Page 6 of Fog of War
Satoris's clan colors were copper and brown, just like their plates. Their flags were constructed of lamellar rectangles of canvas connected by chainmail links that tinkled as the flags moved. Their clan was famous for smithing blades and armor, historically, and they kept up that tradition. I breathed in the smell of metalworking and cherry soda as we walked down a row of leather tents painted in gold foil, feelingalive.
I, Gabbie Rubens, was on a different planet!
We'd quickly stashed our things in Leopha's tent and she changed clothes into what can only be described as festival wear. One-shoulder leather top and loin cloth were decked in fringeand gold chains with bells and medallions on the ends. She grabbed up both our bags and hustled me out into the afternoon.
"Everything changes at dusk, so we need to get to the market quick!" she said, urging me to stop dawdling. I picked up the pace.
"What changes?" I asked, struggling to keep up even with my long legs. I'd been conditioned to walk slowly for years, so hustling was a novel experience.
"It's probably already started," she said. "Everyone paints themselves in lumi powder before the fog rolls in. If you like Halloween, you'llloveit."
The closer we got to the market, the more excited I became. Lumi powder had been thrown at the walls of tents and were already glowing in the alien light of Aescipoli even though the sun had yet to set. Alleyways were draped with black canopies, coins, and colorful mirrored paillettes, and musicians played lyres and metal drums that tinkled under the rhythm of their talons. The chilly, damp air made the smell of roasting meat and the sound of chimes and music and laughter so much more poignant.
And thecostumes.
Venandi surrounded me, tricked out in the most surreal displays ofhumanfaces. Well, not quite, but close. Some wore them on their shoulders or as cod pieces. Others wore them as partial masks or headdresses. Carved totems hung from their crowns of spires, and chains draped their androgynous chests, clipped into their hard pectoral plates where humans would have nipples.
It was well known on Earth that the venandi had fertility deities that looked uncannily like humans. The Muru, they were called. The Festival of Souls was a celebration of each clan's fertility and virility, so it made sense that they would be included in the festival.
It also mademuchmore sense why people were staring at me.
No wonder Leopha hadn’t asked me to put on a costume with her. I was already gaining too much attention. It made me nervous, the way people murmured as I passed or elbowed their neighbor to get their attention. Leopha tucked my elbow into her narrow waist and led me around like she was my bodyguard.
As soon as we hit the market stalls, we stopped at a place with masks and totems. They hung from the rafters and along black poles staked into the ground. Most of them were bone white and covered in glowing marks that made me think of Mexican sugar skulls, and I delighted at them. The totems were beautiful, and a sign by the entrance proclaimed "talon-carved" suggesting they were handmade. I picked up two immediately, determined to have a trio to take home for myself.
"The Muru grace us," the elderly merchant said in greeting from his cushion on the ground. He stared at me, his plates cracking and dry, but his bright purple eyes alert. He looked like a juniper tree weathered by centuries of wind and rain, plates overgrown through his back from the bend of old age. His dark mandibles were painted with white strokes like fangs and his mouth and cheeks glowed red with a swipe of powder.
"Hello," I said weakly, giving him a smile. His stare softened and he fluttered his mandibles in the venandi way of smiling. His gaze returned to his hands, where he was indeed carving a totem with his black talons.
"Have anything you want,anima vira."
Leopha's head popped out from behind a curtain of hanging masks. "Really?"
The old man bowed his head, and I smacked her.
"Don't you dare!"
I insisted on paying for the three totems and full headdress Leopha picked out for me. People stared far less, except whenthey were standing close enough to smell me or glanced at my bare hands and flat-soled shoes. As long as I wasn't talking, they assumed my face was a mask and their eyes slid off my features. Leopha rushed us through the rest of the market like a hound on the scent, craning her neck on tiptoes to peer over the crowd.
"Aha!"
I groaned with embarrassment when we found what she'd been looking for. She posed next to the tent filled withtoyson floating shelves like she was a game show hostess.
"Gotta pay your rent!" she said loudly. A group of red venandi nearby glanced at me and rumbled with interest, so I rushed inside, hiding my face with a groan.
The store had more than just impressive dildos in each clan's colors, but I was too flustered to look at anything. I hid half my face inside the neck of my sweater and swiped a red toy off the shelf, practically shoving it into Leopha's chest.
"This one."
She chuckled. "You're an Ignarian fan, huh? Like the bad boys?"
I thought of the group of red venandi right outside and my face exploded with fiery embarrassment. "N-no, I..." I sputtered into a nonsensical and absolutely ludicrous explanation. The red was pretty. It was the closest on the shelf. It was cheaper than the one that... I gulped, face to face with a silver dildo with a suction bottom and swollen nodes that vibrated on an app control. My words died out as I clenched my thighs together and turned away. Leopha just laughed as the merchant wrapped up a boxed red dildo and set the display model back on the shelf.
"The Muru grace us," the merchant said with amusement, handing me the box.
"Thank you," I said. I stared at it helplessly, resigned to the experience of buying my first ever toy in person and the older woman assuming it was for me.
Feeling generous, Leopha plucked it from my hands and put it in her much larger bag. "Why don't we celebrate with some kebabs and a paint job?"
