“My name is Amethyst,” he interrupted. Selene ignored it.
“You two will stay with me and we will try to talk to humans around here, I suppose. I doubt anyone else would speak to us. We’ll check in here by noon. All clear?”
Nobody had any issues with the plan, aside from Ayalon.
“I don’t think I can really talk to anyone,” he grumbled.
“Why not?” Selene frowned.
“There aren’t many dragons here, and I don’t know the language. Lilith is the only one who does.”
The dragon was right. Macras was a very different language to Taq and Pbec. Lilith was indeed the only one who could fluently speak and understand it.
“I’m not sure I’ll be able to read the books in the library, either,” Zero added. “But I may be able to speak with some of the more animalistic hybrids.”
Selene sighed.
“Fine. Then you take the south-east of the city, Lilith and I will take the northwest, and Ayalon, you can take a look at the area from the air. Maybe something will stand out.”
After an uncomfortable, somewhat restless night and a small but hearty breakfast, the group split up to gather information around the town, agreeing to meet back at the inn later in the day.
Lilith and Selene began their journey with a spring in their step. Even though she had barely slept, Lilith felt energized and excited for the day's findings. With a smile on her face, she took in her surroundings greedily.
Port Kalhes was a very different place to any of the cities she had visited so far – all of the buildings and streets were tailored to different sorts of creatures. The streets were wide, allowing space for larger beings such as chimeras and gryphons, and the buildings wide and high, however the upper levels all had ledges and doors as well, with no visible way up, except by flying. Some buildings even had roosts of various sizes on top, some with a cover, many without. There were also many green spaces and trees lining the streets, and a number of parks which appeared to serve as townsquares. Overall, even though it was still a busy town, it had a much more comfortable atmosphere than the previous cities Lilith had encountered.
Despite the vast variety of beings walking and flying over the streets – manticores, chimeras, drakes, serpents, basilisks, centaurs, minotaurs, harpies, gryphons, satyrs, sphinxes, perytons, hippogriffs, enfields, yalis, bakus, and gorgons, even humanoid creatures with simple animal attributes such as monkey tails or cat ears – Lilith didn't see a single human. Conscious of this and of Catarina's words, she made sure to keep her wings visible at all times.
For a little while, nothing much happened, as Lilith and Selene were mostly just trying to get their bearings, however, the moment they stepped onto a larger street, Lilith became aware of the shocked, and openly hostile glances Selene was receiving. They paid it no heed at first, however it quickly became evident that no one would stop to talk to them. Lilith would walk up to someone, and they would stop and sometimes even smile, but then their gaze would shift to Selene and their features hardened before they hurried off.
It started raining before long, and they tried to seek shelter in a tavern, but no sooner had they set foot inside, than the barkeep, a basilisk, blocked their way.
“You’re not welcome here,” he hissed, his gaze fixed on Selene.
“We only seek shelter from the rain, and we are willing to pay for a meal,” Lilith protested with a smile.
“You’re with the human?” He eyed Lilith. “We don’t serve their kind here. Get out.”
“But-”
Lilith stopped herself when she heard the whispering in the tavern and felt the many eyes on them.
“Human sympathizer.”
“Ugh, they’re so filthy.”
“They got some guts, prancing in here like they own the place.”
“Doesn’t she realize she’s better than that?”
“Are humans even allowed to roam free anymore?”
Her arguments would bear no fruit here.
“My apologies for the intrusion,” she said instead, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice.
Taking Selene’s hand, she left the bar. Outside, they stood in the rain for a moment.
“What happened there?” Selene asked, frowning.
Lilith’s shoulders were shaking with anger.
“They did not want us there.”
“Because I’m human, right?”
Lilith looked up at Selene who was smirking casually.
“Don’t worry about it, Lil. We knew they weren’t the biggest fans.”
The door to the tavern opened, and an enfield left the tavern, fox-eyes fixed on Selene. Both her and Lilith watched its moves carefully as it circled them.
“A human. Whatever is a human doing in these parts? Free range, no less?”
There was a dangerous quality to the enfield’s words. His voice was deeper than his slender body would suggest. His talons audibly scraped the floor with every step, muscles moving powerfully underneath the golden fur. His fluffy grey tail swung and twitched in anticipation.
“We’re not looking for trouble,” Selene said calmly, her eyes not leaving the hybrid.
The enfield bared his fangs.
“Not even enough respect to speak the language, I see,” he hissed.
Lilith glanced at the two, concerned, and between them.
“I apologize, you seem to have the wrong impression-”
Before she could continue, the enfield leapt forward and snarled at her.
“Oh yeah? So that’s not a human behind you? The stench is unbearable.”
Lilith felt her legs shake, but she held firm.
“You cannot have her,” she declared. “And you cannot hurt her.”
Rain continued to batter down at them as the enfield kept his bared fangs close to Lilith’s face. Then he laughed.
“You should keep your pets on a leash. And keep them at home, so the rest of us don’t have to breathe the same air.”
He turned around, flicking his tail at Lilith, who let the insult go. She watched him until he was back inside the tavern, then she sighed deeply. She didn’t enjoy confrontation, and that had been too much of it. She glanced at Lilith who smirked at her.
