The sun shone brightly over Merchan Town. A slight breeze blew. Not a single cloud floated in the deep blue sky. Even though people from a lot of the different kingdoms bartered and haggled in the trade center of the town, the atmosphere remained relatively calm and peaceful.
The people who had completed their trade for the month relaxed at one of the local inns and caught up on the gossip from other kingdoms. They lounged lazily as they ate and drank their fill before setting off toward home. Edward Kerry had been one of the traders to finish his work early. He sat at the bar in the tavern of the Signo Inn and ordered some grog.
"Hey, Ed. How are you?" a man said as he walked casually up to Edward and patted him on the right shoulder.
"Oh, hi, James! You look well. How long has it been?"
James had lost a lot of weight since Edward had last seen him, and his hair had gotten messier, too. Still, James had a carefree confidence about him that Edward couldn't help but admire.
"A few years at least," James smiled.
"What brings you all the way down to Merchan?"
"I got tired of Trade Pass Village."
"Hmm?"
"Everybody's gotten into selling and trading goats up there. Business's been bad."
"Ah. So you thought you'd try your hand at Harvesting?"
"Sure. Veggies from the Harvest Lands last for a month, and I don't even have to grow them myself. 'Sides, I got a tip from an old Gatis on how to handle the enchanted plants so they'll give me more goods than anybody else."
"No way. Where did you meet a Gatis?"
Just when James was going to answer, he became distracted because two strange women walked into the inn.
"I'll tell you about that later. Look at those two. They aren't from around here," James commented.
"But . . . I . . ." Edward protested. He had really been interested in hearing about this supposed Gatis James had met. Even though they lived just on the other side of the Harvest Lands, the Gatis were never seen in Merchan Town.
"Shh." James had already turned away from Edward to stare at the women.
One of the women wore red armor, while the other wore a green cloth dress. The armored woman's long dark hair was tied in a loose braid that swayed slightly from side to side. James noticed that it glided softly over the sheath of the sword she carried on her back.
The woman in the green dress had a flute strapped to her back. Her dark, straight hair barely reached the bottom of her ears. She smiled pleasantly at the gawking men and pulled the woman in armor along. The woman in armor seemed annoyed at the stares they were getting.
James tried to read their lips to see what they were saying to each other.
"Come on Mikaya. Let's just find a seat and try to blend in," the woman in green whispered to the woman in red.
"Try to blend in? Elena. Are you nuts? Look at them. They are staring at us like we're freaks or somethin'. I think this is a 'humans only' inn," Mikaya responded in a low voice.
"Or maybe it's the fact that you refused to change into something a little less conspicuous than that armor . . ." Elena whispered as she tried not to get irritated.
"Hey. You two here for business?" one man asked.
"Yes. Just like everyone else . . ." Elena started to reply.
"So how much for the macho chick," the same man interrupted and laughed.
Mikaya reached for her sword, but Elena stopped her by putting her hand on Mikaya's.
"See. They are just drunk. I don't think they realize we aren't human," Elena whispered quietly to Mikaya.
Mikaya sighed and released her sword. She allowed Elena to lead her toward an empty table in the corner of the room.
The man that had been making fun of them continued to laugh at his seat, but made no further attempts at humor.
As Elena and Mikaya passed two ugly men that were hidden in the shadows of the right wall of the inn, they both got chills.
"What the hell was that?" Mikaya asked in a startled voice.
"I . . . don't know. Something about those men . . . is terribly wrong," Elena answered in a really disturbed voice.
"Right . . ." Mikaya said and laughed nervously. "Maybe I'm not the only one on edge here."
They sat down and looked hesitantly toward the men, who stood perfectly still against the wall. The darkness of the room concealed any real details about them, but the women could see that one of the men had his hands balled into huge fists at his sides.
"Do you think they're guards or somethin'?" Mikaya asked hesitantly.
Elena shook her head slowly, with a worried look on her face. "I don't sense any life from them," Elena said.
"Hey. Don't worry about those guys. They're just drunks, and they like to give all the new ladies trouble. It makes them feel macho. You know how it is," a woman said as she walked toward Elena and Mikaya. The woman had been sitting at the bar when they had walked in, and she wanted to welcome them and apologize for the rude comments of her drunken associates.
"Thanks," Elena said uneasily.
Mikaya smiled and nodded. "Hey . . ." she said. "What's the deal with those guys over there?"
"Hmm?" the woman responded and looked around the room. "Oh. I'd forgotten about them. They've been there all day. Came in last night and stood against the wall and haven't moved since. We tried talking to them, but they ignore everybody. Dunno what the deal is with them, but we've kind of just gotten use to them I guess," she whispered.
Elena's statement rung in Mikaya's head. "I don't sense any life from them," she'd said. So they came in, stood against the wall, and died . . . and nobody has noticed?