Beastmen Love-Chapter 161: Skalven

Kangki jumps outside and sees a group of guards circling someone. Elias, Kai, and Hopin rush to stay behind their fathers.

"What do you want?" Galion asks.

The beastman in front of him is naked. He has dark brown skin and chin-length black hair with some light gray highlights. His hands are raised before him, showing he doesn’t want to fight.

"I...found something.. I think it belongs to the cub.." He answers slowly.

"What?" Galion asks, not understanding a thing the beastman is saying.

He looks like talking in another language. No one around understood what he said.

A long spider leg starts to move from his back. Everyone sees Yuki’s doll at the tip of the leg. Galion asks him to put the doll on the ground, but the spider doesn’t do anything and doesn’t understand their language. Galion can sense that the spider beastman doesn’t want to fight, but the spider mark on his belly, showing more than 14 marks, makes Galion not trust him.

"Hum.. How long are you following us?" Galion asks.

The spider doesn’t answer, looking at Galion confused, like trying to understand what he said. Galion sighs knowing it’s useless trying to talk to him, but he imagines that for having Yuki’s doll he’s following them at least from morning.

Galion goes to the carriage to talk to Astri and Claud.

"We can’t understand what he’s saying. He’s not speaking our language." Galion says to Claud inside the carriage. Claud and Kangki look at Astri and she chuckles.

"Nature is a prankster. Nature didn’t tell me this detail, but I was kind of wondering if they spoke a different language since they live so far from us." Astri says and shrugs shoulders.

"This is a big problem. How can we do anything not capable of communicating?" Galion asks.

"Calm down, my friend. Anyone can feel he’s not here to fight. He came to give the toy back. Is the beastman dressed properly?" Astri asks.

"No."

"Give him clothes, then. He’ll understand what to do. Then let me meet him."

"He’s a spider."

"And?"

"Well.. He’s poisonous."

"And?" Zin questions too.

"We don’t know him." Galion corrects himself.

"It’s all right, Galion. Do as I say." Astri says.

Galion sighs and then asks someone to give the spider beastman a skin skirt. The spider beastman looks at the skin skirt confused and then at the beastman who threw it at him. They motion for him to dress, so he does as he’s being told.

Astri steps out of the carriage with Yuki and puts her down to walk together holding hands.

The spider beastman saw Astri before but from far away. What called his attention to that group of beastmen was Astri’s singing. Looking at her more closely made him impressed with her beauty. Her energy and smile made him almost sure she was kind and good.

Yuki spots her toy on the spider leg coming from the beastman’s back and excitedly points at it.

"Peggy! It’s my Peggy!"

Yuki runs to the spider beastman happily. Astri raises her hands a little, showing everyone not to worry.

The spider beastman is shocked at first when he sees the little girl running to him openly like that. She stops right in front of him with a big smile, he lowers down her toy and she squeals happily hugging it.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Yuki holds his hand and repeatedly jumps thanking him.

"You’re welcome.." He smiles softly, still impressed and a bit shy by the proximity. He didn’t understand what she said exactly, but for her reaction, he imagined she was thanking him.

"Oh.. It sounds like German.." Astri says to herself.

Her voice called the attention of the spider beastman. He’s amazed to see that she’s letting her cub near him and is not looking at him with disdain.

"Hello. My name is Astri. What’s your name?" Astri speaks in his language, taking everyone by surprise.

He felt he lost his voice for a moment.

"Skalven.."

"Skalven. Thank you, Skalven, for finding her toy. It’s her favorite." Astri says.

Skalven smiles softly, not really knowing how to answer, and only nods in response. He’s impressed both daughter and mother are very kind and don’t look afraid of him.

"How can we repay you?" Astri asks.

"Erm.. Nothing. There’s no need."

"No way! You saved us by helping her. You can keep the skirt. Do you want food?"

"No... I ate yesterday. Thank you."

"Wayde, please give him a gem. Making a new toy is a lot of work, even if I like to do it." Astri says back in her usual language.

"How can you talk with him?" Wayde asks her.

"I learned his language some years ago." She answers.

Everyone still has many to ask her, but they decide to wait.

Wayde goes to the carriage and takes a gem from their safety deposit. He walks to Astri and Skalven.

"Thank you." Skalven softly says, taking the gem from Wayde’s hand.

"Thank you, too." Astri says.

Skalven was shocked by what she said.

"We are going to the Daerns’ Tribe. Are we going the right way?" Astri mentions to Skalven mostly to see what will be his reaction.

"Daerns’ Tribe?... Don’t go this way. You will find Dark Moon City first, and that’s not a place for any of you.. Especially females." Skalven says, shyly but he felt he needed to tell her.

"Oh... We heard this city is dangerous. Thank you for the advice. My mates are merchants and we lost our ship. We’re looking for a safe place to stay."

"Dark Moon City is the worst place for you. Daerns’ Tribe is better but also dangerous.. Even more for someone like you."

"Someone like me?" frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

"You.. are kind. Beastmen around here are ruthless."

"Oh, thank you. You look so kind and calm too." Astri says.

Again, Skalven is taken by surprise and he’s amazed with those two females in front of him. She can see that Skalven is a good beastman, and, just like Zin, is alone not because he wants but because no one wants him close because of his species.

"If we asked you the best direction to the Daerns’ Tribe, would you show us the way?" Astri asks him.

"Yes.." Skalven nods, looking at Astri’s eyes expectantly, wondering if she would trust him.

"Great! Wait a moment." She says to Skalven, and he nods in response.

He freezes when Yuki hugs his leg thanking him again, her smile at him makes him shocked and then he looks at Astri worried that she would be angry but she is smiling too.

"Guys, give him some food, please. Husbands, Galion, come with me." Astri says to some guards and calls her spouses to the carriage.

Skalven felt goosebumps coming up the back of his neck, a good feeling he never felt before. He knows her mates won’t agree with her, but deep inside he wants to be with them and keep feeling this joy.

Cyprian and Lee land back, right after Galion said about Skalven bringing Yuki’s toy back, Claud called them back.

"How many different languages do you talk?" Claud asks Astri, curious to know.

"I learned five, but I’m more fluent in two. Which coincidentally is this region’s language too." Astri answers.

"I feel dumb for being this old and not learning any different language."

"I heard this language from a Monster before, but I never cared to learn anything either." Kangki says.

"You can learn. All of you. Either way, the spider beastman, his name is Skalven. He said that following this direction we would arrive at Daern’s Tribe but we would get first to the Dark Moon City and he said it’s a dangerous place. We should avoid getting stuck there. If they see us and discover we have salt they won’t let us go soon. I asked Skalven if he could show a way for us to not go through the city and he said he knows a way and can take us there." Astri explains.

"Do you trust him for that? We just met him." Koa asks.

"He’s a good beastman. I saw his mind and heart. I’m not worried about him. I’m more worried about him falling for Astri too, he’s already in the sky by the way she treats him." Kangki answers, annoyed.

"Well, if he wants to stay I won’t stop him. Will be amazing for our group to have him. You have no idea what a spider is capable of." Astri says.

"What do you mean?" Dieg asks before anyone else.

"He has 6 legs, which he can use independently. He can do many things at the same time. He can create almost unbreakable webs, good for building things. Also, he can make thin and almost undetectable webs that he can spread around a big area or to someone and still connect to him, and any vibration he senses on any part of the web he will know exactly the location." She excitedly says.

"You think he’s better than us?" Lee asks, dying in jealousy.