Fletcher picked up the crumpled note collected by his two agents. It didn’t make any sense. The alchemist had not been killed by anyone. She was not even dead. In fact, she had been well enough to fight again during this past round of the brawl. Was it a warning; a sign of something worse to come? Had something gone wrong in an assassination attempt? Why leave the note in the first place?
Cantrip intuitively sensed the questions going through the ranger’s mind. “We talked to the courier who delivered the message, but he didn’t recognize the person who asked him to deliver the package. So, we’re guessing it’s someone in town for the brawl. Unfortunately, the courier isn’t a fan of the Brawl and hasn’t been following things at the tavern, so he really wasn’t much help in narrowing it down further.”
Fletcher rose from his chair and began pacing the room. First someone had attacked the draft, now they had targeted the alchemist. He pointed at the note, then pulled his arms close to his chest. They had to draw out this threat before it grew out of control.
Raising her hands in the air excitedly, Selena jumped up. “I’ve got it!” she exclaimed. “We pretend to slice someone’s throat, then wait for the bad guy to turn up!”
Both Fletcher and Cantrip stared at her in disbelief.
Selena frowned. “What?” she asked confusedly. “I said ‘pretend’.”
Cantrip playfully punched her friend’s shoulder. “We can’t do anything like that. It would be too obvious. We need a plausible way to explain why someone may or may not have been hurt without actually hurting anyone.”
Fletcher stopped pacing, a horrible idea running through his mind.
—–
“You want me to go TO the Brawl?!”
Mike Murchadha looked from Cantrip to Selena, trying to understand their logic. He had been asked many times to go places due to his particular brand of luck, but it had always been AWAY from events, crowds of people, or any place that could prove dangerous.
Maggie and Zeb exchanged looks of their own and Cantrip took a deep breath. “It’s not as reckless as it sounds,” she began. “I’ve already talked to my brothers and they’re in the process of putting in a number of safety precautions into each of their arenas. For example, the wintery arenas are getting more snow shipped in via portal from the mountain and the autumny arenas are getting more hay bales.”
Selena coughed roughly. “Oh don’t worry,” snapped Cantrip. “We replaced the razor wire with twine. No more severed fingers.”
Mike did not look convinced. “Look, I’m not saying this is a great idea,” Cantrip stated frankly. “In fact, it’s a pretty terrible idea. But, at least we would KNOW something is about to happen and can sort of aim the crossbow of your curse where we want it.”
“I shot a crossbow once,” replied Mike. “I was aiming for a painted target 10 yards away. A butterfly landed on my arm just as I was pulling the trigger. I jerked my arm and hit a passing crow, which landed on a nearby wild boar. The boar was startled and ran into the nearby village, causing two concussions, 3 broken arms, and the loss of a birthday cake.”
“Don’t forget about the statue,” chimed Maggie.
Mike hung his head. “And a statue of the town founder lost both of its arms.”
Selena clapped his back, causing him to stumble. “That’s all in the past now, Mike. What’s the worst tha-”
The rest of the rogue’s words were lost as Zeb tackled her to the ground.
Title: Tavern Brawls S07WK02
Category: Tavern Brawls
Tags: ##mistfire, #Tavern Brawls, #TB S7
Published on: October 21, 2025
As a project manager by day and musician by night, Mistfire is always on the move. Whether helping out the band at his youngest daughter's high school, visiting his oldest daughter at her latest college event, playing his trombone in the local jazz group, or trying to sneak in some quiet time outside, there is always something going on. Between all of that, he tries to spend as much time as possible with his wife and 2 cats in beautiful southern Minnesota.
