Just as the sun arose we had made it to the town of Petal’s origin. The guards at the gate to the entrance saw us coming a ways off and had been moving about. Now it looked like the entire was watching our approach with the guards at the lead, weapons drawn. The majority of the guards were taller, stronger looking versions of petal with a range of different fur colors from tan to red and even some deep orange. Not wanting to provoke some sort of incident, I steered my jeep off to the side of the gate to park.

Once I parked the jeep I turned the vehicle off, took my keys, and helped Petal unbuckle. Masking my nervousness I smiled at her, “Look at this Petal. What a home coming eh? Looks like the whole town is out there watching.”

“Scared.” Petal said, her ears falling down as she watched the crowd nervously. I patted her head.

“Don’t be, I’ll get this sorted out.” I hoped I was right.

“Burn this den of filth to the ground Lord of Darkness! Show them your true power and bend them to your will!” the cultist screamed in the back.

It was time to put this loon behind bars, hopefully for good. I stepped outside of my jeep and closed the door then helped Petal out from her side. I grabbed my jacket from the back and put it on Petal as best I could, it looked rather comical but she seemed happy. I don’t know about the dress code in this town but I didn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea. The guards made a slow approach towards us as I pulled out the cultist from the back.

“Ah I see your grand plan now Lord of Darkness! You shall give me to them for judgment and increase your standing in their eyes! A masterful plot that ends in their town being inevitably destroyed! Worry not my lord, for I shall never betray you! Remember your faithful servant when you burn this town to ash!” The lizard raved and thrashed against his bonds, betraying a fear that he thought he masked with zeal.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” I replied as I began to drag him towards the approaching guards. Petal followed close behind but away from the cultist.

“Halt!” called the guard in the lead. A large Mikthar who bulged with muscle and a face akin more to a lion’s than a normal cat’s. Scars crisscrossed across their face, a testament to their survival. In their hands was a very sharp-looking sword, one that I wouldn’t want to cross. Metal armor covered their entire body but they moved in a way that made it look like a second skin. Complying with the order we stopped…well Petal and I did, the lizard was struggling violently against his binds yelling about the Lord of Darkness. The guard signaled for their companions to hold position which confirmed my suspicion that they were their leader. After sheathing their sword the leader strode towards us.

“Never seen one of your kind before. But Shimmer Lake is a small town.” They said with voice distinctly feminine. She eyed the lizard that I firmly held despite his attempts at breaking free. Shame I didn’t have the foresight to gag him, his yelling made the guard captain hard to hear. The captain signaled two guards forward who then grabbed the cultist and dragged him away. “What’s with him?”

“Oh you know how it is, some loon hopped up on drugs. You people do have drugs here right?” the leader gave me a strange look. “Anyways, this insane bastard abducted this girl here.” I motioned to Petal who nodded to the guard. “And was using her in some weird ritual in the forest back there. Found her starving and dehydrated. I knocked out that loon, tied him up with those zip-ties and tossed him in the back of my jeep to bring him here for you guys to deal with.”

“I’d have just killed him.” She said simply. “Let his Dark Lord or whatever he’s yelling about take his soul.”

“Where I come from, killing is only used when all other options have failed. Mostly. Besides, it’d be easier to explain myself to someone like you if I brought proof along.” I motioned to the cultist that currently rammed his shoulder into the face of a guard, which earned him a hit to the back of the head before he was dragged away into the town. “There’s your proof, guy’s nuts.”

“I don’t doubt you there.” She chuckled and held out a clawed hand. “Kria.” I took his hand and shook it.

“Mark.” Petal then held out her hand when Kria released mine.

“Pehtal.” Smiling, Kria shook her hand as well.

“A pleasure. Now if you two don’t mind, please follow me to the Matriarch’s. We’ll get both of you sorted out right quick.” The guard marched off towards the crowd. Petal looked at me questioningly. I shrugged and held her hand as we followed behind.

The crowd that had gathered at the gate quickly dissipated when the perceived threat turned out to be nothing. A short humanoid-looking thing burst from the crowd and charged towards my jeep. I couldn’t get a clear look at it, but it looked vaguely human, just much, much shorter and had a face covered in hair. I had the keys safe in my pocket but I still found it unnerving. “Hey Kria, can you send a guard to make sure that person doesn’t damage my property?” She nodded.

“Frid, watch Ovglach and make sure he doesn’t break anything of our guest’s.” Kria yelled at a nearby guard who saluted and chased after the small man. Shortly after the guard ran off we crossed through the gate that led into the walled town of Shimmer Lake. Dirt streets were worn between buildings from people repeatedly walking through the town.

It was as if I had gone back to a time before roads.

“Not what you expected eh?” Kria spoke as she studied my expression.

