Was thinking about doing a Patreon again, but I'll wait until I get more readers or enough people express interest. I'm also learning 3D modeling very slowly so might make 3D models for the characters as practice. Anyone know any good Blender 3D tutorials for anime characters? I'm sure I can find one just fine, but some are better than others. Although, if this gets popur enough I might just put the 3D modeling time in to writing so I can put our chapters faster.

  Madog stopped as a small bird-like animal appeared on the overgrown dirt path just ahead of them, “Is that…”

  Conrad, who had thankfully focused on walking with a broken leg and a rge cut on his back rather than talking, looked up, “I believe it is as thou suspects! For it is a velociraptor!”

  The animal didn’t look like it was a predator, so it probably wasn’t a raptor. It was definitely giving off dinosaur vibes akin to the new pictures Madog had seen recently that updated dinosaurs with the feather look.

  Madog stifled a groan at Conrad’s return to his stage voice, “Uh… think it’ll attack?” He reached a hand towards his bag, even if it wasn’t a raptor, that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous, “Better get my gun just in case.”

  Conrad, who was currently using Madog as support, shifted his weight to allow the tter to move more easily, “That would be a prudent course of action!”

  Madog kept his gaze on the dinosaur and reached into his bag for his M1911, “Only have one spare clip, so I hope we don’t have to use it much.”

  Conrad waved at the raptor, not being the least bit surprised at Madog having a gun, “Begon, fiend!”

  The dinosaur studied them for a moment, then ran off.

  Madog breathed a sigh of relief, “Looks like we’re too big for it.”

  Conrad looked around the forest, his voice nervous and his stage voice mercifully gone, “Dost thou thinkest there is a T-Rex out yonder?”

  Madog shivered as he looked around the forest. It was thick and overgrown with the usual trees one would find in a temperate region. An overgrown path cut through the growth, twin parallel tracks running down it revealing that someone occasionally passed through with a narrow wheeled vehicle.

  Madog shrugged, “Not sure a T-Rex could move through this pce easily. Hopefully, there aren’t any wolves or snakes or something.” He turned back to the path, “Let’s get going before that little guy comes back with some friends.”

  As the duo made their way slowly down the overgrown path, they caught glimpses of more familiar animals and several other types of dinosaur-like creatures.

  Day soon became night, and they made camp, partaking of the few rations taken from the tower.

  It was te morning the next day when the forest thinned and the path finally connected to a road.

  Madog ran ahead and looked both ways, “I don’t see anyone.”

  The road had good maintenance, and it appeared to receive a fair amount of traffic. It ran from what Madog guessed, using the sun for reference, to be north and south, though maybe a little to the northeast and southwest, but without a compass, he couldn’t be sure.

  Conrad hobbled to the road and looked both ways, “Which ways dost thou thinkest we should venture?”

  Madog shook his head, “Uh… No idea. I guess we pick a direction and hope we can find someone we can ask for directions?”

  Conrad grinned, “Then so shall it be! I choose to venture northwards!”

  Madog noticed Conrad was pointing to what he’d guessed was south, “I think that's… Whatever… Let’s go.”

  It was nice being on the road again because it made it much easier for Conrad to move on his broken leg thanks to there being no branches or roots they had to move around. The only problem came with a sudden shower that forced them to take shelter.

  It had already rained before, but the trees had kept them mostly dry. Now here on the road, they didn’t have that luxury. The only good thing was that the rain clouds kept the sun off of them and kept the air cool despite the humidity.

  Perfect spring weather.

  By te afternoon, Madog spotted a rge group in the distance, “Holy…”

  It was hard to tell, but Madog thought he could see triceratops. Triceratops pulling wagons. There were some people walking in front and among them, too.

  Conrad’s face went from bored exertion to curious and used his hand to shield his eyes from the sun and peered ahead, “What dost thou seest, friend?”

  Madog started walking again, “People with wagons pulled by triceratops.”

  Conrad grinned, “That is news of great tidings! I hopest that they are of the most charitable sort!”

  Madog hoped the same thing, “Well, we’ll find out soon.”

  Conrad nodded his agreement, “No offense to you, friend, but I am most eager to engage with fresh company.”

