The cities of humans was a familiar sight to Edie. The city turning into a brown and grey blur, as the monsters were pulled along down the streets of the Intigo, was not.
From the little cranny that Edie had found in Boggy’s armor, she was able to see out of a little crack. Nothing more than a sliver of light, but it was enough to figure out what was going on. As her boglet steed bounced up and down to keep up with the surprisingly agile merchant, however, she lost track of what was happening outside. Instead, she tried her best to not puke her guts out.
But she still couldn’t ignore the screams and cries of humans as Boggy barreled through crowds. Nor could she ignore the loud bells and alarms that were ringing through the city. Edie let out a sigh as the chaos erupted around her. She got the feeling that she was going to get used to it.
After what felt like an eternity, the alarms grew distant, the screams abated. It seemed like the worst had passed, but it looked like they weren’t slowing down just yet.
“This way, hero!” Gerald led them down a dark, meandering alley. Edie questioned whether he actually knew where he was going, but supposed that they didn’t have too much of a choice. If they didn’t run away now, then they would get caught. A shiver ran down her scales as she thought about what the humans would do to them. Nothing good, at the very least.
Soon enough, the only sounds remaining were the pattering of running feet and Gerald’s heavy breathing. Edie let out a breath of relief.
Darkness, a little hesitant, as if speaking itself was dangerous, murmured, “What happened?”
Edie pondered the question. “From what I could tell, the humans didn’t want to let us in to the town, and we went in anyways.”
“Ha. Serves them right.” Karla said in a tone softer than her usual shriek. It was also possible that she was just muffled. She was currently stuffed underneath the cape with Darkness, although getting her there had been a struggle and a half.
“Well, regardless, we’re on the run, so we’re going to have to be stealthy. That means no more talking unless we’re alone, or it’s strictly necessary.” Edie chided, and the group fell into silence once more.
The blur of the city grew more and more red as the sun rose above the city walls, showering the buildings in its glow. Through the sliver of the world that was available to Edie, she could see that they were in a shabbier part of town. Windows were boarded up, some doors had more holes than wood, and all of the signs were riddled with misspellings.
It was here that Gerald finally stopped dragging Boggy. The merchant turned around to look at them. “Hero, I’m so sorry that had to happen to you. I never expected the heathens of the North to corrupt Intigo to this degree.” To Edie’s surprise, a single tear formed in his eye. “I can understand getting rid of magic, but to turn away Esmira’s chosen? The North has truly turned its back on the old ways.”
Edie froze. Those were a lot of words that sounded important, and she had no idea what any of them meant. Esmira’s chosen? Heathen’s of the North? She opened her mouth, and dropped her voice. “Uh.”
“No, please!” Gerald dropped to his knees and looked beseechingly at Boggy. “Don’t waste your precious words on me. I, a faithful servant of Esmira, will do my best to return the light to this forsaken city!” He prostrated himself before Boggy, hands held above his head, as though he was praying. “Until then, stay safe and hidden.”
This completely blindsided Edie. “...Okay?”
Gerald returned to his feet, and gave a deep bow. Then he twirled around, and ran off into another alley, as clothesless as the moment they met him.
Edie watched as his figure rounded a corner and disappeared. The rest of the monsters waited for a translation in anticipation.
The walking fish thought about it. What did he say? “I think he’s insane. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, though. I doubt that we’re going to see him again.”
A silence fell over the group. Edie took stock of the situation. Now they were a suspicious individual standing in the middle of a dodgy alley in a city that they didn’t know. It was better than being chased by guards, but only barely.
Karla was the one who asked the question that was on all of their minds. “So, now what?”
Edie opened her mouth, but realized that she didn’t know either. She’d been in the human world before, sure, but this was the first time that she wasn’t escaping, or being held captive. Now that she didn’t have an immediate goal, she felt a little bit lost.
“Perhaps we should find a disguise?” Darkness suggested.
It wasn’t a bad idea. “What do you think, Boggy? Anything around here you could use to disguise yourself?”
There was no response. “Boggy?” Edie looked up, into his face, and saw that he was looking around aimlessly. “Are you okay?”
A moment of hesitation. Then he said, “There’s just so… much. So many buildings, so many things. So many humans.” His voice trembled a little bit as he finished.
“What? I want to see it too!” Karla screeched, and tried to escape the cape that she was trapped in with Darkness. She failed. The cape flapped and billowed as she struggled against the being’s dark tendrils, but it didn’t break or tear.
Edie ignored the kerfuffle, and looked sympathetically at Boggy. “I know. It’s a lot for anybody to take in, let alone somebody who hadn’t seen a human until a couple of days ago. Just take some time to absorb it all. In a couple of hours, it’ll all be background noise, don’t worry.”
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Boggy gave a small nod, and absentmindedly started looking around. It looked like he was doing a little bit better, at least. His head perked up, and he pointed towards a large, black piece of cloth that was lying down on the ground. “Does that look like it’ll do?”
Edie inspected it as he moved towards it. It was certainly… intact? The fabric was riddled with stains and dirt, as though it had been slept on for days. In fact, the way it was lying down on the ground was strange, as though--
“Wait, Boggy!” Edie yelled into his ear as he picked the cloak up from the ground. He flinched, but kept a firm grasp on the cloth.
The homeless man woke up with a startle. He stared up at Boggy. Boggy stared back down.
Spittle flew out of his mouth. “Another one of ya’ opportunistic bastards, looking for an easy mark to pick, eh? Well, you picked the wrong one!” The man got to his feet with a stumble, and took a swig of the bottle that was in his hand. “I’ll have ya know that I used to be the commander of Intigo’s whole army! I know how to kill a man like you in,” he hiccupped, “in thirteen different ways, or my name isn’t Matthew…” His speech was too slurred to hear the rest. Regardless, Edie was sure that he would be a pain to deal with.
