“And I swear! You’d never know, Renn, but my sister is genuinely insane. She once sewed a bunch of frogs together, while they were alive, to see if they’d start croaking in unison,” Herra continued to complain about her family.

“What…?” Renn didn’t like what she was hearing, but yet at the same time still sounded interested.

“And that’s not the worst! When she was young she put a bunch of snakes into my bed while I slept. She was worried they were cold! Cold! Snakes! I nearly died from all the bites!” Herra huffed as she reminisced of her family.

“Snakes do get cold,” I said.

“Not when it’s summer! In the arid desert!” Herra shouted at me.

I decided to keep my mouth shut, as Herra then went on a tirade about how I had always taken her sister’s side back when she was young. I didn’t believe her, but it was interesting to hear she thought so. I mean… I had only met the sister she spoke of a few times. She had died young, to a flesh eating disease. Likely the same thing that had made her erratic and crazy, but I’d never say that aloud. Her death had hurt the family, but I remembered a few sullen whispers of relief during the funeral.

Yet it was still a tragedy. A life lost, before she ever had a chance to be more than a disturbed child.

Which was likely why Herra was complaining about her more than any of the dozen other family members she could whine about.

It was likely her way of remembering her lost sister.

Glancing around, I noted the dark rocks all around us. The green of the forests surrounding Lumen was gone, but the mountains were still here. They just… were now drier, and pointier. Some of the jagged black rocks we were trotting past looked sharp enough to slice open a cow’s hide.

Such jagged rocks explained why this place was called Nail Peaks.

“Seriously Renn! Then my other sister goes and marries a human! The same young boy they found lost in the desert! What kind of weirdo marries and mates with the same person you practically raised?” Herra complained.

“That… is a little odd, I agree,” Renn said politely.

“If one looked at it from a different perspective, it isn’t that weird. Our kind ages slower. They basically grew up together, at least mentally,” I said.

The sister she spoke of was Herra’s youngest. Serra. She was actually only a few decades old, if I remembered correctly. Odds are she had been in her early twenty’s or so when meeting the boy Herra spoke of. An odd age gap, yes, but our kind didn’t age the same. A twenty year old, at least a twenty year old non-human with thick pure blood, wasn’t too far off from being a young child in relative terms to a human.

Fly was a good example. She looked like very young. Maybe ten or twelve, in human terms. Yet was likely in her twenties too.

“Shut it Vim! Don’t make sense!” Herra shouted at me.

The horse she and Renn were riding neighed, as if to agree with her.

I sighed as I nodded, accepting it.

“You can’t honestly not see it at least a little weird, Vim,” Renn said.

Glancing behind me, at the two women and the horse they rode, I noted the way Herra glared at me… and Renn who also glared at me from over Herra’s shoulder. She sat behind Herra, and had a weird smirk on her face. She was enjoying herself something fierce.

“It is. I’m just doing my best to make sense of it. If I don’t then who knows what I’ll think or say upon meeting them,” I said.

“See!” Herra pointed at me and smiled, as if glad to hear I agreed.

“But you don’t know if he actually lived with your family the whole time or not Herra. They might have found him another home, and they reunited later,” I pointed out.

“That’s still weird, Vim,” Renn said.

I frowned and wondered if it was.

I mean… yes. The age gap was concerning… but any of our members who settled with humans had that problem. Humans simply did not live that long. It was impossible.

Even the mostly human members, whose bloodlines had long forgotten their beastly ancestors… Still lived longer than humans. Maybe not as long as those like Renn and Herra, but long enough that they rarely if ever didn’t outlive their human companions. Unless they died by unnatural means, like Sally.

If I judged Herra’s sister for marrying the same young man that her family had rescued when he was but a small boy… well…

Then I’d have to judge all of the Societies members who ended up with humans. Which was a surprising number, when one thought of it.

But at the same time, how many had met their partners while they were young? Most likely not many, if any at all.

“Could you look at someone romantically, if you had known them as a child?” Herra asked me.

