The silence that enveloped the tavern was palpable as if someone could cut it with a knife. The only sound in the room was the trickle of the fiery nun, Diane, and her spilled drink dripping off Blaine's head.
With each droplet that hit the ground the anxiety filling the air went up a notch.
Charon could hear the two sisters next to him exchange glances before saying under their breath, "Oh. Shit."
"Why don't you piss off and find somewhere else to eat Blaine," Diane demanded, being the first to disturb the silence.
Without a word, Blaine stood up. Charon saw the anger hidden within the man's eyes. It wasn't the kind that burst out in a violent flame but simmered intently within, waiting for its moment of release.
"But I like it here, you got a problem with that, nun?" Blaine replied to Diane as he stood up to match her. The towering man stood over the fiery nun.
Having to look up at Blaine, Diane didn't back down and stared straight daggers into him.
"Leave, Blaine," Diane said, adding a harsh tone as she stressed the man's name.
Charon stared at the two from the corner of the room like everybody else was. They all watched this fiery bartender spill a drink on the man so determined to make his presence known.
What they all didn't see, including Charon, was the nun's closed fists shaking.
Taking a hard finger to the man's chest Diane began to go off on him.
"All you do is come here and demand free food from these folks, taking advantage of this establishment. You eat and proceed to complain once you're finished." At each point she made she brought back her pointer finger and stabbed him in the chest, increasing the pressure each time.
"How dare you harass these very people you're supposed to be protecting, your actions alone earn you the right of abolishment from the service. Or better yet, you can fuck right off and hopefully lay dead in a ditch somewhere, saving everybody the fuss." At the last remark, she raised her voice several pitches higher. Letting the tone she spoke with carry across the room in the absolute confidence she carried. With no stutters and no shrinkage of her person, she made it clear for all to see what she was standing up for.
Staring back at her with unwavering eyes Blaine's facial expression revealed nothing about what was happening on the inside, as if his face was a mask of stone.
"Dead." He said this to himself as if it was completely alien to him. Tilting his head in the process.
"Oh, you sweet little nun," he chided close to her ear, his voice dripping with mockery, "How wrong you are." He leaned back slightly, as a preview of a smug smile played at his lips while looking into her eyes.
Dismissing the smugness he revealed a cruel smile, turning to address the room more rather than the woman in front of him, "Diane, how long has it been since you came to this village?" He asked plainly.
Waving a hand around the room he nagged at the growing audience.
"Hm?"
Silence prevailed with Diane refusing to answer.
"I'll tell you. Not. Long. Enough." He stated, answering his question. Turning like a rotating structure he made his way into a circle, staring hard into the audience.
His eyes narrowed like that of a wolf finding his prey as he finally completed the rotation and locked eyes with the fiery barkeep.
"You weren't here to remember the last devastation those damned savages wrought upon us!" His face flared with red anger.
"Where you here when they slaughtered the farmers out in the field? When our mothers, wives, and daughters were stolen from us? No, no. Of course not. So close was the enemy and so far were you." He spits out in his flaring anger.
Breaking the stare down once more with the nun he looked around at those he knew to have lived here. Those who remembered the tragedy that befell Ramona Village, a tragedy before Charon's time and apparently before Diane's. Finding those frightened faces his previously cruel smile turned predatory with his rising anger.
"Hm? And who stood up for those lost?" Agitation evident as he surveyed the room. With an accusatory stare, he locked onto those who remember, the men and women who were old enough to experience what he had all those years ago.
"That's right, none of you fucking did. We did."
Those he had targeted within the audience shrank at Blaine's unscrupulous words, he was accusing them of not caring enough. He was stating for all to hear that he held the right to demand what was his because as one of the few who had the balls to take revenge, he earned them.
Diane's fists clenched tighter at her sides, her jaw set in defiance as she met Blaine's gaze with unwavering resolve. "You think your actions justify your behavior? That the Eshkar blood you spilled was somehow noble? That it gives you the right to terrorize innocent people?" Her voice cut through the air like a blade, her words carrying the weight of truth. "All you're proving is that you're no better than them. You're worse. You and Lord Ramon's men claim to be defending us from the Eshkar but truth be told nobody has seen them in decades since the attack. You're killing their people just as they did ours, and the tally seems to be in our favor. They took an eye and in return, you took their fucking legs"
Blaine scoffed, a derisive smile twisting his lips. "Innocent? You call them innocent? They're nothing but sheep waiting to be slaughtered by wolves. They are as responsible for their deaths as those savages were. There are no innocents among the Eshkar, they're all brutes killing one another. All they do is kill and steal our livestock anyway, serves us right to take their legs away, at least they won't be stealing from us anymore. And you, Diane, you're no different. Just a naive woman playing at being a hero."
The words struck a nerve, a flicker of doubt crossing Diane's face before she shook it off with a steely determination. "I wasn't responsible for those deaths and you know it. Neither are they, they are as much the victim as you but that still doesn't justify your actions. Unlike you, Blaine, instead of hiding behind a false sense of nobility and taking my anger out on innocent people, I try to help."
A murmur rippled through the tavern, the patrons exchanging uneasy glances as the tension continued to mount. It was clear that this confrontation was far from over, and the outcome could have far-reaching consequences for everyone involved.
Yet rather than what the tavern expected, Blaine and his men turned around to walk out the front door with not a word exchanged. The men had still not paid for the services provided, and that was the tipping point for the nun.
A plate shattered against the wall next to Blaine's head.
Without a breath wasted Blaine turned with the double-bladed sword attached to his hip and severed the legs of the nearest table, forcing the patrons to flee in response. His men quickly followed his lead.
With the men hacking away at nearby furniture, Chaorn noticed Danny rush off to the back kitchen. Towards the far side of the room, he watched as the young girl he spotted earlier dashed upstairs with a worried look.
After a moment's wait the sound of pans falling on the ground and rapid shuffling resulted in Danny emerging with a sword of equal measure to Blaine's grasped in his shaking palms.
Attempting to calm his beating heart Danny spoke in breaths.
"Blaine!" he shouted at the man, causing him to halt mid-slash after noticing the young man shaking.
Looking at him with a masochistic smile he taunted the man. "Tch, Danny don't think this'll scare me."
With a flick of the wrist, Blaine sent Danny's sword flying out of his grasp and skidding against the wooden floor.
"You're just like the rest of them. You have no excuse for not avenging her-" Chocking on his words Blaine stopped in the middle of his sentence. Turning away from the duo standing in front of him.
Diane, who stood next to the tavern worker, didn't move a muscle as she watched the five head out.
"Happy Blaine?" She called after the man a couple of years older than she.
Turning back with the dying flames of anger in his eyes he responded to the spiteful nun, "Not even close."
Looking Danny up and down once more in a disgust-filled gaze he uttered parting words to the young man.
"You're all fucking pathetic."
And with that, the five finally left.