It was a relief to be back, and somewhere that wasn’t an ancient and likely cursed tomb. Admittedly, the tomb had at least been quiet (except for the monsters), while the tavern was raucous and noisy, with far too many people celebrating. Not least, admittedly, themselves, as they spent some of their hard-earnt coin on relaxation. Well, a lot of booze, which was close enough to relaxation that Stathis wasn’t complaining.

Even Janaxia was less uptight than usual, although had somehow managed to find the time between ‘selling the loot’ and ‘the tavern’ to change already, her travel-worn robes switched for a tight-fitting silk dress, a high slit at the thigh, the edges trimmed with lace, and probably worth as much as the tavern. Her elegance was a stark contrast with Semari, still wearing her travel-stained clothing and now knocking back beer, surrounded by empty tankards, the cheers of the crowd having now faded to mute amazement, as she kept going, and going, and going. Parth was drinking some unnerving herbal concoction, carefully spooned by the barmaid out of a rune-inscribed metal flask, a stray drop onto the wooden counter having caused a bud to grow out and flower. Whatever it was had strength enough to bring a flush to her pale cheeks, even provoking her into a slight smile, the most emotion Stathis had ever seen from her.

‘To dead people and the stuff they left lying around!’ Semari thrust her tankard upwards, heedless of how much of the contents she was splashing around, or the complaints of those she was throwing beer over.

Stathis raised her own shot glass, before knocking back the shot. ‘To never finding a gods-damned demon in a tomb again!’

Parth kept things simple; ‘To success.’

Janaxia took a long, leisurely sip of wine, as everyone pretended not to notice her tattoo creep into sight before moving underneath her clothing again, as though shy. ‘To well-earned pleasures, and swift recovery!’

Rich coming from someone who had stayed at the back all the time, as far from harm as possible.

Semari chugged, before slamming her now-empty tankard onto the table. ‘And to fake wizards!’ She burst into giggles, swaying around, almost toppling from her chair. ‘Janaxia, fakest and prettiest of the non-wizards!’

Stathis groaned, and glanced over at Janaxia, not wanting to have to break apart a brawl in a public place. Fortunately, Janaxia seemed to take it as a compliment, running fingers self-consciously through her hair, flicking it back and forth. ‘To the Goldthirst company, and all who sail in her!’

If even Janaxia was drunk enough to be past comprehension, it was definitely time to catch up. Stathis caught a barmaid’s eye, gesturing for another round, sinking back several shots in succession, feeling the alcohol sear her guts. After all the mess they’d had to go through, this was entirely deserved, and finding another job was something that could wait until tomorrow!

Sometimes later, they staggered through the streets, enjoying the warm night air. Janaxia and Semari seemed to have made up their differences, arms around each other as they slowly made their way down the street, shushing each other as they scraped along the walls, before bursting into giggles. Parth was staring up at the sky, either having a moment of divine communion with the heavens, or just really, really drunk, needing Stathis to tug her along.

Stathis was starting to feel the aftereffects of all she’d had to drink, something unpleasant brewing in her guts. She was definitely going to regret that last shot of whisky. And the gin before it, and the vodka before that, and the… whatever that green stuff had been? Gods, that had tasted vile.

Long past curfew, the streets were dark, lit only by the light from two of the three moons, just enough to see by, as they made their slow and unsteady way home. Suddenly, harsh footsteps sounded in front of them, as several figures stepped out of an alleyway, blocking their path. Moonlight glinted off bared steel, the bulk of the shadows showing them to be armoured. Their leader stepped forward, casually holding a massive spear across his shoulders.

‘Stathis! What a pleasure to see you.’

Stathis sighed, then immediately regretted it as her head spun, presaging a monster of a hangover to come. ‘Sod off, Adric.’

He showed no sign of having heard, as he kept speaking. ‘Heard you had a lucky find, out in the hills. Being a good adventurer, I’m sure you’d like to share the wealth with us?’

