Monster Legends - Volume 1: A World Of Monsters

5. The Monster egg

It was three days after our Mersnake encounter, when we climbed the top of a hill, and noticed a town in the horizon. "That should be Jesley town." Stella says, looking at the map. "Should be?" I raise my eyebrow in question. Stella gives me a mocking smile. "Why don't you read it if you're so smart?"

I put my Monsters, except for Bolt of course into my Monstagram as to not attract unnecessary attention. We move towards the gates.

The town was busy. People ran from shop to shop, spending money and buying stuff. It didn't take us long to find out the town was having a, what the townspeople called it, Market Mania. Stella's face seemed to shine up when she saw a market with dresses and make up tools. I cross my fingers, praying to the god that she doesn't ask me for... " Hey Shay, can I please borrow some money? Pretty please?" She flutters her eyelashes at me. I roll my eyes to heaven and curse under my breath. "Fine." I say, my voice sounding gruff. "Thank you." She says happily as she walks off with ten gold coins in her hand.

I look around with interest, seeing all the items the markets have for sale, when something catches me eye. I turn to look, to find a small, shabby market stand, roofed with a blue cloth. I smile as I recognize the familiar symbol printed onto the cloth. The animal paw.

Bolt runs up my arm, wraps his tail around my neck and sits on my shoulder. "Good morning young man." The seller in the Market says, looking me over. "Good morning, sir." I answer. I see him taking a long look at Bolt. I see the sparkle in his eyes, the obvious interest and fascination. "That's a fine Gigram you got there." I smile and pat Bolt's little head. "Thank you." "Did you catch him in the wild?" He asks me with a pleasent smile. "No. He's my starter Monster." "Really? Wow. I though starter Monsters fall into the common category?" He says. "Yeah, but proffesor Kelly made an exception." "Proffesor Kelly? The one that invented the Monstagram?" He asks. The guy is young, probably in his early twenties. He has a small stubble, black hair and blue eyes. He's not very tall, maybe two inches taller than me. "Yep, the very one." I answer, and smile as his face lights up. "I have always wanted to meet proffesor Kelly. He inspired me to start working with Monsters." "Really? What do you do with them?" I ask out of interest. "I care for unwanted Monsters, heal them, rest them, make them feel loved. I have a center opened at the lower part of the town. People can come and take the Monsters home. Adopt them." "That's so sweet!" I say, smiling. Bolt barks in agreement. "Can I, you know, go and have a look?" "Oh yes. Absolutely." He nods. "My shift here is done, I can come with you if you want. Show you around." "That sounds great." I say. "I'll just grab my friend over there and we can go." "Fine with me." The guy says. "Oh, and what's your name?" He asks before I go call Stella over. "I'm Shay, my friend is Stella and you?" "Mike Thompson." He says. "Well, nice to meet you Mike." He nods. "Nice to meet you too, Shay."

"That there is a Monster healing centre. Monsters can regain their health here much faster than inside the Monstagram." Mike shows us around the town.

Jesley town was a lot bigger than Gillamoore. A lot of its buildings were based around Monsters. There were hatcheries, healing centres, breeding centres, supermarkets and all sorts of things. "What's that guy selling?" I ask, pointing at an older man, standing underneath a market stand. He has a white cloth in front of him, and on it are eleven, sparkling blue crystals. "Have you ever heard of Charging Stones?" I nod. "Proffesor Kelly talked about them a bit." "Good. They're quite expensive. Fifty gold coins for a stone I think."

"Here we are. The Monster care centre." "This is where you work?" Mike nods. "Me and a few other people. Come on in!" The Monster care center is a large, marble building with a backyard. I notice a couple of Monsters dotted around the large, grass area. "Hey Mike." A girl greets us as we follow Mike through the door. "I'm Clary, who are you?" "I'm Shay and this is my gir...errr, I mean friend, Stella." I cough, hiding my rapidly blushing face. Clary notices, but doesn't say anything, just smiles. Thankfully, Stella doesn't seem to notice what I nearly just said. "Great to meet you. Should I show you round a bit?" "I'd love that." I agree. "And hey, Shay. There's something I want to talk to you about. Meet me here in about half an hour, alright? Once you observe all our Monsters. I'm sure you can't wait, am I right?" I nod, grinning.