“That would be correct.” Ajax replied.

“Wow, I never imagined I would actually get to meet a starling.” he said, “Though it’s strange that you were you out here in the forest, I would have expected you to be in the capital?”

“Why is that?” Ajax asked.

“From what I know, in this country, starlings are normally summoned by a group of arch-mages that work for the church in a ritual that last a few days.” he replied, “Did anyone greet you when you woke here?”

“No.” Ajax replied and shook his head, “I don’t know who brought me here, all I heard before waking was a single voice.”

“I see, then whomever summoned you here must be really powerful!” he exclaimed with a childlike smile, “More powerful than five arch-mages!”

“Is that strong?” Ajax asked, “And are there any races that could be on that level?”

“Arch-mage is the highest title a magic user can attain, as for races, I would say your own race can have individuals who are stronger than even seven or ten.” he replied, he looked in the distance and excitedly pointed, “Oh we are almost there!”

Ajax looked in the direction that Nathaniel was pointing and saw several spires breaking the horizon and reaching for the sky. Despite his apprehension, he was slightly excited to be visiting a new place in this new world. Nathaniel tapped him on his shoulder and signaled him to land by pointing to the ground, he nodded and started to descend. When they landed, Nathaniel jumped out of his arms and dragged him along.

As they got closer to the spires, a large white wall came into view accompanied by a similarly sized gates that blocked a stone archway and they themselves were protected by armored, spear wielding guards. Outside the gates was a line of people waiting to enter the city and more guards walking along the line and checking what appeared to be papers from those waiting. Seeing that they were checking papers made him kind of nervous since he didn’t have any or even know what they were checking for and he was fond of fighting right outside a city.

“Why didn’t you just let me fly us to the back of the line?” Ajax asked.

“Well, I didn’t want the guards or the magic air defenses to shoot us down.” Nathaniel replied.

“Okay fair point.” Ajax nervously said, “You made the right call.”

Their approach did not go unnoticed and the two of them were treated to many disgruntled glares and grumbles from those in front of them. The guards that were checking papers seemingly passed over them in favor of those that came after them and even those before them. This was suspicious on its own but what sealed Ajax’s suspicion was when they were finally at the front.

The two guards at the gate blocked the path with their crossed spares and the others surrounded them, separating them from the line. Three guards appeared on the walls above the gates and pointed crossbows at him specifically as the ones around them drew swords.

“Is this monster with you?” asked one of the guards wielding a spear.

“Y-y-yes, he’s with me.” Nathaniel replied, “He won’t be of any trouble, I swear.”

“He doesn’t seem to have a control seal.” the guard said, “What is the reason for that?”

“Well…that’s because…” Nathaniel stuttered and looked around at all the guards, seeing them preparing their swords to attack.

“Your answer!” the guard shouted and banged his spear on the ground.

“It’s because I was just summoned here to be his body guard!” Ajax quickly shouted and used his wings to cover Nathaniel, “We were going to get one of those seals now.”

Ajax felt a nervous sweat run down his face and he gulped, hoping that his bluff was convincing enough to deescalate the situation. The guards looked and whispered between themselves as if discussing what to do. The longer they took to give a response was the more his anxiousness grew and the more he prepared his mind for battle.

After a few minutes the guards nodded to each other, they sheath their swords and uncrossed their spears, however, the ones on the wall still aimed for him. Nathaniel beat him in taking that sigh of relief but nonetheless he felt relieved that he didn’t have to fight them. The other gate guard stepped aside while the others went back to their duties, and the one that spoke to them approached him and took his left hand. The back of his hand was stamped with a very royal looking blue seal and he looked at Nathaniel, who looked back with a smile.

“The price for you and your…ahem…bodyguard, is twenty silver coins.” the guard said.

“That much, but the regular toll is only three silver coins.” Nathaniel said, clearly surprised by the amount he was being told to pay.

“It’s either you pay the toll or leave.” the guard replied.

“Why are you clearly over charging him?!” Ajax shouted, he glimpsed the other guard grip his spear and he started to harden the scales.

“No its fine, I’ll pay the twenty silvers!” Nathaniel quickly exclaimed, reaching into his pocket, he took out the twenty silvers and paid the guard, his eyes constantly shifted between the guards and Ajax.

“Screw their defenses, if it’s unfair I can just fly us into the city.” Ajax whispered into Nathaniel’s ear.

