I wake up on a cloud, or at least that's what it feels like. I sit up and rub my face. I open my eyes and see that I am not on a cloud, but on white silk sheets. Silk!

I look around, I'm in a big room. To my right there's a large window with red drapes accented in white. A bit of light is getting filtered through the drapes.

I guess it's day.

To my left there's a writing desk and chair. On the wall directly in from of me there's a door and a few feet from the the door there's a dresser with a mirror above it.

There's a nightstand next to the bed I'm in with a fancy oil lamp and the girl’s sword is laying on it. They must have thought it was mine.

The girl!

I jolt and fumble my way out of the bed onto the dark brown-red wooden flooring. I stomp over to the door and wrench it open.

Outside the door a boy stands with his hand raise in fist as if he was about to knock.

“Ah, good morning sir. Your bath has been filled.”

He gives me a wide smile.

He's dressed in in a black jacket over a grey waistcoat. Underneath he has a white shirt and a tie. He has black trousers and black shoes, polished to a shine.

Did I somehow get carried out of the Grimes?

He is holding a stack of neatly folded clothes with a towel on top.

“This way sir.”

He turns and briskly walks down the hall, to the left.

“Hey, wait, what happened to the girl, where are we, and who are you?” I ask.

The boy turns around.

“The girl is resting, we are in The Bloody Barrel, I am a humble employee, and your bath water is cooling.”

So that's why he's so familiar. I've seen him before, he was always in the background of the tavern.

He continues walking down the hall and I behind him.

I'm glad the girl is safe, but… The Bloody Barrel is a tavern, I have never seen this in the Bloody Barrel.

“The Bloody Barrel? I thought the Bloody Barrel was a tavern.”

“Yes, it is a tavern. The second floor is not usually open to the public,” he says.

“Second floor? I never knew there was a second floor.”

“There is a staircase on the first floor, you've seen it for sure.”

I scowl. I would have noticed a staircase, even drunk.

We pass a few doors which I assume are other bedrooms as we walk down the hallway. Up near the ceiling attached to the wall, are evenly spaced oil lamps. They aren't lit, probably because there is plenty of light from the occasional window. I would move the drapes and look out, but the boy isn't stopping and it's not important enough to keep him waiting.

We round a corner and the boy walks up to the door closest to us. I can see the staircase down to the first floor from here, it’s a few doors down the hall. I stare blankly at it.

The boy opens the door and ushers me in.

The room is smaller than the room I was previously in. There is a window on the wall across the door, but it's small and high up near the ceiling. It's not covered in drapes, but that's probably because it's small and high up enough no one would be able to look through anyway. It let's in plenty of light, but if that weren't enough there's a lit brick fireplace on the left wall. Over the fire there's a large pot filled with water.

There is a copper tub right in the middle of the room, it's filled with steaming water. Next to the tub there are wooden tables holding various jars, soaps, and other things I can't identify. There's a wooden bench against the wall next to the door.

The boy puts down the clothes and towel on this bench.

“After you finish just leave your dirty clothes here. Breakfast will be ready for you down stairs. Oh, and you can throw your bandage into the fire.”

The boy turns around and leaves, closing the door behind him with a quiet click.

I stand for a while not sure what to do. Then I snap out of it and strip and place my dirty clothes on the other and of the bench from the clean clothes.

I pick at the blood-caked cloth wrapped around my waist.

My wound doesn't hurt anymore. I gingerly pull at the knot and carefully peel the dirty cloth from my skin. I expect the pain of tearing open scabs, but there is no pain.

I unwrap the cloth from my waist, dried blood flaking off.

I look at the stab wound, except there isn't one. I look at the pale skin around where the sword slid into my gut and poke at it cautiously. I don't even feel an ache. I stare at my stomach wide eyed, before coming to my senses. The healer, Emmanuel, must have healed me as well.

I toss the bandage into the fireplace and move towards the tub.

I've never been in a tub.

I can see the hammer marks on the copper, but it doesn't make it look bad, the opposite in fact. It looks like scales wrap all the way around the bright orange tub, I quite like it.

There is a small wooden stool under one of the tables. It's just two small steps, but enough to comfortably get into the tub.

I sink into the steaming water slowly. It's quite hot, but I can feel the tension melting away, tension I didn't know I had.

I sit there in the tub for the first time in my life and relax. All the dirt from weeks before and blood from the more recent days washes off, I almost feel bad for the person who has to drain the water and clean the tub.

By the time I leave the tub, I've scrubbed myself with three different bars of soap. They each had a different smell.

You never realize how much dirt gets into hair until you have to wash it. When I leave the tub it's no longer clear, pristine water to say the least.

I dry off with the towel and get dressed.

The clothes are simple, but soft, oh so soft.

As I get the clothes on I decide I probably won't be killed today.

If Maximus is bothering with having me bathe and getting dressed he probably won't kill me.

I leave the room and close the door behind me. I peer both ways down the hallway and listen. No one's here. I can't hear noise even from the first floor.

I make my way towards the staircase.

How did I miss the staircase, it's made of some dark good looking wood and it's wide. No, how did I miss the fact that this is a two story building, I'm a regular here.

I grab the smooth, shiny handrail and go down.

There are unlit oil lamps on the wall as I go down. The staircase is in one of the dark corners of the tavern, but even so, it's impossible to miss.

The rest of the tavern is well lit.

The tavern is completely empty. I am unsure of where to sit, so I stand around, waiting.

