Chương 129: [Wildborn]

Leo and Sam walked into the waiting area at the end of the tunnel, now empty of all fighters, appearing as little more than a stone room with benches along the walls. Leo looked over at the stairway up to the viewing platform where he saw Shai and the others walking down to meet them, a wide smile on her face. She reached him before the others did, taking his hand, fingers wrapping around his, and looked up at him.

"Well done, Leo."

"Thanks," Leo said. The others followed. A well done from Phil, an unlucky mate from Luka to Sam, all of them agreeing it had been closer than three-one suggested. Sam took it well, nodding along, already past it.

"Cheers, guys, it was a fun fight either way," Sam said.

"Now, can we go get some food? I'm starving." Phil's face lit up.

"Fuck yes. I want to try more fantasy food. That vine pig thing earlier was lush." Leo and Shai walked out first, still hand in hand, the others falling in around them. They came out into the light to find most of the crowd still filing out of the arena. On the way over, Leo saw Rika cutting through the crowd toward them, face beaming, her wings fluttering in her haste and brushing across Parmo's face as he tried to get the words out behind her.

"I can walk, Rika. Let go."

"You're too slow."

"I'm literally the same pace as everyone else—" She let go when she got close enough, her eyes finding Leo and Shai immediately. Her hands flew to her mouth. Shai sighed.

"Nice to see you too, Rika." Rika pressed her lips together.

"I'm just... yes. Hello again. Well done, Leo. Unlucky, Sam." She smiled at Shai with wide eyes before looking away, deciding the middle of a packed crowd wasn't the place for it. Parmo caught Leo's eye and gave him a single nod. Leo smiled back. The rest of them arrived shortly after. Carl told Leo he'd told Diane to put money on him. Diane told him to shut up. Then she turned to Sam.

"Nice try. Unlucky. Better luck next time." She looked like she'd just won the lottery. Sam looked like he wished he still had his knives.

"You don't need to look so happy I lost."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Samuel."

"You're not even trying to hide the stupid grin. And who the fuck is Samuel?" Diane didn't bother to hide her smirk or answer him; she just kept looking at him mockingly. He sighed and walked off, the rest of the group following, trying not to laugh. They headed out through the southern gate and back into the village, the crowd moving with them in the same direction.

Diane was looking around at everything as they walked, the way she always did when something had caught her interest without her knowing what it was yet. She pointed to a box of what looked like crystals on a merchant's table.

"Ronan, what's that?" Ronan looked.

"Monster cores. Marcus uses them sometimes." He nodded to the group and steered her off toward the stall, Diane already asking questions before they'd taken three steps. They kept walking. Kai slowed slightly as they passed a guard post.

"I'm going to go and check on things with the guard," he said.

"Congratulations again, all of you. I'll see you later." He looked at the group for a moment, then at Shai, before he turned and walked away. Nessa glanced toward the residential streets.

"I'm going to pop home and check on a few things, so I'll leave you all here as well. Have fun." She was gone before anyone had a chance to respond. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Jeff had been half-listening while keeping an eye on Carl beside him. He turned to him now.

"You wanted to try the local ale, didn't you? The pub's just over here, I'll buy you a pint." He looked back at the group.

"Anyone want to come?"

"We're going for food," Phil said.

"Want to try more of the festival stalls." Jeff nodded.

"Fair enough. We'll see you later then." He looked at Parmo.

"Good luck with the archery."

"Cheers, mate," Parmo said. Jeff and Carl were already talking about something else as they turned down the side street. That left eight of them. They made it back to the square. The tournament having just ended meant many members of the audience were still around them. Leo heard their names mentioned as people noticed them and didn't know if he should be pleased or a little embarrassed. He was used to either going unnoticed or thinking everyone was looking at him but for the wrong reasons. This was new.

"Oh, that's Leo and Sam. And Phil and Luka, they were in the tournament."

"Were they? I missed it, I've just been given time for something to eat before I'm back to the stall."

"Oh right, you won't know then. They come from—" The voices moved out of range. That can't be good. I'll mention it to Mike later. They hadn't gone far when Luka slowed down. Two dragons were coming up the street in the other direction, bigger than the ones they'd seen that morning, harnessed to a wide flat cart stacked high with rolled canvas and folded fabric in deep reds and golds. People stepped to the sides without much fuss, already used to it.

