@Drai@Dark Light

The very second the man turned his back Knutik considered cutting him into ribbons, but the energy to do it just wasn't in him anymore - maybe it was because of the damage to his pride from backing down or maybe it was the harsh realization that there were people with stronger power against him. Perhaps the swordsman was right though; waiting to eliminate the threat and then ask questions was a more methodical approach than what Knutik had in mind. The shade really didn't care much about where the scarecrows came from or why they were there, perhaps he was just looking for an excuse to torment a small child... or maybe he simply got lost in his own power. It's been so long since he's been able to use his abilities to this extent.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a repetitive noise some where on the floor above. It reminded him of the tapping on the tavern door from the little girl but this was much more annoying, somebody needed softer shoes. Feeling completely pooped he barely paid any mind to the smaller scarecrow that's been trying to scratch him to death for the last minute. He lazily watched with half-lidded eyes as another seemed to rush up the stairs, the thumping of it's steps suddenly ending with no question once it was out of sight. He spaced out staring at a spot on the stairs before realizing a well dressed man was standing at the balcony just next to it. It took a moment for Knutik to recognize him as the man from earlier. He watched him gingerly make his way down the steps barely regarding the surrounding chaos. Knutik's green glowing eyes followed the man as he walked past him towards the main door, saying it was time for children to go home.

The wraith looked confused at the odd statement and glanced over to the little girl who's mood seemed to have done a 180. He watched her walk over to the man, paused to look back with hatred and then left. He could've sworn he felt some fear and despair for a split second before the door shut. Then something changed as if pressure in the room was released. Scarecrows no longer crawled through the walls, but the ones within still remained. Knutik released a wispy sigh after the suited man walked by him to the bar then later disappeared up the stairs. He grabbed the annoying small scarecrow that was still trying to claw into him by the neck, picked it up, and then dropped it down a hole of shadows. He doesn't exactly know where he's been putting them but the thought of an unsuspecting person on the other end being shredded to gory bits made him smile.

He then took a moment just floating amidst the last of the carnage in his thoughts. 'Looks like I couldn't stay away from the violence and anger for long....' his face showed no sign of remorse for losing control of himself. 'This shows my efforts meant nothing after all.' He wanted to burst into laughter but only gave himself an accepting smile. 'Oh well....' He opened a portal to his dimension, entered, and then closed it off to the rest of the universe.



Knutik buried himself in his hoard of treasures while he gave himself time to think. 'So many years wasted being afraid, fearing my own.... shadow... and for what? I have no fear with this emotion, I have no sadness... no despair... why did I run from it for so long? Remorse? I only felt remorse and despair when the whole world was crying with me.' He began to pout even though nobody was here to see it. 'Remorse is just another emotion absorbed from others... it's not mine.' He pondered timelessly within his realm, trying to search for any justification that avoiding the more 'evil' emotions wasn't a wasted effort... Being a monster? Technically he couldn't even avoid looking like one because even if he took on the form of a human he'd still look like a mass of darkness. Being feared? At this point he could revel in it. Being hated?..... that was more of an annoyance than something that 'hurt' him. Eventually he gave up. If violence and anger was what the universe wanted him to be, then why SHOULD he repress it. No... he'll embrace it. Knutik is tired of trying to be the good guy in this day and age, he's tired of fearing fear itself, he's tired of being afraid but most of all.... he's tired of being afraid of himself.

After all, violence and anger is also part of survival.

Ayeka notices the scarecrows finally are gone and soon the little girl left. She glance at Dorian who in someway made every evil shadow go away. She sighs as as Dorian drink his wind and left quickly as he came. She sighs as she grabs a broom to sweep of the broken glass on the floor. She sweeps it into a corner to reshape it later. She is weary about the new guy you could use light as a weapon, she is wondering if he could kill her. She heard that a great source of pure light could melt her frozen heart to take away her powers or do something worse to her.

Drai sheaths his weapon as the battle has faded. He looks around and smirks the shade is gone and so is the scarecrows. he nods to @Alisdragon911 as he walks over to the bar and sits. he ponders over the food and drink menu as he is quite famished. Drai is in awe of the power of @Dark Light and wonders if he knows the reason behind the scarecrows.

Micheal walked into the bar as he made his way towards the where the bar was the floor was shaking because of his weight, The obese man seen by the other patrons in the bar could see that he was quite overweight. Something else they would notice was how clean he looked with somewhat clear skin, clean shaven and cut nails and haircut in a sort of bowl cut. He was also wearing a bright purple suit jacket and slacks with a dark blue dress shirt coupled with a light blue tie. He looked very rich but is not someone to be underestimated.

