hooded figures looked up from the table and turned to look at Charlie. Charlie noticed this and turned to face them as well without thinking, but before she could gather any details about them, they turned back and faced the other two in their company.

  The waitress came out and around the kitchen again after serving So-Nobu his two mugs of ale. She passed by the dwarves and snapped her fingers at the mess on the ground which they had not begun cleaning. She tilted her head down and looked up through a scowl at them as she passed. She made her way to the old elf who had not made much more progress on his ale. He kept the same posture—hunched over the table, one thin, bony hand gripping the mug as he stared into the bubbles. The waitress spoke to him in a comforting tone.

  “How we doin’ Varis? Be needin’ another here soon, eh? Take yer time dearie. Let me know if yer feelin’ peckish.” She gently rubbed his shoulder as she slowly passed by him. She cut around him and made her way between the tables of the tieflings and Andro. Still walking she looked at the tieflings who were whispering to each other.

  “Need anythin’ loves?” She stopped quickly in front of their table making her generous bosom give a healthy bounce. The girl tiefling had an uncomfortable look on her face as she finished whispering something to the male tiefling, “—and it just seems incautious.” The male tiefling reacted physically to her whisper being a little too loud for his comfort by speaking up a little louder than conversational volume.

  “Uh, nope! It’s all right, thank you madame. We whet our appetites early this evening. Thank you.” He looked a bit frantic in saying this, but his diction was very poised and proper. He put his hand on hers, which was resting in her p—the other up to her mouth where she was making tiny picking bites at her nails. They were facing away from the bar and kitchen, so did not see the rotund waitress give a dismissive shrug as she turned and walked towards Andro.

  She was about to speak, but before the words could leave her mouth Andro said. “Half mug of cider, other half ale. Please and thank you.” He didn’t move his hand from his head and kept his rexed position. The waitress raised her brow somewhat irked.

  “So a snakebite, then?” she said in a dry tone. Andro slightly lifted his hand up so his eyes could meet hers.

  “Is that what you call it around here?” He asked genuinely. It didn’t even occur to the waitress to note that he was clearly not from around here—a detail that one does not want to reveal on a reconnaissance mission upon first impressions. She was more concerned that he didn’t know the name of the drink he ordered.

  “That’s wot they call it everywhere, love.” She spoke in the same impatient manner.

  “Not a huge fan of snakes.” Andro put his head back in his hand.

  The waitress stood there for a moment. “There’s no snakes innit…” Andro did not respond to this with words. He simply raised his other hand up, slowly brought the tips of his thumb and index finger together and formed a small, perfect circle. The waitress fshed the same “ok” symbol with her hand in an overly friendly, sarcastic manner and walked back towards the bar.

  As she made her way there, she noticed the blue tiefling girl twirling her hair in front of her face. The tiefling had a great focus on this act as she had her tongue stuck out on one side of her mouth as she did so. The waitress made a quick turn around and made her way towards the tiefling. Before she reached her, she gave a quick side gnce to the hooded figures. She gred at them momentarily before fixing her attention to the tiefling girl and fixing a smile upon her face.

  “Good evenin’ princess, wot can I be getting’ ya?”

  Charlie snapped out of her hair-twirling focus and brought her tongue back into her mouth. She looked around with her mouth open, then snapped her attention to the waitress. Her open-mouthed stare was quickly and forcibly adjusted to a warm smile as she responded to the waitress.

  “Well, howdy missus. You sure are a pretty lil’ thang.” She tilted her wrist back and flung her hand back down towards the waitress in a pyful manner. The waitress’s head twitched back slightly upon hearing such a strange country accent on a blue tiefling, but she managed to maintain some sembnce of a smile. Her rosy, sweaty cheeks became a hot red around her face.

  “Oh, erm, well thank you. For that. The compliment. I erm…” The waitress was struggling.

  Charlie quickly revived the conversation, “I’m thinkin’ I’ll have myself a good ‘ol fashioned cup a tea if y’all don’t mind too terribly. That’d be the perfect thing to wet my whistle.” She spoke with a pleasant, country accent. It was warm and inviting. It was unbearably fake. The waitress didn’t care to ask any further questions of this strange tiefling girl, so she nodded through a very uncomfortable smile and twitching eye and headed straight back to the kitchen. Charlie still had a big smile on her face when she noticed the hooded figure looking at her once again. She went back to twirling her hair.

  Andro couldn’t help but overhear the conversation that the two tieflings were having. From what he could gather, they were both from very wealthy families, but neither family agreed with their love. A tale as old as time he thought to himself. As it was understood to him, the male tiefling had convinced the girl to come away with him where they could start a life together. This was a difficult choice for the both of them as they would have to leave family and wealth behind. The girl kept bringing up concerns about what they would do without money or jobs. Where would they go from Raggenwold? How will they afford a wedding? What if they acted too hastily? The male tiefling tried his best to assuage her nail-biting concerns with oversimplified responses. “It’ll be ok. Don’t worry. Hey, we can do this.” None of which made her feel any less worrisome.

  “I just don’t know. It all seems to be happening so fast…” she said still picking at her nails with her teeth.

