By the Lake (Brave New World Book 3)

Chapter 2

If the other gargoyles had been big, this one was huge. Even without stepping forward to meet him, I knew my head would reach no higher than his chest. Even without Tisvali here for comparison, I knew this guy would win the competition for biggest muscles and broadest chest. And size wasn't the only unnatural thing about my new partner.

The tip of one of his pointed ears, clearly visible since his shoulder-length hair was tucked behind them, was missing. Sticking over his blue bottom lip were the sharp fangs that history books claimed should barely reach below the upper lip. The pointed bone decorating the tip of his left wing was chipped.

Even the clothing he wore - if a piece of fabric hanging over his groin could be called clothing - wasn't the same as his fellow warriors'. Their loincloths were dark-brown, while his had golden threads along the edges of both the hanging piece and the wide belt holding it in place.

And, as if all these rarities weren't enough, his tail currently swinging behind him was longer and wider than what I'd seen in drawings. I had read that this fifth limb, as hairless as the rest of a gargoyle's body, was as strong as the arms. It was often used instead of a hand for grabbing hold of things, since it reached further and was much more flexible.

He could probably reach me now, two steps away from him as I was.

He flapped his wings once, which I had been told earlier today should be interpreted as a greeting, an affirmative answer or a sign of approval. Then he placed one big hand with untrimmed black claws over his chest and grunted, "Ris."

I arched an eyebrow. Did he think me a non-English speaker or an idiot? Or was he an idiot himself in the true sense of the word? When I'd said I expected an idiot for a partner, I hadn't meant it literally, as in someone whose vocabulary was too limited even for a 'my name is'. My low expectations were linked to the idiotic beliefs of gargoyles, but maybe I should lower my standards further?

"Deidre," I noted, cocking a hip and resting one hand on it, the other never leaving the bow across my shoulder.

I had to focus on the not-so-bad elements here: hair as straight and black as Karim's lovely one. Eyes the same color and pupil-less like those of everyone in my kingdom. A rugged face that wasn't too bad to look at, since it was refreshingly masculine, unlike the feminine one of my kind. Complete lack of bodily hair, which my kind found disgusting given how we naturally had none. Well-shaped feet with massive toes, which although untrimmed like a savage's, would pass as attractive in my foot-fetish society.

Actually, the big boy's name was a positive element, too. In my mother's tongue 'ris' meant a type of wild cat. My lack of practice since my mother's passing years ago made it impossible to remember which species exactly. But since my favorite one was tiger, I could pretend 'ris' meant tiger. That would make my partner's name cool, right?

As my gaze slid back up from his feet to his face, I discovered he was ogling me in a similar fashion. I saw his black eyes linger on my braided hair, hips, and legs the most. My silvery-grey skin and green-brown sleeveless dress covering me down to mid-thigh barely got a glance. Same went for my perfectly trimmed clawed feet.

I got it: he wasn't enjoying the view, as horny as his kind were fabled to be. He was trying to figure out what I was. With my lagoon-blue hair currently hanging to my waist over one shoulder, and my wide hips and muscular legs that belonged only on a human's body.

I had gotten a similar ogling from head to toe just yesterday. But while in that case Jasmine's eyes had been filled with fascination at my rarities, Ris' were currently glinting with amusement.

I just couldn't help myself. "What's the matter? Ris never seen an elf before?" My tone of voice was mocking, but I had an innocent smile on - see, I could be polite, despite being ticked off.

But maybe my mockery would go to waste, since he frowned as if confused by my speech in English.

Curses, how were we going to communicate? Grunts and sign language?

"I have seen many elves," he suddenly said in English as good as mine. He sounded offended. "Killed as many."

My eyebrow shot up again. Did he think he could intimidate me? Had he fought many elves, he would know females of my kind were as tough as the males. Or did he think I would be an easy victim because I clearly wasn't a pure-blooded elf?

"Amused at the thought of taking me on in a fight?" I demanded to know, guessing at the meaning of that glint in his eyes from a moment ago. "Let me assure you, tiger, that there will be an arrow sticking out of that wide forehead of yours before you can pull the sword handle out of your belt and activate its retractable blade. Your kind might be able to regenerate from most wounds, but a shot to the head with silver will send you to your ancestors."

He grunted in reply.

Was that his version of a snort? Did he think I was making idle threats? I huffed.

"No doubt in your skills, Dei-dre," he replied eventually. Ignoring my raised brow at the strange pronunciation of my name, he went on. "But in sense of humor."

I laughed. I honestly couldn't contain my laughter, despite how pissed I already was one minute into our meeting. "You think I have no sense of humor? A true hasinem, ain't you?" There, I was being such a respectful partner, not calling him names in English, just as instructed. Cool, right?

His tail stopped its swinging motion and curled violently.

The hand I had on my hip went behind my back to rest right next to my dagger's handle. Just let him try something with his agile and dangerous fifth limb–

"I am no blind fool," he grumbled. "I heard your chuckles earlier. But now you fail to see why I am laughing with eyes."

I cleared my throat uncomfortably, realizing I'd misjudged him. No individual from another shadow kind capable of understanding Elvish could be an idiot.

Well, at least me offending him to his knowledge shouldn't cause a violation of tonight's truce... Right?

Wanting to appear nonchalant after the reveal that he knew Elvish, I concentrated on the last bit he had said. Whatever 'laughing with eyes' meant. "Please enlighten me, tiger."

His tail resumed its swinging motion, but I kept my fingers close to the handle of my blade just in case. He pointed at me with one long clawed finger. "Odd one out." Then he moved his hand up and down in front of his impressive torso. "Odd one out."

Holy Gods of the Underground, he was right! I had no sense of humor, to have failed to notice Nature's joke on us tonight.

I burst out laughing, my hand moving from my dagger to my mouth to muffle my giggles that everyone already doing their jobs would be able to hear.

His reaction was a grunt, this one sounding not so much like a snort as an approval.

My laughter was gargoyle-approved... I laughed some more.

That was when a gargoyle's growl from the sky made me straighten up.

"Come, Dei-dre," my partner told me quite officially. "Task awaits."

"Time for the Odd-squared Team to go, huh?" I snickered but quickly took my bow and quiver off my shoulder and back, respectively.

Enough chit-chat. It was time to do my job, which was to keep the forest safe for my kind's sake. Particularly my three friends currently on the surface.

"Apologies," Ris stated as I got closer. "You are not humorless."

I flashed him a pleased smile but didn't offer apologies of my own for the hasinem calling. I didn't do apologies well. Besides, I had to focus on preparing myself mentally for his touch, right?

He picked me up and pressed my right side to his body with a firm grip over my left hip and under my left arm. Strangely, I didn't find this skin-to-skin contact disgusting, repulsive or uncomfortable. It probably had to do with me being brought up by a human and, thus, very tactile mother.

Yeah, absolutely.

As we took off and I looked up at the rugged face so close to mine, I discovered that it wasn't as ugly as I had expected from a gargoyle. It was actually... kind of pleasing on the eyes. Must be because of the angle of viewing or something.

Yeah, totally.