Chapter 17

The stone floor was as comfortable when yearning to hear an explanation as water tastes good when you are very thirsty. The tent bed provided a little protection from the cold stones and tiny pebbles that covered the ground. He was hardly bothered by the weary ‘gorillas’ marching out and grumbling, as he watched the lourdwarfs settle down.

“So, my name’s-” Brandon began, eager to begin the conversation.

“HMMMmmm!” Hal blurted out, unable to think of anything else to say. He just had to stop Brandon from giving out personal information like that to the species that they were spying on.

Brandon gave him a look to say It’s okay, what’s a name gonna do? Hal stared for a second, then rolled his eyes.

“As I was saying,” Brandon continued with a tone of annoyance, “my name’s Brandon. He’s Hal.” Kandel eyed Hal as if he were a disgusting new type of food. Then he squinted at Brandon. “Who-wh-what are you?”

“I-I’m a…” He looked to Hal for approval. Hal made a weird gesture with his hand that Brandon didn’t understand. He shrugged at Hal. “I’m a human and he’s a creature… oh.” He looked back at Hal, facepalming and shaking his head.

Navona sat up straight in surprise. “A Human? From Earth?”

“Y-yeah,” Brandon said.

“And a creature… “ Kandel mulled over the word, trying to recognize it. He looked very old at that moment. It made Brandon realize that the lourdwarf was certainly a few years older than Navona. “...what creature?.”

“The species is actually called a creature. It’s a species found in-” Brandon stopped himself this time. “A-another land.”

“What other land?” Navona asked, not trying to pry, just purely curious.

Hal waved his hand. “Eh, it’s a long story-” “Well, I wouldn’t mind-” Navona started before Hal interrupted her. “No, really, enough about us! We want to hear about you!”

The two lourdwarfs looked suspicious, but Navona’s expression soon changed to an enthusiastic look. “Oh yeah!” She turned to smile at Kandel. “I love travelers.”