“What is it?” Lilith asked.
Selene shrugged.
“I’m not normally the one being protected,” she explained. “It was an interesting experience. But I think next time I’ll hold my own.”
They laughed and continued on their way, but there was no luck. All they got were more antagonistic confrontations like with the enfield, so eventually they gave up and returned to the inn.
Ayalon and Zero returned shortly after. While they hadn’t experienced the same discrimination, they hadn’t found anything useful either. Mostly the hybrids had laughed at them, some had suggested trying different towns in Macrin. Overall, it was not a successful day, so they decided to change their tactics for the next day.
“I’ll stay in the inn, I suppose,” Selene said, disgruntled. “My presence will only hinder your investigations. Ayalon, you should take a look around the bay. Zero, you should go to the library like we discussed yesterday and look for documentation. Lilith, I guess you can try continuing what we’ve done today.”
That settled, they turned in early.
*****
The next morning they set out early, each to their own designated task. Amethyst had tried to insist on accompanying Lilith, but she thought bringing a talking raven with a tendency to be rude to strangers might not be the best of ideas. Selene didn’t much care what he did, so Lilith told him to stay back at the inn with her. He might be of more use there.
Since it was early enough, Lilith decided to go to the docks first. Seaweed farmers and fishermen might be on their way out to sea and she might manage to catch them before they left to ask about the urban myth. She strolled through the wide alleys, breathing in the cool morning air, following the few noi
ses disturbing town this early, and the breeze that carried a scent Lilith wasn’t familiar with. It smelled a lot like Ryo had described the smell from their home: salty, fresh, and somehow free. After only a few minutes, she had reached the quays. When they had arrived two days earlier, she had been exhausted and hadn’t really looked at anything at all, and there had been mist covering everything, but this, this was a truly breath-taking sight.
The water was clear, almost as if it was liquid glass, the surface only broken by tiny waves. It seemed to stretch into eternity. When Lilith looked across the glowing horizon, the water appeared to be a deep blue in color, but here, when she looked down, she could see the bottom of the sea and algae, crabs and fish swimming around as clearly as anything. Lilith had never before seen such a huge body of water and it astonished her to no end. Sure, her friends had told her about their old life as people of the sea, but it was an entirely different thing to actually see it with her own eyes. Far away, on the horizon, it looked as if sky and sea melted into each other and were actually one.
“Hey, don’t I know you?” someone said behind her. Lilith looked around. A young centaur stood behind her, his hands rested on his hips, or shoulders, Lilith wasn’t quite sure which of the two she should call it. He was young, possibly a couple of years older than Griffin, and had a charming smile. His long dark hair fell over his shoulder in a braid. His skin was slightly darker than Lilith’s own, and his coat was a deep shade of black, the kind of black that seemed to swallow all other colors. It took only a moment for her to recognize him.
“Oh yes! Were you not in Nenbalon a few days ago?” she asked, her eyes brightening.
“Yeah! You were in the group that left the tour early! You really missed out on the Arc-glass factory. What brings you to Port Kalhes? More sightseeing?”
A slight frown crossed his face when he glanced at her wings, small enough to be overlooked, but Lilith still noticed. She decided to ignore it because needing to explain an ability she didn’t fully understand didn’t seem to be the best use of her time if it wasn’t necessary, and he was too polite to ask her.
“I am on a secret mission,” she explained truthfully and smiled. “But how did you make it back here so fast from Pbecrah?”
The centaur grinned widely.
“A secret mission, eh? Sounds ominous. We won tickets for the round trip at the opening of the steamrail line to Nenbalon three months ago. I’m glad they finally finished that one at least.”
“That was lucky, was it not?” Lilith smiled and turned her gaze back to the sea.
“You look like you’ve never seen the sea before,” he chuckled.
“It is my first time,” she admitted.
The centaur laughed, surprised.
“Really? Well, then you’ve got to go closer, my uncle is a seaweed farmer, if you would like you can join us this morning. We need to sail out to some of those buoys out there!”
He pointed at some brown dots bobbing up and down in the water that were indeed some way away. Lilith reflected for a moment. A boat ride would give her the perfect opportunity to ask questions about the town and surroundings. After all, it was obvious that she was a stranger, she could easily claim to be interested in local legends for one innocuous reason or another. Besides, she really wanted to know what it would be like to be on a ship, or boat or raft, or anything of the sort. If she didn’t like it or it took too long, she could easily fly back to shore.
Even as she thought these things, Lilith realized that she was just looking for excuses to allow herself to try out a boat ride. At the same time, she came to the conclusion that her arguments were nevertheless reasonable.
“I would love to,” she said.
“Great! The name’s Khaleb.” He extended his hand to Lilith as a greeting and she took it.
“My name is Lilith.”
As he led her along the quay toward the boats, they chatted a little.
“I’ve never seen a hybrid like yourself, you must be a rare breed,” he commented, admiring her wings. Lilith laughed.
“I suppose I probably am. I have never met anyone like me either.”
“Nobody? What about your family? Your parents?”
Lilith shook her head smiling.
“No wings.”
