C13

They were standing before him now, and they had taken the time to remove their own gloves so that they could feel the texture of his skin beneath the tips of their own fingertips. It had been a little awkward and difficult to make certain that they knew where to touch this man at first, but the two of them managed it successfully before too long. His hands felt quite smooth upon their own, though they suspected that this was not due to any sort of artificial coating or substance applied upon the flesh itself. The hands were actually smoother than the palms themselves and the backsides of these fingers, and it seemed likely that the same condition had extended all throughout the rest of his body. As an individual, Shelter appeared to be tall and slender and lean like a race of Humans from Earth might appear if they had evolved on another world in another solar system besides their own. And it was clear from looking upon his face that this being possessed the type of facial features that would normally indicate that he might be Human from somewhere else: his nose, lips, and chin appeared similar enough to those that might have been seen upon a human male back on Earth. Though the shape of his ears and his eyebrows might have suggested something completely different about his origins, for instance. And the color of his eyes gave off the impression that he might belong to one of the Dragon species from back on his own world as well, although none of these assumptions could be confirmed or denied for sure at this point in time.

For he wore thick glasses over these large pupils that seemed almost to be black at night even though they were made from a shiny metallic material. And there was a slight haze around each lens that obscured whatever vision might have been visible to these eyes during daylight hours whenever the wearer removed the pair of spectacles from atop their head. Yet even if his sight were poor, he certainly didn't seem to have any trouble recognizing who each one of these travelers were, and he nodded slightly to acknowledge their presence before turning away from them to peer ahead once more at the trail that led onward into the woods. The path wound onwards from where he stood, disappearing entirely behind the trees and bushes beyond them without any indication that it would reemerge anytime soon. And the trees along this section of woodland were spaced farther apart from one another as well, allowing for much less cover to conceal anyone that might seek to hide himself amidst the foliage while making his way through this area. Thus there was every chance that they would see whoever sought to approach them sooner rather than later, especially since there was nowhere at all to run from their hiding spots except directly back into the path of the approaching stranger if they desired to flee at all.

He paused momentarily upon hearing footsteps upon the wooded ground nearby, and he turned to the side in order to get a better look at the two travelers hidden in the shadows of the tree trunks to the immediate left of him. They weren't running after him yet, and the footsteps belonged to four individuals instead of two: there were three men and a woman who ran lightly upon their feet with long legs and thin frames that allowed them to move swiftly enough to catch up to him easily if they wished to do so. But these runners slowed their pace as they neared him, stopping to walk beside him as they leaned forward slightly to study him with interest from their own perspectives. These were also hunters, perhaps, and they had already come to understand how dangerous these strangers were to one another even without needing to witness any combat between themselves and one another first-hand. Or at least that was what these hunters must believe, and the man in front of them nodded slightly as they approached in order to acknowledge their arrival and greet each one of them properly.

"My thanks for coming so quickly, for it has given me hope that we might yet save what remains of my village after all. And I am most grateful to you both for bringing me news concerning this place from which you came before you arrived here yourself."

The three men who had accompanied them all the way out from this forest began nodding respectfully toward their companion as they studied his appearance carefully as well, but they kept their distance from him nevertheless. They had obviously heard about his reputation prior to meeting him in person, but they had no idea whether he truly did possess any ability to read minds or otherwise sense when he was being lied to by others. If he really could do such things, they were wise enough not to test him just yet by speaking aloud any falsehoods regarding where they had been and where they were going until he had a good opportunity to speak with them alone. He had told these people where he lived, however, and thus his own words were sufficient proof by themselves for everyone's purposes.

"How many days was it before your village was attacked? How long ago did the first soldiers arrive there?"

The man named Shelter shook his head sadly as he spoke these questions. "No more than twenty-four hours before the first soldier reached the walls of our homes in the middle of the night. By the time the second of his comrades reached the gates of our homes shortly afterwards in order to begin tearing the doors off of our houses and throwing the contents of our pantries onto the ground outside of our living quarters, we realized that the attack upon us had already begun far too late in order to stop it."

These three hunters glanced towards each other in shock as the man continued shaking his head in sorrow, and then the three of them fell silent as he stared ahead of himself silently before continuing to speak again.

"When the third soldier arrived within only a few minutes following the first two, it became obvious that this attack upon us was unlike anything that we had ever encountered before. The soldiers had been joined at this point by several monsters that resembled large apes that swung upon the branches overhead of our homes. When the fourth beast descended upon our village in order to tear apart the bodies and limbs of anyone foolish enough to remain alive inside their own dwellings, these creatures had become larger than the rest that were still above us in the trees at that point in time. And they had grown to resemble dragons with wings that flapped powerfully upon their backs and tails that whipped violently across the ground below in an attempt to shred everything upon which they touched. Our entire village burned to ashes at this point, of course. Even the wooden buildings and structures that had once been constructed from stone had been reduced to nothing but piles of glowing ash upon the ground where they had collapsed and fallen. It was at that moment that the fifth creature landed upon its feet in a circle of stones near the center of town, and I believe that this was meant to represent a dragon itself for all of our sakes. We were not able to take flight in time, of course. Many of the people perished as they fled into these circles that had been set aside specifically for this purpose."

There was silence amongst all five of them for nearly half a minute as he went on staring at them with wide eyes. None of them spoke up at first, but then one of these men broke his silence so that he could raise a hand and wave it back and forth slowly in front of himself while speaking with a tone of wonderment upon his own voice.

"You were here when your home burned to the ground? But why didn't you leave at the first sign of danger instead of staying here to defend yourselves?"

But the man called Shelter shook his head as he turned away from them at last to gaze up at the sky behind him. Then he pointed upwards at the clouds above them.

"Because there was no longer anywhere else to go. All of my tribe was gone at that point. And so there was no one left to send away from here to seek help or shelter elsewhere, even if there had been any signs pointing toward such places to be found. So the choice was between remaining here or abandoning ourselves entirely and taking our chances as part of one group or another. And I decided to stay behind myself for reasons that are best left unspoken at this time. Now will someone please explain exactly what happened next upon the day that all of this took place?"