Could I…? Have I?

I tried to think of all the women I’ve known, and knew, both those I’ve actually gotten intimate with and those I had only considered doing so.

My mind searched long and hard, but honestly I couldn’t find any that I immediately remembered knowing when they had been young. “Honestly, probably not. I wonder if that’s why I don’t find so many people attractive, even though they are? Because I had known them when they were little…” I said as I realized it.

That would explain why I didn’t find Kaley attractive, even though nearly every other man who met her tried to bed her without hesitation. As if she was a walking aphrodisiac. Especially since I did genuinely know she was beautiful.

“Gross, Vim. You’re like a grandfather to me, so hearing you talk like that makes me sick,” Herra said.

“What? You asked,” I defended myself as I noticed a large wagon in the distance.

“I didn’t! Renn did,” Herra was now defending herself.

“Well, I did. But you’re the one who asked that specific question Herra,” Renn said, swiftly uprooting any and all defense Herra had to protect herself.

Herra groaned. “Well… I did…”

“Wait… Herra, I thought you liked Vim…?” Renn then whispered.

I pretended to not be able to hear them as Herra made an odd noise, and then tugged on the reins of their horse. It shuffled as it slowed down, as to gain some distance between us.

I allowed it, and pretended to get lost in thought.

“Shush! How do you even know that?” Herra whispered back.

“What…? I mean… well…” Renn sounded flustered.

“I… I mean… I do. But he is still kind of like a grandfather… I’ve known him since I was born… which means he probably means what he says. Just great. I’ve always wondered why he wouldn’t at least spend a few nights with me every so often,” Herra mumbled.

Sighing as the two whispered amongst themselves, I focused on the cart that was drawing closer. It had two large donkeys pulling it, and it looked to be more of a carriage style than one for hauling goods. It had a decorative canopy, and windows on the side. They were glistening in the midday sun.

Well… if Herra stopped bothering me with her weird fascination thanks to this that was a good thing, at least. At least something positive happens during this trip, at least, if nothing else.

Better yet maybe she’ll spread such information all around. If so then I’d be able to stop worrying or dealing with… well…

I blinked as I realized most of those who bugged me sometimes, when it came to such things, were indeed those who I had known when they were young. Not all, of course, but quite a few. I had known Magdalena when she was young too, though not as young as the others.

Was there a correlation maybe? Or was I just reading too deeply into it?

Likely was just coincidence. After all I knew far many more who I had known since young, and they never tried anything funny or acted strangely around me. It was like Herra said, most saw me as some kind of odd uncle or something.

“Has he slept with you, Renn?” Herra asked.

“In the same bed, yes, but we’ve not done anything,” she answered honestly.

Herra groaned, likely because even sleeping in the same bed was something I’d never done with anyone else she knew. At least not those like Herra and Magda.

While the two mumbled and told stories, I wondered if I would have found Renn attractive if I had known her as a child.

Likely not. But I knew, from others telling me, that not everyone found Renn attractive either. Some did, and I knew several of those who had not found her attractive had likely been affected by their instincts… being afraid of predators, but…

I sighed as Herra mumbled something about me and her aunt.

“Did he now?” Renn asked coldly. And not with a whisper.

“Did I what?” I asked, pretending I hadn’t heard the earlier statement which had caused Renn’s cold tone.

“Oh, just that I saw you and Aunt Slip in bed together when I was young,” Herra said. She sounded far too happy over the retelling of it.

“You armadillos do like crawling into people’s beds, for whatever reason,” I said back.

Herra huffed a groan, and I glanced back at the two women. Herra was shaking her head, and Renn was glaring at me with an odd look. Oh? She didn’t look as angry as I thought she’d be. Maybe I had misread her tone earlier.

“He had been injured. Or something. She was kicked out once he woke up…” Herra mumbled the truth.

Renn blinked, and her odd look turned into a smile. “He had been hurt? Really? How so?” she focused on the odd again, instead of anything else. Did she not realize that Herra had been trying to disturb Renn with her earlier comments?

