Chapter 8: Chapter Eight

I looked up at Clara. At first I could even tell it was her. It was hard to see very well in the dark. All I could see was the fire from her hands illuminating the rest of her body. To be honest, she looked very intimidating.

The fire died out before she moved at all. She ran at me and wrapped her arms around me.

“Gods be praised! You’re alive!” My back felt wet now. It was either tears or blood. I was losing oxygen from how tight she was squeezing my neck. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry”

I didn’t know what she was apologizing for, but now wasn’t the time. I just hugged her back. Hopefully she brought something we can sleep in because I feel dead on my feet.

The hug now felt like it was going on a touch too long. I tapped her back. 

“Oh… I’m sorry.” She looked like an emotional wreck. She brushed her short bangs to the side of her head and looked me over. “You look like shit” she chuckled.

“I feel like it too” I said. “Tell me you brought an entire bed with you”

“Y-yeah. Sort of” she said, walking over to her truck. She unhooked the tailgate and showed that there was a makeshift bed in her truck bed. It looked almost like a giant pillow instead of any mattress but I didn’t care. I limped over to the truck and almost collapsed. It was almost like nothing else in the world existed. Just me and the worlds second most uncomfortable bed.

I woke up to the sun blinding me again. Figures. My second night here, my second time being woken up by the sun trying to burn my eyes out of my skull. We were on the move, though. I tried to sit up, but the harpy was clinging to me with her wings, each of which had one claw at the end of it. She was curled in the fetal position, which I guess makes sense since she’s likely used to sleeping in a nest. Wait, I know birds sleep in nests but do bird-people?

“Hey you, you’re finally awake.” Clara said from somewhere behind me. I turned around to see Clara sitting in the cab, the back window open so she could talk to me. 

“Um… yeah” I said groggily. “Why is she here?” I asked, pointing at the girl. 

“Oh her? Owl Harpies are nocturnal. She was up all night I guess. The second I woke up she took my spot. I dunno why she’s stickin’ with us though” 

I paused to absorb all of that information. I was slow enough in the mornings back in my own world where I had a set routine. This was a whole new ballgame. 

“Okay… so where are we going exactly?” I asked. 

“The closest village is a farming village called Clawport. We can probably rest there before moving on”

“And why are you helping me? I thought you didn’t want to leave your hometown”

She was silent for a moment. I hadn’t touched a nerve, had I?

“It was long time for a change” she looked back at me with a smile a bit too wide. 

She stopped the car so I could climb into the passenger seat. The dust made it obvious that the car hadn’t been used in awhile. One thing I noticed is that her body glowed a faint blue when the car was moving. I asked about this and she told me that the technology they have is heavily reliant on magic. 

Humans are the only species that is completely deficient in magical energy, at least naturally. They’ve found some way to give themselves magical abilities artificially, but nobody really knows how, and only the rich and powerful have used this ability so it’s probably not very ethical. People like Monoeyes have a little bit of magical energy which they can use to power spells, specifically Flame spells. This energy can also be used to power appliances that use magical energy as fuel, such as automobiles. However, since Monoeyes are more closely related to humans than other species, they don’t often have very large reserves of magical energy, and Clara has even less so since she’s never been one to use magic. She’ll likely need to take frequent rest breaks during any long trip. When I told her not to push herself too hard, I was met with only silence. This does not bode well.

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We drove for a bit in awkward silence. Small talk, small talk, small talk, why can’t I ever think of any small talk when I need to? I mean for crying out loud, the truck doesn’t have a radio and who knows how long we’re going to be driving together?

“Is there anything I should know about Clawport before we get there? Keep in mind, my world only has humans in it” I said. It was genius. It filled the awkward silence and gave me a chance to prepare for whatever random species I might meet next!

“Um…. Not really. This entire province is mostly Monoeyes since it used to be an independent kingdom before the Empire absorbed it. That’s how each province was. Though, now that I think about it, there might be one or two centaurs, but that’s just because of the farm work and it’s proximity to our neighboring province.”

Okay, centaurs. Those are horse people, right? Well there’s already a bird person in the back of the truck so… whatever. 

“Centaurs do farm work?” I asked, inquisitively. Then again, I didn’t really ask much about her people. Was that insensitive? Asking about another species before the one you’re talking to? I’ve only ever talked to humans and I’m pretty knowledgeable about them. This is already a mess.

“I mean, all species that need to eat can farm. I don’t really know that much about it since I’ve never talked to a centaur, but my cousin in Clawport told me that they make decent workhorses, though he’d never say that to their face. They’re a lot cheaper than them fancy tractors some people have.”

“So Centaurs are good at farming, are Monoeyes very proficient at anything?”

She paused. “Back in the old days we were metalworkers. Our flame magic is really good at heatin’ metal up. A lot of us still do it. In fact, all them trucks we steal, after we empty ‘em of food, we melt ‘em down and sell the metal. Well, I don’t, but people out west do.”

They’ve got quite the operation running. I glanced back at the bed.

“And harpies?”

“I dunno. I’ve never met one before and only vaguely remember some stuff from my textbooks. It could be she’s from some forest, but she was a bit far south for any owl harpy I’ve ever seen.” 

I looked back at the black mass of feathers sleeping peacefully on the bed. The mysteries continue to grow.

After awhile we had to stop and take a rest break. By rest break, I mean Clara had to actually take a nap, not just a stop-and-stretch-your-legs kinda thing. 

It was interesting. I had never seen someone sleep so clearly, or so up-close. It was a weird display of vulnerability. She looked so fragile. Quite honestly, if it weren’t for the nearly obnoxious snoring, I would have thought she was dead. I’d absolutely hate to be her husband in the future. I’d never get a good nights sleep again. I know I’ve slept in proximity to her twice now but both of those times were moments of extreme exhaustion. I covered her with a blanket and leaned on the front of the truck.

While I was no avid outdoorsman, far from it, it’s not like I haven’t gone long periods of time away from home, or civilization for that matter. As a kid I was part of the Boy Scouts, and even after I parted from them I would go camping regularly. Since my sense of direction wasn’t great, I got lost more than once. Maybe I was just used to it and that’s why I’m so calm. 

I remember one of those times I had gotten lost. My father and I were hiking up a hill in the woods across the road. Since he had grown up in the area he assured me he knew where we were going. He remembered enough to get us to the top of the hill, where as a child he had built a tree house. However, the journey back was a lot more difficult. We had lost our path and wound up in a field full of thorn-covered weeds which I fell in. It wasn’t until the sun had started to go down that I began to panic. Dad assured me that he knew what he was doing, and eventually we decided to go in one direction until we found something. I took two things from that trip: when you’re lost in the wilderness, go in one direction and you’re bound to find something (unless you know someone will be looking for you, in which case you should stay put), and a really cool rock which I kept as a souvenir, and still have to this day. I wonder if Clara’s ever gone hiking? Has she ever left her home province? It doesn’t seem to have many hike-able locations. It’s one step up from a desert.

I heard a sound from the back of the truck. I guess it’s time to get back on the road.

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