((I thought this would go faster yesterday, because I'm leaving for 6 days in a few hours. Blegh. To be honest, I don't think this will live 6 days, but I can always hope. Strife, I'll let you resolve this and then help Bahat carry all that to the caravan. She'd probably find it a bit weird if he sticked around after that.))
'Winged beasts-of-burden we call teleki, mostly, and the smaller sokil, which can only carry one or two men.' Bahat explained. 'In the past, great spirits of air and ifrits soared us in the skies, carrying golden palaces for us. That's most likely an exaggaration, but they did fly with us as equals.'
Less and less market stalls stood on the roadsides as they went on, and the crowds became smaller. The sprawling harbor district spread out below them at the bottom of the hill. The sheer amount of seafaring ships in the city was breathtaking. Narrow southerner sloops with triangle-like sails moved amongst larger Tyrenian warships like sharks on the hunt. Graceful elven merchant ships stood apart from everyone else, their hulls crafted with magic instead of technology. It pained Bahat to see one of the ships - a mastless, multi-level pleasure yacht pulled by a powerful, chained spirit of water. It was invisible to eyes unused to the Twilight World, giving he impression it moved on its own.
She couldn't watch them any longer. The stench of fish was everpresent, and it did not take her long to spot a store displaying open crates full of freshly-catched fish. Bahat moved over, whipping out the junk she was supposed to pay with. She could've exchanged them for actual money, but it was easier to fool shopowners than professional jewellers.
The thick-necked, towering man standing behind the crates watched her with open hostility as she approached.
'I'll buy four crates.' Bahat said, dropping the trinkets on the table. Gold glittered in the sunlight. She watched the man's eyes open wide with greed. Typical.
'Where did you steal that from, witch? Give it to me or I'll call the guards.' the man spat.
Bahat cursed out loud - he was slightly smarter than what she usually had to deal with. Bahat moved to snatch the trinkets back, but the man was faster than she'd thought. One arm struck out to hold her back, one to scoop up the gold. Bahat stumbled back and threw a quick look at Strife. The man had seemed like one who'd help someone in a situation like this.