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We spent many hours that day, and for three days thereafter, assisting in the care and feeding of wounded dragons. The squid bits, and the tentacular bits, rotted in the way of all mortal things, producing a stench that hung about the rest of our visit. It was profoundly disgusting, but at the same time, encouraging. What rotted, was probably dead. Mervish, Dervish, Rushi and Astrea debated whether continuing worship might yet revive Squiddie. Malifica listened part of the time, but drew her own conclusions. She dispatched a number of employees of Kathmandu Consolidated to travel about the lands under the influence of the Divarae, and points outside the Divarae, to publicize the battle, and the death of Squiddie. She believed that if everyone knew a god as dead, they would be less likely to worship that god, in turn reducing the risk of a resurrection of Squiddie. Malifica contracted with Jack, Leroy and Astrea to capture or kill any priests of Squiddie they might encounter in the coming months and years, and to report to her any change in the activities of Squiddie's followers.
While we were helping in Kathmandu, Joe expressed a desire to return to Wereport, to join Aureum, and add weather magic to his repertoire. We tried to convince him to stay with us. Joe had loved the City of Werekind and Wereport too much to be interested in further travel, even without the attraction of Aureum. He received a tunnel map that would take him directly to the City of Werekind, and departed.
Joe's departure prompted Rushi and Irvish to speak up. They had been planning on rejoining Alexandra and the rest of the group we had met several weeks earlier, near Rayling. I had thought at the time that Rushi was taken with the goddess Xena, worshipped by Alexandra, a protectress of the weak and oppressed. Rushi and Irvish wanted to find and join them in their quest, and learn more about that goddess. Malifica was skeptical, but after conferring with others who were more up-to-date on matters going on in the south, felt that assistance would be useful. We heard very few details, but the red gold that had turned to normal gold when I touched it was associated with the rapid spread of a new cult, and Malifica was no more pleased with that cult than she had been about Squiddie. I distinctly heard her say something about giving shape changers a bad reputation, but she declined to elaborate. Rushi and Irvish departed south through the tunnels, with a map, VIP passes to Kathmandu Consolidated enterprises and a lot of cash.
I had expected Mervish and Dervish to join Irvish and Rushi, but they wanted to travel with the rest of the party to the Divarae, assuming that was still our next destination. Since our primary goal in traveling south had been to locate Tzika to get her assistance in dealing with Squiddie, we were not certain what our next destination was. I asked why Mervish and Dervish still wanted to go to the Divarae, and they said they were planning on enrolling in a theological academy. Marion, Mauser and Ivan had no particular plans, but were interested in more travel. Astrea, Jack and Leroy had privately decided they wanted to go to the Divarae, and from there, travel south on the Apha to Bolport. They were vague about their goals and reasons. For lack of any better idea, I decided to follow the center of mass, and continue on to the Divarae. I was briefly tempted to remain in the valley, but dragons, while clean, do generate a lot of bodily fluids, wastes and fumes. Kathmandu was beautiful, but the stink of dragons was getting to me, and no one in Kathmandu did anything that didn't have something to do with dragons.
We received a tunnel map that would take us beyond the mountains, and surface in an inn in Divara Lyal. A messenger had been sent to Keziah's inn in Arcana Sitol, to pick up our belongings and pack them down to Divara Lyal. We would be traveling to Ruth's inn, in Divara Lyal, and might reach there before the rest of our belongings.
