“That Yaeteyv guy must be suicidal,” Koyl chattered while we made our way down one of Kahvahrniydah’s many, many streets. “I thought for sure you were going to kill him right there at the fire.”

“I was considering it,” I admitted. “Since this is your hometown, you know where the Steelheart Company office is, right? Maybe we should stop by and wait for him, just to be safe.” Koyl pointed to a street to our left.

“Down there, take the third right, then the first left,” he said. “That’s the closest one, assuming they didn’t move, which they probably didn’t. Not that it would be open at this hour, and not that you should go there. I told you, didn’t I? My father will take care of this, you don’t have to worry about it, but if you make a mess around here it’ll be harder for him. Best to just stay out of it, trust me.”

“Alright,” I replied. “If anyone comes for me though, they’re dying. I have no interest in being arrested.”

“I don’t think you should worry too much,” Koyl said. “Our guards are royally owned here. The royal family, who live up there in the castle in case you were thick enough to not know, pay for them personally and manage them without the use of an intermediary company. Anything told to Steelheart won’t do much for a few days until it works its way up to them. He also can't go to them directly since the crime took place outside the city's jurisdiction.”

“That doesn’t mean Yaeteyv couldn’t cause trouble for me in other ways,” I replied lowly. Koyl paused for a moment, then inhaled.

“What happened in Suwlahtk?” he asked. I stopped, as did he, and we both looked at each other. “Come on, I know it was you, it’s obvious. You’ve killed plenty of people while I was there to witness it, it’s not like I’m going to report you for something I wasn’t around for.” I glanced at an alley, and Koyl took the hint and walked over with me in tow. I shouldn’t give him the whole story, I thought, but considering that Steelheart knows some of it I should give him the gist.

“I killed some Steelheart-employed guards, a merchant that turned out to be someone important from Vehrehr, and several villagers including the leaders of the town and the head town guard,” I summarized. Koyl was struck for a moment, completely put off balance by my statement.

“I assume you had a good reason?” he sighed.

“The town was going to sell me to the merchant as a forest man,” I explained. “I killed the caravan and the merchant with them to avoid that. However, it turned out that they wanted me to react that way and used it as a pretense to say that I stole the caravan’s goods, then gave them to the village, or something.” I wasn’t sure about the particulars exactly, considering that some of their reasoning was more based on morals than law.

“Seytoydh disgusting,” Koyl swore under his breath. “There haven’t been forest men in Uwriy for decades. They’re extinct, and if the villagers didn’t know, the merchant damned well should have. I mean, who’s ever heard of a forest man that could talk? All they wanted to do was enslave you and they knew you were in no position to stop them.” Koyl let his words hang for a moment. “So what about the rest of the dead?” he asked, “You killed them during the escape, or what?”

“No,” I replied. “The town took me in after I killed the caravan guards and merchant for some reason. I stayed there a few days, then they sent me to recover the body of a hunter they lost.” I paused, debating whether or not to tell the truth. “I had already found his body before entering the village and looted it, so I knew where it was. I brought it back too quickly, and they got the wrong idea.”

“You can be honest with me,” Koyl said quietly. Our eyes met again, and I could tell he didn’t believe me. “I know when you’re lying, I can hear it. I’d rather you just tell me what happened than tell me what you think I want to hear.” I don’t think I can be fully honest with you, I replied in my head, You wouldn’t understand why I did what I did, and having to explain the context would raise more questions that you wouldn’t believe the answers to. Koyl’s pupils twitched, showing a hint of emotion, and I relented.

“When I was in the woods, I killed him,” I said. “I didn’t know who he was. He was armed, I was naked and lost, I tried to get information from him, then it went bad and I ended up killing him. I hid his body and took his gear, which the village took from me when they captured me, and that’s one of the reasons they knew I killed him.” Koyl frowned in response, but didn’t say anything. “The rest of the victims came to arrest me and sentence me to torture and exile, or death, my choice,” I continued. “You can imagine how that went for them.”

“The leaders came to you?” Koyl asked.

“They were there to give out the sentence,” I replied, making Koyl look doubtfully at me again. “I’m serious, they brought five guards with them. I think they expected me to surrender.” And I wasn’t as strong then, I thought.

“What kind of torture?” Koyl asked quietly.

“Public whipping for several weeks,” I replied, and Koyl sighed. “Unless they fed me properly, it would have been a death sentence either way. In a sense, though maybe not legally, I was defending myself.”

