Chapter 29: Always Careful
Lily froze. She wasn't short, and neither was Squawks, who was a head taller than her. The man in front of them towered over Squawks and looked wide enough to hide Lily behind only one leg.
His skin was rough and looked almost like stone. His features were mostly human, but his eyes were small and beady, his nose was rounder and more pronounced than Lily had seen on humans before. His hair was long and thick like reeds.
Lily slowly reached for the sword at her waist. She was intimidated by the man's size and the strength slumbering in those log-like arms of his, but she wasn't going to go down without a fight.
"Vaffe!" Squawks greeted with a cheerful exclamation.
The man grunted and crossed his arms.
"It's Vafrid," He said gruffly.
"And Vaffe is a nickname for Vafrid," Squawks answered cheerily like he was bantering with an old friend.
Vafrid rolled his eyes before his gaze settled on the bottle in Squawks' hand. He held out his hand. Squawks passed it over with a smile.
"Are we good to go?" He asked, glancing behind Vafrid. Vafrid looked at Lily. He held a hand in front of Squawks as he tried to go past.
"What are you here for this time, Birdie?"
"My name is Squawks."