Before we departed, however, one of the adolescent dragons who had participated in the graduation exercise, that is to say, the victorious battle against Squiddie, paid us a visit. Alvin, a precocious dragon with a strong interest in and aptitude for magic, landed in front of me in an open field just outside the town, where several of us were lounging, enjoying the sunshine and chatting about our plans and recent exploits. Leroy greeted Alvin, but Alvin had eyes only for me. He deposited before me a recently killed, bloody, rabbit. He squatted down, and put his head on his front paws, looking at me. I found it disconcerting, and said so. Astrea and Jack started laughing. I asked Alvin why he'd brought me a rabbit. Alvin opened his mouth, but no speech occurred. If he hadn't been a dragon, I would have said he was embarrassed, but adolescent or not, it's hard for me to imagine an embarrassed dragon. Leroy, however, suffered from no such limitation. He walked up to Alvin's head, scratched him behind the ear, and asked if the rabbit was for me. Alvin nodded. Leroy asked if Alvin had brought the rabbit as a gift. Alvin nodded again. Leroy patted Alvin on the snout, and suggested that next time, flowers would be more acceptable, as I was not partial to dead animals. Alvin asked, "Food?" Leroy said, yes, food is a good present, but Andy doesn't like her meat raw. Alvin bounced up, leaned over the rabbit, and emitted a burst of flame. The smell of burning fur, and cooked meat filled the air as I jumped back. Jack and Astrea applauded. Alvin asked Leroy if this was better, and Leroy smirked. He did not, to his credit, laugh. Instead, he told Alvin that the present should be complete when given, not finished on the spot, and repeated that flowers would be better.
I had no desire to anger a dragon, so I thanked Alvin and asked him if he wanted any of the rabbit. He objected, insisting it was for me. I asked if he minded if I shared with my friends, and he said okay, and then flew away. With Alvin gone, Leroy's self-control deserted him, and he burst into laughter. That set Astrea and Jack off again. I got out a knife and started cutting into the rabbit. The outside was overcooked, and it hadn't been skinned or gutted properly, but there were some worthwhile nibbles to be had. I worked at it while the rest of them wiped their eyes and dusted off their clothes from rolling in the dirt. Jack and Leroy joined me in consuming bits of Alvin's offering.
I asked them what they thought that had been all about. Leroy felt that Alvin was infatuated with me. I said I thought that was unlikely. Leroy insisted that Alvin was unusually good at magic, and not just the usual dragon varieties. I considered this for a moment, and limited myself to saying that the adjective usual was not something generally applied to dragon magic. Leroy pointed out that dragons were as accustomed to their forms of knowledge, including magic, as humans, or weres, or others were accustomed to their own. Alvin had learned most if not all of the lore he could in this valley, and I was almost certainly the most interesting magical artifact to cross his path. I objected to being called a magical artifact. Leroy shrugged.
A messenger summoned us, saying that Malifica would like a word with us before we departed, but at our convenience. The rabbit being dead in every sense, we buried the carcass, and followed the messenger to Malifica's office. We waited a few minutes while she finished a brief discussion with an adult dragon. Malifica's office had two entrances on opposite ends. Her desk was in the middle. One side was proportioned to the size of a tall human. The entrance and the furniture was scaled appropriately for us. The other side was cavernous, wider, and taller and almost completely open. Presently, a dragon had poked its head in, filling the opening.
They wrapped up their conversation, and the messenger ushered us into the office. The dragon had not yet left. Malifica introduced Elvina, Alvin's aunt. Alvin's parents were not in Kathmandu currently, and Elvina, until graduation, had been acting in place of his parents, as his guardian. This arrangement had been of long-standing. Elvina had a comprehensive command of dragon magic and all of her offspring were grown. Alvin's parents, by contrast, had no particular skill at any kind of magic, and had other children as well. As one might expect, Alvin's precocity had taxed their time and energy, even when he was a toddler. They'd turned him over to Elvina, and Kathmandu Consolidated, in hopes that he could be nurtured and trained and perhaps even reach a productive adulthood. Malifica felt that while Elvina and Kathmandu had done an admirable job, the time had come for Alvin to see the world and learn what it had to teach. She also felt that the time for experiments in or near the valley had ended. Alvin had expressed a strong desire to join our group, and Elvina felt that we'd probably survive the relationship. Malifica, her concerns about us satisfied, wanted to know if we'd take Alvin with us when we left.