‘Not really. Sod off.’

A loud cackle of laughter pealed out from Janaxia and Semari, now leaning on each other for support. Several of his followers moved out to surround them, a sensible tactic. She pulled out her knife, wishing she was armoured – at least steel was easier to clean than cloth.

‘It’sa, whatsit called, itsa thingie!’ Semari cackled again, before Janaxia corrected her, enunciation even more exaggerated under the effects of the alcohol.

‘A mugging, dear. We are being mugged. Rather sloppily, I might add! You, the dirty little one on the right! Stand up straight, put some effort into it! We are experienced adventurers, do try and project some authority!’

The bandit followed this advice and straightened up, still barely taller than Semari, then suddenly flew backwards as a blast of magic smacked onto him, sending him hurtling backwards into a wall. Now it was Janaxia’s time to cackle, hair softly glowing, red energy flickering around her hand.

‘My turn!’ Semari charged, or at least tried, her staggering, lurching movement eventually bringing her close to an opponent, who eyed her warily, sword at the ready, even as she spewed, a long, painful-sounding retch, splashing all down a wall. She gasped for breath, then spewed again, even more violently, spitting to clear her mouth. ‘Eugh. Dragon’s tits, that hurts.’ She leant on the wall for support, taking a few deep breaths, then moved with her usual speed, suddenly inside his guard, placing a palm against his chest and twisting her shoulder, full strength behind a strike. The man flew backwards, arms flailing before he smacked into a building, thudding to the ground.

‘See that? He went further than yours!’ Semari spun around, narrowly avoiding her own puddle.

Stathis returned her concentration to Adric, now looking less confident. ‘You sure you want to do this? Because I really just want to go home and sleep. We can all just forget this ever happened.’

He didn’t answer, just stepping forward and swiping with the spear, blade whistling through the air. Stathis ducked, not quick enough as pain seared across her forehead. She lunged, barely managing to stab him, before focusing through the alcohol, channelling power through the blade, shoving it straight into his shoulder. Hopefully not too fatal, but it get him to go away. Keeping the pressure on, she stepped forward, pushing him back. ‘Just go away, you gods-damned useless excuse for an adventurer. Go fight your own monsters and steal your own damn loot!’

She finished off with a kick, hard enough to shove him back, making sure to pull her dagger out. He groaned, but at least had enough dignity to not scream. Unfortunately, the movement made Stathis’s head spin, her guts now threatening to rebel. She stood still, hoping it looked intimidating as she forced herself to stare into the middle distance, focusing on the corner of a building, as the rest of the world spun around her. Her concentration was broken by a loud “smack”, a body flying past her, followed by another happy shout from Semari, then the zapping sound of another blast from Janaxia. Adric took a slow step back, spear held at guard, then another, then turned and fled, his men running with him, quickly vanishing back into the shadows.

Stathis sagged, adrenaline fading, as she felt warmth trickling down her face – dammit, the bastard had managed to slice her! Fortunately, her companions were too busy hurling abuse at the retreating attackers, as she ran fingers along her forehead, soft white light brushing out from her hand. As she opened herself up to the celestial energy, she felt a wrongness, some darkness lurking nearby, some great evil hiding itself in the darkness, a wrongness to be fought and set right.

Janaxia staggered from the darkness, un-mussed in the fracas, although her hair was glowing brightly. The pale moonlight seemed to twist and coil around her, even as it tinged itself red, giving her a sudden aspect of blood-red horns, projecting out, savage and sharp, from her head. She collided with Stathis, barely heavy enough to register as an impact, throwing her arms around her.

‘You, you are a lot more fun when you’re, after having a drink! Although the fight was most rude.’

Stathis caught her just as she collapsed to the ground, the sense of doom suddenly vanishing. She was totally gone, vacant grin on her face as Stathis slung her over her shoulders, before turning back to collect Parth (still lost in rapture of the night sky, needing prodding to move along) and herding Semari along.