A human! Junipor had never seen such a beast. Her face contorted just by looking at him. He has no tail! How could anyone balance on their feet without a tail! There were so many thoughts swimming in her mind about the interloper, most of which weren’t pleasant.
The human was just an inch taller than herself, with lanky brown hair, pale skin, and a seemingly normal looking face. There was a small scar on his lower lip, and another blemish just underneath his left eye. Whatever had given him those marks must’ve been small to have such tiny claws. She wondered if they could’ve come from razor sharp thorns instead? In which case, it was true what they said about humans having thin skin.
He looked so out of place, and weird, with his tiny ears. They were barely visible underneath his shaggy hair. The fact they were nestled on the sides of his head also disturbed her.
How could they hear anything? Junipor wondered. She also couldn’t imagine what it must’ve felt like to have ears constantly tickled by one’s own hair.
Humans look like mice. Junipor finally concluded. How were we ever subservient to mice! She would never understand how the Aiverix war-clans struggled against human invaders, not after seeing one up close. The human brought with him precious few items, the rucksack over his shoulder only contained a sparse collection of clothing. The compass around his neck was perhaps his single most expensive possession. Junipor toyed with the ornate trinket, playing with the silver stylus and wrapping its thin metal chain around her hand. A series of words, written in a dialect Junipor didn’t recognize, were engraved in the soft leather of its container.
“No weapons,” Alder noted on a small parchment while shoving the human into a dingy cell. The town of Hitecross had little need for its jail, thus the pesky outsider shared it alone. “Strange, not even a dagger or hunting knife.”
Junipor’s ears twitched. No weapons? She never heard of such a thing. The goddess’s teachings, and years of survival, had taught them to always be armed. If not for ones own protection, than for others. This human dared walk on their sacred shores unarmed, he was either was a fool…or something else.
“Well human, what is your name?” Alder was a full head taller than the man locked in the cell, and yet, the human didn’t seem bothered.
He looked up at her brother with a quizzical glare, and then finally spoke with a foreign accent. “The name, my good sir, is Mauroceno Caius, or Cai for short.”
Cai? Junipor’s tail stiffened, then drifted back to the floor. It was such an odd name. It was unlike anything she had ever heard before.
Alder wasn’t amused, nor did he appreciate the human’s attempts at diplomacy. “Yeah…not calling you that human.”
“He must be a spy.” Junipor had her arms crossed over her chest, the compass dangling from her wrist. She wished she had her axe, instead she had only a dagger strapped to her belt. The human raised his hands up in alarm at her words, and protested fiercely against such a notion.
Regardless of his complaints, neither Junipor nor her brother paid him much attention. Not because his words were unbelievable, but because the notion that a human could infiltrate their homes without being noticed was laughable. Their scent alone made them easy to track. The only reason they hadn’t noticed the human until he reached the tavern, was because he only recently arrived.
Judging by his smell, he had come from the northern townships, and took the merchants road south to Hitecross. That meant he must’ve come from Honeybend, or at least passed it on the way. Junipor stiffened with the realization, this human must’ve come through several Pharine villages and communes, and yet he hadn’t been arrested.
“A human spy, can you imagine the stupidity. No, tell me something human, do you have a traders seal? Or perhaps some right of passage?” The idea crossed Junipor’s mind as well. But as Alder asked the question, his words sounded doubtful.
“If I may interject, my compatriot will explain in detail why I’m here.” The human tried to sound compliant. He had his hands open and in full view the whole time, further evidence that he wasn’t a threat.
“So he is a spy! He must have accomplices!” Junipor ignored the innocent smile.
Somehow, Alder didn’t rush to judgement. Instead he sighed, and made sure Junipor was a few paces away from the cell before asking a follow up question. “There isn’t another human in Hitecross. We’ve searched, and nothing stinks like you.”
“Well…that’s good to hear, because my compatriot is most certainly not a human. In fact I’m sure she would be relieved to hear that she doesn’t…smell like me.” His voice wavered a bit as he considered his words carefully.
They both noticed that. He was a sly human indeed, hiding his emotions well. Junipor could sense the frustration in his tone, the quivering of his lips, and the slight wince in his eye. The human was trying hard not to get annoyed by the insinuation that he smelled.
“Why are you here?” Alder asked bluntly.
“I’m in search of someone,” The human answered swiftly before sneezing from the dust in the cell.
“Who?” Junipor hopped up on the stack of boxes nearby, giving her a wide view of the cell and surrounding jailhouse. The building was kept toward the center of town, and often home to the village sheriff. Since the passing of the previous sheriff, the position has remained vacant for now. His desk sat empty in the corner, along with the mantle of his responsibilities.
“A terrible criminal who’s been whispered to roam the islands of fear. As a representative of the late inquisitor Reomus von Harwikia, I was sent to investigate.”
Harwikia, that made some since. Junipor knew of the old kingdom to the south, on the other side of the frozen seas. The Pharines lived there for a time, and passed through its lands to reach their gifted homes to the north. They still kept in contact through mutual trade agreements, but for the most part Harwikian’s wanted little to do with their northern neighbors.