Herra sighed, and obviously noticed that Renn wasn’t going to be bothered by anything she said. Lies or not. “I don’t remember. I was real young. I just remember Aunt Slip telling me to go away, and then Vim waking up and kicking her out of the bed. He had bandages on for some reason,” Herra said.

“I had been burned, I think,” I said as I tried to recall the memory. I honestly couldn’t. I could remember Slip many times trying to sneak into my bed, just like Herra has done on occasion, but couldn’t really remember the exact moment she was speaking of.

Yet the only time I had ever gotten hurt badly while visiting the Armadillo’s was when I had been burnt. I had spent a few weeks resting with them before continuing my journey. Not really because the injuries had been that bad, but rather to make sure they would be fine.

Just as I had spent as long as I could in Lumen, before leaving.

We were already two days away from the port city… and to be honest, I wished we were even farther away. I knew nothing could actually come up now, being so far away, but I still had a horrible feeling that I was going to get called back to Lumen for one reason or another.

“During your travels with him Renn, did he ever… you know, visit brothels or anything?” Herra asked. It was interesting that she was now talking normally again. No more whispering it seemed.

“Uhm… no. I don’t think so,” Renn answered, yet I noted she actually paused as to peruse her memories for a moment.

“It’s weird. We’re not human, but we’re still people. He probably has someone he visits. Wonder who it is…” Herra grumbled.

I smiled at her weird complaining. From complaining about her family to me and my… urges. Such an odd way to pass the time.

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At least it was harmless. And at least she and Renn seemed to be enjoying themselves… I had worried the trip south would be awkward, what with all the drama that had happened recently.

Seemed Herra didn’t care much. Yet she had also voted to banish Renn…

Unsettling… but it wasn’t as if Herra genuinely hated Renn. She simply didn’t feel comfortable living with her.

I decided it was better to not think too deeply about it.

The carriage along the path started to stay along the side of the road. To give us room to pass. A kind gesture, especially since there was enough room along the sides of the paths for our horses to easily utilize. Their wheels weren’t as sturdy as the horses legs and hooves here, in this rocky mountain.

I guided my horse to the opposite side of the path, and I listened as Herra did the same with hers. We passed the carriage without issue, with the driver nodding his head as we passed.

The thing did have windows, and although there were curtains within it to hide the occupants… they didn’t do much good. Especially since they were pushed aside, and a pair of women stared at us as we passed.

Young women. Without guards out here? In the south?

Strange. Though maybe the driver of the carriage was guard enough. He had looked trained, but I hadn’t really sized him up as we passed. Didn’t think there was a need to.

Once we were past the carriage and able to return to a more leisure stroll, Herra ushered her horse forward as to come up to my side. I glanced at the two as she smirked at me, bringing us close. Our legs almost touched as she gestured behind her at Renn.

“Who would you rather sleep with Vim? Me or her?” she asked.

Renn’s face contorted into an odd look of shock, and I could tell it wasn’t because she was embarrassed. Rather she was simply shocked.

And shocking indeed it was.

“An odd question from you Herra,” I said honestly.

It was, after all. Herra usually was a lot more prim and proper. The type to get red in the face during such conversations. Never the type to initiate them, or say something like that in such a way.

“I know! Just answer it,” she said… and sure enough her face got redder. Her ears especially became rather flushed.

Sighing at her, and Renn’s worried look, I wondered what was wrong. Maybe Renn’s earlier comment about Herra’s affection towards me had been taken far deeper than I had assumed. Maybe this was some kind of payback for it, or at least an attempt at doing so.

“Neither. If I had to choose out of all the women around here, I’d choose that red-head in the carriage behind us,” I said.

Herra’s face went even deeper red, and Renn’s look of shock turned into contemplation as she glanced back. Had she not seen the women peering at us from the window? Or was she just studying the woman in her memories, likely comparing herself to what I had chosen instead of her.

