by Pirateaba
Maybe there used to be more people in the area. Or maybe there was just an idiot who thought he was breaking into an untapped market. Either way, Erin was grateful for the inn.
“But why does it have to be so far away from anything?”
Erin walked down the slope. At least there was that. The inn was located on an incline. Not a steep hill, but a really long slope that gradually went down the more she walked. It was nice, until Erin looked back and realized she’d be climbing up all that way again soon.
“Wow. That’s a big hill.”
She stared for a while and kept walking. Relc and Klbkch had called the journey to the city a walk of about 10 minutes.
“They lied to me.”
Or maybe they just walked really fast. Erin could actually see the city Klbkch had called Liscor in the distance. It was still small, but given how close it seemed now compared to before and multiplying her velocity by her legs and given energy divided by her willingness to keep walking…
“Thirty minutes. No; probably an hour. Yeah, that sounds about right.”
Erin sighed. But exercise was good for her, right? It built character. Or something.
“So, what do I need?”
She took a quick inventory check. Her coins were securely packed into the bottom of one pocket. They were heavy. She had her clothes on, which was important, and she looked like…well, like a homeless person. But she had money. So what should she buy with it?
“Um. Clothing. Right. And soap. And a toothbrush, if they have toothbrushes. And toothpaste…which they probably don’t have. But something. And I need food obviously, soap, towels, laundry deter—more soap, and a comb.”
Erin walked a few more feet.
“And a sword. I need a sword. And a shield? And armor? And uh, anti-Goblin spray? Oh, and books! Tons of books. Maps, history books…can I read any of that? Well, Relc and Klbkch speak English. So that’s weird too. And I need bandages, a sewing needle, someone to teach me how to sew…”
Erin felt at her pocket. The coins jingled. She wished there were more to jingle.
“And I need to rob a bank.”
Okay. Erin retraced her thoughts.
“What’s essential?”
She counted off on her fingers.
“Clothing. Food. Toothbrush. Soap. And a lamp.”
She snapped her fingers.
“Right. A lamp! And a sword.”
She felt at her pocket.
“…Just the lamp.”
—-
“Flat grass, flat grass, all I see is flat grass.”
Erin sang as she walked. She wasn’t sure if there was a tune, but at least the singing kept her company.
“Horses eat grass, but I’ll pass, so I’ll go to the city fast. Or I’ll die of starvation! And once I’m there I’ll eat ten pears and—hey, is that a Goblin?”
Erin turned her head suddenly and the small head ducked down. She squinted. Yes, that was definitely a Goblin. It was hiding up on a small hill to her left, but she knew it was still there. Watching her.
Well. She was being followed. Erin wasn’t sure what to make of that. She looked around and two more heads disappeared as their owners dove for cover. They didn’t look like they were trying to ambush her, just follow her.
“Hm.”
Erin bent down and searched the grass. Eventually she found what she was looking for. She waited until one of the Goblins decided she’d forgotten about them and poked his head up again. Then she turned and shouted.
“Shoo!”
Erin hurled the rock. It missed the Goblin’s head. And the hill. But the green midget took the hint and disappeared in an instant. Erin sighed to herself.
“Great. They’re like cockroaches. Evil, giant, green cockroaches. With teeth. And sharp knives. And red eyes.”
She wondered what she should do. Then she thought about what she could actually do.
Erin kept walking.
The city kept getting larger the further she walked. She felt at some point it should stop getting bigger, but soon the buildings loomed in her vision. They were no skyscrapers, but they were taller than she felt medieval buildings should be. But the city was still far away. So she walked.
And she was being watched. Multiple pairs of eyes stared at the young woman as she walked through the grass. They watched her for signs of weakness, for things that could be exploited. She was watched. Occasionally she turned around and threw a stone.
—-
When Erin got to the city gates she stared up for a while.
“That’s a big wall.”
It was a big understatement. The wall was high. And that was high even by wall standards. It was nearly forty feet tall, which Erin had no way of knowing was perfectly normal for a wall. She had no way of knowing it was forty feet tall either. She just thought it was big.
But what was unusual about this particular wall, and what Erin did notice was the way the gate was constructed. It was no iron grating of a portcullis with handy holes to shoot and poke at enemies, but two solid metal doors. Erin wondered why, as the gates looked solid and hard to budge. They were, and for a reason. But she didn’t find out that reason until much later.
Erin approached the gate. There wasn’t really anyone else going through at the moment, so she felt very alone and small as she walked up to them. She stopped when she saw the guard.
He was big. He was armored. He was also a Drake, and he had yellow scales rather than green ones. Pale yellow, so Erin was reminded of popcorn. He also had a curved sword, and so it was with trepidation that she approached.
“…Hi.”
The Drake flicked his eyes down towards Erin and then resumed looking off into the distance. He was holding a spear at his side and a metal buckler on his left arm. Since he wasn’t using either to bash her to death, Erin considered this to be a good first start.
“Um. Nice weather, isn’t it?”
Again, the guard glanced at her. Again, he didn’t respond.
