The Unknown Realm #4 (Waverly Stump and The 7 Realms)

III

Before the pair got into the town, the noise got to them first. Waverly and Judson winced as sharp sounds pierced their eardrums and reacted by immediately covering up their ears with their hands.

"What is that abomination?" Judson shouted pressing his palm harder to his ears.

"I don't know." Waverly replied.

The path they were on was steep and sloped down with houses built on both sides to shelter a part of the street from the sun's touch. Waverly felt slightly sympathetic for the people who pushed large carts up the road in fours and sixes. Even without the searing afternoon heat to irritate and exhaust them, the weight of their load did just that; reddening their faces and exposing the veins on their forehead. Most of them were elderly men and women, dressed up in the most tattered clothes and sandals that made Waverly wonder if they were slaves rather than townspeople. She eased her hands from her ears as the noise began to get somewhat bearable with progression although she could not still see where it was coming from. Looking back, she realized that the cart pushers were not leaving the town but rather taking a turn near a house at the entrance gate they had just come through.

"Do you wonder where they are going with whatever are in those carts?" Waverly asked.

She turned and found that Judson had walked too far off to have heard her question. He stood in front of a local shrine that stood in the middle of the street sheltered by a tall square column like a doorframe. On the concrete ground was a red material designed intricately with golden threads bearing several markings - what Waverly first mistook for Lunoglyphs - but upon closer look realized were a different kind of writing. Tiny sculpted images in ceramic bowls were neatly placed near the mat alongside a basket of fruits, incense, candles and a bowl of clear liquid.

"Do you think you can recognize this writing, Waverly?" Judson asked staring down at the material. His one foot was placed on top of the mat and Waverly wondered if he was aware of it. In many traditions, it was abominable to desecrate a shrine in this manner. Many people had already begun to catch sight of his act.

"Jud, I think you should take your foot off the mat." Waverly offered tapping Judson gently by the arm and at the same time gesturing with a subtle gaze toward the onlookers.

Judson's own gaze flicked to the locals and he shuffled his sandaled foot back leaving a dusty print on the mat.

"I think this is the shrine of their patron deity and you just disrespected whoever the god is by doing that." Waverly stated under her breath. She sensed trouble like the beforemath of lightning.

"I did not realize." Judson said flatly but Waverly detected no remorse in his tone. She looked down at the glyphs and tried to translate it but it proved to be difficult as well as alien.

"Come on." She urged reaching for Judson's hand with her eyes still on the mat. It was a beautiful fabric and encrusted with sequins.

"I think we should. . ."

Someone suddenly grabbed onto her hand.

"I think that we have a pair of offenders and troublemakers here." They said.

Waverly turned sharply and found a tall man before her, grinning with crooked yellow teeth whilst trying to crush the bones in her wrist. She yanked on her hand but his grip became even firmer. She looked to the side where a small group of men had Judson cornered in a semicircle.

"We're not looking for trouble. We're just travelers." Waverly said, still surreptitiously trying to free her hand but the stranger's grip was equal to a bear trap.

"Not looking for trouble, eh?" The man teased and his brethren laughed. "But your pal over there steps right onto a shrine with his covered feet. He just soiled a holy place. I don't think that's not trouble."