Get out, before I call the guardsmen on ya!

Something dark and desperate flared inside Caleb.

His hand shot out and grabbed the man’s apron. He pulled the man in closer. His voice came out low and angry.

“You have no idea how bad this day’s gone for me,” he snarled. “I was dead. So if you want to throw me out or have me arrested, I’ll be happy to tell those guardsmen that you’ve been helping a ‘scrugg-all’ beggar all week. Then they’ll haul both of us in. Follow me so far?”

The bartender cast a fearful glance towards the still-partying guardsmen, then nodded sullenly.

“Or we try option two. You get me something to eat and drink, and then give me a task to work off the bill. Washing glasses. Cleaning the place. Whatever. That way, I’m cutting a deal with you, not begging. You get it?”

“Prayer’s up, I do!”

Caleb released him. The man stepped back and grabbed a bottle. He poured an amber-colored liquid into a mug and shoved it across the bar top.

Mouth watering, Caleb grabbed the mug and took a long swig. He felt the sharp tang of alcohol, followed by a watery, grassy sweetness. It burned a warm line down his throat.

The feeling of well-being made him sway on his feet for a moment. The raucous sound of the guardsmen had faded away behind him. The bartender took a startled glance over Caleb’s shoulder and then scuttled away.

A heavy hand came down on Caleb’s shoulder. It turned him halfway around.

“You must be new here, sailor,” said a rough voice. Caleb registered the silver-on-black trim of the Komtur’s uniform just as he caught sight of a narrow face dominated by a Roman nose, deep-set brown eyes, and a look of lazy arrogance. “Myr knows that you need guidance–”

The man’s voice ground to a halt as his eyes went wide. Caleb’s expression was similar.

A small window with text blinked into existence to one side of the man’s face.

Name: Komtur Malum Kane Class: Rogue / Henchman Alignment: Neutral -

“Best not to stare,” the man said quickly. He turned Caleb back towards the bar with gentle push on the shoulder, and the words faded away. “Myr take all, I didn’t expect that. You have the Outer Sight. Inner one too, I suppose.”

“You know?” Caleb said, astounded. “How do you–”

“Keep your voice down. This better remain between us, or my men will drag you off to Deephold Keep. You don’t want that, trust me.” He nudged Caleb’s mug with the back of his hand. “Drink up. The name’s Malum Kane, though I suppose you know that already.”

Caleb took another long swig before speaking again. “I, ah, saw that. For a second, anyway. Not sure what to make of everything I saw. You’ve gone rogue, then?”

A chuckle at that. “No, I’m gainfully employed. Rogue is a class. It’s one of the ways that Myr defines people and the skills they bring to the table when he reincarnates them here.”

There’s that name again, Caleb thought. This Myr sounds as if he’s the opponent to the deities who brought me here.

Aloud, he said: “Yeah, that’s what Myr did for me, too. Malum, is it?”

“That’s right. I got here a few years ago, worked my way up in the Sea Vipers to Komtur. That’s sort of like a sergeant or maybe a lieutenant in the armed forces. What about you, you just wake up from the dirt nap?”

“Not too long ago.” Something inside Caleb waved a red flag, so he slipped in a small lie. “I arrived on the far side of Irongrasp. I’ve been trying to figure out what’s going on for the last few days. Saw you and your uniformed men, figured you were Johnny Law around here.”

“You could say that we are. You ever serve? Before all this, I mean?”

“I…” he furrowed his brow, but nothing came. He tilted his mug back and finished his drink, but it didn’t help. “I don’t know. It’s all a blur.”

“That’s normal. You’ll get a little bit of it back over time.” Kane nodded towards the empty mug. “And now that you’re done, come with me.”

Even though the warm haze of alcohol, Caleb hesitated.

“You arresting me?”

“You have my word as Komtur that I’m not taking you to the Keep,” Kane said, with an easy smile. “Besides, I’ve got more of what you need. Information on how this world works. Maybe I’ll reward you with a dinner.”

