“Don’t hate me ’cause you ain’t me.”
I rolled my eyes.
Smolten was close enough to Finvarra’s keep that it was obviously a center for trade. We joined the line at the entrance to the town. Fae guards were positioned on either side of the entrance, and I lifted my gaze.
There. The wall was dotted with more guards, likely wielding crossbows.
The line moved quickly, and other than one bored scan of our faces, the guard we passed didn’t pay us much attention. I rolled my shoulders and examined the town.
“We’re looking for The Harpy’s Hell,” I reminded Kyla.
“Catchy name. I vote we go that way,” she nodded right. I shrugged and turned, heading in the direction she’d specified.
“Why?”
She tapped her nose. “Because I just got a whiff of beer and unwashed creatures.”
Perfect.
The Harpy’s Hell was a small, plain building with gray walls and a dark, wooden rooftop—like all of the buildings on this avenue. We stepped around a drunk gnome, currently losing his stomach three feet from the door.
The tavern was packed. I had no idea what time it was here, but the sun was still high in the sky. I felt eyes on me as I slipped the gold coin from my utility belt.
Kyla’s expression was relaxed, but the way she stood--feet planted and slowly running her gaze around the patrons in the tavern--made it clear that she wasn’t prey. I stepped up to the bar and nodded at the lesser fae currently polishing a glass with a filthy rag.
“Dinbel?”
One sharp nod.
“I need access to the internal portal.”
“You got coin?”
I held up the gold coin and he scowled. “The price has increased. You ever heard of inflation?”
I gave him a steady stare and his scowl deepened, but he plucked the coin out of my hand with a bad-tempered sneer.
“Let’s go.”
He stepped around the bar and jerked his head toward a door leading to what I assumed was a back room.
There was nothing here. I tensed, ready to reach for my blade, but he threw the closet door open, revealing the glimmer of a portal.
“Didn’t see that coming,” Kyla remarked.
Neither had I.
Dinbel pushed a collection of brooms and mops aside and gestured for us to walk into the portal. “Go on then, ain’t got all day.”
The portal was multi-colored, reflecting rainbows which danced through the room like it was a crystal. I really, really hoped the Tengu knew what he was talking about and we weren’t going to end up in the wrong place.
“Alrighty then,” Kyla said. She gave me a ‘what are you gonna do look’ and strolled into the rainbows. I sighed and stepped through after her.
“You’re welcome,” Dinbel snapped as I strode into the closet.
The first thing I noticed was the humidity. The portal had spat us out in a region so unlike the one we had just left that my mind struggled to process it. If anyone had attacked, we would’ve been sitting ducks as we both blinked dazedly and gaped at our surroundings.
Sure, the tengu had said we’d be going to a swamp. But whatever I’d pictured, it hadn’t been this.