A handler walked alongside with a hand resting on the nearest one's flank.

"What's all the fabric for?" Leo asked.

"The square," Shai said.

"They'll string it between the buildings tomorrow. For the dancing." The nearer dragon's head turned as it drew level with the group. Its amber eyes moved across them and stopped on Luka. It kept walking, but its head stayed angled toward him, watching him as it passed. Luka watched it back.

"Is it—""He likes you," Torren said.

"How can you tell?"

"If he didn't, you'd know about it." Torren watched the dragon's tail disappear around the corner.

"They don't pay much attention to people unless something interests them or they plan on attacking. No idea what that one seemed to be curious about."

"It's like with Growlie," Parmo said.

"He's always jumping into your lap."

"Maybe you just have a way with dragons," Torren said, with a small smile. Phil stared after the cart.

"Man, if that's true I'm so jealous."

"Must be a dwarf thing," Parmo said.

"They probably think you're hiding a load of gold." Luka laughed.

"Says the man whose nose could double as a weapon. I'm surprised people don't mistake you for a goblin." Parmo grinned and kept walking. The street opened up ahead of them, and Leo recognised the stretch from earlier in the day. The stalls that had been setting up that morning were in full swing now, and further along, the festival games were running. He could hear it before he could see it, a mix of crowd noise and something rhythmic, drums maybe, coming from the far end.

He saw the orc woman in the fur bikini before Phil did. She was demonstrating something with a throwing weapon to a small group of onlookers, laughing at something one of them said. Phil noticed where he was looking a second later.

"Well?" asked Leo, with a grin.

"If I was going to ask her, it wouldn't be here and now for you idiots to gawk at."

"Aww. Is someone shy?" asked Parmo.

"Go on, man. Ask her to dance," Sam said pleasantly.

"Go on," Luka said.

"I don't get why any of you are making a big deal out of this. I'll go have a wander later and find someone." He walked slightly faster.

"You want to dance tomorrow, Rika?" Parmo said.

"Of course." She fell into step beside him.

"See. Not hard, dude." Parmo looked back at Phil. The group laughed and followed him past the bikini-clad women. They were nearly at the food stalls when Leo caught a snippet of conversation from across the street.

"... told him the same thing last year and he still hasn't listened."

"He'll come round. Give it time." Leo looked over. A man in a dark coat was walking alongside a large black cat, similar to a puma or jaguar. They were moving in the same direction, talking like two people on their way somewhere. The cat's voice was deeper than the man's, a low natural rumble underneath the words, but the words were words. Full sentences. The UI had translated it. Leo stared for a second. Shai noticed where he was looking.

"Wildborn," she said. The cat's head turned. It found Shai in the group, regarded her for a long moment, then blinked slowly. Once. Shai nodded back and tapped two fingers to her forehead. The cat looked away. They kept walking.

"So what are they exactly?" Leo asked.

"Somewhere long ago, the wildborn and the beast-kin had a common ancestor," Shai said.

"Distant cousins, in a way. Beast-kin are more human in shape; you can see that with me, with Kai, with Rika. The wildborn went a different way. Some of them look like that, fully animal but with the intelligence of any other sentient race. Others are closer to what we are but with more animal features. A wolf's head, heavy fur, clawed hands." Leo thought about it.

"So like werewolves."

"What's a werewolf?" He explained. The full moon, the transformation, the whole thing. Shai stared at him for a moment. Then laughed.

"That's ridiculous."

"I know," Leo said, laughing with her.

"Given everything I've seen in the last few months, I completely agree. But they make for good stories. Good films."

"A human who turns into a wolf because of the moon," she said, still smiling, shaking her head.

"In fairness, we also have vampires, zombies, and a whole genre dedicated to haunted houses."

"Your world is very strange."

"Yeah," Leo said.

"It really is." The food stalls came into view ahead of them, the smell of the vine-roasted hog they'd eaten earlier mixed with the scent of newer foreign foods freshly cooked in the time since they were last here. Leo thought he heard his and Shai's names in the distance but didn't pay it any mind. He squeezed her hand and smiled as they walked towards a stall.