The World is Round

Chapter Three: The Lizzard Man

The fire sizzled and crackled gently as Maro lay by it staring up into the stars. Yet another thing to add to the countless list of things Maro could not experience from the swamp. And slowly, the stars started to vanish under a navy blanket of clouds covering the sky. Maro had been traveling for about 2 weeks ever since she left Forgaway, and was fairly close to her next destination now. People from the inn at Forgaway told stories about this town. It was a tourist town named Larone, famous for its luscious beaches, hospitable accommodation and vibrant carnivals. The map didn't show where the towns, cities and villages are, nor does it show landmarks, so estimating how close she was was hard, but she reckoned she had about 1 or 2 days travel to go before she was there. The fire continued to burn while her eyes slowly shut, preparing for sleep, however, she was interrupted by a cold metallic feeling on the back of her her neck.

Quickly she opened her eyes, her heart now racing. Before her a silhouette of a man came into focus.

"Gentle now" said the silhouette's soft, deep voice. "Let's get a good look at you"

The man dragged her to the still burning fire while keeping is short sword firmly at her neck. He grabbed her by her shirt to lift her up in front of the flames. Now she could see him properly. He had long dark grey hair that came down past his left eye and over his shoulder blades. He had a very defined jaw line, but most distinguished of all, he had a tattoo that started both above and below the left side of his right eye, came together at the right side and continued down over his temple and past the bottom of his right ear.

Maro thought about offering her coin purse so that he would let go of her, but then realised that there were many of them and that they probably had a different motive. He let go of Maro.

"I'm so very sorry" he said retaining his soft deep tone. "I"m looking for a woman matching your description" he continued. "However, she has the same tattoo as us. What are you doing on your own all the way out here?"

"I'm a traveler"

"Really now? And where did you come from?"

"Forgaway"

"Funny, I don't recall ever seeing you there..."

But then came another voice, not quite as deep from one of this man's followers:

"Now's not the time for chit chat. For all we know, she could have reached The Swamp by now"

"Right. If you see a woman like that be sure to tell anyone you ever see with this tattoo. There is a pretty reward for her. But only alive you see. That's very important" said the first man to Maro.

"Hurry up now!" said a woman amongst the fellowship "You know she wouldn't be so stupid as to sleep by an open fire in the night anyway" and with that they all marched off into the blackened night, south for the swamp.

'That was strange' thought Maro. She could almost have sworn they were wearing water tribe attire...

Maro sat up in front of the fire, the shock from the whole ordeal still fresh in her bones and muscles. Shivering and now nearly paralysed, she found the courage to fall asleep on the open night, only extinguished the fire first. Larone was awaiting.

After about half a day's walk, Maro arrived at the top of a vibrant green hill amongst the meadows, from which she could see Larone. If Witnessing Forgaway was astonishing, witnessing Larone was bewildering. The town was simple massive, with it's huge multi-level stone structures and houses, wide open spaces and intricate roads and paths. The waves coming in out out of the beach welcome site to Maro's child like eyes. The town stretched out into horizon so that Maro could not even see the end of it. She walked down along the hill and into the bright and lively town. Even the clouds were clearning up now.