Breaker

The cloth mixed in the spilt beer with the blood of a dozen bar room brawls and the spit used to clean the pewter tankards hanging above. The movement sent fat, drunken flies circling lazily upwards and out, to join the rest of their brothers and sisters somewhere above the smoke layer of the dank drinking pit. When they got short of breath up there they would occasionally wobble down and try to bother one of the revellers, only to give up when a hand was wafted in their general direction. They had all the commitment of a habitual drunk faced with a hard days labour.
"Hey Sid," whispered just such a drunk.
Sid turned from his pointless ministrations with the cloth and ambled over to the speaker.
"What's up Coll? Another pint with a pint chaser?" He said, reaching for the inebriated man's mug.
"No!" Coll jerked his mug away possessively, like a child with a treasured rag. Dark, cloudy ale sloshed over the top, diluting the contents of the bar further. Coll tried to smooth the scowl from his face and licked the ale from his sticky fingers.
"No, not yet. Who's that over in the corner?" He gestured conspiratorially with his fat head, causing Sid to feel slightly nauseous from the wobbling chins. "Not seen 'im before. Sad looking bastard. Been nursing that drink for a good 'alf hour. Reckon 'e needs 'elp finishing it?"
Sid leaned onto his bar, closer to the stale odour that was Coll. Tobacco, sweat and ale. Not a pleasant combination, but a familiar one to the bulbous red nose of Sid.
"Don't go bothering him now, you hear me Coll? Ain't worth the trouble." He waved a chubby finger underneath Coll's nose.
"Why? Don't look like much. Looks like a bum to me." They both regarded the lone figure sat on the corner table big enough for six others. His lank black hair hung down from his knotted brow as he stooped over his drink. A dirty purple coat which appeared several sizes too big was draped over his skeletal shoulders.
"He was a swordsman of some renown not so long back. Knight, he was. Breaker, they called him."
"Never heard of 'im. Guess 'e ain't nowned no more!" This set Coll off into a very small chuckling fit, which soon degenerated into a hacking cough. "Even I could take 'is beer off 'im and 'alf inch his purse before 'e lifted 'is eyes!"
"You'll do no such thing," the finger was back under Coll's nose. "He's done more for you, for all of us, than you would know."
"Bollocks! You're making that up! If I ain't mistaken there are five legs sitting under that table, and only four of them belong to the chair! I'm twice the man 'e is."
"You're twice the man most of us are you drunken ox! Now listen, and I'll tell you a story about our Mr Breaker."
Coll creaked closer to the innkeeper.
"Few years back, before you got to town, we were in a whole heap of shit. The Warrior Priests had invaded, just for the sake of it I guess, and Breaker there was at the head of our army. Fought like a man possessed he did. Fought for three straight days, no sleep, no food, as the ranks were pressed back into the city. I saw him out the front of my inn. I was upstairs with my grand daughter trying to stay out of the way. There was some god awful screaming coming from the courtyard, so I had to take a look. There was a girl of a like age to my little Bessie, who was just by my side. Cornered by four or five men. Not the Warrior Priests, of course, they don't hold with that sort of thing, but they turn a blind eye to the paid mercenaries they hire. She was being passed around like one of them Frenzy pipes you hear about. Horrible, it was. All of a sudden Breaker runs out of nowhere, sword a blur among them. I daresay he would have held his own against 20 of those thugs. I couldn't tell you right what happened, but I saw them drop one against the other, until one was left. He legged it as fast as he could, as the others should've done.
Breaker was bleeding and weary, but he scooped up the little girl and covered her in his cloak. He rapped on my door and I scampered downstairs, eager to make up for my cowardice. As I opened the door he proffered the weeping girl to me without a word. As I took her he screamed in pain and dropped to the floor. I saw a red spear jutting from his left thigh and a red warrior stood at the mouth of the alley opposite. I shamed myself again and slammed the door on Breaker. I left him to his fate."
Coll worked some moisture into his mouth and took a gulp of ale. The darkness of the inn was pressing in on him.
"What 'appened then?"
"Do you see any Warrior Priests drinking in here? He went on to rally the scattered army and routed the priests. Saved my life and gained me another grand daughter," said Sid, nodding over at a smiling serving girl. "I kept her on. Her parents had been killed and she had nowhere to go. Breaker lost his leg because of that spear, and then lost his commission, despite all he'd done for this city. Been going from drinking house to drinking house since then, enduring robberies and beatings from men who think they're something. So I'll have none of your silly talk or you'll be out on your arse!"
"I'll 'ave that pint please, Sid."
Sid poured a frothy pint and slid it across to Coll, gathering the coppers in payment.
Coll heaved himself down from the stool and picked up the tankard. He rolled and tilted his way over to the shadowed corner and gently placed the pint down in front of Breaker.
"I just, erm, well," mumbled Coll, "Thank you."

Breaker sat a little straighter, a little less broken.