To Rhial

15

Adam

"Hail!" I raised my hand toward the wagon that was being pulled by the strange creatures.

They were long, six-legged creatures with ears like elephants and heads like squirrels with elongated, flat-toothed jaws. Their legs were long and thick, with three little fingers on each paw. They had long fur, one brown with white speckles, and one a solid milk chocolate color.

The wagon stopped and a man who looked like a sky blue person with a tall head and a long, gilled neck. He rose from the driver's seat, standing taller than me. He stood up straight, with a wide gait and long translucent, shimmering pearlescent hair tendrils that were tied behind his head. They draped out in rows from underneath segments of ridged bone which rose to soft peaks, then a layer of tendrils, then a bone segment from under that and so on, all the way to the back of his neck like waves. His arms were abnormally long and incredibly muscular, with extra joints like he had two elbows per arm. No palms, three fingers and a thumb emerging from the wrist. His eyes and mouth were large, with a short and wide hooked nose. As he stepped down toward me, I could see that he had a second bend in each of his legs as well, a second knee below his first knee, but in bending the opposite way. His boots were large and much wider than normal. He wore a bright orange half plate with no sleeves, and long off-white pants. Whoever he was, he had a lot of money or a lot of influence. Or maybe he just gave off an air of import. Everything about this guy was startling to me at first, until I heard him speak.

"A jinian? Why do you hail? We have little time to spare." His voice was deep and rolling, rising and falling like waves.

Jinian? What does that mean?

"We are travelers in search of a meadow with blue flowers, near a large fissure in the ground. We ask if you have seen one, and how far it was?" I tried to be as polite and respectful as possible so as to not insult him, but if I was missing some kind of honorific or title, I would definitely learn quickly.

"Oh, what have we stopped for now?" A woman's sharp voice burst from the wagon. A face appeared from within, of a woman with warm tanned and freckled skin. She pulled a strand of her neck length chestnut hair back and shoved it into a braid that curled from above her forehead, down the right side, to the back of her head, just to scowl at us with her piercing orange eyes. "Who are these peop- is that a jinian? A nyadin? Out here? What have we stopped for?!"

"Milady, they were inquiring about directions from the road we have passed down." She groaned and retreated back into the wagon. He turned his attention back to us. "The location you seek will be nearly two days of walking to reach. Beyond that was several days of riding to Vehfirn. Did you come from Poikla Village? How far might it be."

"Ay, we did. We have been walking for about a day. So very quickly for you. Thank you for the information. We do not have much to repay you, but we hope you will accept this as a token of our gratitude."

I pulled one of the green fruits from my pack and presented it to him. His stoic face changed for the first time in this short conversation, as he looked genuinely surprised at the gesture and very curious.

"A pomi fruit? Where around here did-"

The woman yelled to him. "Andris! Make haste!"

He apologetically lowered his head toward her. "Alas, fair travels to you, kind wanderers." He politely smiled and whipped the reins to the wagon.

"Fair travels." I let myself relax for a moment while the creatures began their jaunt. I didn't think I had ever been so stressed before, but we finally had a successful interaction with a local since arriving here, so that had to be some kind of win.