We walked back to the colony mostly in silence. Zef began singing along the way. It was a cheery tune, but he sang softly, and to himself, making it hard to pick out any words.
When we arrived back at the colony, the sun had set and the gates were closed. A yellow Saurian watchman with streaks of blue throughout his scales stood at the top of the wall with a long spear by his side.
The Saurian saw us approach, flicked his head at someone inside, and the gates opened. Inside, I saw Rodrigo talking to someone by the tavern. He eyed our group as we entered, scowling, but he stayed where he was.
"We're rewarded for what we find, right? Should we tell people about the tower?"
"I don't see why not. We took anything of value, except for that book," said Zef.
Tigala remained silent as usual. Lolan was still lost in thought.
We headed over to the tavern and found it stirring with search parties that were back from a long day of exploring the new land. Tigala didn't change her form this time and when we entered, everyone stopped.
A Dwarf I couldn't pick out yelled, "Freaks," from a distant table. Murmurs began. I couldn't make out any words, but the tone of the room was negative, judging. We were the outcasts—the people that they wanted to see even less than other races. More than centuries of hate and murder between races, they despised us because we ignored it. We looked past their suffering and worked together, even if just barely.
We approached the map on the table and a black-haired Gnome in a blue and purple swirled coat pushed past us. He stood in the spot we were heading for and a few more from his group joined him, barring us from that corner.
A group of Avians similarly held their place around the table, despite having finished any business they had with the map.
I began breathing heavy. Sweat dripped down my forehead. The tavern was filled with races of every kind, and I was the only Treek, standing in the center of it all. I had no allies of my own besides these tentative agreements with the others to search the wilds together. If this went south, and it looked like it might, I would be on my own against an army—against multiple armies.
I looked around for Rodrigo. He had de-escalated before, maybe he could do it again. He was nowhere to be seen.
Behind us, the Beastfolk group approached with the Wolf-like one leading the pack. "So, you came all this way to spend your time with these demons?" he said, with unwavering eyes on Tigala.
"I wanted to work with you, with the Beastfolk," she said through clenched teeth.
The boar-like Beastman joined as wolf-man continued, "And I said that you need to rest. You already lost one group due to your incompetence, I won't see you lose mine as well." The words were a snarl.
"I got hurt trying to save one of them!" she said. The statement felt like it had more meaning than the words alone let on. She lowered her head and arched her back like she was ready to attack.
Zef stepped in between the two towering Beastfolk. "Why don't we let this lie. I don't want anyone to do something they regret." His head craned so far up to meet their eyes that he might as well have been looking at the ceiling.
The conversations around us grew louder. I looked toward the door and the way was blocked by a group of Dwarves.
We were trapped.
The wolf-man snarled. "You're pathetic. Now you have this runt fight your batt—"
"Silence!" A voice yelled out near the bar with a loud crack of thunder overhead. All eyes focused on a tall Elven woman. She wore a white flowing shirt tucked into tight black pants. I had seen her before: the Elven representative.
She stepped toward us, "Back away," she said and began walking toward us. Each clack of her boots against the wooden floor was audible. "We weren't joking you know. If any of you were just about to do something, we would kick you out. We haven't had to yet, and we don't want to, but we will do it."
She had everyone's full intention. I looked around saw Rodrigo in the doorway, glaring at me. What did I ever do to him?
The Elven representative continued. "I don't like it either that this group is working together, but to postpone the killing and get our people back, we need to tolerate them. Attacking them would only break the truce."
She reached us in the middle of her speech. When she was done. She looked at Lolan and said, "Now, I believe you had something to add to the map." She swung her arm back guiding us to it.
"Th-thanks," Lolan said, keeping his head down.
The atmosphere of the tavern still was not as jovial as it was before we arrived, but people went back to their tables grumbling about us and nursing their drinks.
I stepped forward and drew the tower just passed the cliffs I had drawn the previous night.
"So, you found something?" said the Elven woman behind me.
Zef spoke, allowing me to continue drawing. I didn't mind. I had enough people watching me as it was.
"Yes," said Zef. "We found an old ruined tower. The lower part of it was infested with giant spiders and it looks like there was some sort of magical disaster down there. It gave one of the spiders the power to teleport."
"Interesting," said the woman. "Any signs of our missing people?"
"No," said Zef. "There was a book and—"
"Just a bunch of spider webs," I said cutting him off. I tried to sound as casual as possible about it. I didn't know if he was going to mention the man in yellow we saw, but I wanted to stop him just in case.
"Well, hopefully, that gets us closer to finding our people," said the Elf. I finished drawing as she spoke. I turned around to find Lolan standing back from the Elf with his head lowered. Tigala, on the other hand, stood with her head high. She had her usual scowl on her face, but it was more pronounced than usual.
The Elf glanced at Lolan and his curious withdrawal from the conversation. It was a wonder that Lolan had been able to hide the fact that he was half-Human his whole life. He made it so obvious that something was off.
The woman said, "Well, what would you like as a reward for your findings? We have food and coin."
"Food, please," I said. I was getting tired of bread and berries.
"Food," said Lolan, followed by Zef. Tigala nodded indicating that she wanted the same.
"Very well," said the Elf. She walked behind the bar and into the kitchen and then returned with a handful of metal tokens. She dispersed three of them to each of us and said, "Each of these is good for one meal. You can use them at the butcher shop in the square or here at the tavern.
"My name is Tallesia, by the way. I suggest you all be careful. As you can see, you are allowed here, but this alliance is not welcome." She waved her hand loosely at us as she said 'this'. "Stay out of trouble. We can't keep the peace everywhere." She walked back to her place at the bar and we looked at each other and then began our exit.
We continued drawing glares from tables as we walked, but at least Rodrigo had left the entrance sometime during our talk with Tallesia. That guy really hated me for some reason. I knew nobody liked Treeks, but it seemed worse than just that.
Our group split up, heading to our various tents and huts. I walked towards the hill and then back to my tree once the group had scattered.
I set my hammock in the branches, ate a small portion of my remaining rations along with Chipry, and laid down.
I watched over the tent city, glowing with the dance of campfires. Others were making their food before bedding down for the night.
Lolan's camp, however, was not bright at all. His fire pit was dark, and I couldn't see him anywhere. After a few moments of squinting, a tent flap opened. Lolan crept out, keeping low enough that he would be hidden from other Elves by the height of the tents.
What's he up to? I thought, sitting up in my hammock perch.
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