A second man, to Enick’s right at the table, also stood up. This one looked even dumber than the first, something about his eyes being too far apart or something. And did his eyes point in slightly different directions? I sometimes get focused on tiny details to calm myself down right before a fight is going to start. This second guy spat on the floor before pointing at Enick, “I saw it, too! This big piece of shit is trying to cheat us! I say we all teach him a lesson!” He turned to look at the other three guys at the table like they better fight Enick or they’d be fighting him.

They didn’t need much convincing, as they all started standing up. The rest of the tavern seemed to quiet down in anticipation of a fight. I had just about reached Enick when he grabbed the man on his left and threw him into the wall. The guy kind of slid down to the floor, making little moaning noises.

I didn’t want to surprise Enick, and maybe get my head smashed in, so I greeted him as I arrived at his side. “Hey, Enick, how’s it going? This is my friend Thilos.”

Thilos, always helpful, spoke to the other men, “Come on, fellas, I think everybody should calm down before this turns really ugly.”

The second man to stand up put his hand on the hilt of his dagger, “This is none of your concern. Back off before you regret it. This Orcin here cheated us and needs to learn his lesson, one way or another.”

Thilos raised his empty hands up, “There’s no need for that.”

Second guy pulled his dagger. I decided the time for talking was over. We needed to get out of the city as soon as possible. In a cramped tavern crowded with tables it seemed we had ourselves a knife fight.

It's funny, with a name like Dirk you'd think I'd be good with a knife, right? All kinds of knives, even. You would be exactly right. I was not going to be one of those kids who got made fun of for their name. Everybody gets made fun of as a kid, but when it’s for your name there is just no escaping it. Children are the worst!

Anyway, I've been working on my knife skills since I was a kid. I started taking lessons as soon as I started making money. I've had lessons from some real masters over the years.

I'm no slouch with a sword but it’s knives where I shine. Particularly throwing them. I carry a fair number at all times. 'How many?' you wonder. Like I am going to tell you. I don't even know you! My worst enemy could be reading this, looking for clues to destroy me. Well, screw you! I am too smart for that!

Back to the knife fight. Well, maybe it hadn’t technically started yet but that guy did pull a knife on us - so close enough for me. I put a knife into his neck with a throw from my right hand and another into the neck of one of his friends with my left hand. “Anyone else want to die over this card game?” I asked in as scary a voice as I could, which I happen to think is pretty scary, especially for a smallish sort of guy. Apparently, Enick’s card playing pals thought it was scary enough that they rushed to convince me they were no longer interested in fighting. I let them.

“Grab your stuff and let’s get out of here.” I told Enick and then I loudly mentioned to everyone in the tavern that the first person to leave was going to get a knife to their neck as well.

Soon enough we were out the door and moving as quickly as we could to the city gate for the road to Magrin, which would take us to save Garrick’s life, while I explained everything to Enick as briefly as possible. He didn’t need much beyond the fact that I needed his help and had money to pay for it, but I filled him in anyway because I believe people do better work if they know as much as they can going in. Thilos was a little upset that I killed, presumably, those two guys but he is often too soft, or nice, or whatever you want to call it. He did seem to share my urgency to save Garrick’s life, so he didn’t make too much of a big deal about it. I figured I would hear more about it later but the good thing about everything that happened after this was that it kept him too busy to remember to bug me about it.