The skies had parted over Blackhaven, and the rain was lashing down as thunder grumbled in the air. Gabriel sat at the end of the chief's table with shallow breaths and his left arm hanging uselessly at his side, and the storm outside made the room feel smaller and tighter, like the walls were about to collapse.
Tess stood by the doorway, watching the villagers carry the chief's body out into the rain while their cheering still hadn't ended with grateful voices raised louder than the thunder. Not even the weather fouled their mood as one man shouted, "The demon saved Blackhaven!"
"Creator bless them!" Another cried.
Tess also felt saved since flashes of the orange glow and the elven words that followed spilled into her mind every time she blinked. The chief's wife approached the table carrying two bowls of steaming stew with her boy clutched to her hip, impeding her every step, but her smile remained ear to ear. She placed the bowls on the table with one in front of Gabriel and another in front of an empty chair, and a light streaked through the clouds, lighting the whole village.
Tess turned away from the door as the scent from the stew had finally reached her nose, and she sat at the table with her manners abandoning her as she dug into the first meal she had eaten since the previous night. Gabriel picked up his spoon slowly, and each time he raised it, his jaw tightened from the effort.
"Do you want me to feed you, sir?" The chief's wife began standing as she was finishing the question.
Tess took her face out of the bowl and looked at the woman. "Why would you ask that? We aren't going to hurt you."
"No, no. It's just he looks in pain, and you saved us." She replied.
Gabriel didn't respond and continued slowly bringing the spoon to his mouth while Tess pushed her bowl away. "What was going on here? Why did everyone cheer and call us saviors?"
"The chief, the mage, had control over everyone in the village. He used his magic to force us to do what he wanted, and no one was allowed to leave the village unless he had eyes on their family. All the money from the trade went to him, he sacrificed the old, killed the disobedient, and took any women that pleased him." Tears began streaming down her face as she continued.
"The vampires took someone from the village over two weeks ago, and the chief scouted and found the nest. He went to the guild in the capital and put out a contract while lying about there being only one monster. For the past 10 days, we have had one or two adventurers turn up a day, being sent to the abandoned village. He said he was doing it for us, but he just didn't want his slaves to die unless he chose so."
She hugged her son as she finished speaking. "So that's why we're thankful."
Tess's hand clenched into a fist under the table, and she forced a smile onto her face. "You're safe now."
Gabriel was sitting at the end, still slowly eating the food while his eyes never moved from the woman, who was subconsciously shielding the boy from looking at the demon-eyed adventurer.
"Why didn't he just pay the guild to take out the nest?" Tess added.
"He didn't want anyone to discover what was happening here, and he said feeding it was enough to keep us safe."
The table shook as Gabriel stood up, drawing the attention of everyone in the room while his eyes focused on the woman. "Can you stitch up wounds?"
"There's no need." Tess frowned as she heard the words. "He has a real healing potion."
Tess raised her eyebrows in surprise. "How does he have a healing potion? Even the lord of Eldenreach only has one or two."
"I don't know, he had three, but two have been used over the last year." She said as she left the room to fetch the vial, and she came shuffling back a few moments later with a small vial containing an emerald green liquid that shimmered as it passed through the candlelight.
Tess stood up and used both hands to push off the table. "That's not a healing potion. Why are you trying to poison him?" Her hand reached for the hilt of her sword as the woman's hands began to shake, and she took a step backwards.
"Enough." Gabriel's low voice seemed to suck all the sound out of the room, and even the crackling fire halted for the briefest of seconds.
The two women turned to him as he explained. "It is a healing potion, I've seen it before."
Memories of Danis forcing his broken jaw open even wider flashed in his mind while the cracking sound rang in his ears.
"But it's green," Tess mumbled under her breath. "They are supposed to be dark blue."
Gabriel reached out his hand gently and took the vial from the woman as the image of Danis and the dirty man kept coming into focus, like they were in the room with him as he uncorked the vial. The familiar warmth washing over him sent shivers down his spine as he consumed the liquid, and the feeling that once felt like being embraced by one of the Seven now brought back nothing but painful memories.
The warmth spread through his body and concentrated in his abdomen and his arm while the scuff marks and bruising on his face began clearing. He blinked, which sent him right back to that room with the giant and the other man for a mere second, and he turned his head towards Tess to see her hand still hovering over the hilt of her sword while she waited patiently to strike at a moment's notice if anything had happened to him.
Gabriel sat back down and glanced his head to the side to look at the shaken woman. "Thank you."
Tess followed and sat back down herself while staring at Gabriel in awe. "What did it feel like? Are you healed? Will it heal your..." She glanced at the woman, then turned back to the former paladin and mouthed the word "scars" without any sound coming out.
He ignored all the questions and addressed the woman, who was still trembling. "Do you have a room we can sleep in tonight?"
Tess chuckled at the suggestion. "Yes, I don't think the tavern is open."
The woman's shaking had eased as she replied. "Yes, there's a bed upstairs you can use, sir!"
She turned to Tess with a smile. "You can share the bed with the Master, or you can sleep on the floor in front of the fire."
Tess's face began turning a beetroot shade as the words registered. "I'm not— He can— He's not a Master. I'll sleep in the same room as him, but we are not sharing a bed."
Gabriel stood up and addressed the woman. "Could you show me to the room?" The woman nodded with a smile on her face before shouting over to the boy still sitting at the table.
"Come on, Gert, let's go show the man his bed."
Tess was still in a state of shock as her thoughts raced. I'm not staying in the bed with him, he's a freak. He's handsome in a lost puppy way, but the crazy witch in Eldenreach would kill me.
She stood up as a thought burst into her mind. Do those two share the same bed?