Krystal was seated at what could only be called one thing; a tree trying to be a table. There were stone slabs too but the whole construct still felt strange. The benches, tables, throne and carved walls were all too crude and natural. 'Natural' as in plants and stone growing into the shapes of furniture rather than being shaped by some craftsman. The only furniture that looked vaguely human-made was the things made out of cloth, but even those things looked out of place. For one, the cloth wasn't wool or linen. It was silk. Pure white, gleaming, smooth silk. The stuff nobles wore and merchants would cut off their own fingers to obtain. Or someone else's fingers if the merchant was greedy and had looser morals.

Banners and table-clothes and clothes. Those were the things made out of silk. The last part of that list is what was caused Krystal the most trouble at the moment. Or rather, the person wearing it was. The horned woman sitting on the throne was wearing the expensive silks. 

Krystal was trying very hard to not look at the woman. It was not that the woman was ugly or scary or anything like that, despite being a monster. No, the woman had very normal human features. Pretty human features.The horns and odd pigments only complimented her beauty in Krystal's eyes. And that was a problem. The woman that had introduced herself as Fanv had caught Krystal completely off guard by disappearing into a room and then returning as a human. Or shaped as a human at least. 

Krystal had just gaped at her at first, then tried her best to regain her composure and failed. She had tried her damned best to keep her eyes on Fanv's face and not let her gaze travel downwards. Fanv was tall for a woman, probably just a few centimeters shorter than Krystal herself. She was perhaps a bit chubby for someone living so far out in the wilderness. Most people out here in the bush tended to be scrawny cause of the sparse resources and unforgiving surroundings keeping them on their toes. Chubbiness was something mostly seen within nobility or just well off people. Those who had the resources and wits to use them to keep themselves rich and well fed. It was a sign of good health and intellect.

Fanv had seemed a but uncomfortable meeting Krystal's gaze at first. She had assumed it was because of her stern looking face. She was well aware the others felt intimidated by her so it wasn't something new. But she'd soon noticed that Fanv didn't appear scared. More ticked off than anything. They'd locked eyes for awhile and the whole thing had turned into a starting contest between the two. It took a bit for Krystal to connect the dots but when Fanv's pupils dilated like a cat ready to pounce it had finally dawned upon her that the wolf in disguise saw her stare as a challenge. She'd quickly broken their eye contact and avoided looking directly into her eyes since then. The atmosphere had loosened up somewhat after that.

The wolf-woman had taken a seat on the huge throne, crossed her legs, and then asked everyone to explain 'what this fight's all bout.'

It felt a bit like Krystal, Noah, and Johna were children who had started a fight over something and Mama Fanv was scolding them while trying to sort it all out. Krystal had looked around for something to focus her gaze on while explaining about the found corpses and how she'd seen Chow's gang follow Johna and Noah into the forest the day before.

"- and when I told them and the mayor that we should do a Appraisal-"

"Oy, when did ye bring another human here?"

"Dessi could you not interrupt her please."

A satyr had appeared together with a small herd of dryads. The dryads were of the centaur kind, with the lower body of a deer and the upper body of a human. Their deer-half looked a bit sturdier built though. Their black fur glistened in the light of the Glowshrooms, revealing well-toned muscles. Some of their white hooves were stained red. Krystal shuddered as she met their red eyes and the dryads scowled in turn. Krystal snapped back to reality when the satyr said something that clearly offended Fanv.

3 hidden eyes opened and Fanv's face turned dark as she flashed her teeth at the satyr.

"No, you will not touch the humans. I don't care if they're in the cave system or in our forest, no sentient races are to be harmed. Maker's orders."

"Fiiiine, geez, don't get so worked up. People'll think yer a bitch in heat- oh wait, how rude of me."

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"Just leave. We don't need your sass right now."

"Oh, I'm sooo sorry miss Queen of Rats. Did lil ol me offend ye? Yer not the only one here who can-"

All the dungeon's inhabitants grew silent at once. They all looked up and listened to something only they could hear. Krystal shivered as they all acted in sync while listening to whatever it was they were hearing. The low murmur returned a second later. The rodents started moving again and Fanv sighed deeply. Dessi the satyr kicked at the ground and flipped Fanv off before turning towards the way out of the dungeon followed by her small flock of dryads. Fanv returned her focus to Krystal and apologized.

"Sorry bout that. Dessi's a pain in the ass but she means well. Most of the time..."

