We stayed in the village for a while and rested so far. Sanise helped out at the tavern and Ykril at the local woodcutter to improve our financial situation. Miara and I, on the other hand, kept a low profile. We were lucky that the tavern owner didn't throw us out when he found out that Drow were staying in his rooms.
»Are you out of your fucking marbles?« Miara immediately rebelled as I walked toward the door.
»I must get out of this room before I go nuts.« I sighed.
»Try to avoid trouble at least!« she continued to warn me »You remember what happened a few days ago when you looked at one of the market criers in a crooked way?«
»Yes, yes, the guards! I know.« I answered her, annoyed, and left the room for the tavern.

But I didn't like the view I got in the tavern. Ykril was sitting on a barstool and seemed to be being pawed by one of those upper-world elves. He apparently didn't seem to be responding to her overtures, though. No matter how hard she tried to rub her half-naked boobs against him. But he didn't seem to do anything about it either. My Piwafwi seemed to work much better than expected, even in this well-lit tavern, so I could make a slow, stealthy approach. I stopped and leaned against a wall when I could crystallize their voices. Admittedly, she had a charming voice, but she also seemed to be very intrusive. She definitely didn't seem to hesitate with her attractions. She pressed her boobs against Ykril again.
»What do you think about the following offer, my love? You pay your bill and follow me to my room?« she moaned while she caressed his thighs.
He looked at her expressionless, and she kissed him just when he started his answer. I clenched my fists and was about to head off when I remembered that I was not supposed to cause any trouble.
»More?« she asked with lust and didn't wait for him again before she fell around his neck.
Finally, that was too much for me, and I stormed toward her, grabbed her throat, and pulled her away abruptly.
»Are you trying to screw me, darling?« I asked Ykril, raging as I slipped off my hood.
He just looked at me expressionless as he looked at her before. He seemed to be again in one of those episodes where he could not get motivated for anything. Episodes where he loses himself in his thoughts and fades out everything else around him to search for an answer to an unknown question in his mind. He once described it to me as an emotional emptiness, where he would very much appreciate my help in getting into a normal state again. I wish I knew how I could help him. Since the incident with the mask, he seemed to fall into these episodes more and more often.
»Drow« the crowd directly started in panic, and I realized how everyone around us was distancing themselves. Except for this elf who was trying to ensnare Ykril. After pushing me against the bar, she growled angrily at me.
»Go and get your own man, slut!«
»He is my boyfriend and lover, damn parasite!« I answered her aggressively.
»Drow have no right to claim anything here!« she hissed.
»I told her that I'm not interested.« Ykril quietly tried to defend himself desperately.
I didn't respond to the words, but snarled wickedly at the elf.
»A pretty boy like him deserves better than a filthy Drow! Go and look for one of your people!« she taunted me, and before I knew it, I was already moving a step toward her.
»Fuck!« was all I heard from Ykril as I lashed out my fist and slammed it down into the pale-elf's face, causing her to stumble backward a few steps.
»I am neither a slut, nor filthy!« I barked out loudly.
She shook herself slightly, rushed at me, yelling, and pushed me against the bar as she rammed her fist into my stomach. I pushed her away, gasped briefly, and ran at her with my shoulder forward. When I managed to tackle her, I lifted her over my shoulder and knocked her to the ground behind my back. While the crowd went wild cheering for her, I turned to face her again and waited until she was back on her feet.
»You should have stayed in your fucking pit, you foul, disgusting creature!« she angrily roared at me, and I noticed her hands wrapping themselves in a smooth fog.
»No magic in my tavern!« a deep, masculine voice resonated through the hall, but before the sentence was finished, the elf shot icy arrows at me, which I barely managed to avoid. To comply with the voice's request, I only unsheathed my dagger and took the position, mother trained me.
»You don't have to do this!« I declared, taking each step she took toward me one step back.
»You damn Drow think you can take anything and everything. Kidnap our children and men to the Underdark to enslave them!« she raged as she continued to throw ice bolts at me. When Ykril tried to stop her, she simply froze him to the ground, and the other visitors only seemed to cheer at the pale-elf, while phrases like ›Kill that fucking Drow whore‹ were used more than once.
»He is with me on his own will, and is free to leave whenever he wants.« I argued, knowing that it wouldn't calm her down.
The couple of guards who became aware of the noise and entered the tavern didn't seem to be very interested to settle the disputes. On the contrary, they were rather eager to push the conflict to the outside and left only the way to the door free.