  Madog shrugged, he would be happy to not have to listen to Conrad drone on and on about topics he couldn't care less about, but also didn’t care to meet new people either. He’d moved to a small city to get away from the crowds, “I’ll let you do the talking.”

  Madog doubted it would go well, but his companion was still much better with people than he was, despite all his… eccentricities.

  The group became easier to make out, and it soon became apparent that this wasn’t some ordinary group. This was because most of the people he saw had something wrong with them. Many had bandages covering body parts, while others looked like they were recovering from serious injuries. These were only the ones he could see. The wagons might have people even worse off.

  Still, there were several that looked healthy.

  It was one of those that came to greet them as they finally met the caravan.

  The man wore a friendly smile as he came to greet them. Madog thought he looked like someone one would see in a history book as he wore pin brown robes that reminded him of something Ghengis Khan might wear in warm weather, but made with cloth instead of furs. His tanned round face was leathery from a long life in the sun and he looked to be te middle age. Framing his face was long bck hair tied in a ponytail that went down to the small of his back. He was slender, but toned. He was shorter than both Madog and Conrad by almost a head, despite him and Conrad already being shorter than average.

  Conrad hobbled up to the man, “Greetings and well met fellow traveler!”

  The man paused as he got a better look at the two of them.

  Madog realized how different he and Conrad must look to this group. Most of the people were darker skinned than a European, though not as dark as someone from India or Africa. The shapes of their faces also appeared more rounded, like he imagined a Chinese person might have, though their facial features were closer to European with rger eyes and noses. None had blue eyes from what he could tell, so Madog felt that his green eyes might end up being a curiosity. Neither of them had light hair or skin, but still not as dark as these people.

  What got the man’s attention was their clothes, but he soon turned his attention back to Conrad and said something in a nguage Madog didn’t recognize.

  Conrad turned to Madog, “I am thinking this gentleman dost not speak the King’s English.”

  Madog shrugged, “It’s not like the movies where everyone conveniently speaks English, I guess.”

  Conrad turned back to the man and gestured to himself, “I am called Conrad Forest,” he turned to Madog and gestured towards him, “and this is my most trusted companion Mad Dog Cadigan!”

  The man looked between the two of them, not sure what to say.

  Madog shook his head, “You’re just confusing him. Make it more simple. And it’s Madog…”

  Conrad nodded, and turned back to the man, gesturing to himself again, “Conrad Forest,” then to Madog, “Mad Dog Cadigan!”

  Madog rolled his eyes.

  The man brightened and nodded in understanding before gesturing to himself, “Unatraq.” He looked at Conrad, “Conrad Forrest?” then to Madog, “Maddog Cadsigan?”

  The man, Unatraq, definitely had an accent, but he at least got their names mostly right.

  Conrad grinned, “It is my greatest pleasure to meet you, Sir Unatrack!” He was about to say more, when a group of children emerged from the growing crowd behind Unatraq, “Shoot, I cain't stand them young'uns...”

  Madog chuckled to himself before turning to the children. Most seemed perfectly healthy, although two had bandages covering injuries of some sort.

  Conrad regained his composure, and he too turned to the children, “By golly! The little ones are excitable.”

  Unatraq chuckled and yelled something to the children, which made them slow down and stop a ways away.

  Madog heard them chatting excitedly amongst themselves, and in particur, noted their attention on his clothes and his eyes. The clothes, he understood why. Compared to the clothes of everyone he had seen so far, his and Conrads must seem luxurious by comparison. This was especially funny, considering he’d bought them at Wal-Mart.

  As for his eyes… Everyone had brown eyes, including Conrad. He was going to have to get used to being stared at.

  A girl, maybe ten or eleven, broke from the group and approached him. She had messy, dark brown hair that framed a round face with an upturned nose, cheeks caked with dirt, and a bright smile. She wore light, woolen clothing worn with age and appeared thin, but not starving.

  She grinned at Madog as she studied his eyes, before ughing and returning to the group of children when Unatraq yelled at her.

  A woman shouted from the waiting carriages, and the children finally left.