“…Right. It’s just that I’m new here. And I’m Human. Nice to meet you. My name is Erin. I uh, know another guy who works with you. Relc? And Klb…Klb…the insect guy? So yeah. They know me. I’m no threat. And uh, I saw some Goblins running around a while back. They’re not here right now, but I felt you should know.”
The Drake sighed audibly. And loudly.
“Go on in, human. Anyone can enter the city.”
“Right. Thanks. Uh, have a nice day!”
Erin smiled. He didn’t smile back.
“I’ll just be going. Now.”
She walked past the guard. As she walked through the iron gates she heard him mutter under his breath.
“Humans.”
Erin’s smile froze a bit on her face but she kept walking as if she’d heard nothing. Everyone was grumpy when they had to stand and deal with obnoxious tourists. And besides, he was just a guard. She walked through the imposing gates into the city. And then she had to stop.
Because she had entered Liscor. A city of the fiery Drakes, built with the help of the industrious Antinium. Home to the prideful Gnolls and the occasional Beastkin, not to be confused with one another. Visited by many races, home to countless more. And now entering—
One human.
1.13
“Uh, is this a store?”
Every head in the Adventurer’s Guild in Liscor turned at the voice. Grizzled Drake warriors, inhumanly tall Gnolls and several Antinium appraised the speaker who had just walked into the room.
A small human. Possibly female.
Their eyes shifted away in disinterest. After a few seconds Erin’s heart started beating again. She decided that this was definitely not the shop she was looking for.
“Ah, hello? We can help you over here.”
A voice called to Erin across the low murmuring. She saw a light green Drake waving at her from behind a counter. She was much smaller and had thinner limbs than Relc. Erin guessed she was female. The dress was also a big clue.
<
br /> Hesitantly Erin made her way over to the counter. The female receptionist gave her a close-lipped smile.
“Good day, Miss. How can we help you today? Do you have a bounty or quest to post? Or are you registering?”
“Registering? Quest? Oh no, I’m not here for…uh, anything. I just thought this might be a blacksmith so I…”
“Oh, I see!”
The receptionist smiled again. This time Erin smiled back.
“This is no shop, Miss. This is the Adventurer’s Guild. Didn’t they have one back in your city?”
“The Adventurer’s Guild?”
Erin stared around the room with renewed interest. Now that she wasn’t being pierced by a thousand glares she could take in the building properly. It was a large place, and at first Erin thought she’d walked into an inn. Or a bar. But now she knew what she was looking at, the receptionist behind the counter made a lot of sense.
“That’s right. Here you can let the Guild know about dangerous monsters in your area, post quests and offer rewards, or if you’re an adventurer yourself , you can go look at assignments or receive your reward.”
The receptionist pointed to a large wooded board nailed up against one wall. It had a quite a lot of parchment stuck to the wood, and several large and burly adventurers were gathered around it, talking amongst themselves.
“Wow.”
Erin studied the adventurers. They were all wearing armor, although the quality and amount varied from person to person. Most of the Drakes seemed content to wear only armguards or the occasional helmet without much chest armor, but several of the large hairy dog-hyena-things were wearing chainmail, and in one case, real plate armor.
That wasn’t all, of course. Some adventurers weren’t wearing any armor at all, or weapons. Erin spotted two Drakes and one of Klbkch’s species wearing light robes and carrying staves or daggers at their belts.
“Real mages. That is so cool.”
“…Miss? Excuse me, Miss?”
Erin looked around. She realized the receptionist had been trying to get her attention for some time now.
“Oh, I’m really sorry. What was that you were saying?”
“Are you a traveler, Miss? Or maybe…an adventurer? Are you here to register?”
The look the she-Drake gave her said this wasn’t much of a possibility.
“Oh no. I’m uh, an innkeeper. I guess. Or maybe a wanderer? Actually, I’m just new around here.”
The receptionist looked interested.
“An innkeeper, is it? Are you opening up a business here? I’m Selys, by the way.”
Selys offered Erin a hand. It was such a human gesture Erin had to smile as she shook her hand. It felt weird touching the cool scales, but not unpleasant.
“I’m Erin. Erin Solstice. And no, I’m not uh, innkeeping here. There’s a building outside the city where I live. I guess. I just came here because I needed to go shopping. Badly.”
She indicated her ripped and stained clothing.
“Well, I can’t leave the desk but I can give you some directions.”
Selys gave Erin another smile.
“It’s really rare to see any humans this far out from the coast. Your kind usually just sticks to its cities. What brings you out so far? Oh, and what are you looking for?”
“Um. Teleportation spell. And I need food. Flour, oil, butter, salt…that kind of thing. And I need clothing. Lots of clothing.”
“Well, if it’s food and general supplies you’re looking for try the market two streets down from here. To get to it just take a left as you walk out of here and then turn right and you’ll be there in no time. They’d also have some clothes there, but I’m not sure if they have any made for humans.”
“Oh, that’s great. Thank you so much.”
Erin had already forgotten the directions. She wished she had her smartphone, or Google Maps. A map would be useless since she never learned how to read them.
