The Creature - Part 1

Heading back through the village, they made their way to the exit, hoping to find Ortan in the farms. As they walked, something occurred to Olivia.

"Philly, how did you get to this village?"

"I walked."

"No, I mean… Forget it. Did you travel by yourself?"

"Didn't you encounter any monsters or animals?" Lyrika piped in with.

"I came by myself and I sort of encountered animals. I figured if I followed in your footsteps you would have dealt with any problems along the way. And I was right, having found a couple of dead adults of the creature that you have. I take it that was how you got it. Those were the only things that I encountered."

Well, curiosity satisfied she guessed.

They eventually reached the exit of the village, which was thankfully open and not closed because of a monster sighting.

That however didn't change the fact that she was the centre of attention as they tried to leave the village.

"May I-may I see your permits."

One of the guards nearby who handled entry and exit of the village spoke. It made sense that they needed to see your permit before letting you leave. One was to make sure you had it if you needed to get in. And two, in case it expired and they needed to relieve you of it as you left.

Lyrika and Philly both took theirs out and went to hand it over. The fact though that only two hands were outstretched made them realise that Olivia, having been unconscious when she entered this place, didn't have one.

"How do you get one of those?"

"You-you don't have a permit. How did-how did you get in here without one? I'm afraid you need to-to come-" the man said as he slowly moved his hand over the pommel of his sword.

"Easy there Geoff, no need for any of that. She was carried in while unconscious. It's not really possible to get a permit when that happens. You go and attend to those people over there, I'll take care of this."

The man that took the young guard's place sauntered up to them and started to rummage through the bag he had.

"Sorry about him. He's new. He was still in training when you were brought in. Here's a permit. This will allow you access in and out of our village for the week. After that time you will need to renew it."

"How much does-"

"No, no need for that. Chief Teagan has handled it for you."

"Ah, ok. Thank you."

"Where are you heading anyway. Just surprised to see you leave when you just got here is all."

How it was his concern Olivia didn't know, but there shouldn't be any harm in telling him."

"We're not leaving, just trying to find Ortan to ask him some questions on creatures."

"Ah, that old guy. He should be in one of the fields south of here. You shouldn't miss him. He's the oldest one out there." the guard said chuckling a little at the end.

At that, he moved to the side and beckoned them past. As they started to walk through, his eyes lingered on Lyrika for a moment, before he spoke up.

"Hold on, you're not Lyrika are you?"

"Huh, how do you know my name," Lyrika responded with surprise, which was mirrored in Olivia's eyes as well.

"Oh, sorry. It's just that my mother mentioned you."

*Urk.* Lyrika's face bunched up at that. She had only met one mother in this place and she wanted to set her up with her son.

'She probably hasn't told him.' We're Lyrika's thoughts as she remembered the look she gave when she saw her and Olivia.

"I must say, she was not lying about your beauty. Perhaps you would like to join me for dinner tonight." He said as suavely as could be.

The men around him all had either a look of jealousy or resentment at this man asking out such a beautiful woman. The expression on Olivia's face differed from theirs being more of a mix of anger and shock.

Lyrika did look over to Olivia just to see her reaction, and as soon as she saw the death glare she was unconsciously giving the man, she knew how to answer.

"I'm sorry, but I'm already…taken."

At that, Olivia's glare of death at the man very quickly became one of surprise at Lyrika.

"That is a shame. He must be quite an amazing person to have won you over."

"Yes…she is." she replied in a rather meek tone while looking down giving the embarrassment of answering honesty.

But as soon as she said it, Lyrika quickly covered her mouth and the embarrassment she felt flared up tenfold. There wasn't a problem with a same-sex relationship or anything. It was more that she had just announced it to all of these strangers trying to get in and out of the village.

Looking around, there was a multitude of faces and emotions at what she said. Sure some did look like they didn't approve of that sort of thing, but she very quickly skipped past them. Why give them any attention?

