The Non-Human Society

Chapter One Hundred and Ninety Three - Renn - The Bell Church

      The Bell Church... was more than just a church with a bell.

Walking behind the older woman as she guided me to the library, I wondered if there were as many buildings as there were people here. It felt as if there were several dozen buildings, yet I hadn't seen more than a handful of people yet.

The whole village was centered around the church, but it was done in a way that left a lot of room open. Large gardens, small patches of tree clusters, and even swaths of well kept grass were in-between all the buildings. It was obvious they had built this place to be... nice. Pretty. Calming.

Even the houses were large, yet not imposing. Only a few had more than a single floor, but they all had fancy roofs and large windows. Most were made of stone too. Stuff not usually seen in smaller villages.

"Such a pity. To suffer in such a way for your sisters," the old woman spoke evenly, but seemingly to her own self more than me. After hearing the story of what had happened from Reatti and the rest of us, she and most that were here seemed... well... A little too calm and unbothered over it. It wasn't that they were indifferent, or not sympathetic... they were just...

They reminded me of Rapti. Even natured folk who were rather religious.

The older woman in front of me was even wearing the familiar gray ropes that I had see in Telmik.

She hadn't introduced herself yet, and now it felt a little awkward to ask for her name. I'd been talking and walking with her for the better part of the morning. We had arrived here late last night, too late to do more than inform the few who had been awake in the church of what had happened in Lumen and who we were.

It was a good thing I had slept a bit before getting here, on the cart with Reatti and the rest... otherwise I'd be exhausted. I hadn't slept at all last night. Though I really wasn't sure why.

We passed some large hedges that looked freshly cut. I studied the way they rounded the path we walked upon, and led to a larger building to our right. It wasn't the building we were heading to, but it looked bigger and more important than most of the others we were passing.

"Are there a lot of us here?" I asked.

"If you three join our numbers here will grow to twenty nine. There are only three humans here, and they're elderly. Too old to be a threat," she said as she glanced back at me.

I frowned at her words, and wondered if she had said that because she thought I hated and despised humans. I mean... I guess I could understand that. Not only because of who and what I was, but also with me being hurt.

"I've been told men aren't really allowed here either," I said.

She nodded as we approached what was likely our destination. We walked onto a new path, one that led to a circular building. "There are four men here. Three are our kind. They too are harmless," she said.

I opened my mouth, to try and explain to her that she didn't need to be so gentle with me... but decided against it. Maybe she wasn't being gentle, but rather giving me a warning. I'd hate to embarrass myself like that, making a mistaken assumption in such a way.

"And... you're believers of the same religion in Telmik?" I asked.

"We're members of the Church of Songs, yes. There are a few others here who don't necessarily subscribe to our particular order, but they're sisters all the same," she said.

"I've read your bible," I said gently as we walked up to the building's front door.

She paused before the door and turned to look at me. She studied me for a moment, and I wondered how old she actually was. She looked old. She was hunched a little, her hair more white than not, and her eyes were a little faded. Yet she wasn't... wrinkly, at all.