No more than an hour later there was a small jolt.

  [We’ve landed.]

  Thanks Bob I was guessing as much, but I do appreciate the confirmation.

  After another hour passed Andrew started to wonder what was taking so long.

  Bob any idea why they haven’t moved us?

  [Umm do you want to have your ear drums rupture?]

  No, but why would we have to wait for an hour to ensure my ear drums don’t rupture?

  [Again, you can’t even figure out the simple things that are laid out on a platter for you. Maybe I was better off with the elves.]

  [Mr. Lather, based on the ship’s pressure slowly rising and Bob’s less than helpful statements, my postulation is that we’re slowly pressurizing the ship to the planet’s atmosphere. If we did this too quickly it could damage your ear drums.]

  After another hour and three more ear pops later the Cargo door opened and warm air seeped into his crate. An army of automatons entered the cargo hold and went to work moving the crates from the ship to a cargo storage building that was thankfully air conditioned.

  The brief scenes he could see from the vents on his crate were wonderous. As his automaton exited the ship he got his first glimpses of the Folly. To say she was beautiful was understatement. She looked like she could have stepped right out of a Jules Verne novel. She was 100 meters or so in length and made primarily of a silvery metal that Andrew couldn’t quite place. With brass filigree and accents adorning her entire hull. The fore section of the ship reminded him of a space faring high-speed dirigible mixed with a submarine. The front of which was covered in ten panels of blueish glass. The aft was all engines with ten fingers which were reminiscent of feathers fanning out in all directions. The ship was resting on two of these as well as two similar looking landing gears on the front. The two feather like landing gears obviously rotated down from the main hull while the ones on the back of the ship appeared to be permanent fixtures. Aft of these were 6 massive thruster outlets.

  As he looked at what he could he came to realize that the Folly was a smallish ship, some in port were truly massive, some as large as 5times the size of the Folly. Though none came close to her beauty, most looking like blocky steam spewing blocks of steel.

  It was then that he saw his first Troll. Like the dwarves it wasn’t Tolkienesque. The man was massive, standing almost 2.2 meters tall and had a build which would be the envy of the every world’s strongest man competitor back home. The troll had to massive ram like horns coming out of either side of his forehead and two large canines jutting up from his bottom jaw and over his top lip. In his right arm he was carrying what looked like tube of lead which was 6inches in diameter and almost 3/4th of meter in length. Despite it having to weight something close to fifty seven kilos, it seemed not to even weighed him down. He had thick swarthy skin that had an almost grey tinge to it, and he wore simple work clothing. As he past Andrew’s create, he used magic to create a light as he entered the unlit cargo storage facility and walked out of sight.

  There were others as well, moving in and out of the cargo facility. All well muscled,even the woman he saw, though not all had the same greyish skin tone. It seemed they had a variety of skin tones and facial features similar to humans and of the ones he saw they ranged from about 2.1 meters to just short of 2.5meters in height. Their horns also seemed to be somewhat unique to each individual. Some having ram like horns, others were more goat like, and while others had 5 or 6 horns growing out of random spots on their head. Every single one created a light as they entered the unlit room and dismissed it as they left.

  Andrew had so many questions he was dying to ask and found himself even more eager for Kopa to retrieve him. Yet time dragged on and as it did Andrew saw two other humans wander through, as eager as he was to question them he kept his mouth shut for fear of being found out. Though he had it on his to do list to find them once he had papers. The afternoon turned to dusk and dusk into night before Kopa appeared as if she walked out of the crate’s shadow and signaled him to open the crate. Which he did with his mind. Here he found magic to be much easier to use than on the ship, but not nearly as easy as on the elven world.

  Andrew stood up and stretched his legs before hopping out of the crate. Without a word Kopa signaled him to follow her. The climbed up a few crates and exited from a window near the top of the building. Kopa taking a moment to look around before they did so. Once outside she turned to him.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Ok hard part done, now once we get down from up here a few buildings over I will need you to do your best I belong her and don’t pay attention to me impression as we move through the streets below. They’re not packed or anything, but this port doesn’t sleep. So, there will be people and we need them to not notice you.”

  “I could use my blur skill; it should help with keeping me undetected by most”

  “Umm except the exact people we want most not to notice us. Sorry but I doubt you’re good enough with that stuff to be able to not trip the alarms. As you might imagine, people use similar abilities to try to get the cargo in here regularly. Instead, just move like I do and look like you belong here.

