A flick to the forehead woke me up with a jolt. "Aaaah!" Out of reflex, I dodged away from where it came from, sending myself tumbling off Stargate with a thud. Groaning, I rubbed my back which still hurt from that fall in the gorge. I looked up at Ferras from underneath Stargate's legs. He bent down and glanced at me. "Good morning to you. I hope you slept well because you sure did sleep long. It's high noon already." I blushed. Sleepily, I stood up and yawned. It was true though, I had never slept so deeply before. It felt good. "Then why didn't you wake me?" Ferras walked around Stargate, opened one of the side pockets and pulled out a leather water pouch. It reminded me of those old Celtic water flasks I had read about in school. He handed it to me. "Here, drink." Eagerly I gulped down the water. After wiping my mouth with my sleeve, I handed back the flask and rubbed my freezing hands to warm up a bit. During the day it was fairly warm around here, but at night the temperature dropped about 5 degrees.
"Thank you," I said suddenly, surprising even myself. "I- I mean for everything you have given me on this trip. The food, the water... the company. And of course for rescuing me from that horrible beast and, uh." He was intently staring at my face, fixating me with his beautiful, sea-green eyes.
I blushed a bit and quickly changed the subject again. "Well anyway, why did you wake me up? Did you get some food?" Ferras shook his head. "No. We're going to be at the Werehuman village in just a bit. Now get yourself ready, we don't have that much time left." He helped me to my feet and threw me an apple from his bag. I polished the apple with my shirt until it shone a greenish-red in the sun. It tasted sweet and juicy, much better than those fake apples at home which are covered in preservatives and chemicals to keep them looking good, which was ironic since they taste best when they are just a little bit past what we would call their "prime".
As I took another bite a thought hit me; thank God I had no more braces! What would I have done here? It didn't seem like they had anything similar. I swallowed. "Come on, stop daydreaming." Effortlessly he swung himself onto Stargate and reached down to me. I stuck the apple into my mouth, held onto the saddle and let him pull me up behind him. As we had established for the past couple of days, I sat facing backward. I said it was more comfortable this way and I had a better view, but in reality, it just felt super awkward sitting right behind him. So there I sat, patting Star's croup and leaning onto Ferras' back. Also, my back still was aching a lot from the fall back in the ravine and walking only made it worse.
"Before I forget: I've decided to take you along to Whisteria, our capital. I think that would be better for you." He casually added.
"Okay." Makes sense I guess.
The landscape here was stunning. It felt like a mix between a subtropical and temperate forest with some fairly familiar vegetation and some completely exotic and fanciful looking plants in all shapes and colors. What really stood out to me were about half a meter tall shrubs he called Ocra which had drinkable water for us. We let it out by tapping into them with a spile - a metal tube that was stuck into the plant's water reserves. I was glad for the water, but the taste was not that great and I was getting tired of this bitter plant water.
But, it was safer than the water from the streams which were plentiful in this area. The problem was a type of mushroom that apparently grew here like nets over the water and was very poisonous to us Humans. I definitely have to come back here one day and draw some of these things.
As we rode on, mostly in silence, I started thinking about the future again and what the best course of action was for me
As we rode on, mostly in silence, I started thinking about the future again and what the best course of action was for me. My first priority right now was to find a way to earn money to survive. We wouldn't be staying together forever, that much was clear, and I couldn't rely on the kindness of others. My next priority was to find Kat. I was sure now that she must be alive and somewhere in this world. I absolutely had to find her.
Casually I threw away the apple core and looked at my sticky hands. I looked at Stargate's croup then back at my hands. Should I or should I not? In the end, I decided to wipe them on my pants.
"Hey, Ferras."
"Hmm?"
"What are Werehumans?" Ferras flinched. I could feel him tense up behind me. I knew it might be a problem if I revealed that I had no idea about this world but, at this point, I didn't have an option. I had to figure out as much as possible to create a bigger picture of my situation. I will probably never see him again, so why not ask him? Nervously, I touched my headphones.
Thank god Ferras didn't question me and answered: "Werehumans are a different humanoid race which is half-animal and half-human. As in they usually have a figure like a Human but their eyes, teeth and facial features vary greatly depending on their branch. They might also have different legs, tongues and ears. Depending upon how pure their bloodline is, some even have tails, wings and scales."
I was dumbfounded.