Making his way towards the bar and putting his large fat hand on the table asking the bartender or person behind the bar to get him a glass of water.

@Drai@Eviledd1984

Ayeka nods back at the light user as she heard someone ask for water. She made a glass of water appears in front of the large man in a purple suit. She puts down the broom and walks over to a customer to help to fix a table but he shoo her on as he can fix this himself. She turns over several chairs, to her it is starting to look half decent. She sighs again as there is still stuff to clean up and glad she got some help.

Drai gets up and walks towards @Alisdragon911. He bows to her and says "Ma'am please forgive my rudeness." He gets down on his knees and starts picking up broken glass. He looks around as finishes and goes to pick up and start to repair a chair. The shadows from his skin start to lick the chair as he carefully puts the dowel back in it hole.

@Alisdragon911

"Thank you miss" He said smiling as he took out his wallet and then asking her how much the water would be,Looking her over he thought that she was quite cute but would think that she would not be into him. Understandable since he is quite a heavy man and was always a bit jealous of the thinner prettier men that were around him.

He wished he could kill them all so he would be the only man to chased by beautiful women,But he had the sense not to or rather to do it but without any traces.

@Dark Light

Darkness. Everywhere there should have been sensation, there was only darkness.

Occasionally there would be a moment where only the weakest imitation of the senses would gently fill the void - a blurry vision, a faded sound, a hint of pain - but like dreams, the more he tried to chase any particular thread the more they eluded him, dissipating into the void from whence they came.

Slowly, he began to piece the fleeting impressions together. He was in some sort of speakeasy - no, a tavern... There was... Screaming? Cries of some sort? Shadows morphing into figures - No, not just any figures, scarecrows! That's right, he was in the tavern when suddenly he was set upon by...

Oh, shit.

Hardwick opened his eyes. The straw man was standing over him, a terrible clawed hand rising back to prepare one last fatal strike. He struggled to move, but the pain and broken timbers atop him limited any attempt at escape to a weak and feeble writhing upon the floor.

But maybe I don't have to escape...

Hardwick stopped moving and glanced one last time at the creature's claw. Timing was key.

With a snarl, the straw man brought his claw down towards the detective. Hardwick used what little energy remained in his battered body to shift ever so slightly to thr right, and closed his eyes in anticipation.

The claw struck the wood, shattering most of it into thousands of tiny splinters and cleaving down through the pile to embedded itself in the floor. Had it been a second sooner, the beast would have pierced clean through Hardwick's chest but for now the claw sat barely an inch from his abdomen.

With the timbers no longer posing an issue, adrenaline surged through Hardwick's body. He scrambled from beneath the broken wood and crawled frantically behind the bar while the straw man desperately tried to tug it's claw free. Rows of strange bottles containing all mannner of liquor lined the shelves, many of which bore labels in languages that Hardwick couldn't decipher let alone recognise. Before too long he found his eyes drawn to one in particular, a familiar name printed in large letters upon the bottle: Sambuca.

He looked around. The dwarfish bartender from earlier was no-where to be found, nor was Ayeka. Beyond the safety of the bar, he could hear the little girl crying as two men (if you could call the first voice a man's) argued over whether or not she should be killed. The screaming of patrons and horrible rattling cries of the straw men were much dimmer here, and for the first time since the little girl showed up in the tavern Hardwick felt an odd sense of calm wash over him.

The serenity was short-lived. A huge claw placed itself on the bar and began dragging along the polished wood towards his hiding place. Hardwick picked up the Sambuca and weighed the bottle in his hands. It was relatively heavy - At some point it had been opened, but hardly any of it had been consumed. It would make a fine projectile, but he'd only have one chance to strike the straw man...

Strangely enough, there was a break in the bedlam. The screams fell silent, the growls faded away and the tavern fell strangely quiet. Even the horrible claw ceased its advance briefly. A voice called out, strange power accenting every word:

'Alright, it's getting late. Time for young children to go home.'

There was a brief shuffling of small, cloth-lined feet and the resounding *thunk* of the tavern door being closed, sealing their realm off from the nightmares that lay beyond. Footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor as a man Hardwick had never seen walked behind the bar to fetch a bottle of wine and a glass. He glanced at Hardwick and regarded him with a nod and courteous smile before leaving, thick-soled shoes creaking on the tavern stairs as he ascended.