  Oh, and one last thing, the Tribe aren’t backwater bumpkins like most of the dwarves and all of the elves. They don’t care if races mix, so don’t act surprised if you see some of that. Unless they have a death wish for themselves and their children they don’t have kids.”

  “Wait that’s an issue? And why would it be a death wish?”

  “Yes, that’s an issue. The official line is that mixing races is impossible outside of a few recorded abominations. That’s a lie though and only the most brainwashed know it is. While it is harder to do so and many of the kids are infertile, mixed species couples can have babies together. You might even see a few during your time here. You humans are especially known for this, which is surprising as you’re from a whole other galaxy, but the parts are compatible apparently. I guess being hunted to near extinction leaves yall looking for love anywhere you can find it.”

  “Wait I heard yall and the Elves researched on us, but not the hunting part. Are we still hunted? And hunted by who?”

  There was a pause as Kopa used two pipes to go from one building to another. They were relatively large, but as Andrew got on them, he had to stop for a moment and get up the nerve to cross the 5meter gap. It wasn’t the distance to the other building that got him, it was the 25meter gap from the pipes to the ground that worried him.

  “Oh come on even a troll could cross those with ease. Just remember if you fall, fall forward or backward and not a side. Also, the pipes are a little hot as they’re full of steam, so make sure to cross relatively quickly, before those pretty boots get burned.”

  Her smile didn’t help, but Andrew took a breath and started to cross, once he was most of the way across, she continued.

  “I would have thought someone had told you. While the Council of Khans nor the Khagan ever officially supported it a number of the clans hunted yall out of fear of your specie’s ability to utilize both energies. So did the Elves and for the same reasons, though they only killed yall if they couldn’t capture yall.“

  “Why are the trolls not hunted? They can use magic and tech just like us. Something seems off about that.”

  “Millenia past they were, but while they can use both, they can’t do it well. So eventually both sides lost interest and let them be. Plus, it was mostly done as they were considered run away slaves. The Dwarves will say they stopped because it was the right thing to do, but I think Android sophistication making a large leap at the time had more to do with it. You know before they were recognized as sapient beings that is. I have no clue why the elves stopped, but I guess they found a replacement with their golems.”

  In a distracted and struggling voice Andrew asked, “So why hunt us then? We can’t be better labor than Trolls, I mean look at them they’re massive!”

  “No yall aren’t good labor. No, while the best human is no dwarf when it comes to utilizing Tech, they still seem to have no limit unlike the trolls. Same goes for magic and so that gives yall an advantage many find intimidating. You aren’t seemingly bound by the normal rules of balance and so you breed fear. Though I find it attractive.” She said with a wink and a rock of her hips.

  Andrew paused his movement and awkwardly held up his left hand to show his ring, while trying to balance.

  "Sorry, it’s not umm you, you’re pretty, it’s just that I’m married and I’m not that kind of guy. I swear it’s not you it’s umm me,” he said while trying to balance and not burn his feet even though he was just a meter or so from the building.

  A huge smile grew on Kopa’s face as Andrew tripped over his words, “Just having some fun at your expense, don’t worry I’m not into humans. Though you also passed my test. Which I appreciate. I heard you were a family man, but so many are all too happy to cheat when given a chance. You and the captain share that in common. Whoever your wife is she’s lucky, not too many like you around.”

  She finished as she reached out a hand to help in with the final meter or so, pulling him on to the roof.

  “Linny”

  “Huh?” Kopa said with a raised eyebrow.

  “My wife’s name is Linny.......and she might disagree with you on the lucky part, but she’s stuck with me and I’m here to find her,” he said with a smile.

  “You don’t know where she is?”

  “Nope she came here on the ship before mine and before you ask it’s complicated on why I wasn’t on that ship. I will happily tell you later, but we’re kinda on a roof and so I’d rather not. Anyhow, that ship somehow came through 150ish years ago so I’m not sure if she’s even alive.”

  “Oh yeah, I almost forgot the balance part of your equation, short lives. Well, I hope for her sake and yours that she’s figured it out.”

  “That’s my hope as well.”

  “Ok we go down here, remember ‘You belong here, there’s nothing odd about you. You’re just one of the Tribe’,” she said while pointing down at a ladder with her left hand and waving her right hand like she was casting as spell as she said the last part.