XIV – Furry Thoughts And Roman Confusion

In a matter of minutes I’d found out more than I was really prepared to digest all at once.

Okay, we had the name of the creatures we’d been sent to take care of, and that was a good thing. But that good thing came with a lot of attachments. In addition to the Nephilim, we were dealing with an undetermined number of furry, short, well armed guys who were apparently being backed by another bunch known as ‘The Great Lords’.

The name itself didn’t fill me with much confidence or comfort. I’d known people with the description of ‘great’ before. Believe me when I say that such people invariably turned out to be anything but great. More like kill crazy nut cases.

Still, I was trying very hard to keep an open mind about everything. After all, look where we were. In a huge underground tunnel the likes of which we’d never seen before, talking with a bunch of furry dwarfs about other people we’d never even heard of until recently.

Once the language barrier had been breached I felt it was a good Idea to introduce ourselves. Around our group I went, pointing at my men and saying their names loud and clear. Subconsciously I just didn’t seem to be able to wrap my had around the idea that our furry friends could really understand what I was saying. I kind of thought of them as super intelligent mutts.

Boy was I ever proven wrong. As the introductions on our side were finished, the other side stepped right in. I’d thought our names were difficult to digest, but what they introduced themselves as had my head spinning. Their leader spoke into the sudden silence.

“Welcome Romans. We are the Valparta. Simply put, ‘the people’. I am Lanniputonicudda. First Speaker of our clan. These others with me are Tumminastocudda, my brother, and Phredinomtullas, my fourth cousin.”

Glitch.

My mind went into a spiral and then tried to lock itself down. What names! I figured I’d better shorten them up a bit to save confusion and brain burn. This is how it went.

“Hiya guys. Uh, look. Would you mind if I shorten those names of yours to save discussion time and confusion? What say you?”

The head furry looked at his welcoming committee and nodded.

“We agree.”

“Alright then. Lessee . . . Your name is ‘Lanni’. The others are ‘Tummi’ (I heard snickers on that one which I silenced with a glare at my troops), and ‘Phred’. That should make conversation go a little easier.”

Lanni stared at me with those hypnotic blue eyes of his and smiled a very toothy smile. I hadn’t noticed, until then, how pointed his teeth were. It was while I was continuing to speak that a nasty thought hit me right between my eyes.

“Well . . . I’m glad we got that straightened . . . Hey! Wait a minute! How did you guys know we were Romans!? I sure didn’t tell you and you haven’t been talking to anyone else. Have you?”

Lanni smiled even wider.

“Your thoughts told us what we needed to know. We knew you before you spoke even one word. That is also how we learned your language so quickly. Do not your people have the same skills?”

I was flummoxed. If these characters could read minds, we were at a decided disadvantage. Most of my men weren’t mentally complicated or clever. I’d picked them for size, power, and skill. Nothing else.

“Uh . . . well . . . we’re not as good at it as our people back home. Us being the military and all that.”

I waited with baited breath for Lanni’s reaction. If he saw through my white lie, we would be in a heap of serious trouble. Lanni smiled still wider (How did he do that without cracking his face?) and nodded.

“I see. To save embarrassment, perhaps we should stick to verbal communication. That way, face is saved by all.”

I sighed with relief. That had been close. What else could these characters do that we needed to know about?

Chapter XV

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