The bar was alive with the sounds of chatter and glasses.

  The place was constructed atop a massive Ti plant, whose roots yield a sweet alcohol—if the extraction process is done correctly.

  A man with bloodshot eyes sat slumped at the bar, muttering to himself and swirling the dregs of his drink before suddenly bursting into loud laughter, disturbing nearby guests as he rose.

  Unaware of the glares of disapproval, he stumbled around, knocking tables into other people’s chairs. “How does this thing work anyway?” he said, squeezing the tail end of a root protruding from a table.

  The liquor gushed out, soaking those seated at the table.

  “Hey, what gives?!”

  Ignoring the angry couple, he placed his mouth under the root, drinking the alcohol before filling his cup.

  A silent exchange between bartenders prompted a private discussion in the back.

  “Hey Bo, this guy looks like trouble,” Beck said.

  “Maybe we ought to leave him be,” Bo said. “Check out the ring on his finger.”

  A skull design caught Beck’s eye, and he whispered, “A bandit.”

  A shared worry caused them to gently intertwine their fingers as their eyes met.

  “That’s it, I’ve had enough of this!”

  “Lily!” they said.

  “I believe you’ve had quite enough, sir,” Lily said, forcefully placing the drink he held onto the table.

  “Well, aren’t you a sight?” he slurred. Lily’s eyes narrowed a bit. Seeing her cat ears, his eyes widened in shock. “Nefarian?!” He leaped with joy, reaching for her ears.

  Swiftly, she seized his hand, twisted his wrist, forcing his arm behind his back, and slammed his face into the table.

  “Careful Lily,” Beck said, returning with Bo.

  “Careful? Have you seen how he’s making our other customers feel?” she said.

  “We mustn’t treat our guests in such a way,” Bo replied.

  “My apologies, let me help,” she said, twisting his wrist harder, making him yelp. “Right this way, sir.” She tossed him outside, clapping her hands together. “Enjoy your day.” Then she turned and went back inside.

  Snarling, from his boot the bandit drew a blade and lunged at Lily. “Huh?”

  Someone had intervened, preventing him from harming Lily.

  “Attacking a lady from behind,” Rai said firmly. “Not cool.” He squeezed the man’s wrist, making him drop the blade.

  Surprised by the unexpected intervention, he retreated.

  Lily flashed a smile at Rai. “Thanks.”

  “No biggie,” Rai said dismissively, waving his hand. “You wouldn’t happen to know where I can find someone named Bobeck, would you?”

  “Bo and Beck,” Lily said with a chuckle, gesturing towards the enormous ‘Bo and Beck’s Booze’ sign above them. “They’re my parents.”

  “Lily?” Bo walked outside.

  “Hey Dad, looks like our shipments arrived,” Lily said, gesturing to Rai.

  “So, what am I picking up today?” Rai said.

  Lily opened two large doors at the back, revealing small barrels of Ti stacked inside.

  “Ti has various uses, including medical purposes,” Lily explained. “It’s quite popular and in high demand.”

  “Anything for memory loss?” Rai asked.

  “Depends on the memory loss you’re looking for,” Lily teased. “Ti’s main purpose...” She handed him a small glass and poured a shot into it. “Go on, try it.”

  Rai took a sip, spitting it out right after. “Alcohol?!”

  “Yep.”

  “Urgent I get home…” Rai shook his head in disapproval.

  “Here are this years’s finalists!” the voice resonated from a tv where it showed people geared in cowboy hats and boots.

  “Should have known, MFR was happening soon,” Rai said.

  “MF what?” Lily said, gazing at the tv.

  “Some mantical rodeo thing,” Rai said. “I’ve seen it once before on TV.”

  “Huh, never heard of it,” Lily said, flipping the channel.

  Rai gripped the barrel, struggling slightly as he carried it to the wagon. It wasn’t huge, but it was heavier than he’d expected. Hauling it onto the wagon he muttered, “One down, plenty more to go…”

  “Lily, help our guest,” Beck said, appearing around the corner.

  “On it,” she said, casually picking up and loading the barrel onto the wagon. Rai looked at her with a hint of embarrassment. She gave a wink. “Perks of being Nefarian.”

