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A creature Dax had never seen before sat on the chair, breathing heavily. It wore what looked like green and brown leathers more reminiscent of a Ren Faire than a modern city like Redemption City. Its hair had a green tinge to it, and pointy ears poked out from the long strands. It had a long dagger slung from its belt.
Manman Delphine backed away, mumbling in Creole while grasping at something hanging around her neck. Dax, not entirely sure what he could do against such an odd individual, stepped in front of her.
“Remove the dagger,” he said.
Shaking his mane of greenish hair, the creature tilted his head and furrowed his brow as if confused. He shifted in his seat, looking like he was about to stand.
“Stop!” Dax barked out.
The creature stopped moving, his hands hovering at shoulder height. He—it was only a guess based on his more masculine appearance—said something Dax didn’t understand, though it had an Irish lilt to the syllables.
“Do you speak English?” Dax asked, his tone more reasonable now that the creature had stopped moving toward his dagger. Dax tapped the side of his mouth. “English?”
The creature looked puzzled then his eyes opened wider, understanding seeming to dawn. He shook his head and pointed toward the one of the bracelets. Delphine squatted down in her brightly colored red and blue dress with a matching turban next to the bracelet he’d pointed toward. Eyes narrowing, she concentrated on it, holding her hand a couple inches above it.
“Magic?” Dax kept his eyes on the creature.
“Wi, cher. Very potent,” she said.
“Dangerous?”
“Hard to tell. It’s not a magic I’m familiar with or have run into before. But I don’t think so. There’s…almost a sense of seeking and knowledge.”
Dax’s eyes flicked to the other bracelet. “What about that one?”
Delphine moved over to the other one, concentrating on it for a moment. “It’s different. Seeking, again, and…visual harmony or camouflage.”
“But not dangerous, directly at least.”
The manbo chuckled. “Everything can be dangerous in the wrong hands. But inherently? I don’t think so.”
Dax nodded then pointed to the creature. Reaching down, he patted his hip then pantomimed drawing a weapon and dropping it away from himself. The creature’s jaw clenched, but he nodded, slowly lowering his hand. Maintaining eye contact, the creature drew the dagger and extended his hand to the side, dropping the dagger with a clank that didn’t sound steely.
“Delphine, nudge it aside with your foot. Don’t touch it with your skin.”
“Wi, cher.” She stood up and followed the instruction, careful to keep her distance from the odd creature.
With the dagger out of reach, Dax felt a little more relaxed, though not entirely. Getting used to a limited human brain still caused him issues when he couldn’t access the vast knowledge he used to have before his banishment to live as a human in Red City. He might’ve known what the creature was and spoken its language before.
Sighing, he took a step back. “Can you say something to him in Creole? He seemed to be doing fine before I showed up.”
Delphine nodded. “True. But it was almost too perfect. Too crisp and textbook, if there is such a thing for Creole.” She rattled off several sentences, but the creature responded to each with confusion and a shake of the head.
“So, he can no longer speak to you or understand you.” Dax paced back and forth, thinking. “Hmm. I showed up, he threw off those bracelets, and now he can’t understand or speak to us.”
“It’s the bracelets. The one must let him speak and understand.” Delphine grabbed a leather glove off a shelf, put it on, and picked up the bracelet they guessed was the linguistic one.
“And the other must change his appearance.”
Delphine nodded. “Until you walked in.” She chuckled. “Your presence short circuited them, cher.”
“I guess so.” He sighed. “Do you feel safe if I go back to the front of the store?”
“Wi, cher. He caused no issues while we were alone.”
Nodding, Dax grabbed the other glove and picked up the dagger, careful to not let any part of it touch bare skin in case it was enchanted to harm anyone touching it besides its owner. “I’ll just take this with me to be on the safe side. Give a yell if you need me.”
“I will. Now scoot.” She shooed him out.
