The spirits don’t wish us ill. When their actions do bring suffering into our lives, we must remember that they simply see something that we, the living, cannot and that they are working for our ultimate good.

-Nameless Exegete

Part 1

Drayik stepped into the stable and breathed in, softly testing the air. It no longer had the sour scent of mildew or other signs of decay, so the young man simply nodded his head in satisfaction and set to cleaning out some small boxes in the corner of one of the unused stalls. It had been hard work, but after a few days, he had reclaimed this stable from its shoddy condition and made it fit enough that even the inn master was pleased with it. Because of that, they had agreed to keep him on as the stable boy.

Granted, he wasn’t a boy anymore, having reached his twenty-third year of life this past summer, but he was glad for the work. There were too many in the city that didn’t have any and were forced to resort to begging, thieving or worse. He had almost been one of them, but had luckily found this inn, The Dancing Knight, and had finally impressed them enough to get a position that promised regular pay.

As he shifted one box around and picked it up, he heard one of the charms at the main door jingle as someone opened the door and entered. He set the box down and stepped forward, peering over the stall wall to see if it was someone coming to stable their horse. Three men stood in the entrance and were beginning to enter, quietly spreading out. Drayik nervously swallowed.

They looked like thieves.

They hadn’t seen him. For a moment, he considered crouching down and letting the men go about their business. He didn’t know if any of them were armed, and even if they weren’t, there was three of them and only one of him. Surely the inn master would understand. He wouldn’t expect Drayik to stand up to three men just to protect a stable. He wouldn’t expect this new stable hand to fight off thieves at the risk of his own life.

Drayik snapped his head down and quietly walked over to the open stall door. The inn master would indeed expect this from him and even more. And if Drayik failed him, he’d be back on the street before the thieves even got out of the stable. He couldn’t have that happen. He needed a job, any job, and this was the only one that he had found in so long. He had to stop these men before they did anything.

One man was passing by Drayik’s stall. Drayik stepped out of the stall and casually leaned against the door.

“Hey.”

The man whipped around with a soft shout of alarm and two sets of feet started coming this way. As Drayik considered the man, he began deciding how to best handle this situation. The man before him was tall, but haggard. His clothes were starting to wear out in various places and he smelled worse than the stable. This man had been down on his luck for quite some time, probably before everyone else came to this city. Was this his first time stealing to feed himself? Could he just overpower the man?

The man pulled out a small knife and stepped forward, a dangerous glint in his eye. No, Drayik hastily decided, this man had a look about him that spoke of years of experience. He was a true thief, not just a desperate person. Drayik wouldn’t be able to fight him off. He’d have to rely on his luck.

“I wouldn’t bother with the knife.”

The man blinked, stopping a few paces from Drayik as he lounged against the open stall door. Inside, Drayik was worriedly watching the knife and listening to the other two men as they came closer. Outside, he was calm and relaxed. The façade always helped make others believe his words. He focused his attention even harder on the man.

“There’s nothing worth your time here. The inn is having hard times as well and they’ve sold almost anything of value anyways.” The man’s brow furrowed as he stared at this confident stable hand. Drayik forced himself to smile. “Look friend, there isn’t a horse in the entire stable. Does that look like a prosperous stable to you?”

The man slowly turned his head and looked around at the empty stalls around him. The other footsteps stopped and Drayik forced himself to keep staring at this one man, half expecting a knife to stab into him from behind. He couldn’t stop now, not if he wanted this to work. He couldn’t even glance over his shoulder, not without breaking his luck.

“You and your friends can do better than this, can’t you? Isn’t there a different place that would be a better hit than this run-down shack?”

The man turned his head back to Drayik and stared for a moment more. Inwardly, Drayik fervently prayed to the spirits that his luck would hold while he calmly smiled. Finally the man nodded and sheathed his knife. He shifted his eyes to a point just behind Drayik and jerked his head to the door. Two sets of footsteps sounded right behind him, almost making him jump and shatter his act. He bit his lip behind his smile and watched as the man walked past him.

All three sets of footsteps walked away and after a few moments of waiting, Drayik turned. The doorway was left open and was empty. He noisily exhaled and kneeled down on the ground as his knees began shaking from pent up fear. He began whispering a prayer to every spirit he could think of, thanking them that his luck had held. That man had wanted to kill him, but somehow he had talked him not just out of murder, but of robbery as well.

He wasn’t sure what exactly made him lucky like that, but through his entire life, it seemed like he could talk his way out of anything. His brothers had all agreed that the spirit of luck must have smiled when he was born, and Drayik was inclined to agree; especially when his luck got him out of something like this.

A boot scuffed the floor near the door and Drayik leapt up into the air, crying out in fear. Where those men back? Had they seen past his act and were going to kill him? He whipped around towards the door, honestly afraid for his life.

A short woman stood at the door, chuckling as she watched him. She was wearing strange clothing, trousers of all things, and had a large hood pulled up over her head, though it didn’t cover her face. A horse stood behind her and she had its reins held lightly in her hand.

It took a moment for Drayik’s heart to stop racing and he simply stood there for a moment, frozen in shock and relief. The woman chuckled again and stepped further into the stable, leading the horse behind her.

“A good show, young man.”

Drayik blinked in surprise. This woman, though she spoke Kut, spoke with an accent that he hadn’t heard before. He stared at her in confusion, trying to figure out where she might be from, until she chuckled again and held up her horse’s reins.

“I think this is your work, no?” Now that she was closer, he could see that her head was completely bald underneath her hood and that thin, graceful lines had been lightly drawn onto the right half of her face, furthering her already exotic face. She looked older than him, possibly in her thirties.

“Uh… oh, yeah.” He stepped forward and took the horses reins. “Are you staying in the inn?”

“Yes. I am looking for something in your city, so I must stay here for a time. Hopefully, I find it.” She turned and faced the open door, chuckling once more. “At first, I didn’t like this inn, but after seeing you and those men, I think I’ll stay here for now.”