The silence that followed seemed to last an eternity. Finally, Hardwick shakily got to his feet and looked out across the tavern, confused patrons and straw men alike looking at each other. The straw man in front of him turned slowly and let out a weak growl.

Hardwick sighed and grabbed a candle sitting atop the bar and used it to light the alcohol in the bottle. 'Oh Christ, just fuck off and give it a rest already' He said through gritted teeth, and hurled the still-burning bottle into the straw man, setting it alight.

@Drai@Eviledd1984@gohKamikaze

"I hope you know I am trying to fix this place, I don't need to fix another hole in the wall." Ayeka screams at Hardwick, she gets that he is confuse. She is glad one of the patrons but out the fire as all the shadows are gone. She looks at the guy who just ask to help her, "thanks for your help." She looks over to the heavy guy in the purple suit, "it is on the house." She is not in the mood to deal with patrons at the moment. She have a feeling that Dorian get mad for closing the tavern due to damages from the attack.

@Alisdragon911

"Can i ask what happened to this fine establishment?" Micheal said smiling and putting his wallet away into his pocket touching that pocket.He was glad he did not have to pay for a glass of water even though he could practically buy the tavern although he would gain nothing form buying this money dump.

Adjusting his tie wondering if he was going to have his question answered since she looked so busy with something else.

As always, no one needed to stress about the damages of the tavern. Nobody actually saw the tavern repair itself, but it did. Every time your gaze returned after looking away something new had returned itself to place.

---

You would never see it happen, but if you looked away, slowly piece by piece it would return to its former self. Even every blink would bring it a tiny slither closer to being what it was. Everything had a place to which it would return if only you gave it the time without focus.

This was one of the greatest powers and mysteries of the tavern. The curious had spent weeks trying to study it only to leave near mad as there proved no measure to witness it. You would look away and look back and there it was as if nothing happened. The fuller the tavern the longer this would take due to all the extra eyes.

@Alisdragon911 @Dark Light

The straw man went up in flames, writhing and screeching as its body turned to ash, the dry straw serving as ideal fuel for the hungering inferno that now consumed it. Hardwick heard Ayeka shout something about the fire at him, but it was faint and drowned out by the ever increasing ringing in his ears.

He stumbled out from behind the bar just as one of the other patrons managed to put out the last smouldering remains of the straw man. Hardwick looked down at the charred floorboards - already he could see the blackened marks shrinking and fading. The far wall had begun to mend itself too, the splintered timberwork reforming slowly, gradually erasing any trace that he'd had been thrown into it barely minutes before.

As the adrenaline began to calm, Hardwick became aware of just how much he hurt all over - the straw man's assault had taken its toll on his mortal body. He coughed violently. The ringing in his ears was a din mow, a fever-pitch of noise that drowned out all other sound. He coughed again, this time a concerning amount of blood flying from his mouth. His legs began to give way, and he gripped the bar to steady himself as his eyes widened and the world began to fade to black.

'D... Doctor....' came the bubbling gasp from his throat, now more blood than saliva. The world went black, and Hardwick crumpled to the floor, blood pooling from his mouth; not yet dead, but barely alive.

@Eviledd1984@gohKamikaze

Ayeka is glad that the tavern can repair itself again, she sits next to the heavy guy in the purple suit. "A invasion of shadow straw men control by a little girl." She said as she notices Hardwick pass out with blood all over him. She did not know if a doctor is coming soon, she gets up and goes to his side. She tries to heal him with her ice magic. She hopes there is a patron in the bar is better at healing then she is, to her this day can't get any worse than what she been today.

@Alisdragon911

"Ah i see..sounds terrible..." Micheal said now turning around to face her and the injuried man,"If you are in need of some protection i may be able to assist you" He added sipping the water in the glass and smiling.Looking over to the man thinking that perhaps his power could help end his suffering but did not want to cause any trouble just yet.

The night air chilled to the bone, but there was no cold that could touch Gwevyl's skin. A mighty fine fight it had been, nearly a dozen of the barbarians, and only Gwevyl himself against them. He had just finished a job to deliver a package to the town east of Yriven, the last great refuge for Man or Dwarf north of the Frosted Plains. The employer had a strage air about him, always sneering and rubbing his hands together, but Gwevyl paid no mind. He knew this job had money involved, and so long as he had the coin, he didn't have to go thirsty. Fortune had not been kind to him in recent weeks, and the stocky Dwarf struggled to get himself just a drop of liquor in his belly. But he knew this job would be a piece of cake - what was worse than a short trot along a dirt path that led into a dimly lit grove?