"And, so... can they like, interbreed with Humans?" I carefully asked.
Ferras looked at me as if I had said mice can fly. "Excuse me? No! Well yes, but it's just not done. Such a Halfling would probably be killed off immediately anyway."
"Isn't that kinda harsh? I mean, it's not their fault."
Ferras shrugged. "I'm not judging if it is right or not. But it's done so - so be it."
I wanted to continue arguing, but I could see there was nothing to be gained.
I took a deep breath.
I should stop this useless thinking. I didn't want to be one of those people who keeps on complaining about a situation but does nothing about it. On the other hand, I also didn't want to waste my time thinking about things I can never change.
That's right, I didn't have to change the world. Right now all I wanted was to survive at all costs. And find Kat. That's it.
"Hey, Ferras. Tell me a bit about your country. I would love to hear something." I needed to know more.
"I have no country." Stargate swooshed his tail at my leg, swatting me and a fly away.
"Oh, well how about the country we are in right now?" Weird guy.
"You are currently in the empire of Alvira under the rule of Empress Fey." He stated matter-of-factly.
"Okay, you already said that. But how big is it, how many people live here? What creatures are there? How many races exist and what races exactly? Are there alliances? What other countries exist? "
"It's not my place to question someone's origin, but may I say, that you must have grown up under a rock." He squinted over skeptically at me. I didn't answer. I wouldn't have known what to say. "Okay, so Alvira is a relatively young country which was founded by Hora, who slew The Dragon Queen Nivalia and unified the southern countries. As to how many people live here, I have no idea. It's not my job to know." Wasn't this general knowledge?
"With regard to what alliances and races we have, well we just conquered the Werehumans not too long ago. As in two generations ago. And now they are part of the Alviran Empire. The Corillians are our allies from the Southern Lagoon and have been for many decades."
"I hate to interrupt, but may I ask: How did one person alone kill a dragon? Or how big was this 'Nivalia'?" Ferras pulled his reins and halted Stargate. Suddenly the open friendliness was gone as the mood tipped towards hostility and suspicion.
"Who are you? And where do you come from?" Shit! What do I say? His hand is on his hilt. Do I tell the truth? What will he do if he knows? My options were running out and lying to him would be digging my own grave. My hands turned a sweaty cold. "Well you see, I... I am not from here exactly." With a flash I was off the unicorn, kneeling on the ground in an iron grip and had a cold blade grazing my throat. "Go on, I am listening." He hissed into my ear. "No, no, no! I swear! I am not dangerous! I'm sorry!" My eyes were quivering with tears. "I am not from this world. I don't know how I got here and all I want is to go back again. Please! You must believe me! I don't want to kill you; I don't even really know who you are!" I was sobbing now, struggling to get free and cover my face in shame and fear. "Stop!" My arms were released and I could stand up again, faced away from Ferras.
It was so silent it felt like the forest had held its breath just to watch. I wiped my teary eyes before I could cry. I hated crying in front of other people.
Ferras didn't look at me after that. We continued on. Ferras on Stargate and I was walking, which hurt like hell. At some point, I couldn't take it anymore and had to crouch down to relieve the pain in my back. I was looking at a particularly pretty red leaf when I saw Ferras stand in front of my offering me his hand. "Come on. This is ridiculous. We're never going to reach Lotar like this."
I gave him the most pissed off look I could summon. He rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'm sorry! But I didn't really have a choice. The first rule you must learn here is to never trust anyone." Reluctantly I grasped his hand and although he only lightly pulled me up I almost flew into him. "Lightweight." He snickered.
I paused for a moment.
"I'll tell you what you are when I think of something creative."
"Sure." He grinned. I squinted back, but I couldn't suppress my smile.
"So, if you are not from here, where are you from then?" I arched my eyebrows at him.
"You're just gonna accept it like that? That I am not from this world I mean." I scrambled inelegantly up onto Stargate seating myself behind him. But this time I leave a clear distance between the two of us.
"Why not? There's magic so why not another dimension? Maybe you're from another Guardian's realm." Ferras leaned back and pulled something out of the saddle bag.
"And what does that mean?" I was so confused. What's a Guardian? And why was Ferras putting on a black mask?
"Another time maybe. We are finally here. Welcome to Lotar. Also, you might want to hide your hair while you are here. Pull up your hood and try to avoid eye contact."