  Conrad visibly rexed, “Hope we ain't gotta mess with 'em too much..”

  Madog smiled, “Come on, they were just having fun.”

  Conrad rolled his eyes, “Them young'uns sure can be pesky. Yellin' and bustin' up everything.”

  Unatraq cleared his throat.

  Conrad smiled and turned back to the man, “I thanketh thee for extricating the young ones from our presence.”

  Unatraq looked at Conrad’s leg, then motioned for them to follow him, and said something in his nguage that probably meant, ‘come.’

  Madog offered Conrad his shoulder, “Should we follow him?”

  Conrad shrugged, “Yes! I am want to find rest for the sake of recovery from mine most vile injury!”

  Madog and Conrad followed Unatraq to the wagons and where they found a man that had too many blood stains, both old and new, on his clothes to the two men’s liking.

  Unatraq began talking to the man, motioning to Conrad’s leg.

  Madag got what was going on, “This must be their doctor or whoever passes as one.”

  Conrad gulped and his complexion turned pale, “Well, ya ain’t thinkin’ he’s fixin’ to chop off my leg, are ya?”

  Madog recalled his admittedly sparse history of medicine, “Don’t get gangrene and you’ll be fine?”

  “Gangrene?”

  “It’s when your wound starts to rot.”

  Conrad looked at his leg, though his pants and the makeshift split made it impossible to see what his leg looked like, “Y'all don’t reckon...”

  The man who was probably the doctor approached Conrad and spoke a few words while gesturing to sit in on the open back of the wagon.

  Madog helped him up, then stepped back to let the doctor get to work, “Good luck.”

  Conrad looked like the doctor was the Grim Reaper coming to get him, “Uh…”

  Madog waved at him dismissively before turning to Unatraq, “Thanks for looking after my friend.”

  Unatraq thought for a moment before gesturing for him to follow.

  Conrad shouted behind him, “Hey! Don’t ya go leavin' me now!”

  Madog waved behind him without turning to look, “You’ll be fine!”

  ***

  Inura followed the two strange men with the other children. She couldn’t understand a word they said, but she could tell by their clothes and how well fed they looked that they probably came from rich families.

  “They must be Others,” a man said as that boring old man, Unatraq, led the tall one with the beautiful green eyes to see Cutting Man.

  Inura didn’t know what an ‘Other’ was, but she guessed they must be from far away. Maybe from the new nd to the east across the ocean she’d heard rumors about?

  The short Other, Talky, she called him as it seemed he loved to talk, got left at the Cutting Man’s wagon. Some kids stayed to watch the Cutting Man work on Talky’s broken leg, but that wagon gave her the creeps and she was far more interested in the quiet one with the beautiful green eyes.

  He seemed by far the smarter of the two. Talky just talked and talked, but Green Eyes paid attention. He studied the people around him, observed the wagons, and actively listened to what was being said around him. Still, the strangest thing was how he stared at the three horns. Almost as if he’d never seen one before. Maybe they didn’t have them in Other nd?

  Inura found herself fascinated by the man. Of course, she loved his eyes. Could people even have eyes like that? Was it because of the Corruption? He didn’t seem corrupted. He seemed too normal to be Corrupted.

  He smiled as he stroked the nose of a Three Horn he walked by and his beautiful white teeth drew her even more to him.

  She gnced around at the other girls and women around her. Most seemed curious, but she wondered if any of them would…

  She coughed.

  Did it matter how she felt? She’d die from the White Pgue soon, anyway.

  She coughed again. This time coughing up some bloody mucus.

  Green Eyes had turned to look at her, a look of concern crossing his face as he noticed the bloody mucus she’d coughed into her hand.

  Inura grinned at him, wiping her hand on her already dirty and stained clothes. She didn't want him to worry.

  As they started moving again, she realized Unatraq was taking Green Eyes to Wise Ina’s wagon.

  If anyone knew how to talk to Green Eyes and Talky, it’d be her.

  It only took them a minute to reach Wise Ina’s wagon.

  Inura heard Wise Ina before she saw her, “I told you! Stop making my tea for me! I’m not that old!”

  “But… You need…” came a woman’s timid reply.

