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Chapter 3

It took several weeks for me to be well enough to move around by myself, and in that time, Eric taught me much about the Twelve Guardian deities, and about the lands and the relationships between the tribes and trade. He also provided me some clothes; a loin cloth similar to the one I had had and a poncho that thankfully didn't interfere with my wings, I think it was something Eric had picked up on his travels.

Eric was the leader of a trading Caravan which was well known throughout the tribal lands and had a small but loyal group of workers working under him. I'd only started to meet them when I was allowed to move about by myself.

Out of all the members though, Cody was one of the furs I had come to respect the most. He was a fox, about my age, and we became close friends pretty quickly. We would spend all our free time together; I would tell him about tribal life, leaving out a lot of my own experiences, focusing mostly on where I'd came from and my tribes custom, and he would tell me about all the places he had visited.

Aceh was Eric's second in command, and was responsible for everything running smoothly. He was a White Tiger, who stood a good couple of inches taller than me and seemed to always have a scowl on his face. He was a well toned fighting machine, I would often see him run through a series of moves from some form of martial art. He also carried a deadly pair of Scimitar swords across his back, which only added to the intimidation factor he carried all the more.

I had been told that once, he single handily defended the caravan from an attack of a dozen bandits. He didn't even draw his swords. I was told that with a single roar, made the group flee for their lives. I wasn't really buying it, but it was based on a true story... maybe one day I'll ask him about it, when I get the guts to approach him. He just doesn't come across as all that friendly.

The last two of the crew were brothers, named Michael and Jason. They were Stallions and the muscle of the operation. Michael and Jason where about my height and well built. Their muscles would ripple at the simplest of movements, and the only way to tell them apart was that Jason had a Brown spot of hair on his neck and other than that they were essentially identical.

While I'd been healing I hadn't been allowed out to explore the villages we had visited. Truthfully though, I wasn't that keen, because I'd expected them to treat me just like how my village would have. But Eric had reassured me though, that most villages weren't like that at all, and the next village we were heading for was far more accepting than most. I was excited and nervous and Cody said he'd show me round because he'd been there a couple of times in the past.

What they had failed to tell me was that the village we were going into was a Dragon Village. When I had learnt of the news, my excited nervousness was quickly replaced with oppressive anxiety. They stopped the caravan outside the village as it was customary to meet the Eldars of the village before setting up shop. Sometimes in larger trading villages the Eldars appointed someone to this job instead of themselves. Eric asked that I accompany him into the village, Cody came along as well.

I noticed a fair number of the locals looking at me as I walked along next to Cody and Eric. I began to get nervous, till I noticed that they weren't the looks of disgust or hatred that I was accustomed too but curiosity. I remembered then how Eric was so interested about my heritage when he'd first met me, and I could only assume that it must be the same case here, since I looked fairly unusual to these people.

Eric had dismissed us once we had reached the traders hut saying that I would have a more enjoyable time exploring the village. Cody dragged me to the stalls to browse the goods that they were selling.

"S'kuse me mister!" A little voice said behind me. I turned to see a three young Dragons standing behind me.

"Umm...yes?" I replied unsure as to what was about to happen.

"What are you? You're not like us." One of the children said, with innocent curiosity.

"Umm...well...I'm what's called a half breed..."

"What's that?" Another asked.

"Well..."

"Joseph! Karin! Henry! Leave that man alone and get over here!" A female Draconian yelled from across the street at the children in front of me.

"Aww...but Ma!" One of them said.

"Don't ma me young man! Stop bothering that poor man before I smack the lot of yas!"

"Bye mister!" They said in unison before scurrying off. We continued walking.

"You handled that well." Cody said with a smirk, as we'd made out way around a bend. I turned to him.

"Shut up! What was I going to tell them?"

"I don't know how about the truth?"

"Look, I don't want to get thrown out of this village for what I am okay?"

"So what if there is a war between wolves and dragons? There hasn't actually been a major incident between the two for years. Those kids probably aren't even aware that there is even a war. You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are Malakye." Cody argued.

"I'm not ashamed of who I am, I'm ashamed of what I am okay? It's not my fault I was born like this."

"You're too hard on yourself. Look, no matter what happens, Eric, Aceh, Michael, Jason and myself all have your back. So relax a little."

"I'll try...but no promises."

"Fair enough. Hey you hungry? You haven't lived till you try some Draconian cuisine. They specialise in spicy dishes here and I bet you'll love them!"

"Yeah...sure...why not?" I asked a bit warily. As I followed Cody, one thing I couldn't get over was how big the village in fact was. The village I grew up in was made up of a grand total of fifty huts, but this place could easily have been twice, if not three times the size not including the market itself and a lot of the buildings were easily ten times bigger than any of the ones back in my old village, and it was bustling with travellers. According to Eric, the village was located on one of the main trade routes, which meant that traders from all around would come here to trade their goods. My nose tingled from the smell of spices when we entered the food hut, it was big, and had about 10 tables and a kitchen with two Draconian's cooking a variety of meals. Without haste, we made our way up to the counter to be served.

"Hello there. How can I help...?" The server, a grey dragon wearing clothes that were covered in food from having been cooking all day, asked, trailing off as they laid eyes on me... suddenly that nervous feeling I had been having earlier came rushing back. "Sorry, sorry!" The dragon apologised. "I didn't mean to stare but I've never seen a Dragon like you before. Now what can I get you?"

"Don't worry about it." Cody said to the Dragon. "He gets it all the time. Now my friend here has never tasted spicy food so I thought I'd get him to try some Zambal Stew!*"

_ Zambal Stew _ _ - A Stew most commonly made with spices giving it a fiery after taste. Most commonly made from Horishmas* _

_ Horishmas _ _ - A potato like vegetable in size and texture but have orange skins. _