A Dance with Death: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (Order's Trials Book 2) by Austin Windsor

Author:Austin Windsor [Windsor, Austin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-23T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Nakada, Canaris

Richard’s first impression of the city to which he and Lynn had teleported was that it was different—in so many ways.

Aside from the architectural differences he had already observed before crossing through the portal, it was also clear that there were vast cultural differences between this land, of which he had only heard stories, and his homeland, and even the much nearer territories of the Sanskari Empire.

For one, the language—utterly incomprehensible to Richard, and Lynn could only piece together small sentences—was incomparable to Miradosi. The people spoke with much more emotion, both in their voice and their body language, in what Richard assumed to be everyday conversations as they traversed the cobbled streets. The way they dressed, in long, decorative robes, the way they styled their hair, both men and women often seen sporting a bun, and the wicker cone-shaped hats seen commonplace across the heads of what seemed like every other person.

Richard felt out of place, and not just because of the crude way in which he was dressed, still wearing the bloodstained tunic gifted by the dryads. He and Lynn were on the receiving end of countless curious stares from the city’s people, though never for long, as they all moved at remarkable speed and without pause.

“I can’t steal from these people,” Richard mused.

“Oh, Richard, you’ve done much worse, I’m sure.”

They continued towards the harbour, passed by all manner of people from workers hauling wheelbarrows of fish to monks dressed in rags with shaved heads to people Richard could only describe as warriors, carrying enormous, slightly curved swords at their waists and armoured in only leathers over their white robes. Interestingly, they wore sandals, which Richard thought would have made footwork terribly difficult in the event of a confrontation.

Bards played melodies at the streetside, though not using instruments familiar to Richard. A flute-like instrument made from bamboo produced a soft lead, another busker playing the rhythm on a three-stringed lute with a significantly longer neck than that to which Richard was accustomed. He wanted to stop and listen for a while, but was dragged away by Lynn, who scolded him for bringing unnecessary attention to them.

Yet another noteworthy feature of the city was the abundance of cats—they were simply everywhere. Slinking between narrow alleys, running across high walls, sitting on shop fronts—there wasn’t a direction in which Richard could look without seeing one. And as they reached the fish market adjacent to the harbour, the cat concentration only increased. Sellers chopped heads, tails, and fins from their product and tossed them to the innumerable hungry mouths clamouring around the ground by the stall, outnumbering the customers.

“I bet we could get away with that skiff.” Lynn pointed to a small ship with a single sail tied to a post in the harbour as they reached the seaside from the bustling fish market.

“And travel across an entire ocean? We’d be devoured by the waves. I travelled across the Great Sea in a ship not much bigger and we were almost destroyed several times.

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