I asked why Alvin wanted to travel with us. At this point, Elvina started making noises, and emitted puffs of air and occasional small jets of flame and gas. Malifica shooed her. When Elvina had left, Malifica explained that Elvina was laughing, and meant no harm by it. Malifica sent the messenger in search of a fan. The messenger returned with two toddler dragons, and they started industriously swooshing the foul air out of the cavern with their wings. Occasionally, one would get overly enthusiastic, and lift itself off its feet. When the conversation resumed, still without Elvina, Malifica explained that Alvin had taken an interest in me. According to Alvin, I glowed in a way that nothing else did, and further, I was linked to a lot of other people and things by glowing strands, some short, others long. Malifica said that while she and Elvina could see the strands connecting me to my companions, they were not able to see the others Alvin mentioned. Malifica wondered if we might care to expound. I disclaimed any knowledge. Astrea, Jack and Leroy were interested, but the subject had not come up while Joe was present, and none of them could see any of the strands without preparation and concentration. Malifica said that she was interested in learning anything we might discover, if we at any point cared to share. Moving on, she asked if we would be willing to accept Alvin's presence on our further travels. Before we could answer, she assured us that if at any point we tired of him, we could send him on his way, although Malifica would prefer that we not send him back to the valley. Elvina could be called upon for assistance at any time, if we chose to travel with Alvin. Elvina would supply us with a means of reaching her. Malifica was vague on this point, but we got the impression that some sort of far seeing or far talking spell might be involved. Jack perked up, murmuring that if we could get access to something like that, putting up with an adolescent, infatuated dragon would be a small price to pay. I muttered back that he wasn't the object of said dragon's dubious affection.
Leroy spoke for all of us, telling Malifica that we would consider the proposal, and give her an answer before departing. Malifica was pleased with this. I think perhaps she expected us to dismiss it out of hand. We left the office, and went in search of the rest of the party.
Ivan and Mauser were indifferent. They pointed out that traveling with a dragon would make us very conspicuous. But, by the same token, no one in a group with a dragon was likely to be subjected to random attack. Mervish and Dervish said that as they would be leaving the group in the Divarae, their opinion should not weigh much with the party. They also agreed with Ivan and Mauser, but leaned slightly towards accepting Alvin as a companion. They felt that conversing with Alvin about dragon religious beliefs would be enlightening and worthwhile. We had some trouble tracking down Marion. Marion gave the matter some thought, and then signed that having another shapechanger along would be nice, now that Joe had left the group.
We were at a loss to understand that statement. Marion tried to explain, but we could make no sense of it. After several moments, Marion wandered off in disgust. We went in search of someone who might be able to tell us what Marion had meant. Malifica was busy, and the clerk at the desk was unfamiliar. She was, however, friendly. We put the question to her, and she said that was simple enough. Dragons are born with a limited ability to shapechange that is extended with age. A toddler, having little control, and virtually no time to maintain a shapechange, is a toddler dragon only. An adolescent dragon can become anything he or she is familiar with, for as much as a half hour. In some cases, as much as an hour. A mature dragon can maintain the change for a day. Elderly dragons had been known to shapechange and not ever change back. On a hunch, I asked if Malifica was a dragon. The clerk looked at me oddly and said, of course Malifica is a dragon. Everyone knows that. Astrea's jaw dropped, and we hustled her out of the office before she could say anything embarrassing.
We decided to accept Alvin as a traveling companion, since I was the only person who objected, and by now, even I was interested in learning more. We sent word to Malifica, and Elvina paid us a visit with Alvin. In Elvina's presence, Alvin was capable of speech, and introductions to the entire party were made. Elvina gave us several packaged spells, which included instructions in how to use them, and what they were capable. As we had expected, they were far seeing and far talking spells. Most were specifically to reach Elvina, but two were to reach Malifica, and one was to reach anyone or everyone on watch at Kathmandu. We were specifically ordered not to use that except in extreme emergency. In addition to distracting the watch, the usual response to such a summons was for the watch to travel at speed to the summoner, and that would leave the valley unguarded. I asked why Elvina was giving us such a spell in the first place, and Elvina stalled a moment before answering.
Elvina's answer, when it came, was bizarre. I, for one, question whether she could have been serious. Alvin demonstrated an unusual aptitude for magic, but not one so unusual that it had never been seen in dragon history before. What had never been seen in dragon history was a dragon with that degree of aptitude that made it to adolescence, never mind full maturity. His continued survival, primarily in the face of dangers he brought upon himself, either directly or indirectly, had convinced elder dragons, particularly Elvina and Malifica, that Alvin possessed another trait known to dragons, and on a similarly unusual scale. That trait, according to Elvina, was luck.