Nathaniel glanced up at Ajax and shook his head, the guards stepped aside to grant them entry and Nathaniel dragged Ajax through the large gates. When they came out the other side, Ajax found himself in a frantic city made of stone, its paved streets lined with building of various sizes made of stone, and people marching along its long paths. There were wagons that drove by being pulled by curious looking beasts, and some were filled with goods and crates.

Some streets had shop selling a variety of goods, others were filled with scattered vendors and peddlers. However, the first thing that broke the perceived beauty was the sight of a man, dressed in torn rags begging those that passed by. What followed this was a line of people, each having animal like ears and tails, being pulled by chains. Ajax wondered if these were the demi-humans that Nathaniel told him about.

“Are they the demi-humans you told me about?” Ajax asked.

“Yes they are, and these ones are slaves.” Nathaniel replied, his smile had clearly faded as he watched them disappear into the crowd.

“I see, I forgot you mentioned that slavery was a thing here.” he said, “Sorry you had to pay that much money because of me, their obvious extortion was disgusting to watch.”

“It’s alright, it was easier than a confrontation or being shot down.” Nathaniel replied.

Ajax nodded and they made their way into the sea of people walking around, they passed rows of food stalls selling different treats and Ajax watched Nathaniel run off to one of them and came back with two skewers. Nathaniel handed him one and both of them continued their walk to the inn, disposing of the sticks when they were finished. Ajax’s attention eventually came across a small group of shackled demi-human children unloading crates from a cart. They were being supervised by a man that held a whip and when one of the children accidentally dropped a crate, he watched as the man whipped him.

“What the hell, even kids!” exclaimed Ajax and stepped towards the children but was stopped by Nathaniel.

“If you interfere, I don’t know what they may try to accuse you of even though you have that mark.” Nathaniel said, “It’s hard to stomach but such a things are common place here for demi-humans and monsters.”

“This mark.” Ajax said and looked at his hand, “What the hell does it mean?”

“It identifies you as neither a slave or a transport monster, it grants you entry into the major cities without trouble.” he replied, “But if you cause trouble they can revoke the mark and you may even end up marked for execution as a feral monster.”

“What a system to have to live under.” Ajax said, “Do free demi-humans have this mark as well?”

“No, they are seen as preferable and safer than monsters but their tolls are slightly higher than humans due to the discrimination.” he replied, “The current queen is trying but there isn’t much she can do to change the public mindset of hatred fostered by the church for years, at least she doesn’t support them.”

“That really sucks.” Ajax said and gently pulled himself away, “Can we just get to that inn please.”

Nathaniel nodded and they silently walked the rest of the way to the inn. They stood before a three storey building that slightly towered over the others around it and above its entrance was a sign that read, Moonshadow. They entered to a lobby that housed scattered pockets of people around it tables, and Ajax noticed that he was being given many passing glances but he tried his best to ignore them.

The silence of the lobby was suddenly filled with scattered murmuring as they made their way to the staircase. Nathaniel went up first but before joining him, Ajax glared down at them, stopping their chatter, and flashed his wings. Nathaniel stood next to an opening door and was signaling him to come, and he stepped into the room, Nathaniel went in after and closed the door behind him.

In the room there was; a single medium sized bed, a nightstand beside the bed, a dresser drawer next to the entrance door and an internal door that led to another room. The room had three lamps hanging on the walls and a standing lamp on the nightstand. Nathaniel stepped over to the nightstand and held his hand next to the lamp, which became illuminated by a flame that suddenly manifested inside it. The other lamps followed suit and lit up the entire room, but regardless of the light that the flames offered, they couldn’t cut through the dark atmosphere between them.

The small gap between them felt like an invisible, unpassable trench, with Ajax leaning against the door and Nathaniel standing next to the bed. They purposely avoided looking at each other, with Nathaniel’s hair even hiding his eyes, and the trench grew further the longer this went on. Eventually, Ajax sighed and stepped over to the bed, he felt like his voice was being suffocated in his throat before he even spoke.

“Look, I am not upset you for stopping me, it was just infuriating watching the children getting whipped and doing nothing.” Ajax said, he was met with silence and viewed closed lips and sagging hair that hid those green eyes, he bit his lip and pulled him into a hug, “Come on at least respond to me and feel better.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Nathaniel replied and slowly shook his head, “I am sorry that I made you feel that way by stopping you.”

“Hey now, it’s alright, it’s over now and as you said, there was nothing I could have done without getting us into trouble.” he said and rubbed Nathaniel down the back but then his stomach started to growl.

“How about I treat you to a meal?” Nathaniel asked with a slight blush, “As an add on to my apology, that would make me feel better about everything earlier.”

“Alright, we can have a meal.” he replied.