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Luna returned to the bar, it was busy with a rowdy crowd already for an early evening, all still wearing armour, weapons, and mud over their clothes; these must be the bounty hunters who are after the 10,000 barrels.

She took a deep breath and made her way to the back room, her mind racing with the weight of the news she had to deliver. She wondered why she was so nervous; it was the questions she was going to get from the villagers. She knew that her closest friends at the bar, Elara, Mira, and Lira, would be the first to hear about her contract with Magnus and her name change.

Elara, Mira, and Lira were there in the back room, having been rushed off their feet due to the increased custom from the bounty hunters, their faces a mix of curiosity and concern when Luna mentioned she wanted to tell them something important.

Luna took a deep breath and began. “Thank you all for coming. I need to tell you something important, and it’s not going to be easy to hear.”

Elara’s eyes widened. “What is it, Victoria?”

Luna paused, gathering her resolve, the darkness rising in her to calm down those nerves and give her some clarity.

“First, I need to tell you that my name is not Victoria. I’ve chosen a new name for myself: Luna Moonshadow. I’ve been keeping this a secret for the past couple of days, but it’s time for the truth to come out.”

Lira’s eyes widened. “Luna? But why, Victoria… I mean, Luna?”

Luna nodded. “I’ve agreed to an arrangement with a demon named Magnus, who has something called an incursion portal in Branodunum Castle. I made the arrangement to protect the village from further incursions and, personally, after reading up on magic, I want to learn magic.”

Mira’s eyes filled with concern. “Luna, why would you do such a thing? What kind of magic have you gained?”

Luna’s voice was steady. “I know it sounds dangerous, and it is. But I believe it’s necessary to protect us all and believe me after taking down some bandits that tried to grab me and Aurik, it kind of felt good to use the magic. The College of Contracts is involved, and they will help me understand and manage the situation, when the representative from the College comes down to speak to me, but what I really need your help with is to figure out how to break this news to the other villagers.”

Elara’s expression softened. “Luna, I understand. Believe it or not, there’s always some villager making a deal every ten or so years. My grandfather was a warlock who had a deal with a grand fey. He used his powers to protect the village during a time of great need. You’re not alone in this. He was the reason those Wood Elves keep travelling around here, oh yeah, one of those is your dad!”

Luna’s eyes widened with surprise and gratitude. “Ta, Elara. Your grandfather’s a legend from what I remember from the stories from that last attack on the village.”

Mira popped in with a point “Well Luna, you might want to wait a few days once these Bounty Hunters have settled in, they are driving Grimbold mad with their demands, and if we don’t get out there, he’ll be even more annoyed!”

As Luna returned to the main bar, the past five minutes made it felt like more bounty hunters had descended into the tavern. The noise level was high with now some bards in groups trying to start singing and gain a few coins on their songs of adventure, arguments were breaking out and being resolved and the tobacco fug had started to cloud around the bar; and everyone was busy serving drinks.

Some of the farm hands had agreed to help for the extra coin the bounty hunters were paying and Grimbold had told them cash up front. A number of the farmers had heard the word of how busy it was and brought up anything alcoholic they had brewed, fermented, or distilled from their private collections.

Grimbold, the bar owner, was trying to manage the crowd. Luna approached him and whispered, “Grimbold, I need to tell you something important, but it can wait until things calm down a bit.”

Grimbold nodded, but his attention was more focused on the bar, trying to keep the rowdy crowd under control.

After half an hour of serving lechers and leeches, Luna noticed a group of three bounty hunters began picking on Mira, one of the bar staff. One of them, a burly man with a scar on his cheek, leered at her and grabbed her wrist. “Hey, lady, get me another drink, or you’ll regret it!”

Mira tried to pull away, but the bounty hunter tightened his grip. “Let go of me!” she protested, her voice trembling.

Another bounty hunter, a tall and muscular human, slapped her ass and laughed. “Feisty one, aren’t you? I like that.”

Grimbold went to intervene, running through the chaos. “Hey, leave her alone! This ain’t no Ithrillian Festhall”

The burly man punched Grimbold, knocking him to the floor. “Stay out of this, old man. Oh, and your beers watered down, and I’ve drank more alcoholic piss!”

