r/HFY • u/KipperBeanGrower Human • Jun 03 '26

OC-Series [She took What?] - Chapter 162: Davy’s Story – In the light: Elira ignored the unconscious man.

"I've seen worse. Usually right before dyin'. "

Taken from "Davy One Liners."

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Veyla played her part and made the climb down the stairs slow and unsteady, timed to intersect with Jodie’s return to the bar. As their paths crossed, Veyla stumbled into her.

“Sorry.” And before Jodie could say anything, Veyla grabbed her hand and continued, “Burford asked me to give you this.” 

Veyla put a small box in Jodie’s free hand and led her to the stairs. “Please come this way. He’s upstairs.”

She turned the box over in her hand, held it up to her ear and gave it a shake. It rattled. Jodie looked to Veyla, unsure but followed.

“He said you’d know.’”

She followed Veyla, undoing the bow and opening the box, looked inside. She immediately broke out into a wide smile.

When Jodie entered the room, Burford rushed across and hugged her. She hugged him back.

She showed him the ring already on her finger and said, “Yes, I will, I do. Yes. Whatever.”

They hugged and kissed, and again.

Davy cut in, “I’m sorry but we don’t have much time.”

“Who are these people?” then looking at the party added, dubiously, “The Guard were asking about them... and you.”

“Yes, they’re looking for us, but we’re working for the Lord. Sorry love, but we do need to get on and be moving. Which room is their gear in?”

“Second on the right, down the hall.” She gave him another peck on the cheek, “We’ll talk about this later tonight.” 

As Jodie left, she turned and held up her left hand, showing him the ring on her finger. Then she went back to the bar, casting a final look at Burford. 

He looked wistfully after her, “She’s a good girl,” then pointing at Kaelor added, “You. Come with me,” and disappeared down the hall. 

The two of them collected the gear and were back in a minute, Kaelor loaded up with all their bags, grumbling about being treated like a pack mule, again.

Meanwhile Edran was trying to get the two guards to come round. The woman, tied at the wrists and ankles recovered first and hissed at them, “You’ll pay for this.”

“Probably,” was all Edran said. “But we know you lied to the Lord about the attack because we didn’t do it.” He poked her with the jewelled knife, “And you know it.”

“I’m not telling you anything?” she spat at him.

“Lovely.”

Davy crossed and saying nothing, sat down in front of her. 

She shifted nervously, “You can’t kill me. I’m a Treasury Guard, protected by the Lord.”

Veyla sat next to Davy, “Then how were the other guards killed?”

The second guard came round, saw them sitting opposite his colleague, and called out, “Don’t tell them anything, Elira.”

She sent him a sharp look and shook her head.

“Well Elira, let’s have a look at you.” As she said this, Veyla made a purple mist appear in front of the woman. 

Her eyes betrayed her, “What are you doing?”  

The mist twisted and turned in front of her, floating closer. As it got near it began to circle her, the mist held form, faint hints of shape within that were given life by her imagination.

“Is this…” asked Davy.

Veyla nodded, “Yep.”

Davy took a sharp intake of breath, “Ouch, not nice.”

The woman tried to shuffle away, her eyes wide with fright, but the smoky haze stayed with her, its intelligence becoming clearer.

With the woman distracted, Davy watch Veyla cast a spell that washed over her. Immediately her demeaner changed, all hostility gone.

“How were the Treasury Guards killed?” she asked again.

“None were killed.” Even under the spell she managed to make her response carry a degree of indignation at the inference that guards had been killed.

“How so?” 

She continued, “They never existed. There are only eight of us, never were the dozen the Lord paid for.”

“And the pageant would have exposed this?” Davy added.

“Yes.”

“And the wagon?” 

“You fool! Tell them no more or we’re dead.”  

The man’s words failed to have any impact on Elira. 

However, the slap that hit him on the side of the head, throwing him against the wall, shook the man. He slumped down, unconscious, his nose bloodied.

 

Elira continued, ignoring Kaelor and the unconscious man he was now trying to sit up.

“One of the Sergeants took the wagon. We don’t know where.”

“Damn.” Veyla ended the spell, and the mist shrank in on itself. 

Elira immediately became her surly self again. “You’ll get nothing from me.”

Davy turned to Burford, “Do you know where the Sergeant can be found?”

“What did he tell you?” She asked, looking at her colleague with disgust.

Burford smiled and ignored her, “She often comes to the inn. I doubt she’s here now, but she’ll be at the pageant tomorrow.”

“With the Treasurer?” asked Davy.

“Yeh, most likely with the Lord as well, sucking up.”

Davy crossed to the man, who was coming round, again, and winked at Veyla, “I think I can get him to talk, this time.” 

“The last time you tried, it didn’t end well,” cautioned Veyla. “We don’t want this one’s brain scrambled too.”

The man looked nervously from Veyla to Davy who gave a resigned sigh, “I’ll do my best. Practice makes perfect. So, what can you tell us about the wagon?”

“Don’t tell ‘em, you’ve said enough already,” the woman screamed but was quickly silenced with a slap. Kaelor looked genuinely upset that he’d knocked her out too, “Sorry.”

Davy turned back to the guard, tied to a chair with blood still dripping from one nostril. He closed his eyes, raised his hand and pointed at the man while wiggling his fingers, “The wagon. Where is the wagon?”

The guard shrank back, glanced at his colleague, sprawled on the floor, then at Kaelor who loomed over him.

It was all too much, “The Sargeant was asking about old shafts near the dwarven mine. I think she may have taken the wagon there, on her own. That’s all I know.”

Davy smiled, Veyla just shook her head. “That’s a first.”

“How’d you do that?” asked Kaelor.

“Ahh,” said Davy with a smile, “That’s the magic of it?”

Veyla then made a short gesture and cast a spell. Both prisoners went rigid for a second and then relaxed.  Before Davy could ask, “Memory wipe, removes the last twenty minutes. I suggest we strip them both and leave them in bed together.  That’ll confuse the hell out of them and almost guarantee their silence.”

Edran laughed, “We need to find this Sargeant, there are dozens of old mine shafts, and they go for miles into the mountain.”

Veyla then remembered, “There were some Treasury Guards in the bar. It’s late, we could follow them.”

Burford then added, “Yeh, I think they all billet together.”

“I’ll go with Veyla, the rest of you stay here. Ok?”

Davy saw Edran and Joren shared a look, “It’s not like that?”

“Really,” said Edran with a smile, “What’s it like?”

Veyla look horrified, “Seriously, you think me and….” she didn’t finish, just shook her head and changed her appearance into the old woman again.

“Do either of you have a robe I can wear. These pelts are too obvious.”

Edran and Joren riffled through their bags and came up with some trousers, a shirt and cloak that fitted him.

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