“Our pardons. We have not introduced ourselves. Allow me to correct this mistake. I am Klbkch, Senior Guardsman in the employ of the City of Liscor. This is my partner, also a Senior Guardsman.”
A lot of the new [Guards] couldn’t tell anything about Klbkch—not that they got near him. He was Antinium, and even if he was Senior Guardsman Klbkch, everyone knew who he was and what he represented. But then—this was Liscor, not the army or another city.
“This area is known as the Floodplains of Liscor. It’s because of a lovely natural phenomenon of the geography and—but you aren’t from here, if you don’t know about this area. But I would have guessed as much since you are Human. As far as I can tell.”
“He didn’t want to tell you the truth! But he and I both know what happens to [Necromancers]. We—any mage possessing even a single level in the class—are all killed on sight in this part of the world! There’s no mercy for my kind here. The legacy of the Necromancer of Terandria, Az’kerash, lingers. Especially here, where his armies once sieged Liscor.”
Or maybe they just walked really fast. Erin could actually see the city Klbkch had called Liscor in the distance. It was still small, but given how close it seemed now compared to before and multiplying her velocity by her legs and given energy divided by her willingness to keep walking…
Because she had entered Liscor. A city of Drakes and the Antinium and even more species she had not yet met, but saw walking and milling about. At least three she could see, all mingling and going about their lives. And now entering—
Every head in the Adventurer’s Guild in Liscor turned at the voice. Grizzled Drake warriors sporting scars from their heads to their tails, inhumanly tall furry people, most carrying bows, and several people who looked like mages, wearing robes or carrying staves, appraised the speaker who had just walked into the building.
“An [Innkeeper], is it? Are you opening up a business here? Humans almost never move to Liscor. I’m Selys, by the way. I should have said so from the start. My apologies.”
Relc leaned back in his chair and played with the dagger. He smiled to himself, warming to his theme of stupid Humans. It was a popular topic in Liscor—especially with the annual Blood Fields battle almost upon them. He felt a tiny bit guilty, but he was also still mad about yesterday.
It didn’t matter. The cause was all. He should have gone straight back home, down, to the one street in Liscor where the ground opened up and no one but his kind went. Down, home to the Hive.
Yet Klbkch went. He told himself he was visiting her to improve his relationship with her. It was important to maintain good relationships with other species. But she was hardly important; Humans were not well-liked in Liscor, and she had no capital, social or economic. So why?
