A quest for the heir of the phoenix ~ chapter two - part a

Here is the first half of chapter two from my story. Reviews, critique and comments are welcomed and appreciated

************** Chapter Two*****************

Dismounting her steed with speed and precision, Lylle cast her gaze overhead. The light of the two suns was now hidden behind a thick veil of smoky clouds and she could smell the dampness in the air. She knew that another heavy rain was brewing on the horizon which meant that if both she and Valdez wanted to reach Finalia before the downpour then it did not leave them a lot of time. She affectionately stroked the nose of her beloved Parifinian bay stallion Menounos after tethering him outside of a small tavern that was conveniently closed for the day. Hovering slightly at her shoulder was Pixie who gratefully stretched her wings after being tucked inside of Lylle’s tunic for the rigorous journey. The dirt streets were caked in thick mud from the frequent heavy rains of the season.

Lylle turned up her nose at the foul stench that filled Baymir’s streets. According to the men posted at the main gates, they had been informed that the small shop Aristep could be found in the poorer section of the small town, close to the eastern boarder. Elvin men and women littered the narrow, cramped roads and it seemed to Lylle that there were far too many people around for this small city to possible house. Families were huddled in the tight alleyways formed from the constricted spaces between homes and shops. Children looked up at Lylle and Valdez as they passed with wide eyes and filthy faces.

“Look at their garbs.” Valdez whispered below his breath as he eyed the surrounding dense crowd with mounting caution as both he and Lylle proceeded to force their way through the dense mob, pulling away from begging hands as they went. “Clearly most of these people are of wealth—yet they live on the streets begging?”

“Refugees from Aquila.” Lylle muttered under her breath barely loud enough for Valdez to hear. “They must have fled the city with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Only genuine terror would drive those of financial means to act so drastically.” For a brief moment the crowd broke long enough for Lylle to see the worn and weathered sign bearing the word Aristep just up ahead. Grabbing Valdez’s arm securely in her hand she pushed her way through the dense throng, ignoring the pleas of young mothers with screaming babies and sobbing children.

She didn’t stop or relax until both she and Valdez were securely inside the dimly lit shop, Pixie hovering over her shoulder. Lylle pulled her shawl from covering her mane of golden hair. Her light green eyes surveyed the room. It was larger on the inside then it appeared on the outside. The shop was two stories high with a large staircase facing the opposite way on her immediate left. The upper floor was more of a wrap around balcony, while the main floor showcased most of the stores wares. Lylle moved through the room and looked over the labelled jars and their contents. Inwardly she smiled as most of what she saw was illegal. There was a loud sound, like a door slamming shut, followed by a very gruff voice.

“What pu’pose dae ya have nosin’ ‘bout m’shop? Damn beggars! I’s cut off y’ers hands fa’ souvenirs if y’ers trying ta rob meh!” Lylle turned to face the man that she could only assume was Gilch. He spoke in the rough language of a man born and raised in squalor, his words choppy and riddled with a heavy Elvin accent. Her mother, Sorsha, had been very accurate when describing him as ‘barrel chested’. Gilch was short for an Elvin man, but he definitely compensated for it in girth. In fact, in Lylle’s opinion he looked as if he had been a very tall man once and then squashed down to half his original size since everything about him was abnormally wide.

His hair was greasy and black with plenty of grey and a hair line had receded so far back that it looked almost as if he shaved half his hair off leaving only a few meagre strands to cover the bald shinning palette of skin. His eyebrows were so thick and bushy that for a moment Lylle thought he only had one. His upper lip was hidden under an equally bushy moustache, the ends of which dipped well past his chin. Large meaty hands flexed impatiently at his sides and even at a distance he stunk of sweat and stale larger.

“No.” Lylle said after a moment, her already green eyes darkening ever slightly. “We’re not here to steal anything, so keep your idle threats to yourself.” The slight change in Lylle’s eyes seemed to have caught Gilch’s attention. His look of shock and amazement coupled with disbelief was an expression that Lylle was all too familiar with. Sorsha, her mother, had been born ‘touched by the Gods’ bearing one blue eye and one green, a sight never before seen in all of Elvin history since all Elvin men and women alike shared the same common shade of brown.

Only Halflings were the exception, like Raine, bearing one brown eye for his Elvin lineage and one grey for his human lineage. But never before had someone of Elvin descent ever bore eyes of two colors. It simply did not happen. And more puzzling yet, while her mother’s eyes resembled those that belonged to a Goddess, no one had yet been able to explain Lylle’s phenomenon. Her eyes were ever changing with her mood and their light emerald green color told Valdez that his youngest sister was bordering on annoyed.

“T’ers only one otha’ bitch who I’s knows tha bears such ‘odd colour’ eyes.” Gilch said at last. Lylle watched as he rubbed his neck subconsciously and for the first time Lylle noticed a faint scar that looked more like a rope burn. Smiling inwardly she gave the whip that was coiled at her hip an affectionate squeeze. Gilch’s beady black eyes bore into Lylle and shifted over to Valdez. His breathing seemed to have become difficult, his chest labouring with some difficulty. His large gut shuddered with each heave and his eyes grew wide and hostile.

“I’s ‘ill not be ‘aving tha bitch comin’ ‘ere tellin’ ya ta boss me a‘bout. I’s ain’t tellin’ ya nuttin’!” Turning away from them Gilch tried to make his way back through the small side door from whence he came when Lylle unsheathed her dagger with impressive speed and launched it with surprising strength. It flew through the air like a bolt of lightening and embedded the blade straight down to the hilt in the small wooden latch used to open the panel of wood. Gilch tugged on the firm leather hilt and grunted loudly, swearing in at least four different tongues that Lylle could count and two others that she was not familiar with at all before he turned to face her once more, his wide beefy face now flaming red with annoyance and anger.

“Ye’ll be payin’ fa tha!” Valdez took two steps forwards in challenge but Lylle only smiled and shifted her weight on to her right leg and crossed her arms before her chest in a bored and impatient gesture.

“Tell us what we want to know and we’ll kindly be on our way.” Lylle didn’t think it was possible but Gilch’s eyes grew even wider with rage and his face changed to a darker shade of red.

“I’s ain’t sayin’ nuttin’ t’a cunt struttin ‘round as’f she were a man!”

This time seeing Lylle’s eyes change from green to almost hazel did nothing to stir up the same kind of unease in Gilch as it had earlier. But Valdez knew that it was sign that she was soon about to snap and Gilch would rue the day he had crossed her path. Lylle’s fingers tapped the bounded leather whip at her side lazily and Gilch’s gaze flicked from her eyes down to the whip and then back again. It was clear to Lylle that he was more then familiar with the weapon.

“She told ya ta bring tha didn’t she?” Gilch spat out viciously. The veins in his thick neck started to throb. “Well ya can tell tha fucking wench tha I’d sooner ‘ave ‘er flat on ‘er back, running ma’ sword through her bloody cunt ‘fore I’s let ‘er send ‘er fucking bitch o’a daughter threatenin’ me!”