“I’m also looking for a place to get some other supplies. I don’t suppose you know where—”
A large, hairy hand grabbed Erin by the shoulder and pulled her around.
“Huh?”
Erin was looking at a wall of brown hair. She was sure that wasn’t there a minute ago. She looked up.
A hyena’s face stared down at her. Or rather, a hyena’s face on a humanoid body covered in fur. It was one of the adventurers in the inn and it—he didn’t look happy.
But he wasn’t saying anything. Rather, he was looming. Erin could tell it was looming by the way he stood and the way she felt like an ant. She didn’t know why he was angry at her. Maybe he just wanted to pick on someone. She opened her mouth and tried diplomacy.
“Um. Hi. Are you—are you a werewolf?”
It was definitely the wrong thing to say. The pissed-off look on the hairy hyena-guy’s face only got worse. He growled at her in a rumbling voice that sounded like…well, what Erin imagined a dog would sound like if it could talk.
“Do I look like a werewolf?”
“N-no?”
Erin backed up a step and found the counter was right behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Selys gazing at her worriedly, but the receptionist didn’t come to her aid.
The not-werewolf leaned over and growled in her face.
“I’m a Gnoll.”
His breath was terrible. Erin felt weak at the knees just smelling it.
“Right. I’m very sorry about that. Um. Can I help you?”
“You’re in my way.”
“Right. Sorry. Sorry about that.”
Erin stepped to one side so he could get to Selys. He didn’t move forward, though. Instead he just glared some more.
“Is—is there something else you want?”
The Gnoll twisted his neck and cracked it. It sounded like firecrackers going off and scared the hell out of Erin.
“I don’t like humans. They smell.”
Erin stepped away again, but the angry Gnoll just followed her. She knew she was being watched by the other adventurers in the room now. But like Selys, they seemed content to watch the human-bullying without making a move.
“R-really? I can’t smell anything.”
“That’s because humans can’t smell anything.”
The comment came from behind Erin but she was too scared to turn around. It had the same growling quality to the voice though, so she was sure it was another Gnoll.
“Right. Well. I’m sorry about that.”
Erin tried to sidestep the Gnoll but he blocked her way.
“I don’t want humans in here. You don’t belong.”
“Hold on.”
At last Selys came to Erin’s aid. The female Drake leaned over the counter and called out to the Gnoll.
“You can’t just kick someone out who—”
He looked at her and snarled. Selys flinched and shut up.
Across the room Erin saw the Drakes in the room stir. One of them hissed softly.
The Gnoll glared at the Drakes and they glared right back. One of his hands twitched towards the sword at his side, but he didn’t make any move to grab it. Still, the tension was so thick that Erin was sure if a Gnoll or Drake moved the room would explode.
Erin was wondering whether she should run when the Gnoll broke off the staring contest and swung around to her.
“You. You’re stinking up this place with dirt and filth. I can smell the things you’ve rolled in.”
He jabbed at Erin’s stained shirt with one pointed claw. She jumped back nervously from the long, filthy nails.
“Oh. Yeah. Um, I’m really sorry about that. It’s just that I’ve been sort of fending for myself and I didn’t have a change of clothes so—”
The Gnoll leaned forward. Erin could see the individual whiskers protruding out of his snout. She could smell his rancid breath. But she was mainly focused on his jagged teeth.
“Begone.”
Erin hesitated. She cast one glance towards Selys, but the receptionist wo
uldn’t meet her eyes.
The Gnoll growled and Erin backed up. He herded her towards the door and once she was out, he slammed it shut behind her.
That was the first building Erin was kicked out of in her visit to the city. It wasn’t her last. Not by a long shot.
—-
Erin walked through the city, feeling the unwelcome sun warming the back of her neck. She was hot, sweaty, and tired. But most of all she was anxious. It was a terrible, biting pain in her stomach that refused to leave her no matter how much she tried to relax. Because she couldn’t.
She was lost. Not just geographically, but in every sense. Still, Erin had to keep moving or stand out even more than she already did. Right now she was making her way to the market Selys had told her about. And she was lost.
It was still strange to walk through the city. On one hand, it looked almost like a city Erin could imagine was made by humans. The buildings were still buildings, made of stone and wood. The streets were dirt, but hard dirt, and in places they were paved by cobblestones. It didn’t look bad. True, there was a lot more roundness in the architecture of the buildings – a lot of gently sloping roofs and open rooftops rather than the angular buildings Erin was used to. It was the people that really got to her.
They weren’t human. No matter how long Erin stayed in the city and walked its streets, she couldn’t get over that. Every face she saw in the crowd was inhuman, and the majority of them were Drakes. There was the occasional Gnoll or other furry face in the lot, but they were mostly reptilian.
All kinds of reptilian, too. Long snouts, delicate spines on the neck, elongated neck, big eyes, slitted eyes, stub snouts. They all had very large teeth, though. Only rarely did Erin glimpse a walking ant-man – or ant-woman she couldn’t tell – walking by.
She wished they’d stop looking at her. That was the one thing that made walking through this city so hard. While she was staring at the exotic sites and people, they were staring right back. And it seemed that they didn’t like what they saw.
