(Note: I currently have nothing above future Discord Access for anything above my second tier: Amber Eyed (and in turn my third tier (Fluffy Eared)) and highly advise against joining said tier unless you are sure it is worth it!!)
I peeked around the group in front of us as a commotion broke out at the front of the line.
"Alright fuckers! We're the gatekeepers of this place now! Please us and we'll let you pass! Waste our time and you'll end up like these fuckers!" One of the guards was walking off to the side of the line, holding what seemed to be a poor couple in withered rags, barely showing any skin, and what little skin was shown had a pale, sickly look to it and was extremely thin for a human. "These dumb fucks decided that they wanted to try and give us the minimum fee required to enter this pristine city I and my pal, Bob, call home!"
Oh I guess that one's Larry then huh?
He wore a suit of thick silver armor that looked like it should've stayed in the middle ages of war back on Earth. The gauntlets he wore had dents and deep gouges in them in various places and the entire thing had seemingly been painted a various array of red and gold, and various spots being marked black like the greaves, boots, and the hands of the gauntlets. The helmet was a sort of mangled mess of a bucket and a triangle glued together at odd angles, and it was also painted to show a sort of eternal mad grin on the front.
"You know what we do with peasants around here?" He asked holding the two's arms as he looked around for a moment, and then he clenched both hands and the two people in his arms screamed as several cracks sounded in the silent expanse of both lines. They whimpered and clutched their arms as he threw them to the side, tucking a small pouch into his waist-band and looking at everyone under that strange helmet. "We crush them."
He then walked back to his position and waved a hand, "Just give us what we want and nothing should happen to you. I don't care how you get it either, nor will I give a shit how the money as long it's the right amount and not something that's will cause me a damn headache."
"Next!" A deeper voice bellowed and I snuck around Red to see the other side of the line and there stood a giant of a Bull-man? At least that's what it looked like:
His armor was of a similar style as the other guy but looked more intimidating since he was taller by at least two feet. The armor was a deep red color and the helmet he wore had giant black horns sticking out of the top of each temple, curving up and slightly forwards. He looked even more intimidating than the Larry guy with only a thin slit traveling the length of the helmet with what seemed to be two glowing red lights hiding under it.
"Ugh. He's always so dramatic about everything, and he treats everyone the same. It pisses me off how little he cares about people. It's all about money in his eyes, and I bet he skims a few off the top before turning in to the Guard to report his station gatherings." Red growled. I looked at the two people at the side of the road, clothes all muddied and still in tatters as they cradled each other and the broken limbs they bore.
I reached into the chest in my mind and made my way over to them...he didn't care about where the money came from right? And it seemed like everyone was trying to stay under the radar for as long as they could, because if something bad happened it would upset the two upstarts at the gate. They shouldn't be hurt or killed with those two on guard duty for now, so helping them out a little should be fine...
I stopped. I didn't even know the amount those two wanted to get in, and I didn't want to just give these two a gold coin in case that got them in trouble or something. I snuck over to the front of the line, keeping an eye on Red and the two injured people as I watched things happen.
"Two silver for entry." Larry said and the person at the front of the line guffawed.
"What?! Yesterday it was just one silver to get in, now it's two?!" The lizard person screeched and Larry really didn't seem to like that. He stepped up to the anthro-lizard person and leaned down to get in their face.
"Scaly fucks like you should understand your place here." He sneered, "You give me my silver or I'll take your tail as payment and turn it into grilled lizard sandwich." The lizard person started to shake uncontrollably in fear, and they quickly pulled out their money pouch from it's spot hidden under the frills of their neck and weakly growled their sub mission.
"You'll pay for this..." They grabbed two silver and shakily handed them over.
"What are you going to do you pitiful creature? You're literally shaking in your boots just from me uttering a small fucking sentence." Larry scoffed and the big one, Bob, took a step to the side to let the lizard past. And they quickly scurried past with their tail literally between their legs and Bob stepped back into place.