That revelation, difficult as I found it to accept, was nothing compared to what Elvina claimed next. Ordinarily, dragons like Alvin left a wake of dead creatures behind them. I reminded Elvina of the rabbit that had been bestowed on me. Elvina said that was not what she had in mind: that was an intentional kill, and for a specific purpose. She meant unintentional deaths, and deaths with no purpose, or which the responsible dragon might not even be aware of causing. Examples which she gave included spellcasting while asleep, errors in spellcasting, undirected magical energies released while extremely emotional, and so forth. This gave me pause. I knew -- as I could not help knowing -- how little control I had over my own unknown and unusual abilities. What I had not considered was what effect that could have on others, beyond the inconvenience to me that most spell casters wanted to be as far away from me as possible. Joe had been an exception, and now Alvin was another, this time positively attracted by whatever magic radiated from me. I commented on this, and Jack pointed out that a spell caster experimenting as my mother had on me would hardly administer any spell, potion or artifact that could be used against her. I had not thought of it that way before.
Elvina, unlike Malifica, and unlike any other dragon, was convinced that Alvin was not only lucky himself, but lucky for others. She was not sure it would extend to new companions, however, she thought it worth experimenting. She was supplying the spell to call the Kathmandu watch, for two reasons. First, anything that might endanger Alvin was a danger to all dragons. Second, and more importantly, she hoped by connecting the valley to us via the packaged spell, to retain Alvin's luck for the valley.
I muttered to Jack that this was one of the wackiest ideas I'd ever heard uttered. Jack looked down at me and said I was one of the wackiest ideas he'd ever encountered. I decided to drop the matter before the insults became more personal and specific.
Alvin, during all this, was waiting, increasingly impatiently. He wanted to get started on the journey. I noted that he would not fit in the tunnels. Alvin said he would fly over the mountains, and meet us on the far side. With Alvin in the party, we could exit the tunnels on the other side of the mountains, and travel overland the rest of the way to the Divarae. Alvin tried to convince me to ride on his back, rather than with the rest of the group. He stuttered his offer. I declined. Tunnels may be boring, but at least I can't fall down in them. It occurred to me that my experience at cliff edge suggested I wouldn't fall even if I tumbled off of Alvin, but I did not want to experiment, and floating midair while awaiting rescue did not appeal. We all trooped back to our rooms to collect our gear and prepare for travel. I was disappointed, in that I would continue to have to live with dragon-stink, but I hoped that with only one dragon, and that one not full grown, the air would not be quite so thick.
Our trek through the tunnels was as boring as all our treks through the tunnels had been. We exited as planned, and were joined by Alvin. The rest of our journey to Divara Lyal was uneventful. Ruth welcomed us, and gave us directions to a large barn in which Alvin would fit, if he cared to sleep indoors. Not unexpectedly, Alvin chose to sleep in a fallow field outside the city, after making arrangements with the farmers who owned it. They were amenable, even pleased to host Alvin; dragon turds may smell appalling, but are valued as fertilizer. The dragons can themselves readily burn the turds to a sterile state, thus preventing the introduction into the soil of unwanted seeds. Alvin said that his schooling in Kathmandu had included information about the prevailing rates for dragon droppings in various lands, training in how to properly sterilize the turds without causing wildfires, and practice in negotiating exchanges like lodging-for-droppings. From this I concluded that Kathmandu did an above average job in teaching their pupils what would genuinely benefit them in their adult life.
Marion chose to stay with Alvin, rather than in the inn. I could understand. The inns we stayed at were always very obliging, but meat on the hoof, which Marion preferred when in her normal state, was difficult to find. When Marion departed to meet Alvin in the field, I noticed she sported a bunch of wildflowers, woven into a ring, and looped over her neck. Alvin must have taken Leroy's advice to heart.
