The Coward and the Wolf Ch. 03

The peoples of Lizard-kin society varied greatly in the quality of their dress, with the exception of one thing. All were wearing armor and were armed in one fashion or another. He could see a group of children in leather armor with wooden swords and shields being shepherded along by a matronly female in full plate male.

The Lizard-kin evidently loved to make war just as much as the werewolves, even if they did like to dress up more for the occasion. Steve felt mildly better that no one was brawling, mating or naked in the street though. Aside from the variety of weapons, armors and the fact that everyone was a lizard person, it looked a lot like rush hour back home in Cheshire.

Steve watched, fascinated as the carriage continued to climb upwards past the layers of the city, he saw schools, libraries, military compounds, but the most striking buildings were the forges.

The massive buildings dominated the surrounding area of which ever layer they were on, billowing forth smoke that was funneled into chimneys that went through all the levels assumedly right through to the roof of the mountain. The Lizard-kin took their metalwork very seriously if the widespread use of armor, metal weapons and gigantic forges were anything to go by. It might have been the reason why they chose such an inhospitable environment to live in. It made for easier access to precious metals.

It wasn't long at all before the carriage finally reached the top levels, where the traffic had thinned out noticeably. The carriage pulled into one of the more ornate gates Steve had seen, on a level that while not quite at the top, if he had thrown a tennis ball he could probably have hit it.

The carriage had pulled into a massive estate, with a stone mansion looming over the grounds. The place looked picturesque if you could ignore the large number of female guards in white cloaks, armed with spears, who seemed to be approaching from every angle toward the carriage and Saltek's small party. Steve certainly couldn't.

Steve's own guard waited until the white cloaked guards were just a few meters away from them before they crouched down on one knee, heads bowed. Sarah was the only exception, she stood as if she could care less about the whole event, though the tight grip she had on her spear told a different story.

Steve was pretty sure that based on his own guards action they weren't all about to be massacred for trespassing, but he didn't ask Sarah to crouch. If his hosts thought his bodyguard's reactions rude they could suck it up and improve their guest greeting method. If shit went south Sarah might be able to hold them long enough for him to start running. It was unlikely but he liked to keep his options open.

Saltek stepped out of the carriage, still wearing her peculiar leather underclothes, before she spoke out to the assembled white cloaks, "Honored sisters of the Divine guard, I Saltek, servant of the Divine House, seek audience with the Goddess."

The white cloaks all spoke as one, which to Steve's mind was kind of unnecessarily pompous, but since they all had spears he didn't think to voice his opinion, "Welcome home, Saltek. The Goddess awaits you and the werewolf envoy in the throne room."

Saltek nodded and waved for Steve to get out of the carriage. He, Sarah and Saltek made their way into the mansion while flanked by two of the white cloaks. Steve soon got lost as they walked through innumerable white marble hallways, ever deeper into the bowels of the mansion. He didn't see any servant or other white cloaks within the mansion itself, which made for a peculiar similarity to Talia's living conditions. The white cloaks must only guard outside the mansion.

The group eventually came to a stop in front of intimidating set of wooden double doors. One of the white cloaks stepped forward and knocked, before walking back down the hallway they came taking the other white cloak with her.

It would seem they were going to meet the Lizard-kin goddess in private. Steve was happy about that, it meant he wasn't about to make an ass of himself in front of a large number of people. It was but a few moment before he heard a resounding "enter" issue forth from within the room. Steve took a deep breath to calm himself before he stepped in.

He tried desperately to strike a stay thought from his mind as he crossed the threshold. He most certainly didn't want the first words he accidentally blurted to the goddess inside to be,

"Why do Lizard-kin have breasts?"

"Holy shit. Did I say that aloud!?" He exclaimed as Saltek and Sarah turned to stare at him.

"Shit."

*****

Afterword: I promise I will introduce some of the other tribes next chapter. I just wanted to say I will be releasing shorter chapters more regularly from now on.

As ever if you have any comments, criticisms and/or suggestions feel free to comment. I will most definitely read them all and adapt the story accordingly if they are valid and fit with what I'm already doing.