Slobber Chops raised his nose and sniffed at the scent flowing through the tunnel. He knew he was close to Gem Fount. There was always a distinctive smell to the place. It reminded him of why he was there and he quickened his pace. One never knew when a puppy would come early, or late for that matter. He had encountered only two other Diamond Dogs on his trek and they were traveling together from Gem Fount to Pumice Carve so he only sniffed them as a courtesy in passing.

Up ahead, he saw the dim glow which signified he was about to enter Gem Fount. He pulled his bag off his shoulder and held it in his claws, ready for the Guard Dogs of Gem Fount to sniff and search through his things. Guard Dogs always sniffed and searched through everything that came to and from their City/States. They had to check for things like the Amberdine Flowers that stole puppies' breath, or Tartolette Mushrooms that could make a dog's nose lie to him. They had to be careful and Slobber Chops respected that.

He continued padding along at his brisk pace, and just at the mouth of the cavern which held the City/State. The gravel around Slobber Chops suddenly shot upward in a small hail of pebbles and dust. Slobber Chops stopped in place and waited patiently. When the dust cleared
four Guard Dogs were standing in a half-circle around him. The Guard Dogs of Gem Fount were rumored to be the best of any City/State, but Slobber Chops never really thought about it. To him one Guard Dog was just like any other and as long as they did their jobs, he left them alone unless he needed them.

The four Guard Dogs all wore slate grey belted tunics which hung down to the bottoms of their ribs. Below the tunics they wore nothing, they did not need it. Diamond Dogs, like every other sapient being in their world, had a web of muscles, flesh, and fur which covered their genitals. The Pelvic Curtain certainly had its uses in the way of modesty.

The Guard Dogs wore dull bronze plates over their tunics, arms, legs and waists. They hefted bronze-tipped spears and bronze shields. Chop was glad to see the bronze armor and weapons. It was a reminder of the recent advancements his people had made with metals and his chest swelled with pride. In deference to the Guard Dogs, Slobber Chops set down his bag, stepped back and sat down on the pebbly ground. Two of the Guard Dogs sniffed his bag before they opened it and pawed through his possessions while one of the other two approached him and began sniffing his muzzle and neck. With Guard Dogs it was both a polite greeting and a search. The Guard Dog who sniffed him was very thorough. He politely sniffed Chop's muzzle and neck first, then he began sniffing his back, stomach, groin, tail, and ended with sniffing his paws and foot paws. Chop did not mind at all. The Guard Dog was doing his job.

Chop remembered how his friend Razor Wit had reacted when he deemed the two of them close enough friends to sniff her. 'One only sniffed another as a greeting between Diamond Dogs or between close friends, if the friend was of a different species.' The final part of that slowly spreading rule had been written by Slobber Chops himself after some prompting from Razor Wit. She had gasped and blushed the first time he had sniffed her. Chop had not understood the blush at all. It was not as if he had licked her ears or muzzle to arouse her. He had not put his neck over hers, he had not nipped at her haunches, he had not done anything to warrant the blush. She never had explained why she blushed, but she did say sniffing another as he had done was probably not a good idea unless they were a very close friend.

Chop still did not understand the Kavim. They were all smarter than Diamond Dogs, they were more advanced, they had so much more knowledge and they had magic, yet they had not discovered the intimate, yet polite nuances of sniffing as a greeting. Razor had not bothered to explain why it was inappropriate, but apparently it was to the Kavim.

Chop returned from his mental vacation when the Guard Dogs offered him a friendly paw to help him stand up. Chop was capable of doing so on his own, it was such an easy thing, but the offer was a demonstration of service due to the Guard Dogs' station. Chop took the offered paw and the Guard Dog helped him up then handed him his bag. The last Guard Dog had yet to do anything except retrieve a slate and a piece of chalk which he held in front of him, "State your name, any titles you hold, and the City/State you hail from."