Mervish and Dervish stayed with us in Ruth's inn for a single night, and then moved their belongings to the dormitories for students in the theological academy they were now attending. We wished them the best, and made note of their address. The next night, Ivan, Mauser, Astrea, Leroy, Jack and I were debating what to do to amuse ourselves. In part, we were trying to decide what to do next in the general sense, but mostly we knew we weren't going to make that decision tonight. We still wanted something to do. Mauser said she had read in a guidebook that the Divarae each had large and diverse pleasure districts. She suggested we go for a walk through the one in Divara Lyal and see what we could see. Ivan was reluctant at first, as I was, but we decided that we would first walk through the district before deciding on any more specific activity. Ivan and I agreed that if the rest of the party chose to stay, we would walk back to the inn together. Astrea and Mauser thought that was dull of us. To forestall argument, Leroy said we could return to the inn collectively to drop off anyone who wanted to sleep before proceeding. Astrea rolled her eyes. We dispersed to collect coats and hats, and went out.
On the way out, Ivan asked Mauser how diverse was diverse. Mauser shrugged, and said the guidebook had claimed any species, any combination, any orientation. We felt that this was a sweeping claim, precisely the kind of exaggeration one might expect of a guidebooks, albeit an unusual topic. Ivan had a specific interest however, not as an activity, but as a question. She wanted to know if centaurs had one or two sets of sexual organs. After an initial confusion, in which Mauser thought Ivan meant hermaphroditism, and said that centaurs had about the same rate of that as any other species, we realized that Ivan thought centaurs might have both horse genitalia and human genitalia. None of the rest of us had given it any thought, but agreed that the question was an interesting one, and debated the anatomy of centaurs during our walk to the district.
None of us, of course, had ever known a centaur personally. We'd all encountered them in markets and traveling, and Astrea had even met a vampire-centaur once as a child. The logistics of finding enough space sealed against the dark when one is larger than a horse are difficult enough that vampire-centaurs are rare, and don't travel much. The few that exist suffer disproportionately from the skin discoloration and ulceration that vampires periodically exposed to diffuse sunlight suffer from. This, in turn, makes them shed hair on their body. All in all, it is not a good life choice. Or death choice.
Everyone agreed that centaurs had horse genitalia. The question was whether we had ever seen a male centaur that wasn't wearing one of those long tunics centaurs generally wear. The tunics cover all of the human torso, and drape over the shoulders of their horse body, and could be expected to cover any human genitalia that might be sticking out the front. Part of the debate circulated around how centaurs could have sex with the human genitalia, and, if it existed and was functional, whether there was any difference between a female centaur impregnated in front or in back, so to speak. We were all skeptical, but Ivan pointed out that she knew centaurs had two sets of lungs and two hearts, also several stomachs. We agreed the question was a good one, and that finding an answer would provide adequate entertainment for at least an hour or two.
The pleasure district in Divara Lyal ran along both sides, and for one block in either direction, of one major street. Perhaps twenty blocks, all told, catered to gaming, drinking, drugging, dramatic plays, comedies in one form or another, musical performances, and what I might call other amusements. We were primarily interested in those other amusements, which we discovered scattered along the side streets at one end of the strip. One large, three-story building boasted an entrance that spanned most of one block, and advertised continual shows. The wall to either side of the entrance was plastered with bills advertising the shows. I suppose no one ever took the posters down, instead adding one more layer for each new show. Ivan directed our attention to an advertisement for a show involving performing centaurs. Given the nature of the other shows, I concluded that this would not be any sort of ordinary performing centaur, say, the kind that juggles while leaping hurdles. I said as much. Jack pointed out the line on the poster which proclaimed, in large print, Juggling and Other Feats of Dexterity. Astrea giggled. Leroy smirked. We asked when that show started, and were told it would be in about a quarter hour. We paid the excessive entrance fee and entered.
The hall was huge, and about half full. It was lit by lamps along the aisles, and chandeliers. The stage was lit by large oil lamps. The inside of the building was warm, despite the open windows and doors along the sides. Another show was currently in progress, depicting an eroticized encounter between a female vampire and a male human. As we found our seats, they ripped off more of each others clothes, and the vampire nipped the man twice. The man did not look like a vampire, and was not biting back. Also, he had scarred and scabbed bite marks all over him, no doubt from earlier shows. Astrea made a face, and wouldn't watch. I asked what was wrong, and she said, "Playing with your food is bad enough, but I can't stand to watch someone eat leftovers." I understood the first part, but asked for clarification on the second, and she said it was obvious from the bite marks that more than one vampire had bitten the man on earlier occasions.
