Steel Butterfly

40

Kalia's POV

Finally, I hit the river market. There were people selling from tables, their riverboats and the pier itself. The fishmonger was fileting a fish while his wife was frying them in flour and spices. There were women selling tamales, a man selling potions he claimed were good for the blood sugar and what not, and a young woman was selling candied sweet potatoes.

"Kalia!" The grocer lady was smiling at me as I approached her stall. I had forgotten my basket so I'll buy one again. "How are you, honey?"

"I'm doing as well as a grieving person can." I told her, sighing. "Anyway, I was hoping to see half a kilo of carrots, half a kilo of potatoes, half a kilo of chard, and some mushrooms if you will."

The woman got the stuff and handed it to me in the basket.

"Did you want the basket?" She asked me. I nodded.

"Fifteen gold pieces." She told me. I handed them to her. She gave me the food and I left that stall. I found a stall that sold small idols of the gods. I always wanted to have one but my father believed in the Great Gods Above and didn't want anything to remind him of them at the house.

I was staring at the Tezcatlipoca and Chalchiuhtlicue ones.

"Are you interested in either of them?" The seller, an elderly man with a cane, asked me.

"Kind of." I sighed, admiring the handiwork on them.

"You can have them." He spoke, walking to me. "I wouldn't say no to the daughter of my family's god." He smiled at me.

"Wow, thank you." I told him, smiling as I picked up the Tezcatlipoca one. "I'll have to come by some other time and pick up the other one."

"It's okay. I'll get my grandsons to drop it off at your mother's house if you would like." He spoke. "Or would you prefer it be dropped off at the Guild?"

"The Guild if you wouldn't mind." I told him.

"Alright." I walk away from the market, feeling somewhat happy. I notice there's some surprisingly big ships on the river, approaching the market. Some people had stopped what they were doing in order to gawk at them. I had never seen that kind of ship before.

"What is that?" One of the younger sellers asked an older man.

"I have no idea. That doesn't look like it's Hunir or ours." He shook his head.

"It's very colorful." Someone else mentioned. The ship was approaching the shore. There were people at the top deck with dark but varied skin tones and colorful clothing. They weren't holding weapons but a few were holding children in their arms. The boat slowly arrived at port. I turn to see a few people from the Guild approaching us. It was Aetnara, Matthias, Lizin, and Mercy.

"They're docking. We should go help them." A seller by me said. I turn my attention to people helping them dock their ship. They were speaking in another language to our people and then doing hand motions when they spoke to try to get their message through. A young woman in a sarong-like dress and a skirt that matched in their orange and red pattern approached us.

"Hey." I waved my hand at her, trying to show her that I meant no harm.

"You speak Hunir?" She asked me with a thick accent.

"Matthias! Lizin! I need one of you to translate." I sounded. "Just a little." I responded in Hunir.

"Coming!" Lizin ran to her. "Hello."

"Hello." The young woman spoke back to her in Hunir with a cheery voice. "We heard you had a really good Hunter's Guild."

"Did you, that's lovely. Where are you from?" Lizin asked her in Hunir.

"I'm from Tramalia. It's a country across the sea. WE've been searching for someone to aid with a problem in our home country." The woman's voice changed to a sad one.

"What was going on in your home country?" She asked, letting her hands go to her side.

"Some men have come to our lands....they say they're from a land close to ours. They've come to steal our land and our resources." The woman sighed. "We need your help."

We all look at each other. Despite wanting to join, I couldn't. I had responsibility to my daughter. However, I know the rest of the Guild would be more than willing, considering that we had brought down monsters bigger than colonizers. Lizin looks at Matthias.

"Count us in." She told the girl in orange and red.