Strange People

I woke up in a dark forest, vaguely lit by purely red light, at the base of a tree as thick as a building with a purple-orange glow like the sunset shining under its bark.

Something felt different about me, and I could quickly tell at least some of it was obvious; the shape of my body had changed, and I realized that I could trace faintly glowing lines of the same sky hues as the tree up my arms. Even as those glowing lines disappeared, I came to recognize the still remaining outward changes to my body, including some faint scaly additions to my skin and widening of my shoulders, and I felt a mix of awe and joy.

Isn't this how I wanted to look? The scales might be a bit different than I imagined, but...

When I turned my attention from my more physical changes, I realized with a bit of focus that I could recall the glowing light, and for a few minutes I simply kept sitting at the base of the tree watching the light return and fade, and tried to figure out what the sensation that accompanied the light was without any luck.

Eventually, awareness of my surroundings returned to me, and a bit of anxiety finally started to hit me.

I was alone. Everything around me was dark, and all the light filtering through the trees was an ominous red- except for sparse, unidentifiable glowing things visible here and there. All of the glowing things moved, but I couldn’t tell if they were animals, plants, or something else. As moments passed, I began to accept that they at the very least weren’t coming towards me. I started to think that the movement I saw was pulsing, like the pulsing of the glow in the tree behind me and under my own skin previously.

It took a while for me to work up the confidence to stand, taking the book light out of my pocket and putting it in my hand in such a way that I could flip it open at will. I didn’t open it yet, because I was afraid the white light in it would draw attention I didn’t want, but I kept it at the ready with the likely worthless thought that I might be able to use it to stun an animal that came my way. I only briefly considered calling out to see if someone could hear me, but bit my own tongue just as quickly when I considered that I could bring the attention of some unknown creature my way.

Knowing I couldn’t stay at the tree forever, as some part of me already recognized that I wasn’t anywhere I could expect to be found, I started walking.

Several moments passed wherein I and a dark blue, flame-covered, reptile-faced bird stared at each other, and in that time I noticed the leather-vested clothes covering the creature’s torso and down over their legs, as well as the stiff leather bag strapped to their back. The shape of their body sort of reminded me of images I’d seen of archaeopteryx, just with more useful looking claws on the tops of their wings.

Once I recognized that, something clicked in my head that led me to incredibly slowly move up my empty hand.

The fact that this bird wore clothing had to mean that either they, or something they worked with, was intelligent, and also meant that there was a small chance this encounter could be a stroke of good luck. Even though I realized that there was a risk that they either wouldn’t care about me or would want to capture me, rather than help me, even that prospect seemed better to me than remaining alone in the woods after fighting off whatever this bird was.

I gently waved my hand, my entire body shaking, as I watched the bird’s eyes trace over my hand, then over me.

Moments later, several more large birds of the same type as the one in front of me, with different colored but still incredibly dark flaming plumage, came up from behind the trees. One of the original bird’s clawed wings moved to their side to call the others to stop behind them, and they did so without resistance.

Despite the fact that my heart began to race even faster, and my mouth felt incredibly dry, it was at this point that I worked up the courage to finally say a quiet greeting.

“Hello..?”

“Are they..?” The first bird’s voice cracked, before motion erupted behind them.

Every eye in my sight widened, and a few croaky whispered words passed that I could only barely hear, but not recognize. Their voices reminded me of parrots’ voices, with some gravel to them. Moments later, I was greeted with a new pair of eyes, which had emerged past the birds’ bodies and belonged to someone far more person-like than the birds, from my perspective.

Aside from the iridescent, coppery green scales covering the parts of his arms and face that I could see past his clothes, his luminescent spots and lines, and the incredibly large pupils in his eyes, I could recognize him as mostly human. The first thing I thought of when I saw him was the concept of a lizardman, but the depictions I’d read and seen on television didn’t exactly fit, so I scrapped that idea quickly. He wore clothes that resembled the clothes on the birds, with a leather vest and pack layered over cloth of dark colors, and held a bladed weapon of a type I didn’t quite recognize.

“Who are you?” He asked, his tone a bit more smooth and melodic than those of the birds still whispering behind him, but it conveyed with it his nerves.

I tried, but despite my earlier confidence I couldn’t immediately answer, and the first bird I’d seen took a short step forward to match the reptilian man.

“Who are you? How did you get here, youngling?” I could tell the bird’s gravelly tone was also wary, but I noted that they didn’t seem to be aggressive. Recognizing that, as well as the fact that the bird seemed to take particular note of the fact that I was a kid, I took in a long breath to calm myself just a little.

“I’m Danny...” I responded, “where are we?”

“You don’t know where you are?” The reptilian man asked, and I slowly shook my head.

