The difference between the Human sector and the Draconian sector, was the most obvious when looking at the buildings. All of the buildings were painted in a thick black coat of fire-resistant paint. Rebekka said that it was to stop a fire to spread throughout the city as the Draconians could breathe fire, sometimes unwillingly.

“What do you mean unwillingly?” Aleks asked Rebekka as they walked through the Draconian Union building and exited the other side. Tall black apartments loomed over them as they traversed the wide cobbled roads, passing many a red-scaled Draconian.

“Like we that cough or sneeze at times, it comes out unwillingly. With Draconians, it can be a bit more dramatic as instead of mucus exiting, it’s fire.” Rebekka replied. She was walking with the steps of an experienced guide, hair fluttering in the wind as a small breeze passed them by, bringing with it the smell of smokey fruits and sweetness. Rebekka turned to look at him and noticed his nose curling up.

“Ah, you must be smelling the smoke.” she said with a laugh.” You’ll get used to it. It’s from the cigars that they love puffing.” she stopped and regarded him for a few seconds. “You look more like a fighter than Luke,” she stated.

Aleks wondered where this statement came from, his facial expression must have given her some clues to his thoughts as she continued.

“The Draconian’s love fighting. Their most popular hobby is a type of fighting called boxing.” 

“Boxing?” Aleks asked with a frown.” Is it where you throw each other with boxes? How would that even work?” he asked sceptically.

“No you dolt.” she said with an eye roll.” They fight without any kicks or elbows. . .” she pointed backwards with her thumb. “I can show you the club, it’s just around the corner. You’ll see for yourself then,” she said with a smile.

The moment they rounded the corner, they had to hug the wall as a large flock of strikingly white chickens rushed past them. Shortly after, a large Draconian rushed after them wearing khaki shorts and black suspenders. His legs blurred as his feet slapped against the cobbled street and disappeared after the chickens.

“What was that?” Aleks asked in a flummoxed tone.

Rebekka chuckled at the sight.” That was Petyer. His chickens always find a way of escaping out of their coop.”

“Draconians are chicken farmers?” Aleks asked incredulously.

“Oh of course. After their boxing, the subject they are most passionate about is Chicken. The rearing of it, breeding and of course, eating it. Some of the best breeders even have chicken races, they are entertaining.” 

What in the living hells, how could that ever work. 

With Petyer and his flock of escapee chickens out of sight, they walked up to one of the black buildings. This particular building did not go as high up as it’s taller neighbours, standing at 2 floors. It had dark double doors with one of the doors ajar. A board hung above the entrance which said ‘Vladis Boxing Glory’. They entered into the dark building causing their eyes to adjust to the lower light.

Stone stairs descended into the darkness where peculiar sounds came from. They followed the stairs into an underground room where the light came from strange lamps, illuminated the area. When Aleks saw what was in the room, the feeling he got was that of another school of martial arts. There were three rings in the room where its inhabitants circled each other and traded blows. Their hands were covered in some kind of cloth to prevent serious injury. A few bags hung around the large room which Aleks assumed was for hitting. Tables and chairs dotted the rest of the room, filled with Draconians. Most of them were puffing thick cigars, filling the air with smoke, causing the two humans to cough. The sound of coughing alerted them to their presence and one of the Draconians stood up and walked over to them.

“Bekka! Good to see you again kiddo. Here to spar with the boys?” the Draconian said, showing sharp teeth at them which they could only assume was a smile. He, like most of the Draconians Aleks could see, had suspenders over his scaly shoulders attached to shorts. This particular Draconian had blue shorts on and his feet were protected with leather shoes with long socks almost reaching his knees in height. He took another pull of cigar and blew it over them, causing them to cough again.

“Vladis, could you not.” Rebekka managed to cough out. After a while of coughing, they finally managed to calm down. She pointed at Aleks and then began. “ This here is Aleksander, he’s part of the otherworlder party. I’m here to introduce him to your race and thought you might tell him some things about yourself and your kind.”

“Fair enough.” Vladis drawled. “I’m going to keep it short kiddo. Let’s move to a table where we can have a civilized discussion and watch Andre and Dmitri knock some sense into each other.”

They moved to a table that was close to one of the rings where two large Draconians were fighting. With both parties seated, Vladis began lighting another cigar. He held this cigar to the side and then breathed. A red light glowed in his throat as fire burst out of his mouth in a controlled stream, setting the cigar alight. That was impressive. As they sat, the fighters were getting into it. Aleks watched as they traded blows while using all of their body weight in simple punches, he was intrigued, to say the least.

“Aleksander, you look like you like what you see hey,” Vladis said with a knowing grin. “You a fighter?”

“I’ve been in some yes,” Aleks said and paused as he thought where master Takashi is now. “But I don’t fight with my hands only, I use my whole body as a weapon.”

“Ah yes yes, like most beings do,” Vladis replied then grinned at Aleks, showing too many teeth. “But you see Aleks, this is what makes boxing a gentledrac’s sport. We honour each other and do not hit one another when they’re on the ground.”

“That doesn’t sound very useful,” Aleks said, shrugging. In all the life and death fights he has been in, it seemed stupid to not take advantage if your opponent was on the ground.

