Portumia

Chapter 3: Avianthrops and Laguins

Jonatan walked for a while between the two men in silence in the dark tunnel, but eventually, he couldn't hold his questions in any longer.

"Sorry to ask, but what are you?" Jonatan asked cautiously. "And what were those snake creatures?"

"Oh yea! You know nothing, do you?" Kharun said, rolling his eyes.

Jonatan didn't like Kharun, and Alcessa looked irritated at him again.

"Can you blame him? None of them knows anything, so how could he?" he said, smiling apologetically at Jonatan.

"Know what?" Jonatan asked a bit irritated that he didn't get any answers.

"Yes, sorry. We are Avianthrops," Alcessa quickly answered. "And the scaly tadpoles are Laguins," he looked at Jonatan with a smile, as if he had said something funny.

Jonatan just looked even more confused.

"Okay, fair! Let's start from the beginning. Do you know about evolution?" Alcessa asked a bit embarrassed by his bad joke.

"Yeah, I think so. We learned about it in school, about how humans were once apes," 

Jonatan said, recalling his lessons on evolution. He actually only remembered the picture of an ape gradually turning into a man.

"Exactly!" Alcessa said relieved. "What you, Homo sapiens, or humans as you call yourselves, don't learn in your schools is that it wasn't just the apes that evolved. The birds and snakes did too, along with the apes. And that's how the Avianthrops and Laguins came to be."

"No That can't be true! Is it?" Jonatan could hardly believe it. It must be a joke, he thought. 

Kharun snorted. "Typical! Homo sapiens are so arrogant, thinking they're so special, that only their kind could evolve," he said, staring straight ahead. 

"Well, you're looking at the evidence, little boy," Alcessa said with a grin to lighten the mood.

"But why don't we learn this in school? Are there any humans who know anything about all this?" Jonatan said, still utterly confused.

"The races actually lived in harmony with each other many years ago, but humans became consumed by power, war, and religion. So we sought away from your world and found our own place where humans couldn't find us. Those who remained were hunted and burned at the stake. The last Laguins and Avianthrops left were all killed during the 1500s, and our people became myths and eventually forgotten," Alcessa, who had been excited to tell, suddenly looked a bit sad.

"But why would humans want to kill you?" 

Alcessa looked at the ground. "They believed the Laguins and Avianthrops were from hell itself."

"That's only half true if you ask me," Kharun said.

"But no one is asking you," Alcessa replied.

Jonatan looked at the two men. "But I don't understand, how can you hide from humans, and where are we going?"

"We're in one of several tunnels that are the entrances to Saumia, also known as the world besides. And we're heading to the capital and our home, Portumia, which is a magnificent city," Alcessa said, proudly of his hometown.

Jonatan still had a hundred questions, and he couldn't hold them in any longer. 

"But I don't understand why I'm here? And how did I get here? I was run over by a train. Why am I not dead?" The questions poured out.

"You sure ask a lot of questions," Kharun said a bit irritated. 

Jonatan really didn't like him. He glared at Kharun. 

It was unfair. They were the ones babbling about impossible things and then expected him not to have questions.

"Yes, I do! Because none of this makes sense!" Jonatan raised his voice, his head filled with confusion. He couldn't stand it anymore.He stopped and anxiety crept up through his body. He began to breathe quickly. 

"What about my mother? Why do I need to know all this?! I don't understand!"

Alcessa hurried over to Jonatan and crouched in front of him, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Okay, I think we all need to cool off a bit. Jonatan, I understand your frustrations, but you must trust us when we say we'll explain everything to you so it makes sense. But right now, you're tired and need rest and some food. After that, we'll take you to the council. They can explain everything much better than we can. But we need to get you to safety first. Is that okay?"

Alcessa smiled gently at him, and Jonatan relaxed a bit more."Okay..." he said in a quiet voice.

"Great, let's move on. It's not much further now." Alcessa and Kharun started walking again, and Jonatan followed.

After about ten minutes of silence, Jonatan could see the tunnel end, and light streamed in. 

His eyes had adjusted to the darkness, so the light blinded him.

As they approached the exit, Alcessa reached out his arm and said, 

"Here Jonatan! Welcome to Portumia!"