Jane, Warrior of Decura Chapter 15

A Cute but Chilling Mask

An hour later, Nate let out a sigh as he sat at the tavern's bar. He'd just finished asking the barkeep if he had any clues as to his father's whereabouts. Much to Nate's dismay, the barkeep informed him that he was the first reyn he'd ever seen. “Where are you father?” Nate thought while staring at his drink. “I haven't gotten any leads since Four Corners and even that one was vague at best...”

Nate felt a quick tap on his arm and glanced over to see Nice standing on the bar. “Hey reyn, I require your services” she whispered while frantically looking around the tavern, her eyes filled with terror. “I'll make it worth your while and that's a kassi promise.”

“What's the matter with you Nice?” Nate asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I just finished meditating only to find that my other servant, William, got dragged off into another room by the grumpy dwarf woman” Nice explained, sweat pouring down her face. “Now I'm vulnerable and she knows it...”

“Who knows it?” Nate asked.

“Nice! Nice!” Emina called out, causing Nice to duck behind Nate's arm. “Please come out so Emi can hug you! Let's go look at the pretty stars together!”

“Being a golem, she'll never tire...” Nice gulped causing Nate to let out a little chuckle. “Now be a loyal servant and keep me hidden until my other minions finish resting.”

Nate smirked before pinching Nice's cheeks together. “Now why would I do that?” he asked as his eye twitched. “What do I get out of it?”

“The honor of serving the amazing Ni'cetsukichi” Nice explained, causing Nate to raise an eyebrow and tighten his pinch. “But if you want more... I could always do something to dispel that depressing mood you seem to be in.”

“How exactly do you intend to do that?” Nate asked.

“Hide me and you'll find out” Nice whispered before spotting Emina getting closer.

“Hey Nate, have you seen Nice?” Emina asked before tapping Nate on the shoulder, causing the reyn to quickly tuck Nice into his tunic. “Emi can't find her anywhere.”

“I think she went to bed Emina” Nate explained. “Either that or she went outside.”

Emina spun toward the tavern's entrance and put her hands on her hips. “Emi will check outside!” she said before marching outside while playfully swinging her arms.

Once Emina left the tavern, Nate pulled Nice out of his tunic and placed her on the bar. “So stinky...” Nice shuddered. “You need to have a bath.”

“Don't worry about that” Nate said before crossing his arms. “Now, what was it you were saying about cheering me up?”

Nice sighed before holding out her hand. “Give me your finger” she said. Once Nate had done so, Nice started to hum which seemed to cause the chestnut on her staff to emit a faint white light.

“What's that suppose to-” Nate cut his own question off when he felt a warm sensation overtake him. “What... What is this?”

“Probably the easiest spell known to my kind” Nice answered. “I'm basically transferring some of my energy into you. Normally I would use this to help wounds heal faster, but at this low level, all it's really going to do is soothe your mind and relax your body.”

“You can say that again” Nate mumbled before resting his head on the bar. “I feel like I'm laying on a cloud...” After letting out a quick yawn, Nate closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

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A stream of morning sunlight assaulting his eyes forced Nate awake. Finding himself still at the bar, Nate rubbed the rest of the sleep from his eyes before glancing around the tavern.

“Good morning” William said, sitting on the bar stool beside Nate. “Been awhile since I slept on a bar before. How was it?”

“Surprisingly comfy” Nate replied before cracking his neck. “Not so great on the neck though. How was your room?”

“Not bad” William answered. “It was strange though. For some reason, miss Patti's bed was chained to mine. she said it was some rare mirian custom so we left it the way it was, didn't want to insult the locals.” William stretched out his arms. “I swear, miss Patti cannot keep her hands to herself while she sleeps. She just wouldn't stop hugging me.”

Nate rolled his eyes and smiled. “I'm almost completely positive that was one of Patti's schemes...” he thought before spotting Nice speaking to a large group of mirian children. The tiny kassi waved her staff in the air and several dozen sparks flew out and scattered across the tavern's floor. “I'm surprised Jane isn't up yet” Nate said. “She went to bed earlier than all of us.”

“I heard her snoring on the way out here” William explained. “She probably just needs a good long rest. Miss Emina just went to check on her.” As if on queue, Emina returned a moment later and sat next to William, her face brandishing a concerned look. “Everything alright miss Emina?” William asked. “Is miss Jane still sleeping?”

“Yes” Emina answered before turning her worried expression toward William. “But Emi is worried. She found some silly thing on bis sis's face. Emi tried to take it off but it won't budge. Emi tried to wake big sis up but...”

“Silly thing?” Nate leaped from his bar stool. “Show me Emina, right now.” Emina nodded and quickly led Nate and William toward Jane's room. After peeking out from her and William's room, a just barely awake Patti quickly started to put the rest of her clothes on.

