She’s a coy woman, hoping I’ll become curious enough to acquiesce to her advances. There are some days she looks like she intends to swallow me whole if I let her, others where she wants me right then and there. Today seems like the latter as her black eyes scan me once more.
Something tells me she doesn’t like to surrender control, and neither do I. It’s for that reason and a few others that I don’t get to know her more personally.
All that aside, when the weather is scorching she wears less modest clothing; and from what I’ve seen of it, she has quite the stunning body underneath. I cannot deny a curiosity of what remains to be seen. Sometimes a breeze pushes her dress closer to her body and I get hints of the curvaceous figure she boasts. And just thinking of her long, slender fingers, so deft and capable. They’d-
I bite down on the already open wound in my mouth.
My mind has been straying far too much lately. I don’t know how much time passed since Amabel asked her question so I quickly answer,
“I came to get a dress made for the woman to my right.”
I find it hard to believe that she didn’t see Alessia standing next to me, but she just takes notice of her.
“Well, aren’t you tall?” Amabel asks.
“I’ve been hearing that a lot today,” Alessia says back.
“And what are you wearing?” She asks with thinly veiled disgust.
“I made it for her to wear,” I point out.
“And what a lovely dress it is,” Amabel changes her tone “it has character.”
“Yes, my clothes are…gone,” Alessia speaks up. “I’d rather not talk about it. I’m looking to start over here.”
I knit my brow at her wording. It’s exactly what I said earlier.
“You poor thing,” Amabel comforts her. “Let's see if we can’t get you something more…form-fitting.” She takes the giant woman by the hand and leads her towards the back of her shop, grabbing a measuring tape on the way.
I look around the shop for a bit before I hear Amabel ask,
“Furti, you're welcome to come over and watch my craft. You might find it…enlightening.” She’s usually more subtle with her flirtations, but that one is a direct invitation.
Alessia raises an eyebrow.
“I’ll wait outside,” I say. As I walk out I hear Amabel gasp.
“Suns Above, you’ve got quite the pair on you!” She says.
“Thanks,” Alessia says back.
I bite my cheek once again and go outside.
The marketplace is still abuzz with activity, idle chit chat and serious trading go on but it all blurs together to me.
I close my eyes and lift my face to the suns. Their harsh heat spreads all over my skin. The pain in my mouth lingers as I try to focus my mind.
‘The pain will fade. It always does. There’s nothing you can do about it, so concentrate on what you can do.’
I inhale through my nose, hold my breath, and exhale through my mouth. I can feel the sweat rolling from my forehead but the heat doesn’t register. The pain fades. The world speeds by as I stand still.
No thoughts disturb the serene ocean of my mind.
“Furti, come in!” Amabel calls for me.
How much time passed I can’t say but from the heavy amount of sweat on my forehead, it’s been a while. All the heat that’s baked me comes to mind.
I reenter the shop, happy to be out of the suns. Amabel leads Alessia from around a corner.
The giant woman is dressed in a deep blue dress, made from handwoven silk. It’s a sleeveless design since there isn’t enough material on Pax to cover all of this woman. It’s a simple look but she wears it well. A pink length of rope hugs her waist to accentuate her muscular build.
No surprise that the bulk of her dress is held up by her chest, I imagine it can hold up a lot of things. Still, the dress reaches her ankles, solving the indecency issue.
“Not my finest work, but it’ll do. I have your measurements so I can work on better stuff, but for now, you have this,” Amabel says.
“It’s lovely, Amabel,” I comment. “How much do I owe you for it?”
The dressmaker scoffs,
“Darling, please. It’ll be fun to create dresses for such a…” she searches for the words “unique physique.”
“Thank you?” Alessia asks.
“You can take that one back and I’ll send you some more when I finish them, think of it as a welcome gift from me.”
“Are you sure? That’s very kind of you,” Alessia notes.
“Welcome to Nusquam,” Amabel simply says.
“I’ll see you later, Amabel,” I say as we exit.
“Here’s hoping!” She says back.
We walk out into the suns again and Alessia twirls around in the dress, letting the fabric flow freely in every direction.
“This is nicer than any clothes I’ve ever had,” Alessia says. She still has the mismatched gown I made in her hands.
“I’ll take that back,” I say, reaching for the hideous thing. She leans away from me, just enough that I can’t grab it. “What are you doing?” I ask.
“You made this for me, so I want to hold on to it,” she explains.
“It’s ugly, give it to me,” I demand. She leans back again.
“It has personality,” she counters with a stern face. “I want to keep it.”
I can tell that arguing with her won’t produce any results and there’s something else more important I want to discuss.
“Earlier, you said to Amabel that you’re looking to start over here,” I point out.
“That’s right.”
“That’s exactly what I said to Aurelius before.”
“I know, I heard you,” she says casually.
“You heard me say that to him?”
“Yes.”
Never mind the distance I was from the cart, the number of people walking around the marketplace should’ve made it impossible to hear me clearly.
“My senses are very acute,” she explains as if that’s a sufficient answer.
She has no reason to lie about that, but the fact she deceived Amabel with my words shows she’s capable of lying.
I feel the hair rise on the back of my neck again, but I get my heartbeat under control. With her standing right in front of me, she might hear it.
‘What kind of person am I dealing with?’ I’m unreasonably worried that she can hear my thoughts.
