An Unlikely Friend. part 1

Chapter 12: Stone's Fortress

Iona

After several hours of driving through the winding canyon road, where the faces of tall cliffs nearly block out all of the light, the canyon opens up, revealing a large town scattered about the valley with homes sprinkling the sloping sides of the mountains.

Thea plasters her face to the window. “Wow, I can’t believe there’s so many people up here.”

“Why not?” Sosimo asks without turning his eyes from the road.

She takes her gaze off the town and blinks for a moment before shrugging. “I don’t know. With all the steep mountains and stuff I didn’t think people would live up here.”

“You’d be surprised where you’ll find people. Now a days, Jasmeer is a little worse for the wear but ten years ago it was bustling.”

They drive through the center of town, where Gracie fits in perfectly with the other rugged vehicles. The buildings and the longhaired Borukins walking the streets all share the same well-worn appearance.

“Why is everything so much nicer than where we’re from?” Korbin asks.

“The Erohsians have all but enslaved the humans over the last hundred years,” Sosimo says. “Lur used to be a thriving city before the Erohsians scattered or repressed the survivors. They haven’t left the humans much to work with.”

Iona glances about the buildings. “These buildings seem weird, but I can’t figure out why.”

Sosimo’s shoulders lift ever so slightly and he looks at her. “What’s one of the most obvious differences between humans and Borukins?”

“They’re dark colored,” Thea says.

“Not applicable for this conversation,” Sosimo says. “What else?”

Size… Iona drums her fingers on her thigh. “Woo! That’s it. It’s all a little bigger.”

“Yep. Everything’s about twenty-five percent bigger to accommodate our larger size.”

Sosimo pulls Gracie off the main road and works his way through the streets towards the edge of town. They wind up the side of a mountain and pull into the driveway of a large, two-story house.

Sosimo turns in his seat to face the children. “Just wait here a second. I’m going to see if anyone’s home.”

Iona ducks her head to see the full house out the window. “Who's house–”

The door slams shut and Sosimo walks around the back of the truck. He opens the rear hatch, pulls out a package, and walks towards the house, patting down his clothes with his free arm.

Ryder shrugs. “I guess we'll just have to wait. So what do you guys think of him? He seems pretty cool, just a little quiet.”

Korbin nods his head. “Oh yeah, super cool. Can you believe how big and strong he is?”

“I think he’s warming up a bit,” Thea says. “We so almost got him to smile once.”

“Yeah we did,” Iona says smiling to Thea. She turns to Ryder. “I think we can trust him.”

Just then the children see the door open in front of Sosimo. A well-dressed Borukin, half a head shorter than Sosimo, with rolled up sleeves and long hair, comes out. White markings are visible on the man’s forearms as the two men embrace and Sosimo hands him the package. They chat for a moment and Sosimo signals over his shoulder to Gracie. The man’s face curls and he begins to glance back and forth between the truck and Sosimo. After a moment he asks another question that Sosimo nods to. The look from the man’s face falls away and he shrugs, turning just as quickly to go back inside. Sosimo looks down at the ground as he walks back to the truck with an air of distraction.