Theodore's hand quietly slipped beneath the counter, where Damon knew he kept a Heritage barkeep revolver. Not that it would do much good against a demigod.
"My establishment welcomes all who can pay and behave," Theodore said calmly. "Are you here to drink or to cause trouble?"
The golden-haired man ignored him, still smiling at Damon and not taking his eyes off of him. The lyre symbol at his breastplate signified that he was a son of Apollo. Same as the others behind him.
"Damon Fallenstar," he crooned softly, prowling towards Damon who was still seated, his eyes carefully watching him.
"Last survivor and Lord of the Apophis Clan,The Last Devourer of Light."
He tutted, his boots clicking against the filthy floor like he was walking on marble. "How far you've fallen, mingling with these… humans."
The bar held its breath in silent fury. They watched the confrontation in fear. It was well known that a battle between demigods did not tend to go well.
Damon took another slow sip of his drink. "It's actually better here with the 'humans' than at the Black Palace…That's as long as you are not expecting a golden bath."
The man's smile tightened. The air in the bar grew heavier, like the way it does before a storm.
Theodore sighed, setting down his rag. "If you're going to fight, please take it outside. I just mopped."
The golden- haired man waved him off,his attention on Damon. "You disgrace your bloodline and what's left of it."
"You know nothing of my bloodline," Damon retorted sharply. His fingers tightened around his cup.
"Yeah?" the man laughed,the others behind sniggering as well ",I guess I can't ask them seeing as you put them in their graves, Fallenstar."
Damon's veins bulged in anger, his hands twitching, but a sharp look from Theodore calmed him down. He feared what the man would do if he should destroy his bar.
"A bounty hunter told us we would find you here,"the man continued," who could have thought you would be hiding at the crime scene itself."
'The girl from earlier,' Damon thought bitterly. He had grown more reckless these days.
"Guess you ain't half as bright as your gold",Damon shrugged.
Half the bar snorted with laughter,a response that enraged the man,his fists balling in fury.
"I would wipe off that stupid smirk of yours soon enough, you disgrace of a demi-god,"he spat," get him boys."
Theodore groaned as Damon jumped off his seat. "Outside?"
'Five men if you exclude the golden pig himself.' Damon thought quickly. Four of them were brawlers, one was an inner. None of them were above the 10 percent mark. Shouldn't pose much of a threat. Yet.
Inners were a pain in the ass.
The demigods were weaker than him and they knew that, not that his reputation was exactly pleasant either.
They circled slowly, causing majority of the people in the bar to back off , although,a few daredevils still hung around out of curiosity.
The first attacker lunged with a short sword. Damon sidestepped it. He grabbed the man's wrist and used his momentum to hurl him into a table which splintered under the impact.
"Sorry about that," Damon called to Theodore, who was already calculating the damage.
"That's three gold coins. And please try not to break the expensive stuff," Theodore replied dryly.
Two more rushed him without hesitation. One of them forming a sword out of pure light, its blade slicing through the air. Damon barely dodged narrowly, crashing backwards into a table.
He hurriedly snatched a wooden pitcher from a drunk, took a thirsty swig, before smashing it over the swordsman's head.
"You actually drink this shit?" Damon cried out as he spat out the drink in disgust,the guilty drunk grumbling in incohorent words as his drink was stolen.
Blood and cheap wine spilled on the floor,as Damon kicked him across the room straight into the hands of the golden haired man.
Disgusted, he burnt the unconscious man to a crisp with a bright light that engulfed the entire room, before shoving off the corpse.
Distracted,Damon barely had time to dodge a kick from the other guy. He turned around, stabbing him in the throat with a splintered table leg and pinning him to the ground with a sickening thud.
The man tried to claw desperately at him but Damon lifted him into the air and slammed him down with so much force that the entire floor shook violently, creating a small crater.
Damon felt a whisper of movement behind him and twisted, narrowly avoiding an arrow that would have found his kidney.
It was made of light and Damon swore loudly as dozens more were shot his way by the golden haired man.
The bar dissolved into chaos as some unlucky ones began to get slaughtered by stray arrows by the demi god who did not seem to care.
The people scrambled for cover as the entire room was nearly destroyed.
"Seven thousand gold coins!" Theodore yelled out from behind the counter.
"I'm not the one shooting!" Damon yelled back as another of the demi gods blocked his path, swinging a fist at him widely, trying to trap him into the arrow onslaught.
Damon went low. He grabbed his head and kneed him in the balls. The demi god vomited in pure shock as he fell to the ground, clutching in between his legs which began to twitch.
"How could you knee a guy in his balls!?" Theodore yelled,the rest of the bar yelling in agreement but they soon ducked again as arrows flew.
The Arrows increased in number. Damon moved with the fluid grace of someone who had spent years fighting off persistent bounty hunters for over two years, but barely dodging each and every one of them.
The Inner demigod, however ,wasn't moving a hair ,he was at the far back. His beady eyes watching the fight carefully as if looking for an opening. It made Damon wary.
Shadows swirled at his hand, lacing around his fingers like thick ropes. He growled as he hurriedly shrugged it off.
Not here. Not now.
A bolt of pain soon shot through his entire shoulder before rendering it numb. Damon groaned. An arrow had managed to lodge itself into his shoulder. He gritted his as he faltered, leaning on the wall and pulling it out.
"Wait till I lay my hands on you," Damon grunted as he dove forward, ignoring his numb shoulder, his eyes flashing with anger.
"You won't live long enough to fulfill that promise," The Golden haired man hissed back as he also burst forward.
Damon leapt. He swung a frontal kick towards him. The golden haired man instinctively raised his arms to parry.
It was a feint.
Damon threw forward his arms, and swung over the man. He locked his feet in his neck in a tight chokehold.
He tightened harder, the golden haired man trying desperately to flip him off his back.
The ceiling began to collapse from damage as Damon held on tighter. The man's forehead beginning to turn blue as he tried prying off Damon's legs from his throat.
Just when Damon was about to heave a sigh of relief.
He was slow to react. The Inner demigod had struck him, one finger at his navel, another at his throat. An uncomfortable bout overwhelmed his senses.
Poison.
Damon felt it then—a burning sensation throughout his entire body. It was like being stabbed with a thousand needles. He lost his strength. His chokehold weakened, giving the golden haired man the chance to throw him off his back in exasperation,heaving heavily to get his breath back.
"The mighty have fallen indeed," the golden haired man said, standing over Damon, while still clutching his throat, the blood returning to it.
" Two years ago, this would not have been possible. The humans have made you weak." He spat.
The last thing Damon saw before consciousness abandoned him and he crashed to the floor was the young thief slipping out the door. He turnef around for a last look, his wide, guilty eyes gleaming.
"Burn down this shack." He could distantly hear the golden haired man's voice. His thoughts groaned thinking how much he now owed Theodore.