“Killing you regardless was most likely the idea,” Koyl said. “That’s a tactic that some guards use. They promise a criminal to spare them from execution if they confess or come in willingly, then when they have them in chains they ‘accidentally’ kill them, through punishment or because the prisoner resists. It’s one of the reasons why promises of lenient treatment aren’t usually used, nobody believes it anyway.”

“I’ve heard of similar practices,” I replied. “Extended torture before death isn’t an uncommon deterrent practice when death is not sufficient on its own.”

“So you killed everyone who tried to arrest you then fled,” Koyl summarized.

“Pretty much,” I replied.

“Well they sound like a bunch of jhoytshahjhz anyway,” Koyl replied. “You’re right that killing them wasn't legal, but neither was them trying to sell you or taking the merchant’s goods. The latter carries a sentence of execution if the value of the goods was high enough. Really, the only thing I think you did wrong was killing the first guy.”

“I’ll admit, it wasn’t the best decision,” I agreed. If I had known then what I know now, even without speaking his language, I would have been able to resolve that situation more effectively, I thought. “Why did you want to know?” I asked. Koyl thought about his answer for a moment.

“Just curious,” he replied. “Hey, is that where you nearly got your hand cut off?”

Unsurprisingly, Koyl led me to a tavern of some sort. The sign on the front read "Big Loytao’s" and had a drawing of a large, muscular man beside the text. The instant Koyl opened the door to go inside, my ears were absolutely assaulted with the sounds of speech and eating. Like most other taverns there were a number of tables strewn about with people sitting at them, chatting away. Unlike most other taverns, there was an entire wall between the kitchen and dining areas, and it had a single large window carved into it for serving. I also couldn’t see any steps to get up to the second level, which was puzzling. Maybe they use a ladder? I wondered.

“Now this place has some memories in it,” Koyl smiled as we walked up to the serving counter, pushing past groups of standing humans who were drinking and talking to each other. Someone took a step upstairs and Koyl twitched at the sound of wood creaking, but he quickly recovered. Everyone here is drinking ihv, I noticed, I’m not going to drink another mug of that, not after last time. They had better have water. “Hey, Loytao,” Koyl called, slapping the counter in front of him and leaning against it.

“Who the shahv slapped my counter?” an angry voice yelled from in the kitchen, and a short but extremely muscular man in an apron came stomping over towards Koyl. His blonde hair was just millimeters in length, having been shaven recently, and he had a thick but well-maintained beard around his mouth. “You can get your ass out-” he started, but then froze mid-sentence. “You,” he breathed.

“Hey Loytao, I’m back,” Koyl smiled. “Looks like you haven’t changed much while I was gone. In fact, I think you’ve shrunk a bit because I certainly haven’t gotten any taller.”

“Looks like you’ve changed plenty though,” Loytao replied. “That is you, right Koylzmeyl? I almost can’t tell, you look so…”

“Shabby?” he suggested, chuckling nervously.

“Your words, not mine,” Loytao laughed back. “Got yourself a bodyguard or something?” he asked, looking over at me.

“Oh, uh, no,” Koyl stuttered. “Loytao, this is Yuwniht. We’re going to need some rooms for the night if you have them. Don’t worry, we have the cash.” Loytao met my eyes, made a curious expression, then looked back at Koyl.

“Of course you have money,” he said, “you’re the youngest son of-”

“And call me Koyl, please,” Koyl interrupted. “We can just be casual, right? There’s no need to bring up anything private. I’m just a normal customer.” Loytao seemed surprised by Koyl’s reaction, but not upset.

“Of course Koyl,” he replied. “In fact, rooms are on the house, since I owe your father for that thing a few years back. Hey, don’t you even start with me, you want to be a ‘normal’ customer right? Then you don’t get to talk back.” That’s quite generous of him, I thought, gradually growing suspicious of the social dynamic I was observing. Koyl said his family was well-known, but this exchange seemed strangely tense at the start. Even now, it looks like Loytao is nervous about accepting money.

“We can talk more about that later then,” Koyl smiled, apparently easing Loytao’s nerves. Then he took out a single ngoywngeyt coin and put it down on the counter. “Can you get me two mugs of ihv? The good stuff, not any of that stale crap.”

“Of course, but-” Loytao began. Koyl grabbed the coin and tossed it into Loytao’s apron pocket. “Two mugs, coming right up,” he said, walking off past the other cooks and servers. Koyl looked back at me, noticed my expression, then frowned.

“I suppose you want to know what that was about,” he muttered, barely audible over the noise.

“Yes, but more importantly, I’m not drinking ihv,” I said. “Have him get me water when he comes back.” Koyl laughed, then scratched his head.

