Kraimer was a port town, full of rock houses and wooden roofs and surrounded by dozens of thin docks. Houses sprawled up a hill and cobblestone steps snaked between the homes of the locals.
It was a beautiful place. However, no humans lived there. Kraimer was a town of demons. Most of them had the appearance of reptiles. With scaly faces, yellow eyes, and long tongues. Others had the appearance of bipedal amphibians, with jowls that expanded and contracted as if they were frogs.
"Wait, no humans here?" Igneous asked as he entered the town.
"No," Alya replied, "there are no human towns like this outside of the Confederacy."
"Why not?"
"Because of the mist," the girl explained, walking between demons as if it was nothing. "Large cities have force fields that protect the population from the mist."
"Oh, I see…"
A demon with wild eyes, like those of a chameleon, stared curiously at Igneo and the girl.
"Won't they hurt us?" The boy asked, cracking his fists as if preparing to fight. "After all, we are not demons."
"I hope not. Some humans trade and have business with these creatures, so maybe we shall not have any problems."
"You said there were no humans outside of the big cities protected by force fields or something…"
"No, I said there were no human TOWNS like this. Sometimes, however, some humans leave the cities to interact with demon communities," that last thing, Alya said it with a tone of disgust.
"Why would a human want to interact with demons?"
Alya shrugged. "Who knows. For many reasons, "the girl reached a street intersection, she looked to the left and then to the right. "We need a ship."
"Huh?"
"Someone who transports us to the other side of the sea, on the coast of the continent."
"And how are we going to get something like that?"
"Asking," the girl replied, walking in the direction of a tavern.
Two humans being transported by a demon ship? That didn't sound likely.
"Let's just say, we do find a ship," Igneous said, as he walked beside Alya, "how are we going to get past that 'barrier' of Legion ships?"
"I don't know," Alya replied, biting her lip.
"I have an idea," the boy stated, raising his fist. "We kick their asses! We'll burn all those ships!"
"What?" Alya stopped abruptly and looked at Igneous with eyes of disapproval and frustration, "Are you mad? Do you solve everything with violence?"
The boy crossed his arms. "Do you have a better idea?"
Alya hesitated and didn't reply. She just mumbled something like "How stupid is this guy."
The traveling couple entered an inn in the village. Somewhat empty, but the few customers who were there looked at them curiously. All of them bipedal reptiles or amphibians.
The man at the counter, with amphibian eyes, gave them an unnatural, forced smile. It made Igneous feel uncomfortable, rather than welcome.
He and the girl sat at a table in the center of the inn's restaurant.
"What are we doing here?" Igneous asked, tense.
"There's a lot of information in these places," the girl replied, sweeping her gaze at each of the patrons. "One of them must be a sailor or must know one,"
"I find it curious that you want the help of demons," Igneo said teasingly. "As I recall... you hate them."
Alya frowned. "I don't do it for fun. Believe me, this does not give me any pleasure, for I have no choice," she then leaned down to speak to an iguana-faced demon. "Hey, friend, do you know a sailor who is willing to earn some good silver coins?"
The iguana demon tried to force a smile.
"Oh, I'm sure the waitress can help you with that," he answered, trying to sound friendly.
Igneous raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
An amphibian demon woman approached the table, she looked young and wore the apron of a waitress.
"Welcome to the Fireflight inn," the waitress tried for a smile, but it clearly looked forced, "how can we serve you?"
"Hello," Alya replied, "do you know a sailor who is willing to earn a good amount of silver coins?"
"Oh, of course! I know someone!" The waitress was trying very hard to keep a smile on her face. "Ruber Thousand Eyes. I'm sure he can help you."
For some reason, hard to explain, Igneous had a bad feeling about all of that.
"And where can I find this sailor?" Alya wanted to know.
"If you guys stay here, we'll call him and you guys can meet," that friendly tone from the waitress was unnatural.
"Oh, no need," Alya feinted to get up, "we can go get him. It's just that we're in a bit of a hurry. So if you would be so kind, please show us the way."
The waitress placed her hands gently on Alya's shoulder as if inviting her to sit down again.
"No, do not worry. You can wait for him here. Food and beds, courtesy of the house."
Igneous cocked his head, frowning. Alya was pleased. "Thank you very much!"
"I'll get you something to drink," the waitress announced. "Courtesy of this restaurant, of course"
Alya nodded pleased and the waitress left.
Igneous leaned towards the girl, to whisper about her so that no one else could hear him. "Something's odd. Smells fishy."