Krystal blinked.

"Dessi? Oh. Uh, where's she going now?"

"Something's going on outside so she'll go check it out."

"Ah, there are guards in the forest-"

"We know. Maker's made it very clear to everyone that no sentient races are to be hurt so they'll be fine."

"Ah, I see... Who's Maker?"

"Our Dungeon Lady. She's a bit wary of you since you were chasing Johna and Noah and we didn't know your intentions so she won't be joining us here in person."

"So this really is a dungeon huh..."

"Yup, this is Mageon, our home."

The rodents all squealed something in unison that made Fanv chuckle. So many rodents. And isn't that the mayor's son?! Wait there's two of them- spider?

"Anyway, back to the subject. So Johna and Noah don't wanna do an Appraisal and that's why you suspect them of murder?"

"Huh? Oh, yes basically."

"Well, they're innocent. They were in the dungeon all night with us so they couldn't have done it."

"Really? What were they doing in here?"

"Mostly just hanging out with us. We're trying to get on friendly terms with humans and most of our creatures haven't met any humans before so they were good practice before we make contact with the village."

Making friends with the monsters, huh. Makes sense in a way that the monsters would like to train their social skills on these two first. But wait, make contact with the village?

"You're going to go meet the villagers??"

"Yes. Almost all of our creatures are just as sentient as humans and some of us have even evolved into human-like shapes. Me and Mikvel are both from Ogon in the first place so it should work out. People know us."

"Wait so you grew up in the village? But you're-..."

"It's only been a couple of months since I found out I wasn't human. I've evolved since then so I look a bit different now though."

"And lil Mik? Is he a monster as well? Why are there two of them? Why is one an arachne?!"

"Lil Mik?..."

The arachne waved a hand and quickly explained himself.

"Mikvel'ss the firsst human who'ss appearance isn't grosss so I ussed him as a reference."

"You more or less copied the way I look though..."

"I haven't sseen many humanss..."

"Lil Mik......"

"Ah, Fanv, my dad and Krystal know each other so that's why..."

"Can I call you Lil Mik too?"

"Sam... No... Just keep calling me Mikvel, please..."

"I'm... Did I say something strange?"

"No, I just wasn't ready to hear Mikvel being called 'Lil Mik'. Like, in a serious tone... Imma start calling him that now."

"Fanv no."

"Anyway, back to the murder-mystery. So Noah and Johna didn't do it."

"Ok. I guess I'll take your word for it. You didn't answer my question though."

"He's as human as he'll get."

"Uh..."

"I'm a half-elf. It's ok to say it loud Fanv."

"Didn't want to announce it in case u didn't want it known."

"The ears kind of give it away. Besides, this isn't the time to be vague about stuff. I am not a monster or magical creature, Krystal."

"Ok, just wanted to know. Does your dad know you're here?"

"...I kind of got kidnapped by bandits."

"They fuckingwaht?! Give me a direction, I'll go fuck em up!"

"No! Fanv and Pohc already took care of it!"

"Who's Pohc?!"

"Sshouldn't you let her? They hurt you so badly and you said one of them forced you to breed with the-"

"DON'T TELL THEM-"

"THEYRAPEDYOU?!"

"Could everyone just calm down for a sec?"

"IMMACRACKTHEIRHEADSOPENLIKEOVERRIPEMELONS"

"Hey, sshe turned even redder than before... Iss sshe ok?"

Krystal was fuming with rage. How dare some filthy bandits so much as think about harming lil Mik?! He's a good kid! He doesn't deserve it! Hell, she was going to find those bandits and she was gonna rip their nuts off. The rodent's were swarming around the hall trying to block her from the exit. Fanv was trying to assure her that the bandits had been punished and Mikvel and his lookalike were both trying their best to calm her down. Noah and Johna were nowhere to be seen, not that it mattered much now. They hadn't done anything wrong so there was no need to keep an eye on them for now.

She made her way to the exit tunnel and nearly ran right over the short satyr. Dessi got startled by the sudden appearance of Krystal and the thing she was holding by the scruff of its neck twisted free. It flew at Krystal's face with a screech and got caught by horns, then it was flung behind Krystal. It landed with a heavy thud right in front of Fanv.

The hall grew silent as the creature re-opened its eyes and looked up. The creatures nearest it quickly scurried away from it, leaving it alone on the floor with Fanv staring down at it. The child blinked once and then spoke.

"Oh, it's Mother."