A Salamander, but Mighty

POV: Luchael

“Now now, be quiet for a little,” Luchael said after making room in his backpack for the salmadrer – not only was it not a different size from a small canogh, it was also a similar weight – and he started walking again. When he arrived in the city, as he had expected, he had no difficulty in accessing the city streets: Stanbroodge was much, much larger than the village of scattered farms where the leporan came from, the coming and going of people was intense in all the main streets, where there were also stalls of itinerant merchants who most likely came from nearby cities such as from the kingdom of Adularia, which was located beyond the Ulyender river, easily reachable via an enormous bridge large enough to accommodate two carriages and at least one person moving at the same time.

How big it is, it's just as dad described it! Luchael thought, turning his head left and right, accompanying the movement of his head with that of his ears. There were not only humans in the city, but also other leporans, some croconoids and even a couple of elves! I have to hurry and find an inn, a cheap one for now.

“I'm looking for an inn,” he whispered, craning his neck towards his backpack, “as soon as I find one I'll get you out, it won't take long.”

The salmadrer was smart enough not to respond other than moving slightly to let him know it heard him, good. Together the bizarre duo maneuvered through the streets of the city, occasionally finding themselves slowing down to listen to the performance of some bard or to witness some acrobatics of a group of acrobats, Luchael found himself passing in front of one of the temples just as some priests were preaching to a mass of mostly disinterested people.

“The stars speak clearly! The signs are manifest to those who have faith!” Exclaimed one of the preachers dressed in the white and blue cassock of the priests. He had a bald head and a long beard combed into two triangular points that went down to the height of his stomach, "the shadow of the Nightmare Tyrant is already beginning to stretch over the hills and plains of our beloved kingdom!"

There were some who were listening, a handful of about twenty people. Luchael simply stopped a step behind the mass and turned his large ears forward, leporans had good hearing.

“Have no doubt, oh good people of Stanbroodge! An evil is about to arise, its shadow is still so small that it does not cover a single stone, but it will soon reach all the kingdoms of the world! He will rise from the earth, spreading his wings until he deprives us of the sky!” the priest stretched out his hand over the crowd. “His roar will break the spirit of the greatest heroes! His gaze will test the souls of the most faithful!”

These preachers are everywhere, but they had to come from somewhere... Luchael thought, huffing exasperatedly, in his countryside village the preachers were almost an anniversary that marked the passage of time like the changing of the seasons. He rolled his eyes and continued walking, hands tightening on the straps of his backpack.

“Put your trust in the Blessed Champion! The hero who will stand against evil and with his pure light will crush him and drive him back from our world!” Another priest proclaimed, “His appearance will be marked by the arrival of a noble leader who will unite all kind-hearted heroes under one banner!”

Yes yes, of course... and the Nightmare Tyrant is the salmadrer I have in my backpack, Luchatel thought, chuckling to himself. although this monster is indeed unusual… nah, it must be something very rare and I haven't heard of yet' he shrugged, 'as soon as I get organized for my time here, I will try to visit the libraries to find more informations.

- - -

After spending an hour looking for an inn – not that there hadn't been any visible, it's just that they were too expensive – Luchael finally found the right place in a ramshackle old inn whose weathered sign still seemed to be hanging on the road by pure divine grace. Some windows still had both or a single green shutter, and there was loud chatter coming from inside. The inn was part of a complex of terraced houses, Luchael didn't dare to imagine the amount of protests the innkeeper must have constantly received from the neighbors.

The leporan opened the door and wrinkled his nose when he was hit by the stench of low-quality alcohol that the common room had inevitably become permeated with over the years; half the tables were occupied by people who had every impression of being a mixture of people of ill repute, poor travelers and other people like him who were in times of economic hardship. He approached the counter, where a buxom human who must have been in her forties was serving mugs of what looked like watered-down beer.

“Hey, little guy,” said the innkeeper, turning to him. She wasn't very tall, but since the average leporan height was 5'6" it still made her appear like a giant to him, "what are you looking for? Rooms, food, alcohol or prostitutes?”

“Um,” who knows what the monster in his backpack was thinking of him... was that monster able to think anything of him to begin with? “F-for now, the first thing you said. What is the cheapest room you have?”

“Three bronze Leuns and it's yours,” the innkeeper acted as if she were annoyed, as if Luchael was taking too long and was distracting her from more important business.

Luchael didn't take up any more of the innkeeper's time and placed the three bronze Leuns on the table as requested, "I have just one last question."

The innkeeper rolled her eyes and crossed her arms under her breasts, which in addition to being abundant were also shown off by the neckline of her dress.

Luchael took this as an invitation to speak, “I'm a minstrel. Would it be possible for me to perform for your customers?”

“Yes, of course, do as you wish… just don't expect to pick up many Leuns this way,” she ran her dark eyes from the leporan's head to toe, “you could do something more by prostituting yourself, you leporans are particularly desired.”

“Y-yes, I know,” that was a sort of blessing and curse: the leporans were a race of androgynous humanoids, the differences between males and females were not very marked and the fact that their way of dressing was unisex made so that in the eyes of other races they appeared as both male and female, and really attractive, "I'm not interested in prostitution, I'm an adventurer."

The innkeeper gave him another look, this time, skeptical, "an adventurer, of course," she took the money and gave him a numbered key, "you can find me here if you change your mind, I know how to be a fair matron with the workers who work hard and play harder.”

“Yeah, I… I'll think about it, thanks,” Luchael pulled part of the brim of his hat over his face and after taking the key he left quickly towards his room.

The room was a real hovel, there was a battered bed with a broken leg that had been repaired by placing a brick and some stones, in place of the wardrobe there was an old chest with the lid off its hinges and the floor also played desk function in case it was necessary. There was a small window no bigger than an adult human's head and it was so high up that it was impossible for Luchael to tell what was outside without climbing on the bed.

“We're off to a meager beginning,” he said once the door was closed, at least the latch was working properly, “but it'll get better! The adventure is just beginning, there are a lot of heroes who started the same way!” He exclaimed half to himself and half to the monster in his backpack.

He took the backpack off his shoulders and placed it next to the chest, then opened it: the salmadrer had curled up in a ball and seemed to have taken advantage of the place and the long wait to sleep on the leporan's clothes, it only opened its eyes when the backpack’s opening was raised and immediately turned its deep and totally black eyes towards the rosy ones of its... hm... taxi driver? Ally? Regardless, for a moment Luchael found the monster surprisingly cute… for a monster.

“Tomorrow I'm going to join the Adventurers' Guild, that will be the real departure,” he explained, once again half in favor of himself and half in favor of the lizard monster, “this evening I will bring you food and water! You stay here and don't let anyone see you!"

The salmadrer climbed out of his backpack and stretched its legs before exploring the small room and climbing on the bed, that accomodation was still better than a hole in the ground and the walflies I suppose.