Fates of Grenora: Return of the Night

Moira was lounging around at her favorite bar, The Salt Mire, when Torvina appeared, sliding into the seat next to her at the bar. "He's here," she told Moira.

"Where?" she replied, running her finger around the rim of their drink.

"Right side, middle entrance. Two Orcs, two Humans, and a Giantess. Don't approach ‌but keep an eye on them and intervene if you have to. Let him see what this town is before you introduce yourself." Torvina informed then she perked up. "I have to go. He's calling me," she smiled. "Good luck."

Moira nodded, took one last gulp of her drink and walked out of the bar. The others paid no mind to her, but out in the street, gang members identified by colored handkerchiefs or splatters of paint on the clothing and armor did. She shook her head, knowing full well that the person Torvina talked up was going to crumble all the gangs.

She weaved her way through the maze layout of the buildings towards one of the four entrances into the town. Drunkards stumbled, pirates haggled stolen wares, and gang members kept an ever-watchful eye on the proceedings.

During the day, Ebira was a bustling trade center for illicit and stolen goods, but during the night, things really turned nasty when gangs moved to gain more territory. She wondered what this newcomer would be capable of. A part of her didn't believe he could wrest control from the gangs, but the way Torvina spoke devoutly about him made her want to believe. Still, she walked, dodging fights that tumbled out of nearby bars and ignoring the shady salespeople that attempted to get her attention on things with exorbitant prices listed. Eventually she got fed up and tucked into a dark alleyway, where she stopped. Ahead of her, she saw a shakedown taking place.

A child no more than thirteen desperately clung to a money pouch as he was being kicked repeatedly by grown men trying to get the pouch. They screamed and jeered obscenities at the boy, and Moira's fist balled. One aggressor saw Moira approach and tapped the arm of one his friends, and they both shared a knowing predatory grin as they moved to intercept her.

One of them leaned against a wall, blocking the path while the other strode forward with confidence oozing off of him. "You know whose territory this is?" He sneered, his yellowing teeth on full display as he looked her up and down. "There is a tax if you want to pass," he snickered.

Moira ignored him and continued walking straight. The man in question didn't take kindly to that, nor did his partner behind him. "Hey you ungrateful bitch!" He shouted, making more of his buddies who were busy beating the boy look over.

Moira rolled her eyes and threw a needle laced with basilisk poison at the man. The needle found its home in his neck, and not a second sooner, the area where the needle hit started turning to stone. The poison of the basilisk worked fast, turning the rest of his body into stone, and he fell backwards, shattering into many pieces. Moira ignored the system notice of a kill as she pulled her wickedly curved daggers from her inventory and rushed at the stunned gang member. She leapt from wall to wall, throwing herself onto the stunned gang member, bringing both daggers down into his eyes. He screamed until she forcefully twisted her blades, silencing any further noise from him.

Leaving the blades in his skull, she quickly pulled the hood over her head, covering her red frizzy hair, and pulled the mask up, covering her nose so only her dead, brown eyes were visible. Cramped spaces like the alleyway were her specialty, and these gang members were going to pay dearly for it.

They rushed at her, coming in two at a time as they fought with each other trying to get to her. Moira leapt into the air, using the walls to her advantage. She threw four more needles, two of which found their targets while quick-thinking gang members blocked the other two. Pushing off the wall once more, dove over them, landing in a roll, and coming around to slash the Achilles of one who went down in a cry of pain. She followed the momentum by slicing upwards along the spine of another. She activated her dagger's special ability, Rot's Cut, and the wounds on both festered and blackened.

The two gang members screamed as the rot slowly consumed them, making their flesh slide off, revealing pearly white bone underneath. That seemed to scare the rest of the gang members as only three had any fight left in them. She quickly silenced the other two, who were writhing in pain from the rotting, and stood, her blades dripping with blood as she glared at them.

One had the sense not to say a word but turn and run without ever looking back. The retreating sound of his booted footsteps on the cobblestone and wooden boards prompted the other two to turn and run. Moira waited until they were out of sight and went to loot the dead gang members, grabbing their pouches of gold from them and whatever else dropped from their inventory to stuff in hers. She grabbed one pouch of money and walked up to the kid, who looked up at her with one good eye and a busted lip. There were signs of bruises forming along his body, but the boy still glared at her defiantly.

She knelt, throwing the pouch of money in front of the boy. "If you want safety, head to Gretchen's Way. They'll take care of you," she said then stood and walked off, leaving the boy stunned but not for long as he grabbed the money pouch and climbed to his feet, albeit unsteadily and moved out of the alleyway, carefully stepping over the bodies.

Moira removed her hood and mask and continued to walk to the entrance of where Torvina said her new clients would be. She grabbed a skewer with shrimp and squid on it on her way, paying the vendor with some of the stolen coin she liberated from the gang members.