After entering Jane's room, Nate spotted the tall girl laying on her back atop her bed's covers. Besides her breathing, Jane's body was almost completely motionless, her hand slumped over the side of the bed. Sitting on Jane's face was a strange white mask that appeared to be shaped like a child's interpretation of an indifferent hedgehog. It had no eye or nose holes and seemed to stare straight at the roof. “Jane, hey Jane” Nate called out while running to Jane's side. “Jane?” Nate tried to pull the mask away, but he couldn't budge it an inch despite his best efforts. Even when William and Emina helped, the mask would not move.

“What kind of mask is that?” William asked.

“No idea, doesn't matter” Nate growled before taking William's dirk from his belt. “Because it's coming off right now.” Nate tried to carefully cut into the mask with the dagger, but to no avail. “Damn it... Get off her!”

Suddenly, a loud shriek tore into Nate's ears, sending him stuttering back. “What is that?” he grunted while tightly covering his ears. “It's like somebodies shoving arrows down my ears!”

“What are you talking about?” William asked while he and Emina hurried to help Nate, both seemingly unaffected by the piercing scream.

The shrieking got so bad, Nate was forced to drop the dirk. The second the dagger hit the floor, the noise completely disappeared. “Better not try cutting it again...” Nate grumbled while waving William and Emina away.

“Is big sis ok?” Emina asked after grabbing William's hand. “What is that on her face?”

“I'm not sure miss Emina” William replied. “But just looking at that mask gives me chills.”

“Did something happen to Jane?” Nice asked, causing everyone to turn and spot the tiny kassi standing in the doorway.

“She won't wake up Nice” Emina replied after quickly lowering her hands so Nice could climb on. “Emi is worried...”

“Well maybe I can help” Nice said before leaping onto Emina's palms. “Let me see.” After being brought closer to the sleeping Jane, Nice jumped onto the bedside desk near her head. “Interesting...” she mumbled.

“Do you know what that mask is?” Nate asked.

Nice shook her head. “I have no idea...” she muttered before pointing her staff at the mask and closing her eyes. “Hmm... I feel a strong sense of... Bliss?” Nice took a moment to ponder what to do, before leaping onto the bed and running down to Jane's hand. “I'm going to need some time to figure this out.”

“How much time?” Nate asked, now looking even more worried.

Nice sat next to Jane's hand and touched her finger. “I don't know...” she muttered.

“Do you know anything?!?” Nate growled, startling Nice and Emina. “You're suppose to be some legendary kassi right? You have to be able to help Jane!”

William, doing a much better job at hiding his concern, put his hand on Nate's shoulder. “Relax Nate” he said. “Shouting isn't going to help miss Jane.” William looked down at Nice. “Is there anything you can do right now miss Nice?”

“I have an idea...” Nice replied. “There's a technique my people use whenever one of our kind slips into a deep sleep. I'm no expert of the spell but... But I will do my best.” Nice took a deep breath. “I'm going to pour my magic into her body. Hopefully, that will excite Jane enough to force her awake.” Nice closed her eyes again. “I cant say for sure that it'll work but...”

“But it's better than doing nothing” William finished, causing Nice to nod. “Thank you miss Nice, we're grateful for your assistance.”

Nice smirked for a second as both Nate and Emina also thanked her. “Good to know” she said. “Now I don't know how long this will take. But until Jane's awake, don't disrupt my concentration.” Nice began to quietly hum as a faint light could be seen flowing from her hand into Jane's finger.

“We'll be as quiet as mice” William assured before looking for somewhere to sit.

Suddenly, a loud scream could be heard from outside followed by the hearty laughter of at least several dozen people. Despite the racket, Nice managed to maintain her focus. “What was that?” Nate asked before looking out the window to find the source of the disturbance.

“We'd better go see” William said before patting Emina's head. “Miss Emina, please stay here and keep an eye on miss Nice for me.” Emina smiled and gave the old knight a thumbs up.

The second William and Nate were out in the hall, Patti approached them, still combing her hair. “Did you guys hear that noise?” she asked as the laughter outside continued. “What is that?”

“I'm going to take a guess and say... Trouble” William replied. “Our little group seems to run into that more and more with each passing week.”

Nate looked back toward Jane's room. “Whatever it is, I won't let it get to Jane” he thought before clenching his fists. “I'm going to keep her safe, no matter the cost.”

Once outside the tavern, it only took a second for the three to spot what was causing the noise. Standing in the center of the small town, were almost a hundred pirates, all enjoying a good laugh. Many more were standing by the mirian's houses, keeping an eye on whoever was inside. In the middle of them were three mirian, two were on their knees weeping while the third lay face down in a pool of her own green blood.

