Daniel looked at the grass as he walked behind the riders. With a grimace, he glanced upward at the crimson-clad warriors surrounding them. They did not seem threatening now, but their weapons and armor cast a great shadow of doubt over him. Daniel’s thoughts then turned to the possibilities of escape. We’re on foot, in a territory we know nothing about, without food or supplies of any kind. If we ran, we wouldn’t stand a chance out here. His thoughts were interrupted by a slight nudge from his companions, at his sides.

“Any thoughts?” Robert asked in a hushed voice, leaning in close to Daniel.

Katrina mirrored his actions and leaned in closer to listen in.

Daniel glanced around again. “Well, at least they seem friendly right now. It’s the best we could hope for. Other than that, I guess we just see what happens.” He scanned each creature again and assessed the clothing and weaponry more closely now that they weren’t in imminent danger. The crimson cloaks that hung around them first. Only two seemed different from the rest; a deeper red, with golden embroidery around the hems. Of the two, one had more. This was worn by the creature that stepped forward and spoke, so he was clearly the leader. They stopped suddenly as the creature in front raised his hand, signaling a halt. He turned his head slightly and grumbled something in his language. The leader nodded and turned to the rest, relaying the message.

So, he’s giving orders as well… And still has a fine cloak, second in command, maybe? Daniel thought.

The lead creature trotted with his mount to the three humans. Looking at Robert, he spoke. His tone was sharper and with a little more authority.

Robert stared back with a puzzled look, eyes wide and eyebrows up. There was a pause, then the creature spoke again as if asking a question.

Robert was silent for another moment, then cleared his throat. “Uh… Yeah… I got it.”

The creature pulled on the reins of his mount, turned it around, and galloped back to his peers.

Daniel and Katrina both stared at Robert.

“I think… I mean, I’m sure that I understood what it said….” Robert put his hand on his forehead and looked at his companions. “Did you guys understand anything?”

Daniel shook his head, and Katrina did the same.

“Well, what did he say?” Daniel finally asked.

“He said that there are some important people ahead or something. I missed the last part.” Robert sighed after running his fingers through his hair. “This is a fucking nightmare; I just want to get the hell out of here.”

Before Daniel could comment on the fact that Robert could now understand their alien language, a low horn sounded from beyond a small hill ahead of them. Daniel looked over toward the direction of the noise and then at the riders, attempting to judge their reaction. Are we under attack?

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The riders turned and faced the hill just as another group of crimson riders broke the crest. There were eight this time, all wearing the same cloaks and bone helmets. The two groups approached each other familiarly and exchanged greetings and laughs. All the riders dismounted and continued the pleasantries.

“What do we do now?” Katrina asked softly.

“I’m not sure; there isn’t much we can do. They could run us down with those creatures if we tried to escape.” Daniel said.

“That’s assuming we’re prisoners. They might just let us go,” Robert said.

“They’re clearly warriors, and this is their territory. I don’t think there’s a snowball’s chance in hell they’ll let three strange little monsters run around their lands unchecked. Our best bet is to go along with this; otherwise, we have little chance of survival.”

Robert nodded in agreement. “You’re right; we should see where they lead us.”

The two men quickly glanced at Katrina, who nodded drearily.

As the three of them talked, Daniel saw several of the creatures approaching them out of the corner of his eye. The leader he recognized was walking in the center. To his left was the younger creature, and to his right were two he did not remember. All of them had removed their helmets and hung them on clips they had fastened to their belts.

They stopped before them, and the two sides studied each other for several moments. Their faces were so very alien to Daniel. The younger one to the left had the same brick-red complexion as the leader, whereas the two unrecognized creatures to the right shared a paler blue skin. All of them shared snow-white hair that draped down the sides of their heads behind their ears, tied in the back to keep it out of their eyes. Daniel tried with all his might, discipline, and training to remain unfazed and confident in the face of these alien-looking creatures. His gaze met that of the leader, whose irises were a bright golden yellow, almost glowing, as he found them studying him right back.

The leader gave a slight nod in recognition, then turned his attention to Robert. The man was visibly shaking under the scrutiny and heavy beads of sweat dripped down his face.

The creature began to speak as if introducing himself and pointed to his comrades. Robert took a second and looked at his companions.

“My name is Robert,” he said, pointing to his chest. “And this is Daniel and Katrina.” As Robert shared their names, the creatures said them aloud, pronouncing them reasonably well.

“The one in the middle, his name is Oros,” Robert said. “The one on the left is his young brother Boros, and the other two are Eslan and Vikko.”

Daniel looked at Robert, still completely confused as to why the man could understand them. “So, you can understand them.” Daniel massaged his chin while he thought. “Can they understand you?”

Robert turned to Oros and timidly asked, “Can you understand what I’m saying?”

Oros chuckled at the question, and nodded.

“What about them?” Robert asked, referring to his companions. Oros paused, then began to speak a few sentences.

Robert turned to Daniel and shrugged. “He says they can only understand me, that I am the only one emitting some sort of energy or something.”

Daniel rubbed his brow. “That doesn’t make any damn sense; we’re speaking the same goddamn language.”

Boros interrupted Daniel by stepping forward and speaking to Robert.

“He is inviting us to eat with them tonight around a fire,” Robert said.

The thought of food made Daniel’s mouth water. He looked to Katrina, who nodded her head “Tell him we would be more than happy to join him and that we would like to ask him questions about where we are. Maybe finally get some answers.”