Children of Night and Snow

44. Redhead With A Dragon Tattoo

"This was great! I had so much fun," Lucia was practically dancing her way home through the streets of Duskfall.

"Not as much as Nolan and Freya," Connor chuckled and then full on laughed when he noticed how red my face went.

"Bold of you to assume," Demi silenced him with a wink and Lucia stuck out her tongue at him. Only Devan remained unmoved by the whole exchange as Nolan was now laughing too. The journey home went faster than expected and before I knew it all six of us were sitting down for dinner.

"We should be getting a bit of daylight in a couple of weeks," Demi noted looking out of the window.

"You can tell such a thing?" I asked, wondering what kind of special ability she possessed and if there was a way I could acquire it too.

"Not really, it's just a wild guess. But we are past half of January now, so it would make sense," she replied. It was January now. More than half a year since I left Moonvalley behind. According to Devan, I was now caught up with them in many aspects. Mainly as far as my physical strength and growth went and also my abilities. All that was left was the training. To push as far as I could and make use of all I gained over the past months. I was still smaller than the rest of them, but not by much. Even though I wouldn't grow any taller, I no longer stood out by being too tiny. I was faster, stronger, better. According to Devan I could now easily measure myself with other wolves of Duskfall and I could probably beat them too. Even if I still stood no chance against any of my housemates.

Everything I now knew only proved that unless I was a wolf, I would have no chance of surviving here. Even if I did cross the Wastes, without my natural fast development abilities, I could never dream of catching up with the people here. Even stuff like my hair grew extremely fast. I cut it very short when I began my training with Devan yet now it was longer than it has ever been. Healthier and stronger too. The woman I was now was an inhuman beast, so very different from the girl I saw in the mirror everyday just a year ago.

"How long will Az and Aaron be gone?" I asked, seeing a snowstorm pick up outside.

"Hopefully not too long. I don't like the idea of being separated right now," Devan spoke next to me.

"They shouldn't be gone for longer than a week," Nolan said while sipping on his coffee.

"Let's hope they won't get stuck like the last time," Demi replied to that bitterly.

"Come on guys, they aren't stupid. They know now isn't the time to waste time playing cat and mouse," Lucia rolled her eyes at the conversation.

"Whatever, let's go to sleep. It's Lucia and Freya's turn to go to town tomorrow," said Devan as he turned to climb up the ladder to bed.

"We're going to town?" I was surprised. Nobody mentioned anything about a trip to town until now. But then again, I generally only found out the plan just before. Maybe I shouldn't be that shocked anymore.

"Yeah, we need a few more things to stock up on. To make sure we secure the house and stuff. Rogues are clearly up to something and it would be stupid to simply rely on the city guard to protect us all when it happens," Lucia explained while we all followed Devan to our sleeping quarters.

The next day Lucia was the one to wake me up. It was barely five in the morning when we both ate breakfast in silence and then left the house while everyone else still slept. During my life in the Summerlands, I wouldn't get out of bed before eight even on the school days. The idea of waking up any earlier sounded like a punishment. Yet here I would be up before six nearly everyday. Usually it was for my workout routine. It became a habit. And also the only way I had a chance to be done with my training before the day was over. Today however my workout had to wait as I walked silently side by side with the redhead next to me straight to the town centre where the market was already surprisingly busy.

"So what do we need?" I asked while we were strolling through the seemingly endless aisles full of various stands.

"Some leather, dry foods and a few new water flasks. Also if we can find some solid daggers or knives, that would be good too," Lucia replied just as we stopped at one of the stands with dried meat, fruits and vegetables. I only nodded while she ordered a whole lot of just about everything and then handed me one of the bags.

"Can I ask what we should expect from the rogues?" It was a question I tried to ask for days now, but couldn't really find the best wording for it.

"You can ask, but I'm not sure if my answer will satisfy you 'cause I don't really know. The last attack was so long ago even my parents were just small kids. Some buildings burnt down, a few people died. Ultimately I don't think it was too big of a deal because we never really learnt about it anywhere. Not even in school," she said. We moved to another stand, this one with leathers of all kinds. Lucia, unlike me, seemed to have an exact idea of what she was looking for. She skillfully looked through the materials and selected what she needed without a second thought.

"School? Others never mentioned school." I wondered if Lucia had a different life from the others. Easier maybe. From what little I knew of Devan, Demi, Connor and Nolan, their lives seemed anything but easy. Was there a time for school in the hell they've lived through?

"Of course we have school. It just becomes a little less important if you have to fight for your survival, but we have schools. Where do you think we all learnt to read and write," she replied like it was the most logical thing. Which really it was.

"Sorry, it just sounds so... mundane," I said, feeling suddenly ashamed of my silly question.

"It's okay. It makes sense you'd not think of that. I don't think the stories of our group revolve around it much. They had different milestones than good grades and graduations after all," Lucia shrugged it off.

"And you had? The milestones I mean," I asked.

"Yeah. I wasn't exactly the top of my class per say. Quite the opposite actually. But compared to others, my life was pretty ordinary. My parents live in the rich part of town, I had a very easy life compared to most who live here. But when Demi came into my life and they refused to support my relationship with her, I cut them off and left everything behind," she spoke matter-of-factly, like none of it phased her in the slightest.

"So you don't speak?" I couldn't imagine living like that. To live in the same city as my parents and not talking to them. I was always so very close with my mom and dad that the mere idea of not being on good terms with them seemed impossible.

"No. They couldn't accept that my mate is who she is. That she isn't a wealthy and honorable person. They considered her to be a bad influence on me. But she is my life. My everything. I won't give up a blessing like her for anything or anyone," Lucia shrugged.

"Was it because... you know," Freya didn't want to finish the question.

"Because we're gay? No. Mates are sacred regardless of their gender. But they wanted us to move in with them, make Demi give up her brother and the boys. Turn her into a perfect daughter in law. And she'd do it, for me she would. But it wasn't what she wanted and it wasn't what I wanted either. I never craved a safe life. I wanted more from life. Adventure, danger. They couldn't accept that." Just as Lucia said those words, a scream echoed through the market, instantly catching everyone's attention. This was the second time in three days we've heard such a scream and when I looked at Lucia, I knew that she was thinking the same thing. This wasn't good at all.