Welcoming returning heroes with lapetitmauvais

[lambwolfandman]

It's several hours past dusk when Alistair comes running. Predicting arrival times had never been a precise art. There's always the risk that the hero will come earlier or later than expected

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[lambwolfandman]

The assassin follows Sebastien's gaze to Alistair and smiles. "Ah. A nervous young man then?" He chews on the roll some before addressing the hall. "I would have you all know that when I left Syria no hero of my knowledge had fallen!"

A swell of cheering rises through the hall. A predetermined refrain. Alistair stays quiet this time but his heartened grin shows he's no less pleased by this news.

Sabri places a finger on his lips and waits until his soft call for everyone to hush can be heard. A gentle 'shhh'. He leans forward then. All eyes on him and he knows it. And he plays to it. "My home away from home has been plagued by a most vicious beast. As soon as it strikes it is gone again! Leaving a bloody mess of limb torn from limb."

"A dragon!" The young voice pipes up excitedly from one of the farther seats.

Sabri laughs and shakes his head. "It was no dragon, little one." He leans on the table. Looking from one person to the next. Hands at the ready to gesture helpfully. "This creature is sly and quiet. Its victims say it has fangs of great size and claws as sharp as any blade. Yet no witness and none suspect. I walked the streets for days and nights chasing shadows. Then it stopped hunting. Yet still I prowled lest the creature should come again. Ten nights until I found a girl crying in the middle of the road. She clutched her ankle and how she wailed! You could not help but be moved for the poor thing. I knelt by her and asked 'what is wrong?' and she told me that she had hurt her ankle as she went to run from a beast. She pointed behind me and I, being a fool bent on defeating the beast, turn to face it. As soon as my eyes left her, she transformed into a ferocious canine."

He smiles slyly then and sat back. "Fangs the size of my head and claws as sharp as any blade." Then he took a sip of wine. Leaving his audience to hang in the silence.

Sabri leans on the table again his hands suddenly more animated than ever. "She caught me by surprise and sank her teeth into my shoulder! The pain ripped through my arm so sharply that I dropped my blade! With my free arm I grabbed my dagger from my belt and drove it into the beast! It freed my arm, but did not fall! I dived for my blade as it dived for me. Before I knew it, the monstrous thing was on top of me!" He hesitates as a few students gasp quietly before finishing. "But my blade was in its belly. It was quite heavy, but I managed to get out from under it. Its pelt hangs on someone's wall now."