The door behind the bar opens, letting out the noise of cooking, food hissing in skillets, water boiling in pots.

The boy comes out in a rush with a tray full of food. He has a pink apron on this time.

He slides the try onto the counter.

“Sit anywhere you like,” he says and then rushes back into the kitchen, closing the door behind him, cutting off the noise.

Sounds like he's cooking a feast.

My mouth waters at the food on the tray. A large bowl of soup, bread, a chunk of pork, a potato, and some bamboo sprouts on the side. A strange choice of greens.

Before I can grab the tray the door opens again suddenly, letting out the sounds again. The boy pokes his head out.

“Oh, and Maximus is waiting to speak with you out in the courtyard,” He points his finger to a door between the ‘L’ shaped counter and the staircase.

“Don't keep him waiting, you can put the dishes on the counter when you're done.”

His head disappears and the door closes, letting silence settle down again.

I grab the tray and sit at the table closest to me. I cram the food into my mouth as fast as I can. I slip the potato in my pocket, as a snack for later, just in case.

I finish the food and put the tray on the counter. I then step out the door and into shade.

There are wooden columns holding up the floor above me. I am standing under where the staircase leads.

The floor here is cobblestone, but not like the cobblestone in the Grimes. It's clean and smooth, not filled with potholes. It would have been a celler if not for the fact that it opens into a sunny, grassy field further away from the door.

It looks like the entire second floor is held by a bunch of wooden support columns down here. The walls and floor are cobblestone. Along the walls there are a few wooden chests and benches.

I move out from under the second floor and onto the grass. Out in the middle of the field towers a tree and under that tree there's bench. That's where I head.

I stare in wonder as I walk over.

This is almost surreal, in the middle of the Grimes there's actually a place like this.

There are flowers growing among the grasses. A warm breeze blows against my skin. One can forget they are even in the Grimes.

I stand under the shade of tree, waiting for Maximus.

Behind the tree there's a large wooden platform.

On this platform there's a bunch of training dummies and on one side are a bunch of wooden posts jutting out from the platform.

Some sort of training ground.

Wrapped around the perimeter of the courtyard is the second floor of the Bloody Barrel. The windows all look into the courtyard, as if they were judging those who step onto the grassy field.

There’s the sound of a ‘clink’ behind me.

I whirl around in surprise.

Maximus is sitting on the bench, holding a little plate with a cup of tea on it.

He's looking at me.

He wasn't there before.

“And so you live,” he states.

I don't know what to say in reply, so I just nod.

He reclines into the bench and puts the cup of tea beside himself. He starts slowly tapping the armrest with one long finger as he reclines.

“It seems, that I was wrong again. Here you stand, alive, not claimed by the Abyss.”

I shrug, slightly mad. He sent me to die. I understand I deserved it, still do, but I still don't feel good about it.

“You should not have been able to break my suggestion, but I am glad that you managed. That girl…” Maximus hesitates. “Tell me how you found her.”

“There's not much to tell. I found her in a cave that leads to where my team was wiped out. She triggered a trap, some sort of flame trap I guess.”

At that I remember the tripwire that I left in my old clothes, I'm going to need to get that.

“Can I go see her?” I ask.

Maximus waves me off, “Later, tell me more. Was she conscious when you found her? Did she have anything or anyone with her?”

I unhappily answer, “No, there wasn't anyone there, well, she was conscious and asked about someone named Nikolai, but he wasn't anywhere around there. ”

Maximus’s eyes widen ever so slightly, as if he were surprised, but it's gone so quick I can't help but think I imagined it.

“That sword, the one in my room, it's hers not mine.”

“When you see her you'll be able to return it to her,” Maximus says this while lost in thought.

Maybe I didn't imagine it after all, this Nikolai may be important.

“Who is Nikolai?”

Maximus refocuses on me, “Hmm, he's nobody, I was just wondering why he was down there. No, the real question is what will you do now.”

Maximus stands, he's only a bit taller than me, but it feels like he towers above me. Pressure falls on me.

“Will you go back to the Abyss, or will you go back to earning pennies for the rotgut you so love, maybe you'll just curl up in an alley somewhere and wait for death?”

“I- no. I don't know. I want to live.”

“You want to live? For you, all roads lead to death. The only choice you have is how.”

Maximus steps away and the pressure disperses.

“When the girl wakes up I will offer her a place here. And I offer you something a little different. I want you to stay by her, watch over her, and give your life for hers if need be. If she accepts, you will stay here with her, if not, I want you to go wherever she goes.”

“What if she doesn't want me around and you say offer but I don't see what's in it for me,” I say.

“The answer to both questions is that I will teach you. I prefer for her to let you stick around, but if she does not agree and does not stay here I will teach you how to track and how to keep up with her, how to stay hidden, how fight to protect her, and a few other things. And if she agrees to stay, I will teach her as well. The Abyss will draw her in again, as it does to most.”

“So you will teach me if I decide to watch over her?”

Maximus nods, “Don't get me wrong, your only other choice is death, right here, right now.”

I can’t say that caught me off guard.

“How long do I watch after her.”

“However long it takes her to be able to at least finish an Abyss. You won't be able to protect her from too much that she can’t protect herself from, but two people is better than one and I would like to know her progress,” Maximus says.

“Wait you want me to spy on her?”

“No, nothing of the sort. I don't want you to betray her trust, but if there’s anything you and her can’t deal with I would like to know.”

I contemplate for a second.

“I agree.”