“Well, regardless of that,” I change the subject “let's get you some shoes, you definitely can’t fit mine.”
“The shopping spree continues,” Alessia cheerfully says. At first, I think she’s being sarcastic but the wide smile she has suggests she’s genuinely enthusiastic. Personally, I’d rather go home but she’ll need shoes for the truly scorching days that are coming soon.
“The cobbler is over here, we’ll get you a pair that should suffice for now.”
“Okay but I-” Alessia stops in her tracks and a concerned look grows on her face. “What is that sound?”
I give a listen and hear nothing but the sounds of people of life around me, nothing unusual.
“What sound?” I ask.
“It sounds like gigantic stomping,” she answers.
I sincerely hope she’s mistaken, or that this is her version of a joke.
But then a strong breeze comes through, usually a welcome gift, but then I smell it. Decaying flesh rides on the wind. Everyone around tenses up as they smell it too.
“Shit,” I say aloud. Alessia’s face scrunches up as the scent hits her. I look around to see everyone standing in place, afraid to make a sound. Alessia is looking around frantically, trying to piece together what’s happening. I have to remind myself she’s not from this world, as hard as that is to believe.
I gesture for her to be quiet and still by making a circle with my hand and pressing it against my forehead. She gives me a quizzical look in return.
‘You can’t be serious right now.’
I stealthily walk over to her and in the lowest possible voice I whisper,
“Don’t move or make a sound,” I tell her. Then I hear it, the stomping. I point my eyes in the direction it’s coming from. It doesn’t matter that there’s a building in my line of sight, because it towers over it in the far distance.
With its colossal legs, it marches forward. At this distance, I can’t tell its trajectory, if it’s heading towards the town. The sound of its steps echoes towards us. Alessia sees it too, the warrior’s eyes analyze the being looming towards us.
That solidifies the fact that she’s not from here. A person with even the most suns-baked brain would never look at what is approaching us and think it’s a problem that can be solved.
With its size, it only takes a couple of steps for it to get significantly closer. Each step shakes the ground violently. The reverberations make my teeth chatter.
As it gets closer a wave of relief hits me as I see it’s not heading straight to the town. One of its cloven hooves is the size of a building, the damage it could do is unmatched.
The gigantic, six-legged creature gets closer. Its gleaming white hair is blinding in the summer suns. It seems to be an adult from the three yellow horns protruding from its head. They’re all equal in length, I’d say they’re about forty feet long.
When it gets closer I see my suspicions are correct, this one is dead. Its large eyes are milky white, staring off into nowhere. Its long snout is agape, showing off the many teeth it possesses. On its side, part of its ribcage is exposed, rotting away. I’d guess this one has been dead for a month, with the suns accelerating the decay.
The stench becomes unbearable as it gets closer. Alessia covers her mouth with her hand and has a very distressed face, she looks like she might vomit. I can’t blame her, the smell makes my eyes water.
The ground shakes as the creature walks just next to our town. A man selling vases from a stand tries to hold onto them all, but one slips from his grasp. Dread runs down my spine at the sight but Alessia, moving faster and quieter than she has any right to, grabs ahold of it; inches before it hits the floor.
Everyone, myself included, stare in awe.
These creatures, even when dead, are sensitive to sound. There are many cautionary tales of someone making a loud noise when one was nearby and inadvertently destroying the whole town. Though they are incapable of malice, fear is usually the only thing they elicit.
Alessia, for all her worlds traveling, I wonder if she’s ever seen anything like this. Has she ever seen a moving, living thing that’s bigger than her before?
Is arching her neck back an unfamiliar feeling to her?
The creature walks off to wherever it’s destined to fall.
After a sigh of relief, everyone who saw Alessia catch the vase applauds her.
Seems being a hero comes naturally to her.
She gives nods to everyone, acknowledging their praise but not basking in it.
Things return to normal shortly thereafter. As we head to the shoemaker Alessia finally asks,
“What was that thing?”
“It was an Exanideus,” I explain. “Not much is known about the beings. No one dares to study them,” I lie.
“Mostly because previous attempts ended in disaster. Whatever kills them still animates their bodies,” I explain further “but what it is exactly is unknown. It probably wouldn’t be good for our bodies.”
Alessia ponders the information I’ve given her. She clearly has many questions about it but tries to consider which I can answer. I can’t say to what extent, if any, that she’s probed my intelligence. I get the feeling she has a lofty standard for what she considers a highly intelligent person. She should think I’m at or below-average intelligence.
Alessia puts a hand on her chin in thought.
“I’ve seen similar conditions in other creatures in my travels, but nothing of that scale. Have you ever seen one of these creatures alive?” She asks.
“No,” I answer, “but those more spiritual than me consider seeing a living one to be a great blessing.”
“You don’t consider yourself spiritual?”
I hadn’t expected her to turn the conversation back to me.
“I’m more of a pragmatic person. Blessings and good luck don’t make my crops grow, only I can.”
“I can understand that,” she comments. “How many of these creatures are there?”
“I did say no one studies them, right?”
Alessia nods, taking my meaning. Still, I see her mind working behind her eyes. Because she’s new to this world she has an almost childlike curiosity towards it but possesses the scientific inquisitiveness of an adult.
I just hope her curiosity doesn’t lead her to dark places.
Chapter End
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