But good majorly had a look of surprise and a few you could see peering off into the distance probably daydreaming about who Lyrika was with.

But again, what surprised Olivia as she looked at the crowd was one face that stared at herself in lust. She got a better glimpse of the person's face, but as soon as she did, the woman walked away. What was stranger though was that she couldn't recall anything about their face. Skin tone, eye colour and even hair colour, none of it came to her mind once the woman disappeared into the crowd.

'That's very odd. How could I just forget instantly? I think we might need to watch out for that person.'

It could have been nothing. It could be that she couldn't actually remember what they looked like, like the last time she saw them. That is assuming it was them before, as she couldn't remember what they looked like either. If it wasn't just a failing memory, then that meant something was stopping her remember.

'Could it be some form of magic,' she wondered.

She could have mused on that for ages, but right now they needed to get out of the village and find Ortan. Plus, Olivia was sure a little teasing would be needed on the walk as well.

…

They had their permits, so while everyone was still thinking about Lyrika's words, they quickly bypassed everyone and left the village.

As they did, they ended up in front of the massive colourful fields from before. Now they just had to find the possible creature expert. So, they started walking.

"So…Lyrika. Who's this amazing person you seem to be infatuated with? She must be quite the girl," Olivia said with a cheeky grin. Obviously, she knew whom Lyrika was referring to, but she couldn't help but tease and make say it. How bad it would have been though if she was referring to someone else.

"I…you…just shut up!"

'Aww, I thought she would say it.'

Lyrika sped up a little getting herself in front of the group by a short distance. Clearly, she didn't want any more teasing or embarrassment, considering the redness of her cheeks.

As they walked, Philly appeared to be deep in thought as if trying to figure something out. Every now and then she looked over at them both and put on a contemplative face. It didn't take long for her to come to a conclusion though.

"Ah hah. It's Olivia that Lyrika has fallen for. It took me a while to realise, but that can be the only possibility."

Olivia put on a bit of mock gasp as she heard her and turned to Lyrika.

"Is that true Lyrika? Is it me that you have fallen for!"

A few meters ahead, she could see Lyrika shaking a little and she was sure she could see her ears turning red.

"Maybe." Was the only reply she gave.

'Better than a resounding no I suppose.'

"Have there been or will there be any mating rituals between the two of you that I can observe?"

*Pfft* *Ack*

Both Olivia and Lyirka did spit takes and ended up choking on air once they heard Philly speak.

"Wha-*cough* what." Lyrika was finally able to say.

"Mating rituals. Knowing how a half-Orc half-goblin actually attracts and interacts with their mate would be very beneficial to my research."

Olivia just held her head in her hands as she continued to talk.

"No. No, no. There aren't any…mating rituals. It's just…no." Lyrika adamantly stated as her face became a tomato.

"Huh, then how did you end up as a mated pair."

"Mated pair…really?" Olivia replied a little confused why she was throwing that term around.

"No, it was just… we've journeyed together for a while. And Olivia has been there for me all that time. It just sort of happened. But there was no…mating. Not in that sense anyway." Lyrika replied, saying the last sentence in a quiet tone.

Philly ended up looking to the sky again in contemplation as she tried to understand how it all worked.

"That's odd. I would have thought the only way for a half-orc half-goblin to have a relationship like that of Elves and Humans, was if some form of mating was involved. If not, then does that mean you are part of her harem."

Yeah, Olivia nearly tripped and faceplanted at that.

"What, harem? No there's no harem. It's just…whatever is between me and Lyrika. There's no harem!"

"Maybe for now," Lyrika said quietly as she rolled her eyes, which Olivia couldn't hear.

"You really are quite a strange specimen. You are made up of two races well known for forming harems and kidnapping women to forcefully breed them. Yet here you are walking and talking like a human with two attractive women, even being so far as to be romantically involved with one. How odd."

"It's not that odd… is it?"

No one responded to her question.