When she got closer to the entrance, she ducked into another alleyway and climbed to the roof of a building, perching herself at a vantage point that gave her a clear view of who came and went. She waited for about twenty minutes when she saw two Orcs, one dressed in tribal gear and the other dressed in heavy black plate armor, stroll through the entrance first. They looked out of place as they stared around, but the one in the fur and leather stood jolted suddenly and whispered to the armored Orc, who gave a curt nod. They hurried down the main thoroughfare without making eye contact with those who passed, heading for the docks.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Moira noted that as weird behavior but what was even weirder was when she peered back at the entrance and saw a Giantess, based on the tattoos that waved around her arms and exposed skin and the tightly wound dirty blonde ponytail they were famous for walk in with a Human who had blue-black hair and an unassuming appearance. They both assessed their surroundings discreetly as they first went to a stall that sold food, each grabbing a skewer and munching on it as they went right, heading deeper into one of the gang's territory.

Next came a hooded man next to a brown-haired man, who looked full of life and was in the middle of saying something snarky, judging from the way the hooded man's shoulders slumped. She assumed the hooded man was her primary target and prepared herself to follow him. She watched them go to the same vendor, each picking up a skewer and walked in her direction. They soon passed her, and with one of Moira's skills, Danger Sense, it screamed at her to run as far as possible. That alone intrigued her, as there weren't many things, well many humanoid things that made her Danger Sense swell to that degree.

She followed them, jumping from building to building, and yet the hooded man and his friend never seemed to be in a hurry, almost like they were scoping out the place or… "shit!" she hissed when they had turned a corner, and lost sight of them.

She quickly hurdled over the next building, and carefully peered over the side. Her Danger Sense screamed at her when a swarm of bats flew past her, obscuring her vision. She rolled back, with her daggers raised, eyeing the sky ‌where the bats went.

"Hey uh.. I don't want to hurt you, but the dark lord commands me to," a voice said with a teasing tone.

There was a groaning sigh. "Dude, come on." A deeper voice said.

Moira frowned, and then quickly pulled out a smoke bomb from her inventory. She threw it on the ground, but an arrow whistled, grazing her on her arm. She hissed but rolled out of the way and over the edge. However, she was grabbed from the back of her cloak. Without looking, she cut it with her daggers and dropped down, landing in another roll that turned into a sprint as she escaped.

Flutters of wings brayed against her ears as the swarm of bats from before flew overhead and in front of her. She skidded to a stop with her daggers raised and, before her eyes, the bats reformed themselves into the hooded man she was tailing. His face was shrouded in shadow except for glowing green eyes, with the same shape as a reptile and beneath that held an insatiable hunger that made fear, primal fear, race to the surface.

Moira paused as she read them all, each sending a shiver of fear through her until she got to the last one, Vampiric Aura. The hooded man took a step, and Moira subconsciously took a step back. There was a loud clang behind her, and she wanted to turn to see, but she knew if she took her eyes off whatever stood in front of her would be death.

"My back," a voice groaned behind her.

The hooded man's eyes squinted like he smiled but made no movement towards her again. Moira heard tales of Vampires from Torvina, but here stood one right in front of her, and the stories she told didn't do it justice. Coldness seeped into her bones as death whispered in the still air.

"Are you Torvina's contact?" The hooded man asked.

Moira lowered her guard at the question. "That depends," she answered, but her voice betrayed her nervousness.

"On?" The hooded man countered.

"If you're who I'm supposed to be waiting for. If I'm right, then you are based on who you came into town with," she replied.

"Competent. Good. I'll need that," the hooded man answered before revealing himself.

Moira had seen a lot of handsome men in her life, but the one in front of her was beautiful. Curly shoulder-length brown hair, with light stubble along his angular jaw, copper skin that shined in the light and piercing green eyes rooted her. The man gave her a close-lipped smile as he strode forward, and that's when her instincts came back. She took two more steps back, and he stopped, his smile slowly disappearing.

"I'm not going to hurt you. We are on the same side," he told her gently, a look of hurt crossing his features.

Moira wanted to believe him, but she couldn't. "Then release your hold over me," she demanded.

Aldrin's mouth dropped open slightly. "Right! I'm sorry! I'm still trying to get the hang of this ability."

She felt the heaviness and her sudden attraction to the man recede and swirl around him. "I'm Aldrin, and that guy back there is Jared. What's your name?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. His eyes went back to normal, human-looking ones, but she knew the hunger was still there.

"Moira," she cautiously said, taking a quick glance behind her to see Jared putting his bow and arrow into his inventory, giving her a short wave as he did so.

Aldrin smiled wider. "Pleasure Moira. I believe you and I have big plans for this town," he chuckled, holding out his hand.

Moira only stared at it before hesitatingly placing her hand in his. "I guess we do."