“No. I woke up here.” A few glances passed around between them, and I could read concern even on the faces of the birds. Eventually, the first bird’s voice came back with another question.

“I don’t recall ever seeing someone of your kind in the villages, so is your family maybe in Boundary City?”

“”...Boundary City?”” I reluctantly questioned, and I watched another bit of confusion pass between them.

“No? Then another village away from the boundary, then?” They asked, and I shook my head. “...You do live here in the Night Domain, don’t you?”

I again shook my head, and I was again greeted with wide and confused eyes.

“Were you taken all the way from the Luminescent Domain, then..? How could someone..?” The reptilian man’s voice trailed off, and I could sense some kind of anger briefly seeping into his tone before he corrected himself and addressed me again. “You’re sure your family isn’t living here somewhere?”

I nodded, before reluctantly offering another question.

“What’s the “Night Domain?”” As I suspected, the question seemed to draw out another round of confused expressions and whispered conversations. I saw the bird I’d been speaking with share a look with the reptilian man, until eventually the reptilian man turned his attention back to me.

“Danny, can you describe where you came from?”

“I think that can wait a little while,” the bird suggested, “we should bring him home first, it's dangerous for us to keep standing around like this. We’ll have to hunt again tomorrow.”

“I understand,” the reptilian man sighed. “Would you come with us, Danny?”

I had no reason to say no, really, as the alternative would mean being left alone again in the woods. Despite their odd appearances, it seemed to me that they were good people, and that they truly intended to help me. There would be no reason for them to spend the time to speak to me like this if they wanted to hurt me, as it seemed to me that just about any of them could overpower me easily.

“Um, sure, but... who are you?”

“Ah, I’m sorry about that. I’m Itelber, and she’s Illose,” he introduced himself with a hand to his chest, then waved over to the bird who’d been speaking to me. “Let’s introduce you to everyone else on the way back, alright?”

“Alright,” I agreed, gazing again over all of the glowing figures looking kindly my way. “Thank you.”

“No need to thank us, youngling.” Illose responded with smiling eyes, “come this way.”

Following the light of the flaming bodies of my new friends, I left behind the sunset glow of the tree that had greeted me when I woke, and entered the wooded darkness.

I realized a little while later that I had underestimated how bright the tree I’d woken up under was. Ever since I left its radius, I realized I could only barely see the ground in front of me, even where the harsh red light filtered through the trees. I was entirely reliant on the dull light Illose and the other birds provided to navigate, and watched the bits of glowing foliage as I passed them to keep track of where I was, at least somewhat. Though I'd tested the idea of using my book light to navigate I quickly found that it was basically useless, so I left it closed to conserve its battery in case I needed it later.

“I’ll need to make him a pair of light glasses, won’t I? The way he’s stumbling on the roots makes me anxious.” Itelber’s voice drew my attention briefly away from my shoes to my right, and Illose quickly followed with a comment of her own.

“I agree. You know how to make those?”

“I do, I had to make a pair before.”

“Do you have what you need?” He took a moment to respond, within which I heard him momentarily hum.

“I have melting beads, and I could make frames from some of the metal Drufyna gave me the week before if she agrees to it. But that will delay another order.”

“For who?”

“Vetsi. He wanted new blades for the shearer, but I’m sure he’ll agree to wait or use another material.”

“If he doesn’t, I’ll ask him. This is more urgent.” Illose, her tone confident, stated. While I couldn’t understand the full context, I at least gathered that they were talking about making something for me.

“What’re you talking about?” Itelber was quick to give me an answer.

“Light glasses should help you see while you’re here in the Night Domain. I’ve heard someone say that the Red Moon is one of the darkest for people with eyes like yours, but even the Yellow Moon is supposedly difficult to see under.” He explained, and as I looked past Illose by a stride to see near pure darkness I found myself instinctively nodding. “You’ll probably need a sunlight generator if you’re going to be around for a while, as well.”

““Sunlight generator?””

“People from the Luminescent Domain tend to need sunlight exposure for their health, so such a device will likely be necessary for you.”

“What’s the Luminescent Domain?” My question wasn’t immediately answered as we continued to walk, but eventually Illose’s voice drew my attention her way.

“I know I mentioned we should wait, but what is your home like?”

It was my turn to hesitate to speak, and a few silent seconds passed while we continued to walk. I kept my eyes on the ground below me, doing my best to focus on where I was going rather than her question.

Illose’s voice came to me again.

“It’s alright. We’ll figure out how to get you home.”

“I don’t think-” I started to respond on reflex with a denial, but my voice choked. Another of the birds seemed to notice, and from my left I saw a dull green light come closer. A large, clawed arm landed on my shoulder, and warm feathers brushed my back.

“We’ve got you, kid. Whatever’s going on, we’ve got you.”