Eventually, the female vampire settled in for a nice feed, but having heard what Astrea had to say, I paid close attention. The vampire faked sucking, and as the curtain fell, I noticed she pulled away from the man immediately, and spat.
The curtain stayed down for a few minutes, while a few people left, and many more filed in. Those who had stayed through from the previous show roused themselves and started applauding in unison, some stamping the floor where they stood or sat. Around us, I could hear men and women of a number of species discussing the upcoming show. Many came regularly, judging by what they were saying, often enough to have opinions about which centaurs they preferred, and why. A lively dispute broke out between a group to our left, and another in the row in front of us. The group to our left preferred a centaur named Ageon, lauding his power and control. The group in front preferred a centaur named Lothos, younger, more handsome, and while not as skillful, better endowed. Ageon was judged the better juggler, but Lothos' fans raved about his flexibility. I became very uneasy about the nature of the upcoming show.
What actually transpired during the course of the show left us all speechless, and forcibly convinced us that all our conceptions of centaur sexual organs were misguided. What we had believed were sexual and eliminatory organs between and before the back legs were eliminatory organs. None of us had ever seen a centaur's sexual organ because, like merman, and other water dwellers, it retracted completely within the body. In every other way, that organ was unlike any I'd ever heard of.
I think that Ivan's remark, upon exiting the building after the show, best summed up our collective response to what unfolded, so to speak, on stage: "That wasn't what I was expecting at all." Jack also captured what many of us would be thinking, when we recovered from our shock, when he said he'd never view the inside of a tangerine in the same way again. The climax of the show had introduced a female centaur, to join the males who had been juggling, if juggling is the correct term. She proceeded to demonstrate as much skill at catching as they had at tossing. So to speak.
Rather than attempt to find words to describe the show in further detail, I will now draw a curtain over this episode, and try not to remember it. I've never considered myself anything special when it came to sexual performance, but that show would be enough to make the most confident, skilled human feel congenitally inadequate. I noticed that no one else felt inclined to discuss it either, and think it safe to conclude that I was not alone in my feelings.
We wandered aimlessly through the rest of the district. As was typical of market buildings, the sides facing the street were open, with large shutters that could be used to secure the building when closed or against inclement weather. Thin gauze, like that used to make hat veils, or protect against biting insects in lands subject to them, hung across the opening. The interior was lit, enabling us to see who was within, and what they were doing. We could not see perfectly, but if we chose to look more closely, we could pull the veil aside, or step within. Some of the buildings were not closed, but had a thicker curtain across the opening, and a sign requesting those interested to wait. The rest constituted a form of window shopping, which kept us innocuously entertained for over an hour. Some of the more enterprising, or desperate, owners of the buildings actively solicited us, or at least some of us.
Thinking back on it, the district was highly unusual in one particular way. Some people are good at spotting shape changers, or vampires, or magic practitioners. I see them as having a sort of shimmer, or aura, or charge. But never before had I met anyone who could readily, from a distance, in the dark, tell whether a dwarf was male or female. For that matter, I had met dwarves who, in the day, close up, had trouble, although that was rare. Yet without exception, everyone who hailed Ivan and Mauser knew they were female, knew what their preferences were and suggested services that would include both of them together. We eventually lost them to a threesome of female gnomes. I'm not sure what exactly they had planned, but I feel confident it was complicated and satisfying, because Ivan and Mauser returned to the inn around noon the next day.
When Ivan and Mauser arrived, they slept for several hours, and met us over dinner discussing what to do next. The rest of us had gone out to eat a picnic lunch with Alvin and Marion, and to have the same discussion with them. Marion and Alvin did not have any particular opinion, other than a desire to not spend all of their time in the city. Both were more comfortable in less built-up areas. They were indifferent to whether we returned north, or continued south. At some point, Marion wanted to return to the City of Werekind, but she was in no hurry to do so and had at least a small inclination to travel. Alvin wanted badly to travel, having spent almost no time outside the valley in which he was brought up.
