Unsettled Score

"Hey bartender, another round of drinks!" came the cry from the end of the bar. Grande quickly filled three mugs with ale and handed them off to an eager young man who disappeared into the crowded tavern room floor. FEAR’s Tavern was busy tonight and everyone seemed in good spirits. Grande watched as some men by the fire gambled at cards, their moans of disappointment punctuated by cries of victory from the winner. On the other side of the bar room floor near the staircase sat a large and overly hairy man with a slim girl under each of his arms. The girls giggled and swooned appropriately when the large man made a joke, his booming laughter drowning out their own. People milled about and the atmosphere was one of relaxed excitement. Grande was always sure to give a smile, wave, or a tip of his hat to any visitor coming through the door.

"Why? Why does it always happen to me?" sobbed the man seated at the end of the bar. Grande turned his attention to the one occupant who seemed to be unaffected by the spirit of the place. "Need another cold one Karma, maybe something with a little kick?" Grande pulled an unmarked bottle from under the counter and poured a glass full of the bottle’s dark contents. " There you go, secret family recipe. Guaranteed to perk you up or knock you flat." Grande set the full glass in front of Karma and removed three empty ones to another counter out of the way. " I just don’t get it" sobbed Karma. " No one else has this problem. Why didn’t anyone warn me! Gaahh…" Karma buried his face in his arm on the bar top, his muffled sobs lost in the sea of noise coming from the rest of the tavern.

Grande patted his friend’s shoulder with a sigh and pulled a small book from his back pocket. He turned a few pages until he found one titled " Karma" and added a few tallies under a heading for " Drinks." Satisfied that Karma’s tab was up to date, Grande returned the ledger to his pocket and proceeded down the bar filling and refilling drink orders for more cheerful customers." Grande, I need another bottle of whiskey and some extra shot glasses. Those guys by the fire already finished the first two bottles as well as broke the glasses I gave them." The words came from the Tavern’s resident server and wench Tigs. She was young and enthusiastic about her job, perhaps a little too enthusiastic at times. She was cute enough to attract attention and friendly enough to keep young men in their seats buying drinks instead of going home to waiting wives and girlfriends.

Grande quickly passed her the bottle and glasses along with a warning. " Keep an eye on them Tigs. We don’t need a repeat of last month when all those soldiers got drunk. Emessjay nearly killed me when he saw what had happened to his beloved Tavern." " Yea, yea I remember." Tigs gave a half hearted wave of her hand as if to sweep the whole conversation away as she left to serve the drinks.

Grande took a minute to check out the gamblers. They were still playing but obviously getting more worked up as players began to jump up in victory or slam down cards in defeat. He’d have to watch them and make sure things did not get too out of hand.

Suddenly, there was a large crash. The front door slammed open and in its place stood a towering figure that exuded barely contained destruction. The man was a hulk of a creature dressed all in black except for his sleeves which appeared to be torn off. His chaotically chopped hair was held back by a blood red bandana. The Tavern grew completely silent as all eyes fell on Jace Deathbringer.

Words escaped through clenched teeth from the hulking warrior. "Aargh… Jace comes to settle a score."

Faces grew pale throughout the room as patrons feared Jace might be there for them. Looks were shared by nervous occupants and Grande could see one man shaking slightly in his chair. Most eyes went to the large, hairy man with the small girls. Surely only that man with his great size could be the target of Jace Deathbringer.

The door slowly swung closed as Jace walked towards the bar, the clack of his wooden sandals on the floorboards making more than one person jump. One man scrambled off his bar stool in a desperate attempt to get out of Jace’s way. Grande stood looking up at the large warrior whose reputation was as well known and feared as any.

Jace reached up and dropped a pile of glittering coins on to the counter top. " Debt settled! Graaargh!" Jace turned and stormed back out of the Tavern as unexpectedly as he had entered, crashing through the front door and shattering it to pieces.

As color returned to faces and murmurs arose about the bizarre event they had just witnessed, Grande pulled out his ledger and flipped to a particularly set of worn pages. Across the top was scribbled " Jace" in large letters with subheadings including chairs, doors, windows, and every other conceivably breakable object in the Tavern. Every heading had dozens of tallies. Grande counted up the money left by Jace and compared them to his notes. All debts settled. He then looked up at the useless piece of wood that used to be the front door. Grande made a new tally under " Doors", returned his ledger to his pocket and smiled as he poured another drink.

Written by: Garrett L.