Meanwhile, back at the tavern, the evening rush was in full swing.
Lennie was moving swiftly behind the bar, pouring drinks and sliding plates across the counter to a crowd of hungry customers.
"Uhmm... excuse me, Miss? My ginger ale still hasn't arrived yet."
A patron at the corner table called out hesitantly.
"Oh, sorry about that, sir! It's coming right up."
Lennie replied smoothly, flashing a reassuring smile.
"It's totally fine, take your time."
The man said quickly, raising his hands defensively.
He wasn't about to push his luck—after all, he had been sitting in this exact room the night she single handedly beaten an entire crew of armed men.
"Haaa…"
Lennie let out a small sigh, wiping down a glass.
But beneath her calm facade she was starting to get worried about Taylor.
After all he had been gone for a while now.
Her eyes drifting toward the heavy front doors.
*I hope he's alright. He's smart, but this town isn't safe for a kid alone... I just hope he hasn't run into some dangerous stranger.*
Just as she thought…
-Boom!
A massive, ground-shaking explosion violently rattled the tavern windows, the shockwave causing glasses to shatter off the shelves.
The floorboards vibrated fiercely beneath their feet.
"Huh... what the hell is going on?!"
Lennie muttered, dropping her apron,
The initial blast was immediately followed by a chorus of panicked, distant
screaming from the streets.
"Fire! Crimson gas! Everyone get to safety!"
In an instant, chaos erupted inside the tavern.
One by one, the patrons knocked over stools and scrambled over each other,
rushing out the doors in a desperate bid to escape.
*Wait... Taylor is out there in that crowd!*
As soon as the realization hit her.
She quickly used her hand to jump out of the counter.
"Everyone move in an orderly fashion! Make sure you get to safety!"
She commanded, grabbing a frail old man by the arm and firmly escorting him through the exit.
Granted, in the sheer panic, some people didn't listen to her warnings, but she made sure the room was entirely cleared.
The moment the last customer evacuated, Lennie reached down, grabbed the hem of her cumbersome bar apron, and forcefully tore a massive piece of the uniform away to free up her legs.
She bolted out of the tavern, her boots barely touching the cobblestones as she navigated the alleyways toward the source of the blast.
Reaching the dead center of the grand town square, she was met with a horrific sight.
A massive, iron-reinforced merchant stand had been completely blown apart, sending a thick cloud of alchemical smoke into the air.
A frantic swarm of hundreds of people were rushing outward, trampling over ruined stalls and screaming in terror.
Lennie's eyes scanned the fleeing crowd with razor-sharp focus, but there was no sign of Taylor.
A small part of her felt a wave of relief that he wasn't in the immediate blast zone, yet another part of her was filled with genuine, suffocating worry.
As she took a step forward to search for Taylor.
A group of armed men suddenly emerged from the each side.
Rapidly fanning out and surrounding her in a tight perimeter.
"Not… so.. fast…sweetheart."
A low mocking voice called out.
Stepping through the center of the blockade was the distinct, mohawk man she had beaten before.
This time his hair was messy and a bit silky.
His face was pale and tired.
Beads of sweat formed in his forehead.
He took heavy and repetitive breaths.
"You again?"
Lennie sneered, her posture shifting.
As she took a stance.
"Your as rude… as ever… I see. Is that seriously…. all you remember… me by…?"
*He looks different from the last time we met. What happened to him? Why am sensing poison… No… that doesn't matter right now.*
The mohawk man asked, resting his hands on the hilts of his twin cutlasses.
"Get the fuck out of my way!"
She screamed, her voice echoing over the distant alarms.
"Ah… ah… ah…!"
"We don't want any trouble just… cooperate and come with us quietly…"
The man said staring.
Lennie placed his index finger in the air.
"Fuck off!"
"Are you entirely sure you want to do that right now…? I mean, take a glook around. We have you completely surrounded… and there's a hell of a lot more of us than before..."
"Like hell, if you think that will stop me."
Lennie said, her voice dropping.
She tightly clenched her fists.
Her knuckles popping.
"Move before one of us dies here, and it sure as hell ain't going to be me."
She let out a crushing wave of cold, genuine killing intent a heavy aura that caused the surrounding ring of hardened men to flinch a bit.
Then took a step back.
Seizing the split moment of distraction, Lennie sprang forward like a striking viper and leaped high above their head.
Completely vaulting over their heads.
"Sorry, but I don't have a single second to waste on trash. I have somewhere to be."
Instead of panicking.
The man just let out a wide, sinister smile as she landed behind them.
"Somewhere to be, huh! Is it perhaps to save that little brat of yours?"
Lennie froze mid-stride, pausing in absolute silence.
"What about him?"
She said coldly, her voice dropping so lower sending shivers around the surrounding men.
"We already have him."
The leader lied smoothly, his grin widening as he turned around to face her back.
"He's currently in our custody."
Lennie's stoic expression flinched for a moment.
Before she forced her face back into a calm expression.
"How do I know you're telling the truth? You half dead prick."
The man chuckled, tilting his head with a look of pure malice.
"Maybe, just maybe I am… But even if I'm lying... do you really want to take that risk with his life?"
Lennie completely froze.
Her heels glued to the cobblestones.