Bea is actually an amazing person after you get to know her. We talked for about two hours, and I learned a lot about her. Before she was sent to jail, Bea was a blacksmith. She would craft anything and everything if you asked for it. She would come up with all these amazing designs, drawing them on pieces of paper, and then she would make them perfectly. Many creatures would come from across the land to just see her work, and several onlookers would buy her stuff for hundreds of raknaks. I’m not sure what a raknak is, but I have a feeling that it is equivalent to a lot of money in the real world.

Bea specialized in her work for three centuries before she was arrested for a crime she didn’t commit. She was accused of murdering thirteen different men and women, the attempted murder of two more, and several parking tickets. Bea had never had a parking ticket in her life, and murdering thirteen people would have never crossed her mind, despite the fact she manufactured literal weapons. In all thirteen cases, though, her weapons had shown up. Everyone just eventually assumed that she was the murderer. She was taken in the middle of her work day while everyone was watching. She was taken straight to the prisonlands without an explanation, a trial, or a chance to prove her innocence. The only way she was able to find out what she was accused of was by talking to new prisoners and some of the kinder guards.

I’m sorry for all that had happened to her. I couldn’t imagine having to go through that, even though I was just arrested for being human, but being accused for the murder of thirteen people was incredibly different than just being human.

After her story, I told her mine. And Grandma’s stories as well. She was fascinated with the stories about Grandma. During one of the stories, I mention a blacksmith. Grandma would often go to him to get tools, weapons, armor, whatever she needed for her next adventure, and once they got to know each other pretty well, he started giving her discounted prices to help her save money to be able to live in this world. After describing the blacksmith as a tall dark man with black hair and bright blue eyes, Bea interrupts me. “That’s my grandfather!”

I pause. “Your grandfather was the blacksmith that helped my grandma?”

There’s excitement in Bea’s voice as she says, “Yes! I remember him telling me about a young human woman that would come by every once in a while. I thought he was just talking myths and legends, but I didn’t think it was real. He was an amazing blacksmith, too. He taught me all I know about blacksmithing, he was so Getz≈ better than I ever will be!”

As I listen, I start to grow excited, too. If this blacksmith helped Grandma, he could probably help me as well. “Where’s your grandfather now?”

Bea goes silent. After a minute, she says, “He’s dead. He’s been dead for the last half a century. I… I don’t want to talk about it.”

I don’t say anything. I guess half a century is still too soon in this world.

We sit there in silence for the next couple of hours before a guard comes along. It is a goblin guard, and that raises my hopes just a little bit. Maybe he is here to get me out. I could finally just get out of here and come back at a better time.

Instead, he walks past me and to the block on my left. Bea’s block. I hear the gate open and the goblin’s voice saying, “Alright, B’anca, let’s get going. You have an appointment you need to be at.”

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I hear Bea’s voice next, and she doesn’t sound too excited. “Alright, let’s get this over with.” Then I hear the gate close and footsteps start to pass by me. I look up to see Bea for the first time since I met her, and I… I couldn’t not think about Kate Suthers. Bea looked just like her. Long brown hair, shining turquoise-blue eyes, and an intent focus that some days intimidated me. Her facial structure was the same, and she was about the same height as well. The only difference was her pointed ears and slightly darker skin tone, which I assume came from her centuries in blacksmithing.

She looks at me. “So, you’re the human. I thought you’d be taller.” I decide to take that as a compliment. “Guard, can he come with me?” Now that I think about it, she even sounds like Kate. “I don’t think he’ll be able to do much, but I would like him there anyway.”

“Sorry, but I don’t think I can do that,” says the guard in a rugged voice.

“Come on, Sen, you can’t deny a dying woman’s wish, right? Isn’t it the law? And aren’t you supposed to upkeep that law?” Kate… I mean, Bea is really good at convincing this guard.

Sen turns a slight shade of red, something I did not know goblins could do. “W-well, of course, Bea, but I-I don’t know if I’m allowed to. I-I guess I could bring him along…”

Bea cuts him off before he could say anything more. “Perfect!” She’s smiling that one smile, the one that Kate would use when she finishes her tests, when she’s confident in her answers and knows she is going to get a good grade.

The guard, looking a bit reluctant about what he had said, opens the gate in front of me. Even though it has only been a few hours, I feel like I have just been released from an eternity. In a way, I was.

Sen leads us through the prisonlands and out into the rest of the bright and colorful world. It’s an amazing sight to see, especially after having been in the prisonlands for a little while. I don’t think I could ever last so long in the prisonlands like the creatures do. In a way, it feels kind of… cruel. Then again, I still don’t completely understand the laws and physics in this world, so I would have to make that judgment later.

We wander through the forests for quite a while longer than we had going to the prisonlands. I decide to ask the guard, “Where are we going?” I’m met with an answer that I hate: “You’ll see when we get there.”

After what felt like hours, but could have only been maybe thirty minutes, we arrive at another town. This was not unlike the goblin town I had just been to only less than half a day earlier, but it has its differences. For starters, this town has a tower in the center of everything. This tower is made from a tree growing from the ground, its roots spreading through the ground, visible like the veins beneath skin. There is an entrance on the side that was facing us, blocked by a simple door. Looking up, the tree stretches high into the sky. I’ve only seen pictures of the Empire State Building, but this looks just as tall, maybe even taller. When it does end, if it ever does, the branches stretch out across the sky. Where the light shines through casts a green glow that reflects off every surface at ground level, giving everything an emerald shine.

The creatures of this town are a mixing pot of several different kinds. Some of the creatures look similar to Bea while others take on the look of Sen. More than that are creatures that vary greatly. Some have way too many eyes, and some have a lot of arms and even more hands. Some are slimy and liquidy, while just as many are as hard as the obsidian they are buying.

I knew that there would be several different kinds of creatures. Grandma had always told me about all of them, but I had never expected to see so many more than she had ever described. I could not believe it.

We are taken to the tower in what I am sure is the center of the town. Sen says something I could never repeat, and the door opens. In front of us are stairs. Sen pushes both of us onto the stairs and says, “Start climbing. You have a long way to go.” We do as he says and start ascending into the unknown.