The Hollow Moon (Downworlder Series, #2)

Chapter One: Wolf Without Teeth

I sifted through the still warm ash that coated the ground. From what I could tell it used to be a small building. The purpose of it I wasn't sure. It was just one of the many building that had been set on fire last night. I had watched the flames dance from my apartment's grimy window. The sight of all the fires had reminded me of home and the campfires that the camps used to set up for the night. It made me almost melancholy. It made me ache for my home in the mountains.

 My fingers brushed against an odd shape in the and I swept some more ash away from the object I had found. It was a chunk of melted glass. The heat of the fire had warped, it turning it into a rather abstract shape. I used my shirt and wiped off more of the ash. I lifted it up, letting the sun glint through it. It was almost mesmerizing as the flat planes of the glass collided with the rounded edges that the fire had melted. It seemed to create rainbows in the air. I smiled at it as I tucked it into my knapsack with the other objects I had found.

The smell of ash and charred flesh was heavy in the air but it was to be expected with the absolute destruction that had happened last night. I wiped my hands off on my pants as I moved away from the large ash pile. I had been searching it for nearly an hour and there wasn't much left in the area. As much death as the fires brought for the people who had occupied the destroyed territory, it brought me numerous opportunities. I was able to scavenge many trinkets that I could clean up or utilize for my small market stall.

 I needed to keep it stocked if I wanted to make enough money for my groceries and my rent. I rubbed at my neck, searching inwards quickly for my beast but she was still curled up into her tiny ball. I mentally ran my hands over her fur, giving the timid and fearful creature the comfort she clearly needed. Sometimes i felt like a mother with a child when it came to her but I never once begrudged her for leaving me essentially a human among animals. She was scared and what we had escaped from would be enough to make any beast hide in the corner and whimper incessantly. I didn't hold it against her, she was always a timid beast.

 I pulled my faded bandana from my pocket and wiped my face. It was getting too late in the day to be scrounging around a territory I did not belong in. I had managed to get friendly with the ferals and squatters that still roamed around. Most people assumed they were crazy and dangerous and they would be right but if you scratched them in just the right way they would leave you alone. Either that or feed them. I usually had a free pass in squatter and feral zones because I paid my way through them. It was safer to travel through their zones then to go to the main drags.

I tucked my bandana back into my pocket and frowned slightly, tilting my head. I could hear... something. Numerous footsteps marching down the street. My heart jumped in my chest and I quickly put my knapsack over my shoulder and moved towards the shadows of the alleyways.
It was safer for me to stay away from large groups of people. MacIntosh was chummy with the used to be Doyen of the territory I was scavenging. It had been a calculated risk and with the ferals and squatters around I knew MacIntosh would stay away for the time being. It was safe for now but that didn't mean people could see me and report back to him. I had escaped him once and I knew he wouldn't allow me to escape a second time.

 I tucked some hair behind my ears as I moved around charred buildings and down soot covered alleyways. The smoke had marked nearly everything, leaving that heavy scent of ash and char in the air. It was thicker and more sombre than the campfire smoke I had grown up with but the smell still tinged on the memories. I trailed my fingertips along the wall and looked at the blackness that coated my skin. It felt oily and I wondered if that was from the building the fire had burned or the people. I wiped my fingertips off on my overalls, unconcerned with any of the death that could have been, or who the ash could have contained.