"Next!"
I watched for a few more people, some of them went by without any issues, but the ones with animal traits or straight up just looking like an animal got the worst treatment from Larry. He really seemed to have a problem with beast people. Most were allowed entry with just a silver or a silver and a few copper, and most beast people were charged two or three silver. I guess Larry changed up the amount according to his mood then...that certainly made it harder to estimate how much would be needed. He also liked to flirt with the women, no matter the race, and if they didn't give him an answer that satisfied or tickled his fancy he charged them a ton. One of the cat-kin ahead of us was charged four silver for just saying "No"!
I decided that four silver should be enough and went back over to where I last saw the two ragged people. Taking note of how far away Red was from the front of the line and hoping she didn't get to the front until I came back. I saw them heading through the fields, around the wall and hurried over.
"Honey what are we doing? You know we can't afford to use any other entrance. He took everything we had, and our arms..."
"I know, my sweet flower, I'll figure something out. We've had to deal with worse than this before...we're lucky he just broke our arms and let us go...it could've been so much worse and you know that."
They seemed to be taking some sort of chance and going to another entrance, but even I couldn't tell how long the wall was before curving, and it seemed like it would've taken hours or longer just to get to another entrance by doing this...and wasn't there a problem with monsters and stuff outside city walls in most fantasy kingdoms? Like traveling at night and in a group would be better than going through a field of waist-tall wild grass in the dark of night, moon out of not?
Though I guess the only danger could be getting shot at by a guard walking the top of the tower and them writing it off as an accident of circumstance--maybe claiming they though the person was a monster running towards the city--and that would be that...
"You know just as I do how dangerous those two guards are for people like us. It's better to go around and take our chances with the fields than try and push our luck..." the man pointed out solemnly. I took out the silver coins from the chest in my mind and held them awkwardly in one talon, sort of having to balance them and walk on without making too much noise...maybe I should give them a little more.
I looked back to see Redline only a few spots away from the front and hissed in frustration. However, that got the attention of the two I'd been trailing and they froze up, their scents reeking of weakness and fear...I shook the thoughts from my head and quickly tossed the coins at their feet letting a few extra out as I did so.
I didn't wait to see their reaction, quickly turning to sprint back to Red just as she got to the front.
"Ah, if it isn't my favorite kitty." Larry sneered, "You think I wouldn't notice those legs under that cloak of yours by sight?"
"I was hoping so..."
"What?" Larry stepped forwards warningly and Red just looked at him and tilted her head with a smile plastered on her face.
"I didn't say anything Lerry" She purred and Larry clenched a fist looking like he wanted to do something, but he took a breath and stepped back into position.
"Your usual fee or no entry. I don't care who you are or why you're out at so late this time, and I don't feel like dealing with your irritating personality right now." He held out a hand expectantly and Red dropped three silver into the open palm. I hurried to her side, opposite of the direction Bob stepped out of the way to go forward past the gate.
I had to admit, being invisible sure had it's perks every so often.
"You still here little one?" She asked quietly leaning to the side a little and I just glared at her in response. Letting the glow of my eyes become visible to her for a moment to show my displeasure, but that seemed to be enough to settle her emotions for the moment as her stance visibly relaxed in relief.
"I'm glad that went smoothly...usually I have to pay the fee and force my way in." She said and I tilted my head at that, but she was already continuing, "I've been having to pay two silvers like most beast-kin when Larry's manning the North gates but he usually blocks my path to flirt with me. I'll never understood why either, he's a bit of a new face here still...Yet nothing he does seems to get the attention of the Knight Commanders. They just let him do whatever the fuck he wants to most times. Not to mention how he leveled so quickly in just a few short months..."
I thought about that. How long had it been since I'd been reincarnated here? Surely I would've been in that egg for some time but was it only a few months? Years? Even longer? That was something I never actually pondered till now, but it reminded me of something--wasn't there someone in my class who was a bit of a stuck up punk towards me?