Chop had always thought it was a good idea to search and sniff before knowing the name of the one who was being checked. He did not know why he thought it was a good idea, it just seemed right, "Slobber Chops, Ambassador of Dogs. I hail from Pumice Carve."

The four Guard Dogs all snapped their heads toward him. The one who had been writing stopped instantly, "Ambassador? You're the one who speaks to the Kavim?"

Chop bobbed his head and scratched the side of his muzzle in embarrassment. He did not much like attention, "I am. I speak Velensovth."

"So you have been above the shelter of the soil? You have seen the sun, the moon, and the infinite sky?" The Guard asked.

Chop scratched both sides of his muzzle. The situation was embarrassing and he did not like talking about it very much. It felt too much like bragging, "The sun makes the above world hot in the day and the moon half freezes it at night. The sky IS infinite and looking at it is like staring into The Place Beyond Places."

The Guard Dogs shuddered at the reference, "We need your wisdom, Ambassador Of Dogs. In our tunnels, we found many strange, thin, pink creatures. They speak another tongue, none of them speak Dirgeth. You learned the language of the Kavim. You can learn the language of these creatures."

Chop whined in his throat, "My cousin is having a puppy in a few days and I don't have the writings I need to learn the language..."

The Guard Dog who had sniffed Chop stepped up to him and stomped his right foot paw twice on the gravel, "Give me something with your scent. I will fetch your writings from your home while you go to your family here."

Chop was torn. On the one paw he was likely the only Diamond Dog in Gem Fount with any experience dealing with another species. On the other paw he was here for his family and they might need his help. He was well and truly upset. Family mattered more than anything, but if there was no common language with the creatures there could be many problems for all Diamond Dogs, 'The world knows us as savages. If we made a mistake, all other species could war against us and we are too few. We cannot match the might of the Kavim and we could not stand against any of the other species either.' Chop turned his head to the right and nipped at his own shoulder as punishment for what he was about to do, "I will help with the creatures."

* * *

Ryia sat silently in the corner of the cell with her knees pulled up to her chest and rocking back and forth on her hips. The other women had tried to comfort her, but there was only so much they could do. Ryia had been quiet ever since the Rakshasa had taken the body of the girl from their cell. Ryia had managed to explain that the girl was already dead before she had lapsed into silence. In truth she had turned her thoughts toward nothing. She wanted to escape the dark prison cell. She wanted to just go away and never return.

The other women were in no better shape. Some paced back and forth in the cell, some wept quietly, fearful of what the future held, and one of the women who looked to be in her late thirties was poking around the edges of the bars.

Ryia watched as the woman pressed her fingers against where the bars met the stone, 'What are we going to do? What CAN we do?' She closed her eyes and set her forehead against her knees, 'They're going to eat us, or...' she shuddered trying not to cry.

A meaty thump caught her attention. Ryia looked up following the sound. The woman examining the bars had punched the wall in frustration, but then went back to examining the bars. Ryia found herself drawn by the persistence demonstrated by the other woman. She watched as the woman turned and looked at the others. Her face shown brief pity before a sneer creased her lips. She turned back to the bars muttering something about, 'not accepting her death' and continued poking around at the bars.

Ryia turned the statement in on herself, 'Is that what I'm doing? Am I just giving up? Accepting my own death?' Her thoughts hardened as she thought back to the girl she had tried to save, 'I helped her for nothing before The Event reached us. She would have died anyway...' she looked back up at the older woman, 'But if she's not giving up then neither am I.' It was the tiniest of hopes, but it was better than nothing. Ryia slowly unfolded her knees and stood up. She quietly walked over to the other woman and peered over her shoulder, "Did you find a way out?"

The woman shook her head but kept her eyes on the bars, "Not yet."

Ryia decided that if there was a way out, at least two people should be looking, "I'm Ryia."

The other woman kept rubbing around the inserts where the stone met the iron, "Veera." She replied quietly, "What were you doing down in the slums Ryia? You look more like a college kid than a slum rat."