He was told it would only be few hours time before he reached the village, and he had just used the last of his gold for some merriment in liquid form before he left. He paid no mind as he skipped merrily along the exposed soil road, occasionally hearing a hushed whisper. He also paid no mind to the shadows that dashed about in front of him as he reached the dense trees. The only time he paid mind was when there was a great cry from behind him - he figured he should turn to look, this time. Swiftly - mind you, as swift as a fat Dwarf can go - he turned his body, package beneath his left arm, axe in his right hand and upon his shoulder. Suddenly, he was thrust back, knocked into a hollow stump, his items strewn about in front of him. He shook his head slightly, and peered ahead. Three great figures stood directly between him and his package.

Though it was difficult, and he stumbled a bit while doing so, he got to his feet and brandished his mace. The shapes remained ominous and large, nearly twice his height - granted, he was barely four and three-quarter human feet in height himself.

"Right, then - who oughtta be da one who tumbled me over?"

He tried to sound menacing, puffing out his chest a bit, but only making his gut look a bit bigger. One could suppose his fear tactic worked, though, because the figure in the center stepped forward, showing his face. The burly looking man claimed, ay, it was him. Well, I oughtta bet you'd start regrettin' that blunder, Gwevyl said in response. No, the brute didn't. So of course, this verbal altercation resumed for a little bit longer, until the Dwarf got a bit infuriated by the pace of the argument, knowing it was just going to end with him having to bust some heads together, anyway.

The fighting started with the man in the middle getting a mace to the stomach, and the man to the right, that same mace to his leg, then the man on the left tried to swing his blade - too late, the Dwarf had thrown his own weight into the man, knocking him over and crushing a few ribs. Out of the trees, more men came, and the stocky drunkard had by this point grabbed at his axe and placed his foot upon the package.

A few more minutes and the fighting was over - not a scratch on Gwevyl, or the package. He leaned down, slowly, just to make sure he didn't lose his balace, and picked it up. By the time he got to his destination, he had forgotten all about the fight himself, save for the gold he took off of the mens' bodies that now happily jingled along with his skip and whistle. He delivered the package, got plenty of coin in return, and turned toward the nearest street sign he could find.

"Let's see 'ere, tavern!" The word was painted in black, bold letters upon a wooden arrow. Finishing whistling his tune, he pushed open the great oak door with all his might, shaking off the cold as he stepped into the warmth of a great open room.

Oh my, he thought to himself as he sobered up at the sight before him. Clearly, there was some kind of altercation here before - the whole room was littered with broken chairs, bottles, and patrons. Gingerly, he lifted himself onto one of the barstools, and tried to maintain his composure as he saw, magically, the place seeming to fix itself.

@gohKamikaze @Alisdragon911

Drai got off the floor as he shook his head in amazement. The bar repaired itself he smiled and turned towards Ayeka seeing she is with someone in trouble. He walks over towards them. "Need any help here." Dari kneels by Hardwick to assess the damage.

@gohKamikaze@Drai@Eviledd1984@Vashonn

Ayeka looks at Drai, "if you can heal him. Give it a go," She said as she steps ack from Hardwick's body hoping this guy can heal this patron. She looks back at Michael, "more stuff happens Moore than you think it does." She says as her earsdroop in sadness,she gets a feeling that this heavy set man could be a sumo and wanted to sit on the injured. To her sumos could earrned some money to buy a fancy suit like he is wearing right now. She notices another large man carrying a battle ax, she walks over to him. "Can I offer you something to eat or drink?"

@Alisdragon911

"Well if you have a medkit of some kind then i can be of service to you" He said now standing up form the stool. Making his way over to the injuried man looking him over for a moment trying to figure out how he could fix him.Although his powers could be of no help but he knew a bit about medical instruments and the human anatomy.

@gohKamikaze@alisdragon911@Eviledd1984

Drai looks up at the hulk of a man then down at Hardwick. He closes his eyes and starts to recite a prayer. his hands start to glow bright and warm as his prayer gets more intense. "May the Morning Light Fill your soul and heal your wounds." Drai slowly places his hands on Hardwick. the healing light touching his skin as the shadows from Drai hiss at the light and retreat from it.The power flowing from Drai's hand into Harwick. His faith making the light grow brighter.