“Now, I'll ask again” the one female reyn pirate said after flicking her large earring. “Where is the kassi? Come on, don't make me have to get violent again.”

The two kneeling mirian looked at each other. “She's... She left town before dawn” one of them said. “Please, just leave us alo-”

Unsatisfied with the answer, the female reyn ran one of her black scimitars into the mirian's chest. “Yeah, that's a lie” she snickered before pulling her sword out of the mirian. “Or maybe it wasn't, I guess we'll have to find out ourselves. Won't we boys?”

As the entire pirate crew erupted into laughter, Nate turned to William. “Of all the worst times for pirates...” he grumbled.

“Not just any pirates” William whispered while staring at the cut nooses around every pirate's neck. “They're the High Sea Hangmen.”

“Who?” Nate asked.

“They're a crew of highly skilled raiders that have been around for almost twenty years now” William explained. “They've been a thorn in the side of the human empire for awhile now, always pillaging and raiding its coastal towns. Several guilds have tried to take them down but nobody knows where their hideout is.”

“But what are they doing here?” Patti asked.

“They must have heard about Nice somehow” William replied. “But how'd they know exactly where she was already? Nice said she hasn't been here that long.”

The female pirate pointed her sword toward the third mirian. “Now then, how about you?” she asked. “Ready to tell me where the kassi is? Or do I have to kill you and drag three more mirian out here for a little chat?”

The mirian looked at his two dead friends and hung his head. “She's in the tavern...” he muttered, only for the female pirate to cut his head off a second later.

“Captain Quill thanks you for your cooperation” the female pirate chuckled before looking back at her crew. “You heard the mirian, check the tavern.”

“Yes captain!” the entire pirate crew cheered, before a small group of them marched directly toward the tavern. However, they quickly came to a halt when they spotted an old human knight, a young reyn archer and a dwarf blacksmith blocking their path. “Hey, move it unless you want to lose your heads.”

“Miss Patti, go inside” William growled while keeping his eyes on the pirates sheathed blades. “Right now.”

“But William...” Patti muttered. “I can't just-”

“I said go inside!” William roared, causing Patti to dart back into the tavern.

When William put his hand on his maul, the pirates before him all drew their swords. “Hey old man, didn't you hear me before?” one of them asked, his alcohol soaked breath forcing Nate to wave his hand up in front of his face.

“I heard you, boy” William responded with a calm smile on his face. “I'm just hoping you'll reconsider your kassi hunt and just leave this peaceful village alone. If not, then I'm going to have to ask my friend here to duck.”

Realizing exactly what was about to happen, Nate ducked down. A second later, all five pirates rushed at William, only to be immediately sent flying by a single wide swing from the old knight's maul. With several of their crewmates now laying on the ground with broken bones, the entire gang of pirates finally ceased their laughing. “Looks like we got ourselves a trouble maker” Quill chuckled. “Are you the kassi's bodyguard old man? Or are you just looking to die?”

“We all have to die someday” William said while resting his large maul over his shoulder.

Nate quickly pointed an arrow at the pirate captain. “That will be today for you if you don't leave right now!” he growled.

Quill couldn't help but giggle at the archer's threat. However she quickly stopped herself when she got a good look at Nate's face. “That's odd, I feel like I've seen him before” she thought as four of her crew moved in front of her.

“You dare threaten captain Quill in the presence of her four guardians?!?” one of the pirates roared while swinging two chains around.

The largest of the guardians cracked his knuckles. “That kid's got quite a mouth on him” he said before grinning. “I think I'd like to tear it from his face.”

“It's my turn to get the kill!” the shortest of the guardians growled before licking one of his daggers.

“Shall we kill these two captain?” the fourth guardian asked while arming his crossbow.

Quill smirked and pushed her way through her guardians. “I guess that mirian was telling the truth” she said before grinning. “The kassi is inside the tavern. Excellent, the sooner we capture her, the sooner I can get Hazel off my back.”

Nate's eyes widened as the visage of a red haired witch flashed in his mind. “Isn't that the woman who tried to kill Jane in Bhaldural?” he thought. Nate's hands suddenly began to tremble. “She was also behind the Bloodblades... Mother...”

Quill pointed one of her scimitars at William. “Kill the old man and the reyn!” she ordered. “Then retrieve the kassi from the tavern! Oh and be sure to check if they have any tea in there. I'm starting to run out.” Most of Quill's crew immediately drew their blades and charged directly for William and Nate. Her guardians tried to do the same, but Quill quickly stopped them. “We have to let the little boys have their fun every once in awhile” she said, causing her guardians to sigh and look for somewhere comfy to sit and enjoy the slaughter.

TO BE CONTINUED....