...I don't remember.
---------------------------
Blud wasn't the best at interacting with humans, and the few times he did usually ended with him cleaving them in two with his giant war axe, but as an (Orc of War) he didn't mind that at all...He was built for battle, so why waste his potential guarding some stupid city from people just trying to enter it rather than just cutting down those that opposed him?
He thought he would likely never know that answer.
Blud thought back to the time he entered this city: He'd just been a lowly (Battle-Orc) at the time, with nothing but a cleaver and his strength; One of the leaders of his clan in a forest near the Human Empire. Then they were attacked by Goblins and their Wolf mounts, the sickly green creatures blundered the women and the wolves ripped anything with flesh to shreds until it was only him alone standing alone in the center of Ruin.
He was lucky that Larry had come and saved him or his heart would've been cut out by his very own weapon, fed to the leader of the wicked creatures and his beast...he'd gotten his revenge in the end. Getting the chance to become stronger serving under the human and soon going to the cave the goblins took refuge in and slaughtering them all, alone. It was a rite he had earned and it earned him the title (Blood Orc), granting him the rare evolution of (War Orc) with an attribute over the control of the blood in his body. Making him stronger and allowing him to push past his mortal limits to rip apart any that stood in his way.
He still never understood Larry's fascination with the Kin of Felines...most of them were so weak and not worth the time of day in his eyes, all except for one that was, but even she didn't really have much fighting prowess and just stayed at a distance with that bow or attacked from the shadows with a pair of enchanted knives...
Today was different though. For some reason Blud felt like he was being studied by some ancient being, something he hadn't felt in a long time: since the time the dragons congregated north and made an empire of their own. Blud studied the crowd intensely, even as Larry stepped out of line and broke the arms of two walking corpses dressed in rags. But nothing out of the ordinary stood out to him, until she stepped up at the front of the line.
"Your usual fee or no entry..." Blud was surprised at how little Larry seemed to care about this Feline-Kin for a moment, but he didn't show it even as he stepped to the side and let her through. He watched her pass the gates for a moment, seemingly talking to herself, and then the air shimmered next to her waist and Blud froze.
A singular glowing orb of Amethyst appeared looking at the feline in a glare. Causing Blud's body to freeze up in utter shock as the eye turned and looked at him, suddenly tilting to the side like a wild animal with something they'd found as interesting and disappearing like they were never there. Blud was snapped from his shock as another, smaller lizard-kin attempted to sneak past him with a cloak of invisibility over their presence.
The human might not have been able to feel it as they passed him by but he sure was. A hand shot out and gripped the trespasser by their scaly neck and he dragged them back and twisted his body. Throwing them in an arc over ten meters from the ground to the back of the line. Thank blood he was almost done with having to listen to Larry deal with these trash.
"Hey Bob what was that earlier? I didn't think you fancied the cat-lady too?" Blud had to resist showing his displeasure at the name the human Larry had given him, and dismissed his question. He may owe the human a life debt but he sure as blood didn't have to answer to his every whim...
"Next!" Blud bellowed and the line shuffled forwards.
"Okay, fine. Don't answer me," Larry snorted and turned forward again, "I didn't really care anyways..." He then went back to dealing with the many beings attempting entry into the city once again. A little harsher on the next few than he'd been before...
Those purple eyes continued to haunt Blud's mind even as his shift ended and he followed the human home as a guard. He was surely going to be meeting that creature again in the future...he could feel it in his blood.
I was going to end it with Redline and Sc'the getting through the gate but I wanted to make a POV of the giant imposing figure that I didn't really give much spotlight too since I'm more than likely going to be featuring these two again in the near future.
As Always I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time!
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Edit: The Cover picture is AI art, until I have enough money for someone to properly create an actual cover based off of it...I hope people don't take offense to this, and I checked several times to see if I could actually use it like this and didn't see anything marking against it.
(Using Bing Image Creator if anyone knows it better than me)
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