With my back against the door, I couldn't evade the last ice bolt, and it knocked me through the door and into the mud.
Feeling the rain fall on me, I kept lying in the mud for a few seconds, closed my eyes, and sighed loudly.
I straightened back up and grabbed my staff from my back under my cape.
»OK, no tavern, no magic ban.« I groaned while I charged the staff and looked toward her, as she stood in the taverns' door.
»How is it possible to you to use this special quarterstaff? – Who the fuck are you?« she complained questioningly to me. There was a touch of fear in her voice as she stood rooted to the spot at the entrance to the tavern.
She didn't seem to notice Ykril, who positioned himself behind her with a bat and smacked her down to the ground.
Relieved, I looked at him as he stood in the doorway barefoot. He still had this meaningless expression on his face and moved slightly lazily, as if his thoughts were entirely lost.
»I'll get our stuff, and we'll leave this shithole as soon as possible!« he declared monotonously and disappeared into the tavern.

(c) Art by Waltjan9

I was waiting outside in the rain when, a few minutes later, the tavern became loud again.
»Another one of those gray-skinned bastards.« was all I had heard from a muffled male voice right before chairs and tables were thrown, according to the sounds.
»Oh shit. Miara!« I shouted and wanted to go back to the tavern. But as I took the first step, the horny pale-elf came flying through the window towards me and knocked me back into the mud. While I straightened up again, I examined her and noticed that she had taken some serious punches. She did not move any further and stayed lying there unconscious.
»Come back here, you filthy coward, and face me like a real sorceress!« Miara shouted out of the broken window before jumping out by herself without hesitation. I only realized through the rain that Miara was not wearing conventional armor. Any standard metal armor would make a slightly echoing, dull sound when it was hit by raindrops. Miara's armor, on the other hand, sounded as if the rain was hitting a brick wall when the droplets hit it. I wonder what it is made of?
She lifted the elf by the collar and rudely shook her around.
»Stop sleeping!« she rumbled and threw her a few feet away, as if she was as light as a feather.
»Scummy Upperworld elves. Just can't handle a real scuffle.« she chuckled at me.
After the fire-red-haired elf got back on her feet, she instantly growled in Miara's direction.
»If you weren't wearing your armor, I'm sure you wouldn't be banging such beats!«
»Don't get in my game!« Miara commanded me, and shortly after, her armor began to shift. Magically, the armor cracked centered from the chest down, moving single parts to the sides and revealing a very exposed view of Miara's athletic body.
»You're entirely undressed under your armor?« I asked her in surprise.
»Of course. Fabric is pinching underneath.« she grinned towards me and got out of the armor, which remained standing up like a sculpture.
»Your armor is extraordinary. What is it made of?« I inquired, slightly overjoyed, while I was already considering tailoring Miara some underwear that wouldn't pinch her.
»It's a mixture of obsidian, vulcanite, and hematite¹.« she answered quickly and turned to the elf, which stared at us in perplexity.
»OK, loudmouth. Do you want to repeat your last sentence?« she asked insistently.
Miara waited for a couple of seconds, hoping the elf would react. But nothing was happening except that the elf just kept gazing, and one could clearly see that Miara was slowly losing her patience.
»Time's over, princess.« Miara snarled, jumped at the elf, and with a solid punch in the face, she rested on the ground again.

In addition to Ykril's intrigued look at Miara when he spotted her naked beside me, Sanise whistled loudly with great enthusiasm. With a smirk at Ykril, I didn't say something but allowed him to go on watching her until she was in her armor again.
»She pleases you, right?« I whispered to Ykril, while we were looking for a suitable campsite outside the village.
»Wh-what? Who?« he immediately returned irritated.
»I am talking about Miara.«
»Oh. Um.« he promptly started to stutter and seemed even more helpless when I began to laugh.
»I noticed your look at her when she was naked. But don't worry, I don't have a problem because it's Miara.« I assured him with a smile and continued quietly »I have to admit that her body is stunning. Compared to her, mine is ... pitiful.«
»You are the most beautiful woman to me on this planet!« he immediately began to disagree with me loud enough for Miara and Sanise to look at us.
»You have a godlike body, and I could never get sick of watching, touching, kissing and loving you!« Ykril continued enthusiastically and totally convicted
Miara seemed to catch on quickly and laughed loudly while Sanise stood by wondering.
»With the perfect company, I'm always open for adventures.« she suggested with a charming gaze to Ykril.
›I'm clearly telling her far too much‹ I thought, and kept shooing everyone on.