"Bottoms up!" Beer sloshed over Ardus̆ar's hand as he clumsily clinked his mug against Qaradīl's, not that he noticed. The room swam around him as he tipped the mug back and raced Qaradīl to the bottom. "First." The glass bottom shattered as he slammed the mug on the counter, drawing an angry curse from the barkeep.

"Another round," Ardus̆ar barked, flipping the man a silver coin worth more than double the cost of the drinks and the ruined mug, and the barkeep's scowl disappeared.

"Coming up," the man replied, suddenly all smiles, and as the barkeep scurried to the kegs, Ardus̆ar wrapped his arm around the waist of the woman he'd hired, planting a rough kiss on her cheek.

"One more round, and then we'll…retire," he said with a wink.

"It's your money," she shrugged. Her body stiffened as his hand wandered lower, squeezing her divinely copious ass, but he'd paid up front, so she made no objection.

His good mood was spoiled, though as Maras̆s̆i emerged from the crowd, her face sour with stress. "We should probably go now; we've been here longer than we said."

"Not goin' anywhere," he snarled, "Till I get my last drink, and I bed this fine lassie. I've been a monk for a month - no more!"

She scowled, turning to Qaradīl for support, but the man, still nursing his previous beer, shook his head. "Stop stressing so much, sis. This city is perfectly safe, even for an annoying little git like her."

"I'm not worried about her, I'm worried about our jobs," she snapped. "Clearly someone in her family has the Emperor's ear, and if he hears-"

"What the Emperor doesn't know, won't hurt him," Ardus̆ar smirked, as he snagged a fresh mug of beer from the returning barkeep. "He's got more important things to worry about than listening to some little girl whine because we didn't waste our time babysitting her."

"Uncle Qīpūtū had the same philosophy, and we saw how well things went for him," she replied sarcastically. "Let's just-"

"Do what you want," he cut her off, tired of arguing with her. "But I'm not leaving until I get what I paid for."

"A reasonable sentiment…"

Ardus̆ar jumped in his seat as a deep voice interrupted their conversation, nearly spilling his beer as he spun around.

"And one I'd imagine Lord Eligon shares," the man, some sort of freak with muddy red skin and a few days worth of stubble, continued. "I wonder what he's paying you for."

His eyes narrowed as he took the man's measure, and quickly found him lacking. There was a certain wiry strength to his frame, but nothing he couldn't handle, and he guessed the man hadn't pushed past level sixty at the max. "Piss off, mate, if you know what's good for you," he said, flicking the man a rude gesture. "This doesn't concern you."

"Oh, I'm afraid it does," the man smiled blandly, "seeing as how I'm stuck dealing with your screw-ups." He shifted his body to the side, and Ardus̆ar snorted as he saw the girl standing behind him.

"I get it now. You went and found someone to whine to," he sneered at her, standing up with a flex of his shoulders. "Well, you may have found someone stupid enough to believe your lies, but this is imperial business, stranger," he turned his attention back to the man, "so, I'll say it again - piss off."

There was nothing like a good fight to get the blood pumping, so Ardus̆ar felt a little thrill of joy as the man shifted into a combative stance - only for that thrill to turn to ice as he finally noticed there was another person with them, a blonde beauty with pointy ears and a small, but stately, pair of antlers.

S̆ams̆a's light. The horror of it all nearly overwhelmed him in that moment, sobering him up faster than a good night's sleep. He didn't know how the kruvas̆-cursed child had managed to find the only bloody elf in the entire city, but, somehow, she'd gone and gotten herself kidnapped. A glum voice in his head reminded him that Maras̆s̆i right, like she was always, but he shuttered it instantly. He needed to act, now.

With a guttural growl, he leapt off the barstool, swinging a meaty fist at the red freak's head with deceptive speed. He hated activating a skill so quickly, but he needed the man down as quickly as possible before the elf took off with their charge.

But he hadn't expected the man to intercept his fist. Oh, the stranger staggered slightly beneath the blow, forced to take a quick step back to stabilize himself, but he wasn't on the ground like a level sixty peon should have been. Did he dump every point in strength?

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The man started to speak, as Ardus̆ar swung again. "Are you an idiot-" An audible oof left the stranger's lips as he caught him right in the gut, but a prickling fear ran down Ardus̆ar's spine as the man stayed on his feet. He had points in endurance, too, more points than his apparent level would suggest. Feeling a presence at his side, he drove his knee into the man's stomach, doubling him over as Qaradīl jumped to grab his arms. "Maras̆s̆i, stall the elf," he yelled, only for his voice to warp into a high-pitched scream as the man he was pinning down burst into fire.

He wasn't fast enough to dodge the flaming fist that caught him square in the jaw, throwing his neck back with a painful crack. It was enough to knock him out, but stars still fluttered around the edges of his vision as he staggered backward, and true horror blossomed in his soul. He'd been right; the man didn't have the body of a warrior. He was a mage, and not just any mage, but one high enough-leveled to have nearly as much strength as he did.