  “Gabriel—I mean—Victoria!” the male tiefling looked pale and horrified at his mistaking her name. She looked at him in all seriousness, brow furrowed.

  “Why did you just call me Gabriel??” Her voice was becoming louder than a whisper now. The male tiefling kept his mouth open as he shook his head in disbelief, looking for the right words (looking for any words really).

  “Because he tried the same shit with Gabriel. Hate to be the one to spoil the fun for you Victoria.” Andro spoke up from under his hand.

  The male tiefling whirled around and gred at Andro in disgust. Victoria faced Andro as well, but with a cautious curiosity. “What do you mean stranger?”

  Andro sighed and pinched his nose with his hand, no longer hiding his face as he sat up slightly.

  “He’s pying you. For money. It’s obvious he’s got no real wealth or dowry to offer, but you do. So he’s taking you for a ride to get hitched, bring you back to mommy and daddy, and collect on what he can before kicking you to the curb. I’ve seen it a hundred times.” Andro spoke without so much as a stutter.

  The male tiefling scoffed at Andro, “You! How could you even—you don’t know—who do you think you are anyway? I do have a wealthy family I will have you know! And for your information—”

  Andro cut the tiefling off before he could finish, turning to Victoria, “Answer me this. You ever met his family? Ever been to his estate?” The girl tiefling looked down at her feet, narrowing her eyes as she thought hard about this. “No…” she said deep in the thought.

  Andro spped his hands on his legs then extended them outwards, “Exactly. And again, I hate being the one to tell you. But someday you’ll be grateful I told you. Because if I didn’t, you’d be stuck with this guy calling you by the wrong name every other week. Until you pay your way out of it that is.” Andro looked directly at the male tiefling now who was nearly snarling.

  “You lowlife degenerate. Don’t listen to him Vanessa—”

  Andro and Victoria both snapped at him in unison, “Victoria.”

  The male tiefling gulped back the verbal tirade he was about to give. He stood up as some tears started forming in his eyes. “Victoria. If this strange man is all it takes to make you question our love, then perhaps this love was never meant to be. Farewell.” And with that, the male tiefling stormed out of the tavern. Victoria watched him leave, tears starting to make their way to her eyes as well. She was less sad at his leaving and more at the knowledge that she had been such a careless fool for blind love.

  Andro missed no second of this to make his way over next to her and comfort her with his arm around her. She leaned in to him as he gently patted her shoulder, “There, there. I know it’s tough out here, Victoria. Men can be such assholes, y’know. I’m so sorry for you Victoria. Victoria…say that’s a beautiful name…”

  As Andro guiltlessly wooed a freshly heartbroken tiefling maiden, So-Nobu sipped the st drops of his first mug of ale. He grabbed his second mug and made his way over to the chairs near the firepce—closer to the hooded characters, and certainly within earshot. As soon as he sat down, the hissing whispers of the figures ceased. They sat back slightly from each other as they each took turns looking at the githzerai nearby.

  So-Nobu pulled back his hood and leaned back in his chair. He stretched his arms and legs out and brought them back into a comfortable, rexed position in the chair. He turned his head to face the hooded figures, who were all looking at him now. He raised his gss to them and gave a tight-lipped smile before turning back to the fire.

  “You need sssomethin’ friend?” one hooded figure hissed at him.

  So-Nobu raised his brows and gave a look of surprise as he gnced at them and then around his area. He looked back at them with that same look of confusion and pointed to himself.

  “Yea, you wiseasss” it hissed again.

  “Oh, no. I’m fine. Good. I’m good, here. Just getting warm by the fire.” So-Nobu nodded at the firepce, pulling his mug up to his lips with both hands like it were a cup of hot cocoa.

  “Get warm elsssewhere.” The three of them were all looking at him now. He turned his body to face them in his chair and noticed it immediately. These were the figures he saw near the woods outside of Amhull. They did in fact have long pointed snouts like an alligator. Their nostrils raised up over the long, protruding noses. Their teeth were sharp and bared that lined their jaw which protruded out as far as their snouts. Their pupils were bck slits in a sea of yellow amber like cats. Their hands were ridged and somewhat scaly, with bck cws for nails that tightly gripped their mugs.

  So-Nobu was about to speak when another voice entered the conversation. “I do believe he can get warm anywhere he likes, y’all.”

  Charlie’s accent was faltering but still clearly from the countryside. She was standing only a few feet away from their table. She had a cocky grin set upon her face.

  The hooded creature who had spoke to So-Nobu now turned and faced Charlie. “You take another step misssy…and we’ll put you down for good.”

  Another one chimed in this time, “We won’t even hesssitate…”

  “Well then…” Charlie spoke finding her country accent once again, “Sure sounds to me like we are in for a good ol’ fashion barfight.” Her pointed tail flicked up as a dagger flew over her shoulder. She caught it in her hand and took a defensive stance.

  Andro looked over at Charlie as this happened. He groaned and rolled his eyes before looking at Victoria who was clinging to every word he spoke to her. He stood up and adjusted his armored shoulder pads. “Sorry Vicki. This’ll just take a minute…”