Most of the soldiers have not yet returned from war, so the tavern was almost empty, despite the evening time which used to change it in the most alive place in the city. There was a depressed bartender, one bored waitress pretending to clean some tables and him – handsome thug in a leather armour, sipping beer and playing with a sack of gold.
"Don't be afraid to share, eh?" said the bartender, seeing all these shining coins with his little, greedy eyes. "That damned war swallowed all of my clients. Now, when it's over, I bet only a half of them will return alive. And winter is only two months away... Maybe I should be the one drinking..."
Thug passed him his own mug.
"By all means, drink the piss you sold me. I've had river water with more kick than this."
"Well, apparently you don't mind it, considering you're staying here the third night already." Suddenly, the long-time missed sound of doors opening has drawn bartender's attention. "Ah, finally someone other than you, grumpy. Welcome to the Witch's Wrinkle, my lord! Can I get you something to drink?"
The newcomer was quite young, visibly tired from travel and apparently worried, for some reason. Thug followed him with his eyes.
"Black tea, if I may ask."
Bartender's surprise was hard to describe.
"
Tea
? I... We don't have any tea..."
"Oh. My mistake. Water, then?"
Apparently, it was the type of client they absolutely did not expect.
"Eee... Sadia, dear, do we have
water
?" He pronounced it in a way suggesting that water is some exotic drink known only to those who own a secret recipe stolen from the ancient Orion temple guarded by fire golems.
"It's in the bucket, father."
"No, not
that
kind of water, I meant..."
The thug clearly had enough of this.
"Get this lad some rum," he ordered. "He must warm himself up after the voyage."
Boy looked at the thug, a little bit surprised and smiled nervously.
"Thank you, but I don't really drink alcohol much," boy tried to politely decline. Man wasn't having it.
"Then you haven't drank enough of it." Thug kicked the chair next to him, pushing it from under the table. "Sit here, friend. Let's talk. My name is Lucas."
Boy seemed hesitant at first, but he didn't want to come off as weird. Every move of his body was giving away his insecurity, almost as if he entered some unknown magical domain, not almost empty tavern.
"My name is Noah, my lord" said lad, very politely, looking at Lucas with nothing but uncertainty. He didn't have much experience with thuggish kind of people, but he heard enough stories to know that it was safer to be ridiculously polite rather robbed and stabbed.
"Nice to meet you, Noah. What brings you here, so close to the winter time?"
"Well, I'm a scholar. I was sent with a task of refreshing magical runes protecting South Orion from the monsters living in the Shrieking Mountains, but I've had a misfortune of encountering... criminals of sort, who stopped me from progressing." When the bartender gave him the rum, he smelled it distrustfully, but nonetheless took a shy sip.
"Dreadful story," said Lucas in pretty uninterested tone. His lips were hiding a slight smile, while fascinated eyes refused to leave boy's face. "There's something interesting about you, Noah... You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"
Boy looked down at his beverage intensively, almost as if he noticed a thrilling puzzle inside of the cup.
"I have no idea, my lord. I assure you that I'm quite boring. In spare time I like reading books and doing other, utterly boring things like that."
Lucas got closer to him. Boy could feel his breath on his cheek. He couldn't say he liked that, but he couldn't say he didn't like that either...
"You're a nephilim," thug said.
"I am
so
very
confused, my lord... What is this nephilim that you are speaking of?" The boy should probably improve his bluffing game.
"They are mages whose power is contained by their desires and emotions... For that reason they are considered as lesser mages, as they require someone else to unlock their magic." Thug gently grasped young man's hand and placed it on his own crotch, massaging something growing through his pants... "And here's the key that you could use..."
Boy laughed out loud very nervously, stood up and run away to the counter. Unfortunately for him, that useless bartender disappeared somewhere, while his daughter could be heard cleaning pots in the kitchen. Thug followed him slowly.
"Listen to me, lad. I know exactly how being a nephilim works. You naturally attract both genders, meaning that every piece of bandit that you will meet out there – and you will meet a lot – that would normally go through your things just to find out you're poor, will now want to fuck your ass... When your unlocked magic will kick in and start making them feel dizzy from the enhanced pleasure, they will want to keep you forever. You will get enslaved and raped multiple times, every night. And if you will be unlucky enough, you will meet someone who knows nephilim's greatest weakness and they won't hesitate to abuse it..."
Noah for the first time shown some manly emotions, when anger replaced panic in his eyes.
"The Mages Guild stayed in conquered Helios and there is no one other than me remembering the old duty of refreshing runes. I will do what I have to, even if that means fate worse than death!"
"And how do you plan on refreshing this magic without a warm dick rubbing your insides nicely, to get your power sparkling...?" thug whispered. Boy felt man's warm breath again, this time touching his earlobe. He blushed innocently.
"I was well aware of this...
problem
... when I left home. I'm going to improvise when the time comes, but first I have to reach the runes on the border with Mountains and this is the real problem."
Lucas gently scratched his beard, thinking. He just came back from a war and wanted to rest for some time, but this was an unusual opportunity he could not ignore...
"It's your lucky day, lad," Lucas announced. "I'm the solution to all your problems." Young nephilim seemed doubtful, to say at least, but he gave man the attention he was expecting. "I'm a veteran of all Adam's wars and I'm also a sellsword. I can easily defend you from all the dangers that you may come upon on your mission. And when the time comes, I don't mind serving you as a
key
to your power..." His naughty smile made Noah's cheeks burn with true fire once again.
He has spent his entire life with mages from his family, who were naturally resistant to him as a nephilim. He was not prepared for dealing with flirt, lust or seduction.
"I have only few silver coins and lots of copper," boy replied. "With that, I could afford only a very weak mercenary..."