“Huh, that’s odd. Oh look, there it is, you see the red boat with the black letters? That’s the Rose. She’s been my uncle’s treasure ever since I can remember! Come on, I’ll introduce you, though I guess you already sort of met him in Nenbalon.”
With those words, Lilith was dragged by her wrist toward another centaur with brown fur and short hair. As soon as he saw Lilith, he laughed and clapped Khaleb on the shoulder, though Lilith didn’t get the impression he recognized her.
“You’ve really got an eye for the exotic ones, don’tcha, boy! Hop on board then!”
Khaleb leapt gracefully onto the boat and extended a hand to Lilith to help her. She jumped clumsily off the quay, and had the centaur not been holding her hand, she would have likely fallen into the water.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
The ship was wobblier than Lilith had expected, and she had to hold onto something while trying to stay out of the centaurs’ ways.
“So, you’re new in town, eh?” Khaleb’s uncle asked after they had taken off. “What brings you to Port Kalhes?”
Lilith felt dizzy, but she tried to ignore it and concentrate on getting the information she needed, while keeping her cover, which she hadn’t invented yet.
“I am… I am a traveler. I enjoy learning and I find mythology and legends of all kinds fascinating.”
Lilith was proud of herself. None of her words had been a lie.
“Well then you’re in the right place,” Khaleb laughed. “Kalhes has millions of stories. You’ll have to stay weeks, no, months to hear them all! How long did you say you were staying?”
“I am staying for as long as I need to,” Lilith replied truthfully as she grabbed hold of the boat’s side to steady herself. She was not used to the ground underneath her feet swaying from side to side.
Thinking straight became an ordeal. Lilith could feel her stomach slowly turn upside-down and do a little dance in time with the colorful dots in front of her eyes.
“Hey, are you alright? You’re looking a little pale!”
Khaleb’s face was in front of hers. Then it was shoved aside, and his uncle appeared in her field of vision.
“The poor girl’s seasick! She’s got wings, she’s not made to be on the water. Girl, do you think you can fly? You’ll feel better in a few minutes, I promise!”
Lilith nodded and flapped her wings weakly. Somehow, she lacked the energy to lift off. The dizziness increased. Her head felt hot. She felt like closing her eyes and leaning over board for a very long time, even holding her head into the water seemed like a good idea right now.
But then someone picked her up and put her on solid ground. She heard a voice, but she couldn’t even comprehend the words. A few minutes – or centuries – later, her senses slowly returned. The dizziness faded away, and she could feel something cold on her head. She opened her eyes and next to her was Khaleb. When he saw that she was awake he smiled at her apologetically.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have known that you might not do so well on water. Also, I think… I think I may have broken your wings…”
There was a slightly panicked tone in his voice and eyes, but he tried hard not to show it.
“My… wings?” Lilith mumbled, slowly coming to the realization that they had disappeared again. She closed her eyes and summoned them.
“I am sorry for causing you trouble,” she muttered quickly, getting up. “I should probably-”
“Wow, how did you do that?” Khaleb’s eyes now showed nothing but astonishment. “Your wings, they just disappeared and now they came back! So I didn’t imagine it. You really didn’t have them in Nenbalon.”<
br />
Lilith glanced at them.
“I am not certain,” she ventured. “It has always been like that.”
“Can you do it again?”
“Sure.”
She showed Khaleb her little trick a few times and he clapped like a child every time.
“That’s amazing,” he exclaimed, and Lilith smiled shyly.
“I am glad you like it,” she said. “Now that I have shown you that, would you answer a few questions I have about this town?”
Khaleb nodded.
“Of course!”
“Well, I was wondering. Oh dear,” Lilith put her hand to her temple as she swayed back and forth. Her sense of balance was off, and she had to flap her wings to keep from falling over. Her head was spinning, she felt hot and sick. Thankfully, Khaleb noticed her state and helped her sit down while acting as something to lean against. After a few moments Lilith felt better again.
“I apologize,” she mumbled, but he smiled and shook his head.
“It’s fine, as long as you’re alright,” he assured her. “Hold on for a moment, I’ll get you something to drink.”
Khaleb disappeared for a moment and Lilith moved to the edge of the quay to let her legs dangle over the water while looking out over the sea.
The Rose was already halfway out to the buoys. Lilith felt bad for keeping Khaleb from helping his uncle. She was also disappointed at her own lack of boating ability. It looked like so much fun from the outside. She wondered if flying on the Bat was anything like being on the Rose. It would be such a pity!
Khaleb returned, handing Lilith a cup of water before sitting – or laying, it was difficult to tell – down next to her. Lilith decided it would be a good moment to pick up their previous conversation.
“Thank you. So… I have heard about a myth. The ghosts of some poor, brave souls are supposed to wander a labyrinth beneath the city. Is it true that you can sometimes hear their cries?”
Lilith looked at him to find the answer in his face, but the centaur’s gaze was directed out to the sea.
“Well, I’ve never heard it. But it’s a story that I’ve been told all my life. There are noises that you might think belong to them, but when I was younger, I checked them out. Really, it’s just the wind blowing through the drainpipes of buildings. Nothing else,” he explained. She couldn’t tell whether he was hiding something or not.
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