  “Need my rest? You already make me sit all day! At least let me do something I enjoy!”

  “But…”

  “Listen to your elders! I’m tired of being babied!”

  Inura giggled. Typical Wise Ina.

  They came into view of the two women.

  Wise Ina was ancient. The elder’s hair reminded Inura of an old brush that had most of its bristles falling out. Her skin was gross and covered in sores, and some of the bigger ones would bleed and had white stuff coming out. Her dress robes were actually pretty nice, and Inura was gd that they covered her body because she didn’t want to think what her skin looked like under them.

  Wise Ina held a woman, Wise Ina’s test apprentice, by her wrist and held a small stick in her hand she liked to whip people with when they annoyed her.

  Wise Ina stopped mid swing and turned to look at them, “Unatraq! Tell this woman to stop treating me like a child!”

  Unatraq looked like he wanted nothing to do with the conversation, “Ina, I…”

  Wise Ina’s eyes quickly locked onto Green Eyes, “Oh! A guest!” She hobbled closer to the wagon and pointed inside, “Bring him in!”

  Unatraq gestured to the back of Wise Ina’s wagon, “Please come.”

  Green Eyes nodded in understanding and followed Wise Ina into the back of the wagon.

  Green Eyes looked uncertain, and Inura could tell he found the old woman’s sores disgusting. Everyone did, so she didn’t hold it against them.

  Inura remembered the time she was dumb enough to bring up how gross she thought the sores were, and she’d gotten her rear beaten three times, two of those times by Wise Ina.

  She resisted the urge to rub her butt at the memory of how sore she’d been. She hadn’t been able to sit for three days!

  Inura and the remaining kids cmored up on the driver's seat of the wagon and peered inside.

  Unatraq was about to shout at them again, but Wise Ina waved him away, “Leave them alone. They’re just curious.”

  Unatraq stepped back and sighed, “Yes, Ina.”

  Wise Ina turned to Green Eyes, “Latins?”

  Green Eyes thought for a moment, then said something in his nguage as he shook his head.

  Wise Ina nodded, “Gwang dung waa?”

  He didn’t react.

  “Espanol?”

  Green Eye’s eyes lit up in understanding, “English.”

  Inura didn’t know what the exchange was about, but she guessed it was important if Green Eyes understood what she was saying.

  Wise Ina turned briefly to Unatraq, “He’s definitely from Terra, although if he speaks English, he would call it Earth.”

  Unatraq smiled, “To think we’d find two Others on the road.”

  She looked at his green eyes. No wonder he was different. If only she could have eyes like his. Everyone she had ever seen had the same brown colored eyes. Did they have other eye colors on this… Er… Ert… where he was from?

  Did they have a cure for the White Pgue?

  Wise Ina pointed at Green Eyes and said something in his nguage, “Name?”

  Green Eyes smiled, “Name, Madog Cadigan.”

  Unatraq nodded, “That’s the name he gave me earlier.”

  Inura grinned and repeated the name, “Madd… Maddog Cadi… Cadigann. Maddog Caddigan.”

  He must be a noble with a name that long.

  Wise Ina pointed to herself, “Name, Ina.”

  Maddog Caddigan smiled, “Ina.” He turned to Unatraq, “Una… hmm, Una…”

  “Unatraq,” Unatraq helped.

  Maddog Caddigan looked embarrassed and chuckled to himself, then said something in his nguage.

  Wise Ina turned to a long, thin wooden box and pulled out a scroll of yellow and well-worn paper.

  It was her map! Inura always wanted to look at it. Maps were so expensive, so her family never had the money to buy one.

  Wise Ina unrolled the map.

  Inura marveled at the drawings of the nd, faded as they were, and for the first time she saw what the world looked like.

  Wise Ina circled some nd with a finger, “This, Psalo.”

  Inura looked at Psalo and saw her homend was narrow and very long, running up and down, with mountains on the right side next to the east ocean. She wasn’t sure how long it was, but she saw drawings that looked like towns and guessed it would take years to walk from top to bottom, but maybe only a month or two from side to side.

