ADRYEL
This underground area wasn’t like what Adryel was used to. For sure. Undergrounds usually weren’t, uh, actually in caves. It was dim and it smelled musty from water that had to be standing somewhere.
And the smell of humanoids who were nervous and hiding things.
That seemed to be a universal smell. No matter where she wound up, she recognized the smell. The only big difference was that here, there was an overall organic smell that melded with the humanoid smell.
A chill in the air as well added to the ambience. Not like a cold that she’d need a jacket for, but more of a soothing cool, like she was walking into someplace forbidden.
That was the point, of course. This was where they went when they wanted things that were hidden and secret. She watched through the hood that Baba had given her. It kept her face obscured by fabric, but it allowed her to see her surroundings. If Stron knew that it was transparent on the inside, he didn’t let on.
Baba said it was one of her favorite cloaks to wear. No doubt, so she could see what she wasn’t supposed to see.
Adryel liked her, and if she wound up staying here, she might have to occasionally visit Baba.
If only because it would annoy Stron.
She stayed near Stron, but kept watching all around. The further they walked, the more she recognized familiar behaviors that she’d seen back in the darker areas of Kerde.
Kantenans had that same posture as they moved through the tunnels as any other humanoid she’d ever seen when they were someplace forbidden. They kept their heads down and moved with purpose.
No slow shopping here.
And no eye contact.
Except for the ones that were following them. Whoever had sent the other big burly red dudes to watch them should have taught them a little more tact.
She’d spotted them pretty quickly.
And from the way that Stron kept his arm around her, she guessed he’d seen them as well.
Whether he was the giveaway or if it was her, she didn’t know. He had dressed down before they left, but he’d still worn that necklace of his. Whatever it meant, it was important to him. Even Baba asked him to take it off, but he wouldn’t.
So whether they spotted him or noticed him walking with a much shorter person, she didn’t know yet.
While Stron seemed to be a taller Kantenan, not many were as short as she was.
Regardless, they were here, and she hoped it wasn’t much farther.
The cave started to veer off, with two branches splitting the tunnel they were in. Vendors seemed to start to thin out, but there were still shops tucked into nooks that were carved into the rock. As they walked by, she glanced inside and realized many were much bigger in than she would have expected from the main entrance.
And many entrances had some kind of bouncer standing by the door. Large, intimidating.
And much less polished than Stron and his friends were.
The type that looked very capable of cracking some heads without much thought, if necessary.
Even the vibrant glow of the lights from before that painted the cave in a wash of colors had faded.
This wasn’t as frequented of an area.
And of course, Stron directed her to the darkest side.
She wrinkled her nose. Something cut through the damp stone and the smell of close bodies — faint, there and then not. Vetiver. Maybe. She told herself it was the cave. Old mineral deposits smelled like all kinds of things down here. She kept walking. But her grip on the wine tightened.
She continued to cling to him, but not because she was scared, her grip on the wine tight. She knew if she had to, she’d break that wine bottle over someone’s head.
She’d be sad about it later, but hey.
