His Thoughts

[Lye]

Men who only know muscles, brawn, and force lack the finesse for logic. On the other hand, the stranger in the mask at least seemed to have sense enough to see danger when it was right in front of him. See, the problem with humans is their numbers. There are so many that they gain false confidence if more than one pursues the same goal. They think that in numbers there is safety. They fail to comprehend the unknown. In this case, they could never know the disparaging gap between their muscles and steel versus the experience locked away behind my cold, stern eyes.

"Piss off, freak." The retort was expected to the point of rehearsal. "This ain't got nothin' to do with the likes of you."

"I mean, you could also make a pass at him. He sounds more interested than the barmaid would be," I added while my eyes stayed on Horse. Despite the fact the ringleader stood behind me and clearly out of view, my gifts of sight kept him at the forefront of my mind. He would be the first to act. The thing with these kinds of groups is that one of them has the spine. The rest are just the appendages of the unit.

He didn't care for my comment or the fact they now had a witness. The ringleader clenched his teeth and bared them like an ape in frustration.

"I've had enough!" He shouted with a rasp born of whiskey and smoke. "You two, get rid of the freak. Rest of us, let's --"

"Fall away," I muttered.

Now, much happened in what would seem like seconds. My body moved like a wind through the trees. One by one the trees fell, but not by leathal force. A blow to the jugular, snap to the back of the C1-C3 vertebrae, jab to the diaphragm, knee to a kidney, a thwack with the pommel to the temple, and a myriad of other precise strikes all occured outside of the stranger's view. Using my power of will and my words of power, I pulled the gang into a realm of my own creation. I left the stranger out by choice but by the time I finished, I released my reality back into Althanas. The only thing this interloper would be able to witness would be the collapsing bodies and groans of all the thugs.

I continued to stroke Horse as the event surely spooked its instinctual response of fight or flight. Horse shook and pulled on its reigns until it became calm.

"What do you know of me?" I asked this interloper. His body shone brightly within my sight. This meant he harbored much more ability than that of the unconscious few littered outside the tavern's front steps.

[Nosdyn]

Nosdyn sighed as his eyes darted across Lye's position.

He saw the absolute skill that Ulroke used to dismantle the guys from off his horse top.

Nosdyn's eyebrow rose behind the mask. He didn't like to reveal himself too often if could be helped Humans were a brutish and racist lot, he knew that to be true. He looked up at Lye for a moment. He was a short demon, his body carefully wrapped in leather clothing. He was clearly a big guy.

He sighed for a moment or two as Lye asked the questions. He nodded. "My father took me as a young bloke to one of your citadel matches." Nosdyn was actually telling the truth. "Must have been about five or six that time." He looked away for a moment or two. "You used the same sort of combat tactics to dismantle your opponents then too." Nosdyn said with a whistle. "Always pays to know who can become a future ally someday." Nosdyn was not loyal to the banded races of Althanas...he had his own way of doing things. He operated by his own set of rules to the point he'd become almost entirely unpredictable.

"Your name always stuck with me even as a young bloke." The demon said calmly. "What do I know of you? I know what I need to know of you." He moved closer to the man's horse and position and whispered that man's name. He knew the way Humans did things, their noble houses played games with one another. He whispered Lye Ulroke's name to him careful to respect the man's need for secrecy and discretion. "I have a city out here named Theselak." The demon lord said suddenly. "You are welcome to join me there we are not tied to Xaliel in any way." He knew men like Lye Ulroke needed their secrecy and operated in the cover of shadows...

...Nosdyn saw a profit.

A dangerous thing.