Luna, who had been serving drinks nearby, saw what was happening. Her eyes flashed with anger, her skin took on a slight purple dark tinge and her perception of time started to slow as she waded into the three Bounty Hunters and clapped her hands, releasing some of the purple energy that had shaded her skin, in the form of a thunder wave that was heard all over the village.

The sound was deafening, and two of the bounty hunters fell to their feet after the thunder wave hit them.

The third bounty hunter, the tall and muscular one, turned to Luna with a sneer. “What the hell, lady? You’re going to regret that!”

The bounty hunter lunged at her, but Luna dodged his swing with ease. She replied with a wave of vicious insults, her words sharp and cutting.

“You’re nothing but a fucking cowardly bully who eats mud for a living pretending to be a hard man. You think you can push people around and get away with it? Think again, you piece of shit. You’re nothing but a hired thug mud eater, and you’re about to learn what happens when you mess with the wrong person. I’ll rip you apart, starting with your mind and then the muscles off your bones, you scumbag!”

The rest of the bar fell silent, all eyes on Luna, intensive looks from those in the village who knew her. The bounty hunter, visibly shaken by her words as he was squinting from the pains in his head hesitated.

Finally, he muttered a grudging apology and backed away, helping up Grimbold.

As everyone still gazed at Luna, she turned to the gathered villagers. Her confidence surged, that same smile she had left Magnus with had come back and she found herself speaking with a newfound resolve.

“Everyone, I need to tell you something. Look, when I went to the Castle, the ceremony I did was with a demon, I could say was to prevent the village from facing any more incursions, but I’ve been given a chance to learn magic as the demon, decided I’m worthy. As you can see, I’m going to put in the practice.”

As Luna said the words, she felt a surge of confidence and for some reason decided to add a curtsey to her announcement. Was it from the demon or her own resolve?

She wasn’t sure, but it gave her the strength to continue. “Oh, and call me Luna, Luna Moonshadow. I’m not really a Victoria anymore.”

The bar was silent for a moment, the villagers processing the news. Someone piped up “Fair enough love, now can I get a pint?,” laughter from the locals broke the atmosphere and the chat started to simmer again.

Luna turned to the bounty hunters, who were still a little shaky. “Get the fuck up,” she commanded, her voice firm and authoritative.

The bounty hunters, still shaken, slowly got to their feet as the Ithrillian Rangers rushed in, led by Aurik. Luna looked at him and said, “I told the village, Aurik. Can your men now bust these twats for manhandling Mira and whacking Grimbold?”

Aurik looked around, nodded, and said “We’ll take care of it, Luna. Thank you for handling the situation.”

The rangers quickly moved in, apprehending the bounty hunters, and leading them out of the bar to the village gaol. Aurik read them their rights and advised them they would be speaking to the Magistrates in the morning.

The bar slowly returned to its usual bustle, but the atmosphere was different now, some over what’s happened to the Butterfield girl, others wondering what was the Demon planning, and a couple wondering if they could ask the Demon to give them magic.

At the end of the night, Grimbold and the rest of the staff sat down around a table once the final bounty hunter had left, they had been asking around the village to sleep on their floors for a few pints. Grimbold was using the steak he had left for his dinner to help the bruise on his face from the punch and all of them were looking at Luna.

“Luna it is now?” Grimbold said, “Fair enough, I just hope to never feel the force of your tongue.”

“Yeah Grimbold, I’m not sure I was a Victoria, never knew why my mother picked that name, certainly nothing to do with my father.”

Mira popped in “Well Luna, I’m glad you’re still here, especially dealing with those scumbags, thanks again.”

Elara then asked, “Does he have any other openings?”

They all laughed, and Luna said after a few seconds “I’ll ask for you Elara, though might be worth waiting for the college to come down, did your grandfather ever deal with them?”

Elara paused “Don’t know, Grandfather never did say if he had dealt with them, and he wasn’t one for paperwork.”

Luna stretched her arms out and stood up. “You know, it’s time for bed.”

As she started to leave, Aurik came in. “Luna, excellent, you’re still here. See me tomorrow after breakfast. After speaking to your brawling partners, I need to raise more volunteer constables, and I know it’ll help your progress, so to speak.”