“Maybe, maybe not. We have a small tournament coming up in a week. Why don’t you come to try it out?” Vladis asked with a cigar in his hand that rested on the table as his eyes narrowed at Aleks.

Harrumph. Rebekka fake coughed before she began. “We’re not here so that you can get a new boxer. He’s here to learn about your race, remember?” she said with a slight tinge of annoyance in her voice.

Oh yes right right!” Vladis laughed out loud. “Apologies, the air around him made me want to poach him for the club,” he said as he rubbed the back of his head apologetically. He squashed the bud of his cigar in the palm of his scaled hand and turned his full attention to Aleks.

“Well then otherworlder, let me begin.” he started.

The Draconian race, according to Vladis, was descended from actual dragons in the North. His people travelled all over the continent and settled in many places. Because of their aggressive nature, they were not particularly well-liked in most cities and towns. One of their great ancestors then came up with the concept of Boxing, a way to unleash their aggression in such a way as to not kill their opponents outright but rather, beat some sense into them. Many a hotheaded Draconian has been put in their place after a bout of boxing, quite literally knocking some sense into them. Thus after a few hundred years, the aggression became manageable. 

Vladis’ people moved to the City of Canalis about three hundred years ago, making them the youngest race to inhabit the city. The citizens of Canalis were very accepting and they were welcomed in the community. When they settled in, they discovered the magnificent art of rearing chickens. Most homes of Draconians had at least a small chicken coop in their vicinity with the more prosperous Draconians rearing chickens outside the city on farms.

“You see Aleksander when a chicken reaches a certain age, they’re ready to be grilled. The most succulent chicken you’ll ever eat will be grilled by the flame breath of a Draconian grill master.” Vladis passionately explained as his hands flew around the air. “When you come to watch the tournament, I’ll make sure we’ll get Verushka to grill you a chicken. Your life will be forever changed, my scaleless friend.” Vladis said with a grin.

“My master would love to hear about this!” Aleks said as he imagined master Takashi’s face as he drooled over food. I wonder if he ever got to his family. . . and what happened to us.

“Where did the rest of your race go?” Aleks asked.

“Vladis put his hand on his chin as he gazed in the distance thoughtfully. “Many of my kin scattered across the continent, some travelling West to islands, others East to the great sands.” Vladis paused for a moment and then continued in a lower voice.” My other kin. . . well some of us ended up here, while the rest moved up further, past the great mountains. They built the Dark Citadel.” His face turned unpleasant. “One of my kin was the Dark King. That was more than a hundred years ago, and now he is dead. Good riddance.”

Aleks looked over at Rebekka as she sadly nodded along to his words. Vladis stood up suddenly and then made eye contact with each of them.

“I have training that I have to attend to, you know where the door is,” he said briskly and walked to his students.

“What was that about?” Aleks asked.

“The Dark King is a sore subject for most Draconians. They made a lot of effort to change their aggression and be more than just those that hunger for conquest. Unfortunately, the Dark King happened.” Rebekka said.

“Well, what happened with the Dark King?” Aleks asked, his eyebrows furrowed as they stood up and walked to the door. The sound of fighters circling each other fading away as they walked up the stairs.

“It is a long story, but simply put, the Dark King found a Circlet of Ambition in one of the zones of possibilities. From there on out, he spread terror across the continent, pillaging complete cities. All the kingdoms and republics had to band together to fight against him.” Rebekka said. They entered into the light outside the boxing club and stopped in the road. “There was a lot of death. Some regions still hate the Draconians for what happened, although they know it was the Circlet’s fault.”

Circlet of Ambition? Zone of possibilities? Maybe it might be a godly artefact like those spoken about from myths.

“The more you speak the more questions I have,” Aleks said.

“You need not worry. You have a meeting with the council of elders tonight. They will answer most of your questions and also decide as to what is to happen.” she informed him.

“Wait, the council of elders? And will it be just me?” Aleks asked with a frown on his face.

“The council consists of the leaders of the different races in the city,” Rebekka replied with an eye-roll. “It sure is different to talk to someone that has no general knowledge of the world. Answering your second question. No. There can be up to three present. You just seemed like a likely candidate as you have this way around you that shouts leadership.”

“Thank you I guess,” Aleks said, unsure of what to make of that statement. I do not feel like a leader. There has only been death on my journey. The stay in the city is the first time in a while that no one has died around me. . . “Where are we off to next?”

“The Rockfolk. They are sweethearts.” Rebekka said as a smile blossoms on her face.

“Care to tell me more about them?” 

“They are kind and gentle and the best of all.” She turned and faced him. “They absolutely love baking!” she practically shouted.

Excuse me what?! The rock people like to bake. That is totally not what I expected. The ones I’ve seen so far look more suited for clobbering your head in battle.

“I was not expecting that,” Aleks replied.

“I think no one did. It started when one of them walked past a bakery and saw a baker put the dough in the oven and after a while took the baked bread out and let it cool. This intrigued the lone Rockfolk member and he walked into the oven to look at how it happened. Long story short, they have their own massive bakery in the sector and they make the absolute best bread!” Rebekka said with passion.

“Well then, lead the way Rebekka,” Aleks said with a smile.

“I already am you dolt,” she replied with a roll of her eyes.