Travelling through the elven town this time around was a different experience from the first time. Then, the streets had been fairly empty, and those who had been present had quickly found places to hide when they’d noticed the group of beasts padding through the streets.

  Dominic hadn’t been able to fault them for their reactions – regularly attacked by beasts, even if they didn’t know just how dire their defensive situation was, it was absolutely understandable that they would be scared about seeing dangerous-looking beasts entering their town. Hiding was a better reaction in that situation than waiting around to see if these beasts were about to attack or not.

  This time, though, it seemed that word had got around that not all beasts of this new world were out for their blood. Seeing Berion calmly striding ahead of them probably helped a lot too. Their group was still given a wide berth, but only a few people actually dived for the doors of the massive trees that never failed to impress Dominic.

  The town looked so much more alive this time too. Maybe last time had been a rest day of some sort? Or the uncertain situation with the Pride had stopped the authorities from giving the green light to life resuming after the attack. Or the green light equivalent in a city that seemed to have no concept of traffic lights. Whatever the reason had been, it clearly wasn’t the case now. The wide boulevards between the trees practically hummed with activity.

  Dominic had noticed before that the massive trees which clearly offered accommodations for the vast majority of the elves were surrounded by mounds of earth which stood about twice as tall as Dominic. Now he saw exactly what they were used for. The earthen mounds had each lost a wall somehow and were clearly hollow and bustling with life as shoppers came by to peruse the surprising array of wares offered by loudly calling merchants. Wooden tables were set up in between mounds and seemed to either be extensions of the goods sold in the permanent shops or manned by those with only a little to sell.

  Dominic sniffed and caught hints of meat, vegetables, spices, leather, herbs, and lots, lots more. Alwen had said in their original discussion that they were not a rich town, but perhaps she was too used to dealing at the level of cities – certainly the wide array of goods Dominic could see available was rich indeed.

  The people, too, came in a bright array of colours, their skin and hair shades representing a real rainbow nation. This was added to by the fact that varied dyes were clearly used copiously for most clothing. The exceptions were the muted greens and browns used for the clothing of elves carrying a weapon – the hunters, Dominic had to guess. He also noticed how few of them there were – for every hunter he saw, there were probably fifty or more people dressed in bright colours. Of course, maybe they only wore muted colours when they were on duty – there could be far more hunters than he was estimating. Or perhaps there wasn’t.

  ‘Berion,’ he started, unable to dismiss his curiosity.

  ‘Yes, Honoured Brother?’ the elf replied, looking back at him expectantly.

  ‘How many hunters are there? Really?’

  The elf was silent for long enough that Dominic thought that he wasn’t going to reply. He was preparing himself to apologise for what might have been an intrusive question when the elf answered.

  ‘Not enough,’ Berion sighed. ‘We are not like you, Honoured Brother. Hunting…does not come easily to most of us. Fortunately, we do not need much meat to stay healthy, not when we are eating the fruit of carefully nurtured gardens. Our farmers are far more important to our people than our hunters – or at least, they have been until now. Perhaps one in three of our people feels the call of the plants around us; one in five go on to develop a true magical affinity with the trees which are our homes, our food sources, and our friends. In comparison, only about one in thirty is able to leave our city and hunt down our brothers and sisters of the earth to nourish our bodies and provide materials for our crafting. Those of us who do become hunters take the sacred duty of being part of the life-cycle very seriously, mindful of the damage we do to the world around – and ourselves.’ He sighed again. ‘At least, we did until now. But the cycle of life seems to have changed just as much as the world did and we find ourselves lost in this new way of living. The world around us has changed and yet we have not.’

  Dominic didn’t press. He was greatly intrigued by what Berion meant about damage to themselves, but it was clear that it was a sore topic for the hunter. So about three or four percent of elves became hunters while about thirty percent became farmers of one sort or another. He had to guess that the other elves were the healers, crafters, and mages which the Elders represented.

  As they continued walking through the town and saw more shops, Dominic noticed that what he had just learned was also reflected in the frequency of the goods available. Anything related to farming seemed to be in good supply. Practically every third stall sold some sort of plant, whether they were things that looked like vegetables, herbs, flowers, spices, hay, or cooked dishes which made Dominic’s mouth water. And several of the other stalls sold plant products such as baskets made from woven plant fibre, carved wooden utensils or figurines, and furniture.

  There also seemed to be a divide when it came to goods of value, or at least value according to human eyes. While metal products were in evidence, the stalls were few and far in between, with the products mostly being everyday tools. Dominic saw only one stall which seemed to sell metal jewellery and it wasn’t well frequented. A stall that sold wooden jewellery, on the other hand, had way more customers even if it wasn’t as crowded as the food stalls.

  Equally, Dominic only spotted one stall which seemed to sell fabrics finer than the everyday town-person’s clothing. He was only able to identify the clothing as being something beyond the norm because that stall was absolutely deserted, giving him a plain view of everything it had on offer.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  As for products from hunting, those were more frequent than the niche goods, but most of the meat seemed to be dried. Leather, skins and even furs were more commonly available and dotted throughout the town. On further thought, Dominic supposed that the source of the goods could be from farming as much as from hunting. Or the recent attacks, he realised as, with a sudden rush of satisfaction, he spotted something that appeared to be a hyena fur.

