It was evening before Abad discovered a new part of town that wasn''t just dilapidated slums. By that point in his journey, he had noticed his surroundings had taken a drastic turn from bad to worse. There was more trash. More homeless. More anxious parents and bony children. More desperation. However, as he came across a large square filled with dozens of shabby stands, he realized he had found something new.


    It didn''t look like much, but it was still an improvement. Most of the stands were filled with old, wilted produce and shoddy wares, but the buildings had been painted sometime in the last decade, and each one had a door. Where the eastern marketplace was packed with shops selling everything under the tower to reasonably affluent townsfolk, here dozens of women with bright clothes and painted faces leaned against the wall of a gaudy building on the far side of the square, while beggars fought to clean the shoes of disinterested customers. Signs advertising gambling, alcohol, and more promised debauchery around every corner. The sheer desperation of it all brought a smile to his old soul. He was home.


    He saw many similarities between this place and his memories of Eran. There were places to gamble, smoke, drink, fuck, buy wares, both honest or stolen, or beat someone half to death within sight. And signs of violence, whether a black eye or a missing tooth or bruising on the wrists, were everywhere. It wasn''t quite a mirror to his home long ago, but he enjoyed the sense of familiarity he had felt ever since turning south in Farnfoss. He couldn''t say he liked it necessarily, but it was nostalgic. He could feel the struggle.


    As he passed through the stands of junk, he stopped a couple of times to listen in on the talk around him. There was a lot of gossip to overhear, but very little information to digest, unfortunately. However, as he was about to move on, he heard a familiar voice coming from an alley alongside the gaudy building. Walking over and turning the corner, he saw Rhys, clearly drunk and teetering, laughing and telling jokes with a group of men. Abad went to take a step toward him but remembered that he wouldn''t recognize him with his Arun-Sun disguise. So instead, he listened.


    "...And I swear, if I had known that girl was Fey''ra, I''d have jumped ship. Fucking dog. Should''ve smelled it. Bitch had some enchantment hiding her ears, but the fucking tail was right there, and I didn''t even notice it! Even had fleas!" The men he was with, an unsavory group of thugs by the look of them, all cackled. Rhys threw back the bottle in his hand and downed the last of the brown liquid inside. "Alright boys, I''ve got more in me tonight. I''m off."


    Rhys started walking toward Abad, his steps unsteady as he did. Abad watched as he muttered to himself, but just as they would have collided, Rhys looked up, and their eyes met. For a moment, he seemed confused. The man''s bleary eyes searched his, but not finding what he was looking for, his face screwed up in a sneer. "Fuck you looking at, elfie? You wanna end up like the last guy who fucked with me?" The men behind him chuckled.


    "What happened to the last guy who challenged you?"


    Rhys''s mouth twisted into a cruel grin. "Why don''t you try me and find out?"


    "You''re drunk." Abad could feel his anger rise. He would have never allowed someone to speak like this to him in the past. He quelled the violent impulse.


    "Damn right, I am. And I''m about to get me some. Tail or not, Fey''ra girls are fucking great in the sack." Rhys grinned. His teeth were stained red with wine. "Not that I''d expect some small pricked elf like you to understand. Now get the fuck out of my way."


    "Don''t let me stop you." Abad moved aside to let the man go past. As Rhys passed, he thrust his shoulder into Abad''s chest and patted his cheek.


    "Good elf. You know your place." He brushed past and disappeared around the corner. A moment later a door opened, and he heard the man''s loud voice fill the interior of the brothel.


    Abad frowned as Rhys disappeared. The man had never acted like that before. He wasn''t exactly kind, but he''d always had an easy wit and charm about him. The man he just interacted with was nothing like the one he had breakfast with. While alcohol sometimes brought out the worst in people, he realized he had never really gotten to know the brothers that well. Both of them, and even Keila to an extent, kept their inner worlds private. He hadn''t minded since he also didn''t want to share much, but it occurred to him that he didn''t really know them at all. He had only ever assumed the brothers were simpletons driven by their baser desires, but that assumption might need reassessing.


    Deciding he''d seen enough of that spot, Abad walked away, but when he looked over his shoulder, he noticed the thugs were eying him like vultures looking for fresh meat.


    ***


    As he wandered away from that square and further down the road, he found himself in streets that were nicer than most of the slums but not quite as nice as the area he had left. He figured this part of Farnfoss must have some sort of trade or commodity that allowed it to flourish more than the slums that surrounded it, but he couldn''t find anything meaningful that would indicate what that could be.