“You know that makes sense, actually. You always flirt with the Sunken Barrel ladies…” Herra mumbled as she suddenly put many things together.

“Well… I haven’t done that in a while…” I said, and wished I had not picked the red-haired woman and instead the blonde. Of course Herra would have noticed something like that. Though their red hair might disappear from their bloodline, I remembered the young man she had said was her son having a dull blonde. A dirty color, nothing like the bright red the family usually had. What had been his name? Stanly?

“That’s only because all of the women are old now, but I see. So red hair huh? Maybe I should make a trip to the dye house,” Herra said as she went even further into thought.

Shaking my head at her, I tried not to notice Renn’s hand which was lifting some of her loose hair up, as to look at its color.

“I make it a point to not get intimate with other members of the Society. You know that Herra,” I said.

“I wish I knew who made that rule. I bet it was one of your past lovers,” Herra grumbled.

“Celine maybe? Did she have red hair?” Renn asked.

I flinched, which made the horse I was riding shake its head. I had squeezed my knees a little. I patted the thing gently, to calm it and let it know I hadn’t meant to bother it. “She had black hair. Similar to Magda's,” I said softly, and wished this conversation had never came up. Why had it anyway? Why were we talking about this, out in the mountains while on horseback? It was such a weird conversation. Maybe not entirely for Renn, but definitely for Herra. She flirted, but was usually a prude thanks to her religious mindset.

“Celine…? You don’t mean the old snake do you?” Herra asked, bringing her horse closer again. My leg and Renn’s bumped into each other, and I noticed the way she smiled at me as they did.

“No. The Celine Renn is talking about died a long time ago. She helped form the Society,” I explained.

“Huh…? How’d you know her Renn?” Herra asked.

“Huh? Oh… stories…?” Renn said, and she finally realized she had made a mistake. Likely thanks to the tone of my voice.

“Stories… oh. From Vim? Wonderful. Well Vim? Was Celine the one who made you swear off all of us?” Herra asked.

“No. But she would have, being the devout sister that she was,” I said.

“Wait what…?” Herra hesitated a moment and I nodded at her.

Guiding my horse, and thus theirs since it was walking in sync with mine now, I made sure we rounded the weird sunken hole in the middle of the road. It looked like a sinkhole, which was really strange out here in these rocky mountains. Something must have made it for some reason. An animal of some kind maybe? It looked as if there had been a tree there, and someone had uprooted it completely.

“Celine was one of the founding sisters. She was so devoted to that religion… she likely died chaste and celibate. So no, she was not my lover,” I told her. Even the child she had claimed as a daughter had not been her real one. It had been an abandoned child she had adopted.

I had loved her though. Just… not that way.

“A founding Sister…” Herra whispered, and I knew I had successfully changed the topic of conversation. After all, Herra was just as devout. Just as pious. To her such knowledge was worth far more than anything else.

Renn however…

Glancing over, I noted that Herra was now lost in thought. Her face was no longer flushed, and she was just barely aware enough that her grip on the reins wasn’t too hard or taught. Renn however was staring at me with a gentle look… one of…

Was that pity?

It was.

I looked away from her and sighed. Why was she pitying me? What was that for?

What had I said to make her look at me in such a way? Out of all the things, pity? She should be happy, or upset… not…

“She was a member, Vim?” Herra asked.

I nodded. “She was. Most of her family was. She… was a good person. I may not have agreed with everything she and her group did and said, but I’ll be the first to tell you she was the embodiment of your faith. A perfect example of it,” I said.

“I’d love to hear about her,” Herra said softly.

Shuffling the reins in my hands, I wondered if I could actually tell her. Honestly Celine’s life and story wasn’t… really that serious. Not a secret. Not some lost history that shouldn’t be told anymore…

But if I spoke of Celine, then Renn might be able to put different pieces together. She had read her book after all.

Another danger of letting Renn accompany me. She was smart, and her memory was a potent weapon. Who knows how much she’d learn over the years with me.