Ivan and Mauser were the first members of the reduced group to have a specific destination. The gnomes they had spent the night and morning with had told them of a colony south of the Divarae, but north of Bolport. It wasn't a town, much less a city, because the residents were scattered over a large area, connected by tracks and trails rather than by roads. The attraction was not only the forest location. All of the residents were female. I asked whether the colony had children, and was told that they did, but no male children. I raised my eyebrows at that; I don't approve of infanticide under most circumstances, and certainly not to select the gender of a child. Mauser hastily reassured me that on the extremely rare occasion (she claimed fewer than three in a hundred) that a male child was born, it was raised by the father outside the colony. Jack asked how they could get the rate of males born so low, and Ivan explained that fathers were carefully selected based on having fathered at least five children, all female. That struck me as a very organized way of going about the business, but left open the question of where they found such admirable men. Mauser said that discrete mention was made in various guidebooks, and word of mouth brought in candidates as well.
I asked whether the colony was single-species, and was told that women of all species were accepted. Neither Ivan or Mauser knew whether non-bipedal species were welcome, or what the relative numbers were. They did, however, have directions to the colony, and a letter of introduction to its leader. Jack asked whether the men in our party would be welcomed. Mauser said the letter listed their names, and that men could not live there, but were allowed to visit. Fathers, for example, were encouraged to periodically visit their female offspring, as were other male relatives.
After some discussion, we walked out to meet Marion and Alvin, and to discuss this proposal with them. They thought it would be interesting to see such a colony. Both had heard of them, and had a number of questions we had not thought to ask. Were the women warriors? Ivan and Mauser did not know, but thought they were a self-sufficient band, raising and gathering food and materials for building houses and clothing themselves. They thought they must surely protect themselves from wild creatures and marauding people, also, and therefore some must be trained to watch and guard and fight. Beyond that speculation, they did not know. Alvin had heard that some of these groups of women who lived in the woods were only human women. Ivan reiterated that this group, at least, accepted females of all races and species. Alvin had also heard that the women in these bands who used the bow cut off their breasts to better wield their weapons. This struck all of us as preposterous. We decided then and there to accompany Ivan and Mauser on their journey to this colony, to investigate these bizarre rumors.
Ruth sped us on our way the following morning, packing food for us to take on our journey. The road south out of Divara Lyal was crowded with traffic in both directions. Merchants were leaving the city with wares to sell on a circuit through the countryside, and to smaller towns south and east. Farmers arrived in the town with carts and wagons laden with produce to sell in the city's markets and restaurants. Through conversations we struck up with those we passed on the road, we learned that a thriving business in cart rental and exchange existed. The farmers wanted large carts in one direction and small in the other, and the merchants the opposite. Go-betweens who enabled these regular exchanges could extract a small fee on each turn-around. It was a useful service, and I wondered I had never heard of it before, until Leroy pointed out that only cities as large as the Divarae had sufficient traffic to justify such an enterprise.
The traffic was thick for the first two days out of the Divarae, and then dropped off precipitously. The trees lining the road changed from a windbreak, and natural camouflage for activity on the road, becoming first woods, and then a forest. Alvin spent more time away from us in the air, meeting us from time to time in wider clearings around the road. Marion periodically made forays into the trees, returning with a wide grin and occasionally blood around her jaw. The hunting in the area, she said, was fantastic. Mauser showed us on the map that for two days journey south, the area was owned by the colony we were to visit, and hunting by others was strictly forbidden. We briefly worried whether Marion's actions would get us into any trouble, but Ivan and Mauser felt that since she was in fox form, and female, we could talk ourselves out of any trouble that might arise. They cautioned Marion to watch for other hunters during her forays. Marion rolled her eyes, and signed something which Leroy translated as, "Duh!", and wandered off again.
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Copyright Rebecca Allen, 1999.
Created: July 8, 2012 Updated: July 8, 2012