Reluctantly

The box was empty.

He had made it across town and into the lavish lobby of the oldest bank on the continent. He had felt so out of place there that he had gone straight to the bathroom and had Lexx morph into something nicer.

Getting to the box itself wasn’t easy either. He gave the box number to the dwarven woman behind a thick pane of bulletproof and what was probably highly enchanted glass and relayed the answers to the security questions provided by the ring. He was led downstairs by two burly bearded dwarves, small bulges under their jacket betraying the fact that they were armed. Although Arthur didn’t have enough experience to identify with what.

He told himself it was just a taser.

The box was empty. The guards upon setting the small box on a short table and unlocking it had retreated to the entryway where they stood, backs turned, unmoving, in silent watch.

The ring screamed in Arthur’s mind. Nausea overwhelmed him. He struggled to stay upright one hand strained white as he gripped the edge of the table to keep himself standing. Eventually the ring quieted itself. Arthur took a moment to breath. He closed the security box with one shaking hand. He turned back to the guards. “I’m done.” They turned to face him, and paled. Hands jumped under their jackets. “Sir? You… you’re bleeding.” He reached up touch his face. Blood dripped from his nose. And ears. And out of one eye.

“I’m fine.” One guard dropped his hand from inside his jacket. He passed Arthur a handkerchief from his pocket.

Arthur cleaned the blood from his face. Lexx helped. A blue tendril rose from his shoulder to wipe itself over his face, grabbing the blood and leaving clean skin behind. The tentacle grabbed the hanky cleaning it thoroughly before passing it back to the guard on Arthur’s behalf. The color had not returned to the dwarf’s face.

Arthur left the bank.