  Wise Ina pointed to the bottom of Psalo near the mountains to the right, “Madog Cadigan here, Sens”

  Inura guessed the mountains were the Sky Touch Mountains, but she never had imagined they went on for so long. Like two-thirds of the way up Psalo.

  Maddog Caddigan studied the map curiously and Inura could hear him repeating the names Wise Ina had told him under his breath.

  Wise Ina pointed to a city that looked added on since the making of the map, “Maddog Caddigan here, go. New Kaduna. English.” She tapped on her head, “English.”

  Maddog Caddigan smiled as he looked over the map again, “Go here.” He looked back at Wise Ina and said something in his nguage. English?

  Maddog Caddigan’s stomach growled, making Inura and the other children giggle. He looked embarrassed and rubbed his stomach.

  Wise Ina turned to Unatraq, “Get this man some food and see if he has anything to trade. If he’s willing, get him to work. He’ll need money if he wants to go to New Kaduna.”

  Unatraq nodded, and most of the children scattered now that the guest was getting settled in.

  Maddog Caddigan and Unatraq left the wagon and headed towards a nearby supply wagon where they kept some of the food.

  Inura wondered if she could try to talk to him now that the old people liked him.

  Inura heard a shuffling of clothes and Wise Ina’s head appeared next to her from inside the wagon, “I see the way you look at him.”

  Inura jumped and let out a squeak in fright.

  Wise Ina let out a hoarse ugh, “Pay more attention to your surroundings, little one.”

  Inura groaned in irritation.

  Wise Ina ughed again, before turning serious, “You are nearing your thirteenth year and your first bleeding?”

  Inura nodded, “Yes, Elder.”

  Wise Ina looked at her sadly, “I know it is normal for girls your age to think about finding a husband, but you shouldn’t go near him, so he doesn’t get the White Pgue from you.”

  Inura knew this. Knew that she wouldn't live much longer. But maybe… Maybe, “I know, but… If they’re from a pce far away, maybe they have something that can heal me and mom...”

  Wise Ina studied Maddog Caddigan for a long moment before speaking, “It is possible. The Others often know things beyond reason.” She smiled, “Perhaps it is because there is no magic where they come from?”

  Inura was confused. Sure, most of the common people would never learn magic, but she couldn’t imagine not having anybody who could use it, “No magic?”

  Wise Ina nodded, “Because they have no magic, they have to find other ways to do things that the priests and mages could do easily with their magics.” She thought for a moment, “Curious. I wonder what happened to the mages that brought them here.”

  Inura tilted her head to the side in confusion, “Mages brought them here?”

  “Teleportation magic. I have heard that a failed teleportation can link our world to theirs, bringing them here.”

  Inura watched Maddog Caddigan accept some hard bread and smoked meat, “Can’t the mage send them back?”

  Wise Ina shook her head, “I don’t know, but I have heard teleportation accidents… well… it’s nothing you need to worry about.” She turned to the assistant that had been silently watching the old woman, “What are you doing?! Where’s my tea!”

  The assistant jumped at the sudden attention and ran to the back of the wagon, where she began fumbling with a magic tea kettle.

  Wise Ina spped Inura on the back, causing her to tumble off the wagon, barely catching herself, “Now get out of here! This old dy needs to rest her bones!” She then shouted to Unatraq, “Why aren’t we moving yet!”

  Inura turned in the direction where the wagon that held her dying mother was. It seemed everything had to remind her of her disease and her approaching death.

  She fought back tears and forced herself to smile as she looked at the caravan of the sick around her. Everyone here was dying or maimed. Everyone looked so sad. She didn’t want to be sad. She hated being sad. So she smiled. She smiled because it was the only way to fight back.

  Inura turned away from the direction where her mother waited, and turned back to look at Maddog Caddigan, “Maddog Caddigan!”

  The sudden yelling caused her to cough, but she ignored it and walked over to the Other man. She might not live long enough to worry about marriage, but she could at least dream about it. Right? And if he knew a cure for the White Pgue… If there was just a chance…

  ***

  A dove watched as now familiar men joined a caravan, its oily bck eyes taking in their every action. It’s ears listening to every conversation.

  As the caravan moved, this time it followed. There was much to see and learn.