Ryia rubbed her hand through her long brown hair, "I had to go home when the evacuation started. Apparently they didn't care who you were trying to become, only where you came from. I got home but my Father and brother weren't there. I packed up a few things and decided to wait. After five days I fell asleep. When I woke up the evacuation was already over and I got caught by The Event."

Veera sighed in disgust, "They never evacuated the slums." She spat, "They only evacuated the 'better' parts of the city and left everybody else to die. Most made it out on their own, but some of us either fell asleep," she shot Ryia a smirk, "Or were stupid enough to believe that our own country actually cared about us and waited." Veera slammed her clenched fist into the stone wall a second time, "I should have known better."

A metallic clang from down the hallway caught the attention of both women, "I sure hope this is dinner." Veera said as plodding steps echoed down the hallway.

Ryia stepped back with her hands covering her breasts, "I just hope WE'RE not dinner."

Veera smirked at Ryia, "Morbid. I'm going to hide in one of the corners they can't see. If I get a chance, I'm making a break for it." She walked toward the far left forward corner, "They were sloppy earlier. They sent four in here and only kept one at the door. If we divided up into groups and moved around it might confuse these things, might cause them to make a mistake that we can use."

Ryia was shocked at the brazen idea, "Who are you?" She blinked and sighed, "Well who WERE you?"

Veera crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, "Tell you later Ryia. They're coming."

The other women moved into a single group as far away from the cell door as they could, but Ryia stood apart from them, 'Veera is right. If we're going to get out of here we have to work together.' Her will all but completely evaporated when she saw the Rakshasa come into view. Her determination flew away on the wind when she saw the Rakshasa carrying the body of the dead girl from earlier.

Ryia blinked away tears as she stared at the body, 'I couldn't save her... I didn't even know her name. Why are they bringing her back in here?'

The Rakshasa opened the cell door and the four that had taken the body brought it back in. Ryia backed up against the wall behind her. Her fear had all but vanished once she Rakshasa had left earlier but seeing them again brought it all back. The one holding the cell door moved and Ryia caught the motion, 'He moved his head toward the others, but he can't see Veera from where he is.' As she watched, the Rakshasa's brow creased as it stared at the other women. Ryia caught the motion, 'If it were a Human, I would say it looked puzzled. Like it knew that Veera was missing... oh Vishnu, it DOES know...' Ryia forced down her panic, 'Come on, think, think...' inspiration struck her but it brought a potential danged with it. Ryia quickly decided it was worth the risk.

"Can you understand me?" She asked loudly.

The Rakshasa all turned to look at her. Their beady eyes felt like they were sizing her up for a meal, "If you can understand me, I'm going to go home now."

None of the Rakshasa moved an inch, "Well it looks like you don't understand me. Like if I was to say 'don't try anything', you wouldn't have any idea what it meant, would you?"

The Rakshasa merely continued to stare so Ryia continued, "Or if I said, 'the one at the door knows there is one of us he doesn't see', you wouldn't understand me either huh?"

In the corner of her eye, Ryia saw Veera nod subtly and relax her stance. Ryia wanted to stop talking, but it seemed that her mouth had other plans, "Or if I said 'you animals were all horrible monsters and that I would laugh if you all burned to death', you wouldn't know either."

She suddenly noticed a silver colored Rakshasa standing behind the one holding the cell door open. The silver one looked older and it was carrying what looked like a bedroll or a sleeping blanket made out of leather. Ryia's breath caught as the older looking one entered the cell and knelt down on the floor right next to to body of the dead girl. It set down its burden and unrolled it revealing some jars, plants, and a set of butcher's knives. Ryia's heart beat so quick and so hard she feared it might burst through her chest. The knives were big and ugly and had obviously seen more than a little use.

'Why does it have the knives and... the herbs...' Ryia's legs gave out and she fell limply to the floor, 'It's... it's going to carve her up and SEASON her!'

Author's Note

Make sure those typos are properly seasoned and ready to throw on the grill.