“I almost forgot about last time,” he joked. “You were really out of it. I still can’t believe you’re such a lightweight. Still, one mug won’t hurt, just drink half if you don’t want the whole thing.”

“Koyl-” I began.

“Yuwniht, this place is safe, okay?” Koyl assured me. “Nothing bad is going to happen here. This is my hometown, I know it like the back of my hand. Loytao is a good guy, and nobody makes trouble in his tavern. We’re going to relax, have some fun, then go and get a good night’s rest. If you get too moynzao to find your way back to the room, I’ll help you out, or Loytao will. You have nothing to worry about.”

“Where are the rooms?” I asked. “I don’t see any stairs, and it doesn’t sound like there’s a basement. There was a second floor but where is the access?”

“Outside, behind the building, there are some stairs up to the second level,” Koyl explained. “Kahvahrniydah is an older town, so some of the buildings are built a bit strangely. Now, will you please just try to relax? We made it. We’re out of that nightmare city Owsahlk, everything is going to be fine now.” I wasn’t sure why Koyl was being so insistent, but Loytao came back with the mugs and set them down in front of us before dashing off, so I sighed and took one. One quarter of a mug, I told myself, just enough to keep him happy. I have a feeling his father might be more useful than he’s letting on right now. Koyl watched as I brought the mug to my lips, and grinned widely.

“TWO MORE!” someone yelled, and the bar I had been lifting had two more heavy plates stacked on each end. I wasn’t really sure what was going on, but for the last half hour, the humans in the bar had been having me do all kinds of strange things. I gulped down the contents of my mug, wincing at the taste of them, and grinned widely at the crowd of people. Then, I reached down and gripped the iron bar with both hands. Not even needing force magic, I pulled it from the ground with a grunt, then hefted it up and braced it against my chest. With a final roar, I shoved it above my head, and the crowd went wild.

“That must weigh twice as much as me!” someone exclaimed. I couldn’t see them clearly when I looked over because everything was moving too much, but I estimated the weight I lifted to be at least two hundred kilograms.

“Yeah, and you’re fatter than a bear!” someone else joked, causing ripples of laughter. Ah, so he’s the big one then, I thought. I couldn’t stop smiling, but then the world started to tilt strangely. There was a loud crash, and I found myself staring at the ceiling. I hope that didn’t break anything in my body, I thought, strangely happy, Oh right, it’ll just heal up if it did. I almost forgot.

“Looks like he’s had a bit too much!” a woman’s voice joked, and a wave of laughter erupted from the onlookers.

“I’m fine!” I insisted before I could stop myself, stumbling up to my feet. “See? I can rapidly heal myself, a little fall like that is nothing to me!” What am I saying? I chided myself before I lost my train of thought.

“TWO MORE!” someone yelled, and the cheering began again.

Damn it, what happened? I grumbled as I regained consciousness. The room I was in was unfamiliar, and my brain felt like someone had underclocked it. My gambeson was missing, as were my pants, and after a few moments of confusion I saw that they were in the corner of the room beneath a table. Realizing I was naked under the covers, I looked around to make sure no humans were watching before I emerged. Why do I care about that? I wondered all of a sudden, but then images wiped out my train of thought.

Oh no, I groaned as memories of the night before began to flood back into my mind, Damn it all Koyl, I should have just refused you outright. Never, ever again. I had started the night only drinking bits of the ihv, as I had planned initially, but then I accidentally gulped from the ihv mug instead of a water one I had ordered and everything had gone crazy. Under the influence of the drug, I began to act irrationally, and I became the center of attention for the tavern for a time. Did I say anything I shouldn’t have said? I tried to recall, More importantly, did anyone believe me if I did?

My clearest memory was of some kind of weightlifting competition, during which I consumed three more mugs of ihv, that only ended when I broke both my arms trying to lift a weight that I could only assume was at least four hundred kilograms from the size and composition of the materials. After that there was... dancing? I recalled, and before the weightlifting, people were wrestling, weren't they? We switched because I... Memories of throwing a small man into a woman popped into my head, briefly panicking me. Luckily, if my memories were correct, neither of them had held it against me. They seemed more entertained than hurt, I thought, wait, was the man Loytao?

It took a few minutes after I stood up for me to wake up enough that I fully regained my balanced. When I finally got my clothes back on I looked around, remembering that the room was actually a double when I saw the second bed. Koyl wasn't happy about that, I remembered, we were both just too incapacitated to be able to resist. All of my weapons were present on the table, but aside from that the room appeared untouched. Even Koyl’s bed, which I had seen him lay down on, was made up as though it hadn’t been used at all. I know Koyl came in with me, I recalled, so where did he go?