“All right.” Caleb didn’t like it, but what choice did he have? Kane could’ve already called his guardsmen in and hadn’t. Maybe he could be trusted. At least a little.

“Nashir!” Kane called. “Keep the squad here, I’ll be back in a little while.”

“Yezzir, Komtur,” came the response. The men shoved the boy back onto the table for yet another round of dancing. The stomping beats pounded out on the floorboards began again as the two men left.

“Is that really something you have to do?” Caleb demanded, as Kane led the way down towards the waterfront along one of the cobblestone streets. “You’re hazing that kid to the point of exhaustion.”

Kane laughed. “It’s not only allowed, it’s necessary.”

“Okay, I really need to know more about that. This world is a hell of a lot…different than where I’m from.”

“Where we’re from,” Kane corrected him. “You saw my name, class, and even a couple extra bits of information, right?”

“A little bit. Before you told me not to–”

“People who are brought here from our world all get that. That’s why we can recognize each other on sight. We’re rare, but not unknown. My guess is that when we’re ‘respawned’ here, Myr did this for us because it’s a familiar way people from our world interacted with each other. Through screens.”

“It’s possible,” Caleb admitted. They came to a low stone wall next to the harbor. The three moons had risen high, casting a ghostly three-tone glow over the water. “I don’t know why they’d choose me – or anyone – specifically to be reborn or ‘respawned’ here.”

“Maybe they’re ready for a new sense of purpose. Myr knows, I needed one. I was middle management at a going-nowhere software company. When I arrived here, I joined up with the Sea Vipers, the hands of the Myrkur.”

“Myrkur? So you’re like…cult soldiers for the god Myr, then.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to convert you. What do I look like, a priest?”

Maybe an evil one, Caleb thought, looking back to the man’s black uniform. The silver trim on his clothes, his sword hilt, and his pair of pistols glinted in the moons’ light. I didn’t get to see his full-on alignment, either.

“The point is, I was under everyone’s thumb back home,” Kane pressed on. “Here, thanks to Myr’s teachings, my Lord High Captain, and the Seeress, I can do things I never dreamt of!”

“Does that include torturing people?” Caleb retorted. “Like that boy back at the tavern?”

Kane shrugged. “Those who don’t have the sight are NPCs. You know what that means?”

“Non-player characters, I know that–”

“It means that their lives don’t matter. It’s why the Myrkur have recruited so many like us! How do you think you raise your level, become more powerful?”

“I’ve gotten the quest notifications,” Caleb said, as Kane grew more animated.

“You can grind it out, finish those petty quests. Or…you can take the experience, the life from others. It’s not pretty. But Jaladri’s taught me one thing: If you want to survive, you may have to do things you’re not completely okay with. Besides, it’s no different from slaughtering the animals we eat at the table.”

“I think there’s a hell of a lot of difference, Malum!”

Kane stepped away from him and put his hands up. “I guess we’re just going to have to agree to disagree, then.”

“Fine by me.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met someone with ‘Wizard’ in their Class description. You do have a hell of a lot of potential, Caleb. Or at least you would have, if your life path had wound on just a little further.”

“What–”

Kane pulled out one of the pistols that sat on his hip. Caleb lunged to one side even as he heard the click of the hammer, saw the spark thrown off by the flint. A bang! and the air filled with dark, noxious smoke.

Caleb felt a hard, hot punch in his chest. There was almost no pain this time. He looked down and saw where blood gushed from a hole in his chest. His legs buckled and he fell to his knees.

Malum Kane’s face was a portrait of pure joy. He still held the smoking pistol as he looked off to one side, moving his hand in midair. As if touching and manipulating an invisible screen.

“Well now, you boosted me an entire level!” he laughed. “You were quite the catch, my friend. Quite the catch indeed.”

Caleb’s head spun as he fell face first, landing with a crunch against the rough cobblestone.