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  With the final barrel loaded, they bid each other farewell, and Rai started his return journey to his village. Around an hour later, Rai groaned, “I should have asked for a snack to go,” his stomach rumbling in agreement.

  Plu peered over Rai’s head, attempting to meet his gaze.

  “Not now,” Rai said, waving away the stuffed animal which rolled off his head. After a moment, his eyes instantly widened. The wagon screeched to a halt. Turning slowly, he spotted Plu on a barrel in the stack behind him. “Plu?” Rai said, his finger cautiously creeping towards it.

  “Plu,” the stuffed animal replied.

  “Ah!” Rai yelped, tumbling out of the wagon and spooking the horses, who took off. “Hey, wait up!” He scrambled after the wagon.

  “Plu,” the sheep threw its arms up, enjoying the chaos, until the uneven dirt sent barrels flying, nearly knocking it off as well.

  It became a frantic game of dodging barrels as Plu attempted to stay on the wagon, and Rai attempted not to trip or get smacked by the falling ones.

  When the wagon came to standstill, only one barrel remained, and they were both gasping for air.

  “As strange as this is, I’m too tired to care,” Rai said, huffing.

  “Plu,” Plu said on its back, its belly rising and falling, seemingly agreeing.

  Plopping to its feet, Plu walked over, tapping Rai on the head before pointing at a distant cloud of smoke rising from the village they just left.

  “Fire?!”

  Rai snatched Plu, tucking it into his coat before freeing one of the hroses and racing it back to the village.

  On his return, he discovered Beck and Bo in a tearful embrace.

  “Beck, what do we do?” Bo said. The restaurant and many other buildings were ablaze.

  “What happened here!?” Rai said.

  “It’s you,” Beck said.

  “Th-They took her!” Bo cried, his voice faltering before he broke down into tears.

  “I was sure it was you, but I didn’t want to pry. You’re the boy from the placement exam, right?” Beck stood and put his hands on Rai’s shoulders. “I beg you, save Lily!”

  “Bandits took her from us,” Bo sniffeled.

  “Where were they headed?” Rai said.

  “East of here, before you reach the woods,” Beck said.

  “You’re going to help us?” Bo said, looking up, wiping away his snot.

  “Course, this is what I do. I’ve forgotten a lot recently, but I still remember my dream. I’m going to become the number one elite.”

  ***

  In the midst of a rambunctious bandit gathering, a huge fire roared. They numbered in the hundreds, drunk and enjoying a feast of roast pig and ale.

  “What’s with all the noise,” Lily said, bound to a post in a tent.

  "The annual, hidden inauguration of the bandit lord takes place today,” her capture said. “Despite many bandits vying for the position, the same lords chosen every year, resulting in a drunken celebration like none other!”

  “Whoo,” Lily said.

  “Awh, what’s wrong, my sweet.” The bandit gripped Lily’s chin in attempt to direct her gaze his way, but she bit his hand the second he did, causing him to yell.

  “Don’t touch me!” Lily said.

  “That’s a mistake you’ll regret,” he said, hand going to his blade, but another helmeted bandit emerged.

  “Our lord requests your summons.”

  “Zigga wants to see me?” The masked bandit didn’t respond. “Guess there’s no point arguing,” he said, exiting.

  Following the bandit’s departure, the other crouched beside Lily, making a grab for her, only to be met with another bite attempt.

  “Hey, watch it,” Rai said, taking the helmet off.

  “It’s you,” Lily responded in disbelief.

  “Your parents said I had to have you back before midnight,” Rai grinned, untying her.

  “They’re okay,” Lily said with a sigh of relief.

  “How’d you get caught up anyways? I thought nefarian are supposed to be built like a brick.”

  “The drunken man returned with more reinforcements than expected. I held them off easily enough—until they took my parents hostage. I had no choice but to surrender for their safety.”

  Unresponsive, Rai stood by the exit, peeking through the tent flap. “Right.”

  “Were you even listening?!”

  “Come on, let’s go,” he gestured, placing the helmet back on.

  Lily took a quick glance outside; bandits roamed every corner of the encampment. “How are we getting through all that?”

  “By walking in plain sight,” Rai said, gazing at the many drunk bandits clumsily bouncing and tripping over one another. “But first, let’s make you a little less, appealing.”

