Heirot

Lifting up the final branches and placing them into a handcart, Doxen wiped his brow on his sleeve and looked toward the sky. It was not past Midday, but the sun beating on his neck, reassured him the summer festival was soon to arrive. Doxen made his way to the front of the cart.

Sitting mildly in the front of the cart was a small brown haired girl. She smiled herself looking into the distance as her brother climbed into the cart next to her, and did not seem to pay any attention, as the mule carried the cart back towards their cottage. Jas was what the villagers referred to as, touched. Sometimes mumbling in her own language, or dancing with unseen partners, she was frowned upon by those who saw her. Being Doxen's only living relative, and his younger sister at that, he was more than protective of her, and willing to throw a few punches in her defense. Jas talked to two squirrels as they passed, in whatever language squirrels converse with humans.

Up and over the shallow hills the odd pair rolled. For who would not think the pair odd from a distance. He, being a heavily built man, with what looked far more muscle than intelligence, while being a good 3 feet taller than the girl. While she, being in her blossoming youth (about 16) was perhaps small enough to ride a dog, were it big enough. How they could be blood related was nearly impossible to guess were it not for their remarkable brown wavy hair. Doxen might look rather handsome, were it not for sweat matting his brow, and the ocational twig and dirt that seemed to attach themselves whilst doing work in the woods. The same hair was blessed to Jas, though longer, and much more well kept. She was far more attractive than he, with eyes that rivaled her hair in color. The squirrels, presumably finishing their conversation with the girl, returned to whatever squirrels find of import at this time of day.

Doxen was a maker of fine furnatures. Although this time the lumber which he had just collected, was to be made into a pair of wagon wheels. The order called for gold leafing to be molded into a leaf pattern around the rim. This was not the fanciest, nor the most difficult order Doxen had filled, yet the order was placed by a man who looked as he had no business holding the coin which he supplied to Doxen as a down payment. Being as Doxen was not in the business of asking questions, he accepted the coin and the order, and began the following hour.

The cart crested a hill that showed they were nearing the village where Doxen's shop was located. Next to the smithy (the beautiful smithy named Lur, whom Doxen proposed to nearly every month) and the town hall which contained all the books in the area (and also the gorgeous redhead librarian named Sue, who Doxen was always too busy stuttering over his words to propose to). Seeing neither of the women whom he was in love with as he entered town, he headed for the back of his shop, where the wagon could enter to unload the wood.

Jas, knowing the limits of where she was allowed to tread, leaped from the wagon as soon as it entered the wood shop. The mule being unhitched, the wagon unloaded and moved outside (no sight of the lovely ladies) Doxen set to work with the shop doors open, more in an effort to let whomever passed by see in, than to let the sawdust out. Jas would discover new friends in the mice which lived in the loft above, while the first wheel was being completed below as the sun began to set.

With the setting sun, came more activity in the village. Everyone set out with an urgency to accomplish the tasks that needed to be done that day before nightfall set. Although people would say that, within the town limits, there was no need to be afraid, those same people would be seen ushering their children behind secured doors. Talk of ghosts or the increase of goblins within the forrest was enough to stir caution, and even the brave were not foolish, for who goes looking for trouble with a specter?

So with those same thoughts of caution, Doxen made to prepare his hasty evening retreat out of town. Jas, having been found drawing pictures for the mice who seemed at least moderately interested at the unrecognizable scrawling on the floor. Seeing the giant form of Doxen made them scurry to a safer location within the straw, and seeing her audience vacated, Jas turned her attention to her brother. Doxen was then obliged to listen to the scolding he received from his sister, which if seen from a distance would look completely normal, though the words she uttered consisted of a mix of words from the common tongue, and what was believed utter nonsense. Doxen took his scolding as well as he had a thousand times before, and while apologizing and administering excuses, ushered Jas to assist in the clean up which needed to occur before they made their way home.

Tlik struggled diligently to dig a hole in the center of the road. Being only three feet tall was not an extreme oddity in the land for dwarfs, elves and goblins were the same height. Tlik had a blue tint to her skin that gave her the appearance of constantly being ill, while the two small horns that appeared on the top of her head, a slightly darker blue, affirmed the fact that she was a demon. That is, if you missed the small bat-like wings on her back, or her tail. Still, Tlik had a job to do, and that was to dig a hole in the middle of the road.

"Hurry!" said the unmistakable voice of Tlik's master "the sun sets, and with it comes the human".

Tlik struggled more to remove the solid ground from its well compressed home. Most demons would summon a bit of magic to move the earth, but she was being punished. And so she dug, while the sun set behind the mountains. After a few minutes she looked up to see a very large figure standing over her hole.

Tlik was surprised to see the giant figure leap into the hole and assist her in her job, and met her assistant with a huge smile. Being more than twice her size he moved the solid ground with as much ease as if she had used her magic.

Her master scowled in a voice only she could hear, for the demons tongue could not be heard nor understood by man. He cursed her laziness, yet Tlik happily continued her task along the giant man. As the sun gave its final ray of light, Tlik pulled the man over to behind a bush and assumed a hiding position while motioning the man to remain silent. Though she let out a squeak as she heard the sound of another come and crouch next to the giant man. This one a girl, slightly taller than Tlik, though she couldn't make out her looks in the faded light.

Her master was furious. "These were the ones we were to capture". said he in the voice that only the demon girl could hear. Oddly though, the young girl next to the man turned and walked directly to a log, and picked up a small frog. Tlik instantly realized that this was the form her master had changed himself to. The large man sat patiently looking at the road, but turned only when the young girl knelt next to him to present the frog, still cursing, to the large man.

"No Jas," said the man in a deep voice "no pets, and you cant eat it."

This obviously wasn't what the girl named Jas was trying to show him, as he returned his attention to the road with a large hole.

"Well im not going to let it go, its ugly and rude." Jas replied with a looking harder at the critter.

Both Tlik and the frog froze but for different reasons, but a smile then spread on Tlik's face and with excitement cried "you speak demon!"