"What are you talking about?"
"I have a feeling they're going to screw us up"
"Do you?"
"Yes," Igneous' voice was free of hesitation.
So many years of living on the street prepared the boy to be alert to any danger. He never let his guard down. It was as if his senses were more developed, more acute. He claimed that he could smell trouble. An important skill to be able to survive as a homeless person in a city at war.
"How are you so sure?" The girl asked, with some disbelief.
"Don't you notice that everyone is forcing smiles?" Igneous explained. "They even offered us free food and accommodation."
"It's true," Alya swallowed hard.
"Besides," the boy added, "why hasn't the Legion fleet attacked yet? They have the power to burn this town to the ground. However, for some inexplicable reason, they haven't done so yet. What are they waiting for? An invitation?"
Alya looked at him with 'you have a good point' eyes.
"Let's get out of here, then," the girl said, standing up. Igneous followed her. As they neared the exit door, the path was blocked by some local client.
"To where you go?" the iguana man asked. "The owners of this inn were very kind in inviting you. Are you going to be so rude as to refuse such an act of kindness?"
"Hey, yerk, get off or I'll break your bones," Igneous took a step forward, but the girl grabbed his arm as if asking him to calm down.
"We appreciate your kindness," Alya said, "but with all the shame in the world, we must decline. We remember that we have something to attend to, soon. And we cannot be late. So if you excuse us…"
"I insist," the iguana man held out his open palm, "please stay. The food here is delicious and the beds are very comfortable."
Igneous and Alya looked at each other's faces, concerned as if wondering what to do next. The boy looked over his shoulder and realized they were surrounded.
"Oh, my dudes, you don't wanna fight us," he said.
"Ah, you say that because you are Marked ones?" The iguana man asked, immediately looking regretful for what he had just said.
Igneous and Alya raised their eyebrows as if they had just discovered a liar.
"How did you know we are Marked ones?" the girl asked.
A bead of sweat rolled down the iguana man's neck. "Um…umr…," he stammered.
Igneous looked at Alya and nodded as if telling her with his eyes 'we have to fight.'
The girl moved very quickly and drew her sword. Igneous threw a fist from which a ball of fire shot out and hit the iguana man.
'I can use the powers without transforming. But according to the system, they will be more limited and weak attacks.'
One of the demons tried to subdue Alya, but the girl dodged, swinging her sword and cutting off her attacker's arm. The demon screamed in pain, as the blood did not stop flowing and staining the floor and some tables.
The waitress screamed in horror at the violence that was raging inside the inn.
Igneous released a flame from his fist, and several demons dove to the ground to avoid being burned.
The way out was clear, so the pair of kids headed out the door and ran as fast as they could. They moved further and further away from the inn. Several passing demons stared at them as if they didn't know very well what to do.
"The Legion must have made a deal with them," Alya said as they ran.
"That's right," the boy agreed. "Surely they threatened to attack the town if they didn't hand us over."
"So… the Legion knew we'd get here. What a fool I was. I should have foreseen that."
Igneous looked back, still running, his heart nearly stopping as he saw no less than a dozen demons pursuing him.
"Gotta run faster!" He shouted.
Both kids reached the docks, where they heard someone calling them: "Here here!" The voice came from above.
Igneous looked up and saw a woman at the stern of a fairly large sailing ship. She had long brown hair, tan skin, voluptuous breasts, a tight leather outfit, and a large hat. "Get on my ship!" She was screaming as she waved her arms.
'A human in this port?'
The boy and Alya looked at each other's faces, not knowing quite what to do. They looked at the ship and the woman, then at the mob of demons that were chasing them, and the decision became easy. They both ran to get on the ship.
"We're leaving!" Yelled the woman with the huge hat.
The sails were raised and the ship moved slowly away from the dock. Igneous and Alya realized that all the sailors were amphibious or reptilian demons.
The woman came down from the stern, where the rudder was, to meet her two new travelers. "Nice to meet you," she spoke, doffing her hat and bowing slightly, "my name is Kalina. I am the captain of the Black Gull. Welcome aboard."
"Thank you so much for saving us," Alya said.
"Oh, don't thank me yet," the captain replied, putting her huge hat back on. "You are not out of the woods yet," the woman pointed to the horizon, where the Legion ships were lined up in front of the black mist. "We still have to face that. They won't let us through so easily."
"How are we gonna get through?" Igneous asked.
"We'll have to hand over one of you," Kalina replied.
Before the boy or Alya could react, they were both hit in the back of the head and fell unconscious.