All hope of victory had fled as Ardus̆ar regained his balance, but squaring his shoulders up, he charged toward the flaming mage, screaming out one final command for his fellow guards to grab the girl and run, before tackling him.

But he failed again as the man dodged, and with a swift kick, sent him crashing through the bar and into the kegs behind. A torrent of beer washed over him as their sides collapsed and the still-burning mage hopped away with a curse as the liquid spread across the floor. "A little help here, Ihra?"

Too stunned to move, Ardus̆ar could only watch in defeat as the elf blurred forward, crumping Qaradīl with a single blow and warding Maras̆s̆i off with a quick swipe of a silver misericorde that seemed to shimmer in the light. "Back off, we're not trying to hurt you," the elf shouted, her words dripping with obvious deception, and he closed his eyes, fighting to muster the strength to rise.

"Bunch of dumbasses…we're not the enemy," the mage muttered, barking a command at the others to stay down, but Ardus̆ar ignored it and, gritting his teeth, surged to his feet. "Oh, for God's sake." Sluggish from the blows he'd already taken, the mage failed to parry Arduŝar's strike, but as he drove his enemy to the floor, the elf's leg caught him in the ribs, tossing him aside like an errant pebble, and his head cracked against the edge of the shattered bar, he knew no more.

"Damn it." Jasper rubbed his head with dismay as he glanced at the wreckage around him. Two minutes earlier, nearly a hundred people had been crammed into the cheerful hall; now the only ones still there were the guards, the barkeep, and a few people who'd been unfortunate enough to be trampled in the stampede out of there. It had all gone so wrong, so fast, and as much as he wanted to blame it all on the derelict guards, a part of him knew he shared some of the blame. What a great first day on the job. There'd be time for guilt later, though.

With a quick nod at Ihra, he left her to keep an eye on the guards as he started healing the townsfolk who'd been injured. The last he came to was the guard who'd been kicked through the bar. As much as he disliked the man, Jasper was relieved to find that Ihra hadn't killed him, and with a quick twist of his wrist, the man jerked back to consciousness.

His fist flew toward Jasper's face immediately, and Jasper dodged with a curse. "Really? I just healed you, and you still think I'm the enemy? How stupid are you?" The man's fist froze, uncertainty in his eyes, and one of the guards standing behind them, the only woman in the group, spoke up rapidly.

"Ardus̆ar, they're the mages we're supposed to meet."

"Technically, only one of them," Jasper corrected her. "The rest of our group is out enjoying the city, but, yes, we're not your enemies here. At least, we wouldn't be if you were actually doing your job," he added with a scowl.

He could see the gears turning in the man's head, painfully, slowly, but he reached the right conclusion. "S̆ams̆a's Light, I had no idea - when I saw the elf, and, well, you-" the man stuttered out, freezing as he realized what he'd been about to say. "While, not that you-"

"The elf," Jasper interrupted him, "has a name, Lady Ihra, and I have a feeling that if you'd bothered to read the mission briefing, you would know that I'm a Djinn."

"I, uh, hadn't gotten to it. We didn't expect you to be here yet-"

As much as Jasper wanted to find the man's excuses grating, the truth was, he kind of understood it. He didn't want to be here any more than the guards did, and neither did the rest of his party. Hell, half of his part had vamoosed as soon as they reached the market, but the difference was, that they hadn't abandoned Nīla in the streets - and they wouldn't have.

"I don't really care if you read the mission brief," he interrupted the man again. "I mean, you definitely should have, and I am confident you will find time tonight," he added threateningly, "but I do care that you abandoned your charge. I know you two have some sort of beef, that all of you," he met the eyes of the other guards assembled around them, who hastily looked away, "have reasons for not liking her, but none of that matters. What do you think will happen if she gets assassinated, or kidnapped, or worse?" he pointed at Nīla, who blushed like a schoolgirl as all his eyes turned on her. "The alliance between Lord Eligon and the northern province is uneasy at best, and it might not take much to ruin it."

Frankly, he wasn't sure how true that was; while the girl's death might strain relations, the marriage between Lady Nissilât and the Emperor was a far greater bond than any diplomat, but if it would motivate them to do their job, he was more than happy to lie. "So if you have even a shred of loyalty to the Empire, you will protect her, and if you don't-" The guards cringed back as Jasper lit his hand on fire again, "then you're going to have a problem with me. Any questions?"

"No, my lord." The woman, Maras̆s̆i, was the first to respond, and the others quickly followed, even the hot-headed guard who'd started the whole brawl.

"Good," Jasper replied, offering them a tight smile. "Then I guess the only thing left is for you to repay this poor bastard for all the damage you've done," he said, gesturing at the barkeep cowering in the corner. Their faces blanched.

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