ALLEGRO
Beer moistened the beard scruff of the naiad as he slammed the mug on the counter. "Another," he belched-demanded. "Gonna take more firewater than that to drown my demons." The bartender looked over with pity and disgust; she only tolerated this particular barfly because he tipped well. He, however, smelled like b.o. and fish. Of course, he was a fish with b.o. so it made sense. This is what Sadron, former commander of the naiad hunters, had sunken to... drunken... smelly... pathetic.
Sadron pushed his now shaggy hair out of his face; his brow and fins were marked with holes where piercings once glinted. He was rock bottom and full of loathing. Letting out a large belch and a snort/snore, the naiad thumped his forehead down on the bar. He jerked back up again. This guy had had way too much booze.
"Ya know what's sad, ladies?" he asked in an overly loud voice as he stared at the barmaid's cleavage. "I don't even like this grog. It's the worst sewage I've ever swilled. But you, madams, are lovely."
The barmaid's tolerance was wearing thin. Good tips could only take this beached whale so far. "Eyes up here, fella."
"Bah," Sadron grumbled throwing his arms wildly at her in rebuttle. This of course caused him to lose his balance and teeter on the stool. For a moment, his whole world was in upheaval. The floor was harder than he remembered and cold. The naiad's vision blurred, but he could just make out a feminine shape standing over him. "Ma'am?"
The figure said nothing. Instead she dropped something next to him and left. He watched the hips sway out of the door. Why was this figure familiar? It was completely foreign to him but the feeling that he should know this Pae tried to fight its way through his slush of a drunken brain. "Ma........'am?" His vision faded around the edges first then clouded into black.
...
Sadron blinked back to consciousness quickly, the brisk chill of cold water zapping the nerves in his skin. "Wha-?"
The bartender sighed. "Out, you great lummox. You've had enough for one day."
The naiad pushed himself to a seated position and blinked back the pain; he had hit the floor pretty hard. As he was standing, he saw a lump next to him. The woman? Oh yes, he remembered. He picked up the small sack and dumped out what looked like an arrowhead on a chain. He looked questioningly at the tavern wench, but she could only shrug. It looked worthless to her. "Guess that's yours then."
Sadron grinned. Obviously a female had been bitten by the love bug and wanted to repay him for his awesome lovemaking skills. If only she had stuck around, she would have been privy to more amazing Sadron-ness. What a shame! He tossed the chain over his head. "That doesn't look half bad," he chuckled to himself as he stumbled back out into the daylight.