  As they walked, the number of people around them seemed to grow as the space afforded to the three lions and their elven escort shrank. When the people started coming within arm’s length of them, Dominic had to admit to feeling a little…cramped. Maybe it was just as well that Nyx had chosen to stay behind – Dominic wasn’t sure how well she’d have done in the close-quarters the streets were becoming.

  Apparently his lionesses felt the same way. Sekhmet growled, baring her teeth slightly as an elf came almost close enough to touch her. The elf’s eyes went wide as he saw what he’d almost walked into, the lioness’s head reaching above his hip, her teeth long and sharp. And on display as Sekhmet lifted her lips threateningly.

  He backed away hurriedly without saying a word, bumping into the person next to him who almost fell over at his insistent pressing. The brief interruption to the smooth flow of the traffic caused a ripple effect and Dominic was half-amused, half)embarrassed about the chaos and cursing around them which they swiftly left behind.

  The crush didn’t last long – fortunately so considering how Sekhmet was eyeing the elves around with more and more predatory intent and even Jenkins was looking increasingly antsy. A final bottleneck later where Dominic had to rub his head against Sekhmet’s to help her to stay calm, and they were through.

  In front of them was a space much larger than any he’d seen in the town before. It looked like there had once been one of the massive baobab trees in the centre, but all that was left was a stump about twice Dominic’s height when standing on four paws. At his angle he couldn’t see what was on top of or inside the stump, but it was clear that that was their destination.

  A flight of stairs seemed to have been carved – or grown – into the side of the stump. The stairs were thick with elves, a long queue extending all the way from the top to the bottom of them and then also winding its way partly around the stump. There were groups of people clumped together waiting too, some anxious, some agitated. They seemed to be clustered around certain calm-looking elves, though Dominic wasn’t close enough to any of them to pick up what was going on. Ringing the outside of the whole area were even more stalls, most of the crowds visiting those rather than coming to the centre of the area and the massive stump.

  ‘Come this way,’ Berion said, leading them towards another set of stairs which Dominic hadn’t noticed before since no one was using them. They mounted the stairs, passing through the wall of the stump to enter a very large, flat, wooden plateau, surrounded by a shoulder-high wall of thick bark.

  ‘What is this place?’ Dominic feared that he’d accidentally sent out his thoughts instead of just holding them in his head, but realised a moment later that it had been Sekhmet who had spoken.

  ‘It is the Meeting Place, Honoured Sister,’ Berion answered, proving that Sekhmet hadn’t just spoken in the Pride chat. ‘The site of a tree which was so damaged in a storm that we could not save it, it is the place where our people come to air their grievances. Whether against the council, against each other, or against life itself. They come to speak, to be heard, to grieve, to rail, and, hopefully, to find succor and justice where necessary.’

  ‘So that’s what those elves were doing? The groups surrounding a single elf?’ Dominic confirmed.

  ‘Indeed. The Listeners play an important role in deciding which grievances simply need to be heard, and which need to be acted upon. If they are not sure, they err on the side of caution and send the principal speaker to the top of the stump. There, they will encounter those with specialisms who can help them. Those who have suffered at another’s hands can find Justice Seekers. Those who suffer from their own minds or bodies can find Healers. And those who feel that the fault is due to society as a whole-’

  ‘Find Elder Alwen,’ Dominic completed, spotting the pale-pink haired elven lady sitting at the very centre of the town hall-sized stump, listening intently to a clearly-agitated elf sitting near her. Around her, close enough to intervene but not close enough to seem like they were listening in were two obvious guards.

  They were dressed in leather armour and each held a spear with its butt on the ground. They were attentive, but not particularly threatening. Dominic wondered how often they needed to intervene, how often elves got upset enough to need to be escorted away. Or maybe this had more to do with the Settlement Challenge and the threat of the beasts. Though why she’d need them in the middle of the city, Dominic didn’t know – unless they expected an attack from the air.

  ‘Precisely. Or those who the others feel are worth sending to her. As our population’s representative, she is our justice-bringer, our compassionate ear, and our empathetic heart. And that is why it is she who heads the Elders.’

  ‘Interesting,’ Dominic commented, though privately felt that that was a lot of power given to a single person. ‘And how did she become the…people’s representative? Was she elected?’

  ‘Elected?’ Berion questions with slight confusion.

  ‘Yeah, everyone in the town given an equally-weighted vote and a group of candidates to choose between?’

  ‘Oh I see.’ Berion gave him a slight smile. ‘In a way, I suppose you could say she was elected, though it was not as official as you make it seem. She became our representative because she showed through decades, centuries, of tireless effort that she has our best interests at heart. She is our representative because there could be no one else.’

  Dominic had a lot to think about as they approached the Elder in question. He had no idea how the system Berion had explained really worked, and it sounded far too idealistic for it to work for humans. But at the same time, if it functioned for the elves, then all the better for them.

  Hopefully Elder Alwen would prove as good at listening to his side of the story as she apparently was to others of the town.

  here!