78th Day of Fall, 518 AV, 21st Bell
In an abandoned building not far from the Seaside Market, music thumped and vibrated the ramshackle walls of the long empty establishment. The Bolt Hole was already in full swing for the night, the surrounding neighborhood treated to the dulcet tones of a female voice drifting out from the swinging metal door. It was this music that pulled the Svefra maiden Kailani in its direction, seafoam eyes wide in wonder. Where there was music, there was drinking and dancing. On this night, the sailor had a taste for both.
A bouncer stopped Kailani at the door just as she was about to push inside. “One silver miza for access to the Bolt Hole,” he told her, hand outstretched. Her eyes widened with a smile. So this was the elusive Bolt Hole she remembered Kynier talking about on their sea voyage not so very long ago. And here she was, stumbling upon it completely by accident. She’d heard the music from the river, and simply had to come investigate. Now, she was glad she had.
Kailani handed over the coin with a smile, and the man stepped back to let her in. What met her eyes as she entered took her breath away. Lights of every shade and hue danced across the ceiling, creating an extravagant show of joy and gentle chaos that had her enthralled from the second she stepped inside. Bodies moved and gyrated on every surface of the building, heady intoxication almost palpable in the air that filled the makeshift dance hall. The Svefra found herself swept up in it almost instantly, her hips swaying in smooth rhythm to the music provided by the scarlet-haired twins on an impromptu stage.
Dancing her way to the series of planks and stones that seemed to serve as a bar, she stopped to gain the barmaid’s attention. “Any drinks you recommend?” Kailani asked the woman, pitching her voice to be heard over the nearby instruments.
“The Silk Bolt tends to be pretty popular with the ladies who come through,” the barmaid shouted back. “It’s got a vanilla flavor that’s simply to die for. Want to try it?”
She nodded enthusiastically, waiting no longer than a chime or two as the woman behind the bar whipped up her drink. “Hope you enjoy!” the bartender told her as she slid the glass across the planks, Kailani sliding back a silver miza in return.
“Thank you!” Grabbing the drink, she tipped it against her lips with a groan of pure ecstasy. It was delightful with a smooth finish, just sweet enough to pique her taste buds, but not so sweet as to seem cloying. She finished the drink off in record time before asking for another, sliding another silver coin across the bar as she retrieved it.
This second one in hand, she made her way back out into the crowd as a pleasant warmth started to flow through her bloodstream. The drinks were stronger than they seemed, blissful euphoria already suffusing her limbs. Kailani tipped another few swallows of the Silk Bolt down her throat before she approached her first partner for the evening.
Blue eyes met piercing green as she saw him, a young brunette with shaggy hair, a thick beard, and a mischievous smile. Kailani’s own answering smile held equal mischief, her free arm wrapping around his neck as her body pressed in close to his. The man was all too happy to reciprocate, his hands encircling her waist and pulling her in closer. The second drink was gone before she could blink, abandoning her glass to the side and letting her other arm join the first.
She was lost in her partner, their movements seamlessly blending together as she drowned in the music filling the air. His name was spoken and instantly forgotten, Kailani distracted and pleasantly overwhelmed by the sensation of music and illusions alike. A tablet was pressed into her hand, one she recalled with vague familiarity from her time in The Drunken Fish with Azcan. Bolt Hole Blow, he’d called it, a drug that had produced one of the fastest and cleanest highs she’d ever known.
Without hesitation, she pulled back briefly from her partner, crushing the tablet and laying it in a line on a nearby table. Plugging one nostril, she snorted up the drug in one quick motion. Almost instantly, her pupils dilated, eyes rolling back as she staggered. Yes, that was what she remembered. That ecstasy, that inundating sense of pleasure. It was exactly what she needed after the stresses of the past several tendays. Tonight, she intended to indulge.
Only ticks later, she was back in the arms of her partner, twisting and twirling and grinding to the hypnotic beats of drum and guitar. Kailani lost herself in it all, letting herself forget, however briefly, her woes of the season. This would be a night of catharsis, a night to purge herself of the negativity building and building on her soul. Everyone needed a break from the harsh life of Sunberth. The Bolt Hole provided the perfect escape.
NaNo WC: 845
Ledger :
