How he possibly explain what he was doing here? He'd spent days wandering a chilly forest until suddenly he emerged into an arid wasteland. There'd been very little transition involved. The wisened man before him would likely outright dismiss his tale as a lie. Terakiel wasn't prepared to believe it himself, despite having experienced it. The last few days had been utterly surreal. He wasn't sure any longer what was and wasn't an illusion. Although he'd left the enigmatic forest behind, he found it difficult to trust the picture being painted before him.
The man was silent for a moment as he knitted his creased brow.
"I do not know of a place by that name," he said finally.
"It's, uh, a small village," Terakiel explained. This wasn't entirely untrue.
The man's expression did not change.
"Not many people know of it." This was certainly true.
Once again, the man had no reply.
"I. . ."
This man does not trust me! He knows what I am!
Terakiel was woefully ignorant of other cultures' opinions of Stranders. Where Casnie or Aisen came from, they were accepted or even celebrated. In Tombolin they were believed not to even exist--but if the truth got out, he could only imagine the kind of persecution they would face. Terakiel wasn't certain that would be unfounded either, considering the danger he'd brought to everyone around him.
"I'm. . .lost, to tell you the truth." Terakiel could say this with all confidence.
"I can see that," the old man replied gruffly. "That red hair, that bone-white skin..."
The old man's appraising glare made Terakiel distinctly uncomfortable.
"You were born far from here--and you haven't been here long. Without a shirt or any other sort of covering, a boy with such pallor would be suffering painful burns after only a few hours. How you got here looking like that--" He gestured towards Terakiel's direction. "--is a mystery to me. Who are you, boy?"
"I--I'm Terakiel," he stammered.
"And where were you headed, Terakiel, to end up here? There's not much out in this direction. The plains are an endless expanse of very little of note."
Terakiel wasn't sure how to answer that. His original goal had been to find his companions, but that had morphed into a desperate wish just to escape Lakara.
"I'm looking for my traveling companions," Terakiel answered honestly. "I've become separated from them."
The man's gaze was clouded, as if in deep thought. He did not respond for some time. Terakiel had a sickly feeling that the man just wasn't buying what he was saying. The essence of what he'd said was true, but he'd carefully omitted some important details. He wasn't ready to explain Lakara to anyone and felt supremely uncomfortable with disclosing the nature of the strange journey that had led him here. As a result, his story was full of holes and Terakiel was certainl the man knew that.
"Have you seen anyone new in the area recently?" Terakiel asked, hoping to break the tension somewhat.
"I'm afraid I have not," the man replied heavily. "We do not often get visitors. Traders from Kurco will sometimes find their way here, but I can't say any of them look particularly like yourself. I imagine if you stay here you will turn quite a few heads. I'd suggest you take note of that."
With those dubious final words, the man strode confidently past Terakiel and hopped down to the ledge below, completely ignoring the ladder set in place there. He was very athletic for an old man. He'd not forbid Terakiel from following, but his attitude had certainly been ambiguous. Terakiel was unsure what else he could do, so he decided to climb down the ladder and head into the city.
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