  Lily touched her hair, softly saying, “But I worked on this all morning...”

  “Too bad,” Rai said, swiftly rummaging his hands through Lily’s hair.

  “Stop it!” she said, slapping him.

  “The heck was that for?!” Rai said.

  “I hate it...” Lily muttered, her hair a tangled mess.

  As they left three bandits crossed their path, with one collapsing on the floor before them.

  The bandits, noticing their drunken companion had fallen asleep, greedily smiled as they reached into their pocket, stealing whatever he had.

  They continued through the crowd when Plu’s head popped out from behind the oversized leather armor Rai wore.

  Lily yelped, accidentally kicking a football sized muishi into a large man eating a turkey leg.

  “Who did that!?” the brute said.

  Quickly grabbing Lily, Rai darted off in another direction.

  Plu, meanwhile, tucked back into his gear.

  “What was that?” Lily whispered, asking about Plu.

  “Shh,” Rai said.

  “Don’t shush me.”

  “Where’d she go?!” Lily’s capture shouted from afar, causing Rai to hasten their pace. “Which one of y’all took my girl?”

  “Who cares, we have plenty more,” another bandit scoffed.

  Hearing this, Rai paused, hesitating before turning around. “More?”

  A faint ringing sound filled the air as the bandit clutched his head, crying out, “My head!” Blood ran from his ears as he writhed in pain, until he fell motionless on the floor.

  “Is he, dead?” Lily said.

  “Let’s go,” Rai said, gently steering them from the scene.

  A humming sound from the biggest tent made people stand as a man whose hair resembled an ant’s antenna appeared. “We care because we are the Zigga Bandits,” Zigga said.

  “Bandit Lord Zigga,” people murmured, facing the direction of their boss.

  Spotting two people exiting the banquet, Zigga said, “You two!””

  A clear line of sight to Zigga was created as everyone spread out.

  Rai and Lily froze.

  “Ahem. Yes, my lord,” Rai said, nervously turning.

  “Where are you taking this girl?” Zigga said.

  “I was taking her back to, my place. To do what men do,” Rai explained, pulling Lily in closer.

  Lily ‘accidentally’ stepped down on Rai’s foot, causing him to wince.

  “That’s my girl!” a bandit hollered.

  “Ugh… No it’s not,” Rai said, keeping his voice deeper than usual.

  “I see, you aimed to steal her away,” the bandit said, stepping forward.

  “DIRGE! DIRGE! DIRGE!” Bandit's chanting grew louder as a circle formed around Rai and his accuser.

  “It seems like we have a dirge upon us,” Lord Zigga said.

  Pushed onward by the bandits, Rai glanced around, unsure of what a dirge was.

  As events unfolded, Lily could do nothing but watch as Bandits bound her hands behind her back yet again.

  “As per the rules of a dirge, the loser claims something of the other’s, at the cost of their life of course,” another bandit said, grinning as he held up the rule book. “What will be your weapons of choice?”

  The other bandit pulled out a machete, meanwhile, Rai grabbed a thin stick along the muddy floor.

  “A stick?”

  “Yeah, this should do,” Rai said.

  “Very well. Let the dirge commence,” Zigga said.

  The bandit charged, swinging his blade.

  Infusing flux into the stick, Rai swiped it against the machete, sending it bouncing back, then swiftly chopped the stick across the bandit’s neck, incapacitating him.

  While the crowd was shocked, Zigga frowned.

  “Can anyone be challenged to a dirge?” Rai asked as the bandit holding the book slowly nodded, allowing the it to fall from their grasp. “If that’s the case, then I challenge you, Bandit Lord Zigga.”

  Some bandits whispered, while others chuckled.

  “What could the challenger possibly want from me?” Zigga said.

  “To release all the prisoners,” Rai said firmly, “and give back what you stole.”

  The crowd erupted in laughter, including Zigga. “I just rescinded my roots, but let’s have at it then!” The earth cracked slightly, exposing small, orange glowing roots beneath his feet.

  “Abminus…” Rai said.

  A low hum emanated from Zigga’s antenna-like hair as it vibrated. “Let the dirge commence!”