    He meandered for a while, but eventually, he came upon several thugs pushing around a halfling hawker selling cheap baubles and near-rotten fruit. The two men, humans of some size and physicality, had no trouble tormenting the little man, who could only impotently whine as they abused him. The hawker begged the men to stop, but they continued shoving him, knocking his table of trinkets over onto the dirty road as they did.


    Abad watched the events unfold dispassionately. He had no reason to get involved. This wasn''t his fight. However, while the situation wasn''t his business, he was still frustrated from his encounter with Rhys earlier. He''d never been one to be openly disrespected, and it wasn''t sitting with him well. He had been grinding his teeth since the encounter and desperately needed to vent. A couple of nobodies in the bad part of town would be excellent fodder to unleash on...


    No. He needed to keep that part of himself in check.


    A memory filtered into his mind. Like the poor halfling being beaten in front of him, his father—his real one—had been that hawker. From what Abad could remember of his father, he was a slight man of little power who was regularly abused by others. That weakness had been his death. Abad could remember finding his father face down in a red puddle, his throat slit and body broken. He could remember the raindrops falling on his face as he cried. His mother had blamed Abad. Said his birth had driven them out of their village and made them outcasts. Made them easy targets. He had never forgotten her words. He had resented them for many years, but today he wasn''t so sure she was wrong.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    As he got closer, the thugs escalated their bullying of the frightened halfling. It would get violent soon. Sure enough, there was a slap. Then another. A kick. The halfling whimpered as he stooped to pick up his wares


    He was close to them. He didn''t want to get involved. He tried to walk past them, but as the largest thug took a heavy swing at the halfling, Abad reacted without thinking. He caught the man''s fist before it landed. The thug''s eyes opened wide as he realized what had happened, and the other man cursed.


    "The fuck you think you''re doing, elf?" The man whose punch he had stopped snarled at him as he jumped back. A crooked smile slowly crawled over his face, causing the scars that marred his cheeks to grow into craters. He looked as if he had some form of pox that had healed poorly. He also had a brand on his neck. It was the talon symbol that Keila and her brothers wore.


    "I''ve been enjoying a lovely stroll through your town, but you two are ruining the ambiance." His voice was steady. He was ready. A smile was on his lips. He needed this, just like he had needed Keila, the adventurers'' company, and his little imp. He wanted this.


    The larger man who had been holding the halfling glanced at his companion before speaking. "You fucking stupid? Move on before you piss me off, elf." Behind Abad, he could hear the murmur of voices. A small crowd was forming.


    "Please, don''t bother with me, good sir. It was my fault..." the halfling whined as the pox-faced man strode forward. The man was enormous and heavily muscled, with a thick black beard and rotten breath Abad could smell from a yard away. The man shoved his chest hard, sending him backpedaling a few feet.


    The gathered onlookers whispered among themselves.


    "... Elf''s gonna die..."


    "... Bolton''s man, bad luck..."


    "... I feel bad for the nutter..."


    The light smile never left Abad''s lips. This moment felt exactly like home. Except this time, he wasn''t a boy. He might be less than he was, but he was still powerful, and bold. And he was itching for a fight. Abad straightened and stalked towards the first brute. As the thug clenched his fists and and pulled back, Abad let his instincts guide him.


    The man''s massive arm flew forward, but Abad''s instincts were off. The warlock tried to dodge the attack, but he veered the wrong way, catching the punch on the right side of his face. His right eye exploded in pain, a sea of stars filling his vision as the men chuckled. He was thrown to his knees.


    "Not much of a fighter, are you? Guess you got a death wish." Abad could see the other man backing up as he dragged the hawker along with him. The small man was visibly shaking as his assailant sat on a nearby crate.


    Looking back to the man who punched him, Abad grinned a toothy grin. He could feel blood flowing from his mouth. He spat a glob of blood onto the ground as he stood back up and readied himself. "Never was, but there''s always time to learn from you trash. And I have nothing but time." The man''s grin left his stupid face. He roared, charged, and threw a wild right hook, but this time, Abad dodged left. A cross followed, and Abad ducked under it, striking out with his right fist and hitting the man directly on the chin with everything he could. It wasn''t much, but the man''s head jerked backward. The warlock followed his punch with a kick to the man''s gut, sending him sprawling backward onto the dirt. He smirked. While he wasn''t much of a fighter, he had trained with some of the best fighters ever born of the Dark One''s corruption. He wasn''t totally hopeless.