“Well… we’ll have time I guess. At this pace it’ll take us at least two weeks to get you home,” I said. It didn’t usually take us that long, but we were moving slower thanks to Renn. Reatti and Renn had returned from the Bell Church on a single horse. Or rather, with a single horse. They hadn’t ridden it since it had been loaded with supplies. I hadn’t thought much of it, other than the obvious reason why they had not come back with two horses. Renn had been banished, and thus wasn’t allowed to take any supplies that she didn’t herself own from that location.

She had not been given a horse.

Not a big deal, it only added a day or so to their travel time… but instead it also revealed something about Renn.

Reatti had said Renn told her it was fine, since she didn’t know how to ride a horse anyway.

Thus the reason she was sharing a horse with Herra.

I wonder if her lack of experience with such a thing was because of the dense mountains she was from, or the fact she had never needed one. Hadn’t she traveled a little, before? Maybe she hadn’t been able to afford a horse. They weren’t cheap.

“I’ll be more than okay with any sidetracking that must be done, Vim,” Herra happily offered.

Smiling at her, I nodded. Of course she would.

“Is your home actually in a desert, Herra?” Renn asked.

“No. It’s on the boundary. And the desert to the south isn’t a real one… although maybe it is classified as one. There’re still trees, lakes and rivers there. It’s just very dry, and gets very hot,” Herra didn’t seem bothered at all to tell Renn of her home.

“Do you not like the heat? Is that why you left?” Renn asked.

Herra chuckled, and her legs shifted a little in the stirrups. She didn’t move the horse; she was just shifting a little. “I don’t, but that’s not why I don’t live there. You see my family and I don’t see eye to eye when it comes to the world,” she said.

“The world…?” Renn whispered the question, since she was trying to decipher Herra’s meaning.

“They’re atheists,” I said simply.

“Ah.” Renn made a noise that told me she now understood completely.

“Ridiculous isn’t it?” Herra complained.

“Mhm…” Renn made a noise as to agree with her, but I knew she wasn’t actually doing so. She just didn’t want to argue with Herra.

I sighed as we started to descend a little. The path we were on was starting to dip and the incline was growing stronger. The huge rocks blocked most of the view, but I knew if I climbed onto one of the larger rocks I’d be able to see nearly all the way to the bottom of the mountain from here. This path led to the river at the base of the mountain, the one that seeped out from the large rocks below.

The melted snow. A mountain’s blood.

For a short while… I focused on the sounds of the horses. Their hooves on the brittle gravel and rocks. The harnesses tightening. Their ears flapping. Their breathing, which was light for them but loud to me. We weren’t carrying much, and not traveling hard so they weren’t being strained.

Herr and Renn were sharing their horse, but the two weighed less than I did. I likely weighed more than them, and all our supplies combined.

I wonder how much I weighed right now, actually. It’s been decades since I had been able to properly weigh myself. Though something told me it was the same as way back then. No matter how much I ate, how hard I worked, or how much flesh I lost in battle… it’d likely never change.

“Vim does that sometimes, but honestly it’s rare. I bet he’s thinking of something silly,” Renn’s voice brought me out of my thoughts as I turned a little, to see what was wrong.

The two women were smiling at me, and still astride next to me. I must have been ignoring them.

“Hm?”

Herra smirked at me. “What were you thinking about Vim?” she asked.

“How much I weighed,” I said.

Both of their faces scrunched up for a moment, as they comprehended what I had said… and then they both laughed. “See what I mean!” Renn said happily.

Smiling at them, I returned my attention to our surroundings. We were alone, and I didn’t hear or smell anything out of place… but I’d been ambushed before on this road. Last time I had been alone, but one of the times had been with a few of our more fragile members. One had gotten hurt, since they had fired lots of arrows at us without warning.

“He’s probably just tired of listening to us. But I’m glad you’re here Renn. Vim’s always been kind enough to talk to me, and indulge me as we traveled, but he is a little boring,” Herra said.

