To Kill a God

Street

Al quickly realized that in this world, the restaurant business had never really taken off in a big way. "So if I understand you," he said to Mara as he tried to cool his frustration with the girl. "We can either go closer to the high-end business district, or to an inn on the outskirts."

Mara nodded.

The fox girl's tendency to reply with body language or monosyllabic words was growing wearisome. Al had tried to get her to lead the group, but she almost violently insisted that she shouldn't. Then she had stayed close to Zip's side as she could. Pulling the leather jerkin she wore close to her body, she began looking at everyone they crossed.

Al looked away from her and down the road. It was busy. About as busy as any road in the real New York, he supposed. Ladies in long dresses were walking by with parasols hanging above them. Young men in slacks and overalls stained with oil were carrying crates to the back of a waiting horse-cart. There were casual patrols of armed guards every few minutes, their breastplates resplendent beneath the long jackets they wore.

It could have been a picture of victorian England. Almost. The ladies across the street from Al were all elves with long necks and pointy ears. The men in overalls were what he presumed to be orcs with huge bands of muscle moving under green-tinged skin. The group of guards were a mix of gnomes and what he thought might be goblins.

Al was so focused on the passing people and creatures that he failed to notice that both Zips and Mara had stopped a few feet behind him. He paused, cloak billowing around his legs as a contrary wind blew in from behind him. The girls were talking in low voices and shooting glances up ahead of them.

Turning, he saw a large-ish group taking over one intersection where the city's streets went from badly paved cobblestones to well-laid bricks. The homes and shops there were also a step above those in the outer districts. "What's wrong?" he asked as he approached Zips.

"Those people," she said, nodding towards the men and women in blue jackets milling around the corner. "Are those Reckoner people we were warned about."

He looked back at them. They all sported jackets of similar tailoring, a few of which had trimmed edges. Most carried wand-like pieces of wood in belt holsters or short spears. They were casually inspecting the people moving by, talking to some and evidently showing great courtesy to all who passed. "Will they be trouble?" he asked.

"Maybe. Mara says they won't let any beastkin pass unless they're a servant."

"Then she pretends to be your... lady in waiting, or something," he said, stumbling over the unfamiliar words. Ahed, the Reckoners were bowing as a beautifully decorated closed carriage with a team of four white horses plodded by. He didn't recognize the hawk-like symbol on its side, or on the livery of the four servants hanging onto the vehicle. "They're letting everyone through, I'm certain we could make it. And if they don't...." He counted eight of them, all armed and on guard. But they had civilians around them, and he and Zips both had firearms. "We could take them, probably."

Zips shrugged, then grinned at Mara before looping her arm around the girl's. "Let's go! To conquest and glory!"

With that, Zips skipped ahead, jostling and carrying Mara along with her. Al, for his part, stayed a step behind his sister, thumb rubbing up and down the shaft of his halberd.

A few of the Reckoners looked their way, and Al nodded to the nearest who nodded back. They eyed Mara and Zips, but didn't comment or step in their way. The trio were almost across when one reckoner, a dwarf in a blue-and-gold jacket, stepped in their way.

Mara stopped dead and that made Zips halt suddenly too. Al, to avoid colliding with his sister, sidestepped and found himself to Mara's right. The three were in a rough line before the old dwarf when he spoke. "You, beast girl. I recognize you." A cold grin crossed his craggy features. "What did you do with the soul orb, child of beasts?"