    He followed up his kick with a quick stomp to the prone man''s ribs, eliciting a scream as something crunched under Abad''s boot. The man on the crate shouted in surprise and shot up, kicking the cowering hawker as he charged. As the thug ran toward Abad, the warlock watched the small man scramble away into the crowd. Just as the thug''s wild punch flew, Abad reacted just in time to roll to the side, his instincts feeling sharper than they were.


    Before the second man could press his advantage, Abad sprang to his feet. His balance wasn''t perfect, but he had adjusted well enough. He ran backward, avoiding several strikes until he found the nearest wall and pressed himself against it.


    As his large foe rushed him, Abad grabbed a nearby board and swung. The massive man swatted the board away and punched, but Abad ducked just in time to avoid the blow. The man cried out as his fist collided with the stone behind the elf. Abad stepped close and lashed out with a hard uppercut that stunned the man briefly. Without pausing, he swung an elbow upward, crushing the man''s nose and causing blood to pour out of his ruined face. However, the man was able to grab Abad''s collar and slammed his knee into the warlock''s stomach. Air burst from his lungs, and he choked as his chest spasmed.


    Staggering back against the wall, he struggled to catch his breath as the giant collided with him. Abad tried to squirm away, but the man grabbed him again and began raining blows onto his body. With each strike, pain exploded across his bruised and battered torso. He slowly sunk toward the ground, guarding his head and neck the best he could against the man''s strikes. Movement through the thug''s legs revealed that his companion had recovered and was approaching. That wasn''t good. He figured it was time to get serious.


    [Sanguine Gift]


    He pulled on his own life force and mana to reinforce his body. His heartbeat quickened, and he could see his pulse in the corners of his eyes as his body surged with power. The man above him paused his attack and pulled him upright to thrown him back against the wall. Seizing the opportunity, Abad lunged forward and struck the man with a series of rapid blows to the throat. He felt something within the man''s neck snap. Blood bubbled out of the thug''s mouth as he gasped. Letting go of the warlock, the thug doubled over and stumbled away, croaking as he clasped his hands around his neck.


    Behind the wheezing man, the large brute had finally made it back within range. Shoving his friend aside, the hulking bruiser threw a punch that landed square on Abad''s chin, throwing him back into a pile of crates. His entire vision exploded into stars. Blindly, he tried to pick himself up, but the man closed the gap and kicked him hard in the chest, sending Abad flying through the crates and back onto some hard cobblestones. His vision returned, he scrambled backward, and there, in between the buildings, he found the thing he needed.


    Abad felt his entire body surged with power. He was surrounded by the shadows now and could feel his [Embrace of the Abyss] roar to life.


    In a flash, he was back on his feet. He could feel blood trickling from another fresh cut in his lip, and his muscles screamed at him, but he didn''t care. As the brute marched into the alley and toward him, Abad couldn''t help but smirk at the man. "Are you sure you want to do this? You could still walk away, you know?"


    He was answered with a growl and another haymaker. Abad slid sideways to dodge the strike, then sent his fist flying into the center of the man''s chest. Something snapped, and the man doubled over. The man threw a wild backhand, but Abad lifted his leg and drove his foot into the man''s knee. With a loud crack, the leg crumpled, sending the thug to the ground with a yelp.


    "Over here!"


    A series of calls pulled Abad''s attention away from the beaten thug. The crowd had piled around the entrance of the alley, and several long halberds could be seen behind them. Guards. Abad launched a second kick into the man''s side. Abad laughed. This was what he had missed! The danger, and challenge, and threat. The thrill.


    "What are you laughing about?!" The brute whined. Abad kicked the man in the back of the head, causing his face to plant into the dirty alley. Reaching down, he placed his hand on the brute''s back, his eyes watching as the guards fought their way through the crowd.


    [Essence Transfer]


    Red essence tore from the man''s body and filled his spirit. He could feel the heat surging inside. It felt like warm liquor in his belly.


    He wanted more.


    He pulled more and more, and when the spell was spent, he nearly cast it again, but the guards were getting close. He saw the man''s crystal pouch hanging from his belt and pulled it free, then cast another spell.


    [Sanguine Gift]


    Using some of the man''s stolen life force, he empowered his body once again and ran down the alleyway, disappearing into the darkness of the maze-like streets beyond.