The demon spoke. “I do not understand that word you used.” Here the monster fumbled with the term, trying to reproduce it.
“Pervert,” said Nukurren slowly and clearly. Dhowifa hissed again. “I am too tired to lie, dear one,” said Nukurren softly.
“What does that word mean?” demanded the demon.
Nukurren explained, briefly and bluntly. Dhowifa was hissing like a kettle.
After hearing Nukurren’s explanation, the monster fell silent. Nukurren examined it closely, but could see no indication of its attitude.
I think Dhowifa’s right. Their—mantles?—never change color.
Suddenly, the monster moved away quickly, stick-pedding ahead toward the front of the caravan. Soon thereafter, a few loud and sharp commands were uttered in some utterly strange language and the caravan came to a halt. Moments later, Nukurren saw a number of demons approaching the litter. At the forefront was the white demon and—she felt Dhowifa flinch at her side—the demonlord. Black as night, implacable.
Seeing them side by side, Nukurren saw that the white demon was larger than the black one. Not quite as tall, but wider and more massive. The other demons—there were a total of eight in the approaching party—were considerably smaller. Four of them seemed to be flushed brown with misery. The remaining two were colored a very light brown, almost white, but not the same pale hue as the biggest demon. And as they came nearer, Nukurren suddenly realized that the strange attachments on top of their heads which she had thought to be soft armor were some kind of natural growths.
Parasites? she wondered. Some kind of skinny worms? No, that doesn’t make sense. They must be part of their bodies.
The color of the growths varied, she saw. The growths on top of the big white demon were pale yellow, very bright. One of the other whitish demons also had yellow head growths, although the color was much darker, almost ochre. The growths on the remaining demons was dark brown, except for that on the heads of the demonlord and one other. Their growths were pure black. And there was something different about the shape of the demonlord’s head growths—like thousands of tiny slender worms, also, but worms which were tightly coiled.
The eight demons drew alongside Nukurren’s litter. Now that she could see them together, standing still in clear daylight, Nukurren saw that there were other subtle differences between the demons as well. The body shapes of three of them were somehow different, and the front of their mantles, under the light armor which covered them, seemed misshapen.
“Tell him what you told me,” commanded the white demon, gesturing to the demonlord.
“Him?” thought Nukurren, astonished. This monster was a male?
Not possible. The white demon’s Kiktu must be worse than I thought.
But then, again: “Tell him.”
Could it be?
“Are you a male?” Nukurren blurted to the demonlord.
All the demons began that horrible barking noise. Nukurren decided that Dhowifa was right—they were laughing. She was relieved to see that the demonlord was laughing also, and, when the barking ceased, that its—his—beak was gaping open, with those peculiar little stones exposed. The stones in his beak, she was interested to note, were every bit as white as the ones in the white demon’s beak.
Yes, Dhowifa’s right. And that must be their gesture of amusement.
The gesture seemed even more pronounced on the part of the white demon, and then, as if the creature could read her mind, the demon said:
“This”—it gaped its beak wider— “is our gesture of amusement. We call it a—” Here came a bizarre word.
“Gurinu?” asked Nukurren.
“Close enough,” replied the white demon. “And I am also a male. These”—here the demon pointed to the three whose body shapes Nukurren had thought to be somehow different— “are female.”
One of the three females stepped forward. She was light brown in color. Her eyes, like the black demon and one other, were very dark brown, almost black. Her head growths, like those of the demonlord, were also pure black, although hers were very straight and long. Now that she was close, Nukurren could see that her head growths were tied back behind her head by a cord. She was almost as tall as the black and white demons, although much less massive, especially in her upper mantle.