Junipor had never heard of an inquisitor before, but whoever this Reomus was, or had been, the human spoke his name with reverence.
“Human authorities have no right to be here,” Junipor cautioned. She glared at him with feral eyes.
“I understand completely,” the human raised his hands. “And I’m not here to break any laws. I’m only here because this criminal is wanted, and extremely dangerous. My master was hunting him for years before succumbing to the plague.”
Plague, Junipor scowled hearing the word. It was another reason humans were unwanted. They were so filthy, it was no wonder they spawned illnesses so often.
“Who is this supposed criminal?” Alders asked quietly. Junipor could sense his apprehension. Word of a plague had given him some discomfort as well. Speaking of illness out loud was extremely bad luck among the Pharine’s, unless one was experiencing afflictions themselves and asking for a healer.
The human noticed his captors steely glares, and hostile expressions, but didn’t seem to understand why they were so agitated. He took a deep breath, and tried to speak directly to Alder. Clearly, the human was nervous around Junipor, as he tried to avert her gaze. “He goes by many names, but the one he has been using most frequently is Mortas Graves.”
Junipor’s hair on the back of her neck straitened, her tail froze, and a lump caught in her throat. Sub-consciously, her hand reached out to the dagger at her belt. Could the rumors actually be true? She wondered. Could the stories of a killer on their island be real?
“Hold here,” Alder marched towards the door. The way he handled the situation made him seem several winters older than he actually was. He motioned for Junipor to hop down and listen to him. “June, watch over him. Don’t kill him. I’m going to find the sergeant of the guard, he’ll know what to do.”
Junipor wanted to follow him, but couldn’t stomach the idea of leaving a human alone and unsupervised. She was curious if they had some kind of hidden escape mechanism, like spitting acid or a having a second pair of hidden teeth that could crunch through iron bars. She simply couldn’t get over the fact that humans seemed so weak. Certainly there was more to them?
Reluctantly, Junipor took a seat across from the cell. The only reason she agreed to follow her brother in the first place was that she worried for his safety. She was already bloodied, her axe impaling the head of a human reaver during the raid on the slavers ship, but her brother had yet to face a serious threat. Even though she was still buzzed from her night in the tavern, Junipor was more than confident she could take this human on alone. Come to think of it, Junipor realized the human reavers she faced before were fairly unskilled. They knew how to wave a sword, and had some meat on their bones, but otherwise weren’t particularly horrifying. Not like the stories.
She leaned the chair back against the wall, and stared at the human silently.
The human smelled rancid, like old leather caked in mud, and covered in fasces. She could smell the tang of his sweat masking other thicker odor’s from his trousers. There were so many other alien smells that clung to him, likely from other humans he had been around. Judging by the layers of filthy human smells, he had been around at least a dozen not so long ago. Perhaps as long as a week ago?
Did all humans smell like this? Junipor wondered. So dirty and rotten.
“Overall, it’s a nice town you have here. If I had known that Pharine women were as adorable as you, I might’ve come sooner.” The human struggled to remain still. He liked to tap his fingers against the floor, while whistling an awfully out of place tune. “Do you like the compass? It’s an heirloom you know?”
Junipor wanted to hiss at him, but her tail had a mind of its own. It wagged back and forth, while she clutched the leather box containing his compass close to her chest. It was a fun trinket; the leather smelled like foreign sands, and its silver was so pure she could get lost in its sparkling reflection.
“I take it you don’t get a lot of visitors.” He smiled, noticing how she held the compass. “It’s rather sad really. Is it true you have natural hot springs? I would so love a bath, once everything's been cleared up of coarse.”
“The goddess would never allow a filthy human to soil her sacred springs.” Junipor’s voice was followed by a growl.
“You’re speaking of Phedona, the fertility goddess? I would have you know I offer her a sacrifice of herbs and incense every year on the first day of spring. I’d hope she would welcome my patronage.”
Junipor just grumbled. She had little care for how humans worshiped the goddess. What mattered was this was the land of the Pharine’s, its sacred soils promised to them long ago by Phedona herself. Whatever this human had offered their patron goddess, it was but a trinket compared to the love and devotion given by her true servants.
Before Junipor could interject, the door to the jailhouse opened.
Alder came inside, followed by one of the village guards wearing his leather armor. Next to them walked another humanoid figure. At first, Junipor assumed it to be a human, and she was quick to jump on her feet. It didn’t smell like a human though. Instead, she picked up a spicy musk in the air, followed by vanilla and…smoke?
The figure removed her cowl, revealing a narrow face with large almond eyes. Her skin was a reddish hue, and the main of her black hair ran down the length of her spine. A tiny pointed tail danced nimbly around her ankles, and was strong enough to reach out and latch around the cell keys with ease.
“My my Caius, what did I tell you about causing a disruption?” The teifling spoke with a fluid voice, like a winter stream passing through the ice. Junipor wasn’t sure how to react, seeing the creature up close. Part of her couldn’t help but feel a hint of fear, curiosity just barely overcoming it. Regardless, she was glad it wasn’t another human.