“For your information I find myself boring too,” I said.

Herra snickered as Renn pointed at me. “I know what you mean Herra. He doesn’t ignore us but… If we don’t initiate the conversations half the time, we would just be traveling in silence for days. I had to get used to it at first,” Renn said.

“Rude,” I said simply, but didn’t mind. They were right after all.

I’ve always been told I was a subpar traveling companion.

Sure I could protect, and do the typical labor and journey necessities like cooking and setting up camp… but I was far from amusing.

I’d blame my upbringing, but even before my years as a soldier I had been told the same thing.

“Are we staying at that village tonight Vim? The one below?” Herr asked.

“Yes. It should still be there. It’s grown rather well, actually. There are other smaller villages around it now, people are expanding and settling down nearby,” I said. One was to our west, higher up on the mountain like we currently were. They raised goats.

If it was still there.

“You’ve done this trip many times, haven’t you Herra?” Renn asked.

“Oh… about a dozen or so times, I think. How many times have we done this now, Vim?” Herra asked.

“Not sure,” I said. Honestly I didn’t know. Several times, at least… but most of the time our trips were so uneventful I barely remembered anything about them.

In fact, going back to the previous topic… The only time that Herra ever tried anything funny was on the first trip, if I remembered correctly. Which was odd, now that I thought about it. She usually tried to seduce me, or simply sneak into my bed, nearly every time I visited Lumen. Yet she never really tried anything while on the road.

It was likely thanks to her religious personality. Doing something like that out here in the open, in public, was probably what kept her in check.

Though, sneaking into a man’s bed in the middle of the night wasn’t very holy either… so who knows why Herra was the way she were.

“Will we be escorting you back, Herra?” Renn asked gently.

I noted the way she had spoken, and turned just enough to glance at the two. Renn wasn’t leaning forward around Herra’s shoulder anymore, as if she was now hiding.

“Not unless Vim needs to go back, I think. I’ll be fine on the way back because I’ll go with some employees,” Herra said. She spoke in a way that told me she too noticed Renn’s tone, and likely knew the reason behind it.

Renn was worried we’d be going back to Lumen. A place that she was no longer welcomed at.

She wasn’t outright banished, like she was at the Bell Church… but to her it may as well be the same thing.

“The armadillos provide precious gems to the Society. Near their home is a river village, one that has an Animalia Company warehouse. Herra will go there, and take a river boat back to Lumen. It’s a longer trip, but safe,” I explained to Renn.

“We have Animalia locations outside of Lumen?” Renn asked. Herra had ushered her horse a little, as to let Renn be able to speak to me without me having to turn around.

I nodded. “Several. They’re not as big or fancy, though,” I said.

“We have a big warehouse in Telmik, near the Cathedral too,” Herra added.

“Oh…” Renn’s single word sounded so… defeated that I glanced around just in case something was wrong before looking at her. There wasn’t of course, other than the sadness on Renn’s face.

“You’re banishment is only for Lumen, Renn. And even then, it’s only for permanent residence. You’re still allowed to go there,” Herra said before I could.

Renn shifted and her shoulders rose as she nodded. “I see. Thank you Herra,” she said warmly.

Studying Renn, and Herra who she sat behind… I wondered how Herra could be so kind to her, yet vote against her.

Herra glanced at me, and then looked away. She blinked a few times, which told me she knew just how awkward it was right now.

Sighing at them, I decided to just let it be.

This was going to be a long couple weeks.

But… it was better than being in Lumen. My head still hurt from all the annoying things going on back there, and I was no longer responsible for any of it.

“So anyway, back to the important stuff. How about you Renn?” Herra asked.

“How about me…?” Renn asked back, and I too wondered what she was saying.

“Who would you choose? Or which one have you chosen, I guess? Everyone says you like Vim, but surely not right?” Herra specified, and I rolled my eyes at her. She wanted to continue that conversation of all things?

Maybe Lumen would have been better.