“Not really. I expected the streets to be cobbled with stone. The buildings look sturdily made however.”

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“This town isn’t important enough for cobbled streets. We’re just a simple hunting and fishing town. Besides, the stones, if not prepared well enough, hurt our feet.” Kria pointed down.

Looking at her clawed feet and then glancing around at others that walked through the streets I finally made the connection. Nobody wore shoes. “Ah.” It made sense, looking around there were different species of residents wandering around.

As we walked the roads I studied the various races of people, the most familiar being Mikthar. Their bodies were covered head to toe in fur of different colors, some even had stripes. The main difference between male and female Mikthar looked to be that males had shaggy long hair behind their heads, like a lion’s mane. In general these people were quite muscular, though I attributed that to the type of work that fishing and hunting was.

The second race I saw was the Shren. Large insectoids that made me think of ants. Their lower bodies were set horizontally and had two sets of legs that held them steady as they moved. Their upper bodies however stood up vertically with two arms coming from the top like a humans. Atop the upper body stood a head like a human’s, however two antennae sprouted from their forehead, their mouths were small pincers and their eyes... well if you looked from afar they seemed like one big eye. But up close it was in fact many eyes. Their black skin was not soft like a human’s, if anything it was more exoskeleton than skin. Kria said that the Shren were mostly builders and soldiers as they were a very precise and strong species.

The final race were the Hib’litan, toad people. That’s the only way how I could describe them. Their skin seemed to always be moist and green. They were very large creatures with webbed hands and feet. As they moved they more bounced than walked. They were like giant green sumo wrestlers. These creatures I saw mostly hawking simple wares at shops. Kria stated that they were very smart with money and could smell where there was money to be made so the majority of these people acted as merchants.

An obvious over-exaggeration on their smell I assumed, but didn’t say anything. I was the stranger here after all.

Before too long we stood in front of a large building that reminded me of the old municipal building from my hometown. Except instead of being made of brick, stone, and cement it was one of wood. Kria strode forth and stood before the door, signaling us to stop before we headed inside. “The Matriarch is expecting you. Just ahead is the reception area, but keep going straight through the doorway straight ahead to get to the meeting room where she entertains foreigners of import. Mostly other Matriarchs from other towns.”

“Thank you for your help Kria.” I held out a hand which she shook with a strong grip. Petal then held out her hand as well.

“Thank you.” Kria smiled and gently shook Petal’s hand as well. She then leaned close to me and whispered something that sent shivers down my spine.

“Good luck.” With a laugh Kria walked off into the town of Shimmer Lake.

Petal looked at me innocently. “Shall we?” I suggested and opened the door.

Inside the reception area was very nice. Well, if you were into hunting that was. Animal skulls and skins were mounted along the walls. The skulls that looked like boars with two tusks and two horns and various pelts from animals I don’t think I’d have been able to even guess what they were. We passed by seats of various shapes and sizes to accommodate the various races. Large seats for the frogs, long seats for the ants and regular-looking seats for the cat people.

The smell of cooked meat wafted through the air, teasing my nostrils. I hadn’t gotten to eat my burger, but this smelled much better.  I smiled when I saw Petal’s tail swinging around wildly as she eagerly sniffed the air. I opened the door into the next room. A long room was beyond the doorway. Inside stood many different sized chairs with cushions arranged neatly around a table that ran nearly the entire room.

At the far end of the table sat a regal-looking Mikthar. She wore a very form-fitting black dress that accentuated her curves over her dark orange coat of fur. Behind her stood two Shren wearing very strange blue and white robes and hats with veils covering their faces.

“Come, sit! Both of you and enjoy this fine meal with me.” She rose from her seat as she spoke, gesturing towards the chairs two her right and left. What looked like roasted pig sat upon fine dinnerware on the table, close by to the people who watched Petal and I. With a shrug I walked to sit at the seat to the front and right of the Matriarch. With an unwavering gaze she watched my every movement with interest. I kept a smile on my face. But that gaze reminded me of the way a predator stalks their prey.

Petal however had chosen to stay near me, following close behind me and sat to my right instead of sitting to the Matriarch’s left. If the woman felt slighted, she didn’t show it, or I didn’t notice it. Either way, what’s done is done. I just had to make sure I left a good impression. Damn I wish I had a breath-mint, nobody likes meeting someone with stinky breath.

As we seated the Matriarch sat as well. “I am Matriarch Velle, but you can just call me Vee master…?” she trailed off.

“Mark, just Mark is fine Miss Vee.” She smiled a bright smile, revealing her sharp teeth.

“I think you and I will get along just fine…Mark.” She spoke as if tasting my name.

“I hope we do too.” I responded with a smile far more confident than I felt.