“Hey, Boggy.” She whispered into his ear. “Let’s run away.”
“Again?” He let out a sigh.
“What’re you mumblin’ to yourself about, you bastard?” He raised his empty bottle as a weapon. “You don’t scare me!”
With a yell, he rushed Boggy.
Or tried to, anyways. He tripped over his own feet after two steps.
The alley was filled with the moans and grunts as the homeless man tried to get back to his feet.
Edie stared down at the man with pity. “On second thought, we probably don’t need to run.”
Boggy, apparently in agreement, threw the cloak over himself and started walking in the opposite direction.
“Wait! Give that cloak back!” A couple of yells came from behind them, but Edie elected to ignore them. Soon enough, they faded away; the man had probably passed out.
An awkward silence filled the air. In a tentative voice, Darkness asked, “Are you sure that we should have taken that cloak? It feels… wrong.”
A haughty harrumph came from beside him. “Please. If you aren’t strong enough to protect your own belongings, you shouldn’t hold it in the first place. What kind of competent beast-- or human-- wouldn’t put up their guard when they’re sleeping?” Karla let out a derisive snort.
“I’m afraid that I agree with Karla on this.” Edie said. “We needed a disguise badly, and even though this isn’t exactly good, we would be dead in the water if the guards saw Boggy’s armor.” She put a fin on the shiny silver, although nobody saw it.
Boggy opened his mouth, and then closed it again. After a second of contemplation, he said. “I understand that we need it. But couldn’t we have gotten it from somewhere else?”
“Where else? The only person we know doesn't wear clothes, we’re wanted criminals, and we certainly don’t have any money.” Edie let out a sigh. “Boggy, if we wanted to survive, we would have had to steal something. Just be thankful that we didn’t have to kill for it.”
Edie immediately regretted saying that last sentence. It wasn’t something that the others were ready for, maybe even Karla, however much she strutted around. An awkward silence descended, and Boggy continued to walk through the alleys. Edie thought about adding something, but she decided against it.
That was how their meandering trek through the underbelly of Intigo began.
###
Boggy tried to focus on the good things. Thankfully, there were plenty of things to distract him. Anything from the brightly colored buildings to the strangely decorative grafiti captured his interest. As he walked through the alley, he realized one strange thing.
“Edie. How large is this city supposed to be?”
The fish paused. “From the outside, it looked to be pretty large. Why?”
“Well, it’s just that it feels like we’ve been walking for hours, and I think that I’ve seen that lamppost before.” Boggy pointed at a slightly crooked light fixture that overhung one of the many compacted buildings that were crammed into the area.
“Oh. I think we’re walking in circles.” Edie popped out of the collar of his armor, and took a look around. “Do you know how to get back to the main street?”
“No.”
“That’s what I assumed.” Edie let out her umpteenth sigh of the day. “Well, we’re lost.”
The word hit Boggy like a bag of bricks. This wasn’t the first time that he’d been lost before, but it was the first time that he’d been lost in a place where the majority of people probably wanted to kill him.
It was not a good feeling.
“The good news is, you're travelling with the best navigator this side of wherever the hell we are!” Karla poked her head out of the cape, this time not getting dragged back under the cape. It seemed like Darkness was asleep, considering that Boggy had been hearing its voice less lately.
Edie and Boggy shared a look. Boggy looked back, and faltered when he saw Karla’s eyes. They were eager and almost watery. “Please? Just let me stretch my wings for ten minutes! Nobody’ll even know I was here!”
Boggy pursed his lips, and was taken aback. That was a new facial expression. He had to file that in the back of his head for later. “Okay.”
“Yes!” Karla hurtled into the sky, but got caught by Boggy’s lightning-fast hand.
“But,” He continued, as she let out a protesting squawk, “You don’t go above where the buildings end. And you tell us how to get back to the main street. Understood?” Boggy said in a tone that was a shade away from harsh.
“Ugh. Fine.” Boggy let go of her leg, and she glided into the sky, just slightly above the city’s skyline.
Edie let out a non-committal grunt. “You’re a little bit strict with her, aren’t you.”
“She threatened to hurt Darkness.” Boggy didn’t offer anything more. He sat down next to the alley, and waited.
Seconds passed. Then minutes. Then an hour. At this point, Boggy began to feel a little nervous. He didn’t like the bird, but he also didn’t want her to die. Edie looked like she wanted to say something as well, but she sat in silence on Boggy’s shoulder.
More and more minutes passed. A serious worry started to nag in the back of his head. With hesitation, he said, “Do you think we should look--”
His statement was cut off by the sudden arrival of Karla. “Sorry I’m late,” she said in between pants of breath. “I was… a little bit busy.”
The first reaction that Boggy had upon seeing the bird was relief. After all, whatever had happened, she’d made it back safely.
Then he noticed the gold chain that was hanging on her neck. And the gold rings that were fastened onto each of her talons. And then the various jewels that she had spilling out from underneath her rocky feathers.
“Hoo! This city is absolutely amazing!” Her eyes were almost as sparkling as the rest of her body. “There are shiny things everywhere! Plus the humans around here are terribly weak. Except for the ones with the pointy sticks.” She shivered. “We should really, really not head towards the big street. The people around there are angry for some reason.”
A vein throbbed in Boggy’s forehead. A fascinating piece of human anatomy that he hadn’t realized existed. One that was conveniently placed to show his absolutely livid rage.