Page 100 of Devour
“You don’t need to see one to know it’s real. Hearing it is enough. And I’ve not seen the shadowscelp myself, but I have seen a scelped man. That was… awful.”
I blink away the image of the drooling pale man, his arm bent wrong, eyes sunken, and skin deathly pale.
“What happened?” Helena asks.
“A hunter was caught out too late at night, and he didn’t return for several days. Our village sent out a search for him, but somehow, they missed him. Since we lived on the outskirts of town, right on the edge of the forest…he found our house first.”
The group gasps as one.
“My father was out with the search party. But when the man came after me, it was my mother who… put him down.”
“A warrior,” someone says in a hushed tone. “What bravery.”
“You know we would all do the same for our offspring,” the freckled woman says. “Your mother was very brave. In the way most mothers are.”
After breakfast, a few of the younger girls invite me to bathe with them. The cascades have quickly become one of my favoriteparts of this den; although, now, my cheeks redden at the memory of last night.
I accept their invitation, but before the group of young women exit, I pull Helena to the side.
“What is happening?” I whisper. “Why am I the center of attention all the sudden.”
Helena giggles. “You don’t know?” She looks around like someone might be listening in. “You were seen with your Drak last night…”
I jerk back. “What?”
“The women here give the newcomers a little space in the early days until they’re more established. You being in the cascades with Haze? And he verbally defended you against Ivar?” She blushes.
Ivar? I’ve heard the name in passing, but I’m uncertain of the significance.
“They should have known you would be long for this place, given how you came to be here. But even so, some were scared Haze would lose his command, it being so new and all. Now, he’s Nihilian, and you and he were seen together. The girls are now confident you’re here to stay!”
They—they didn’t want to get to know me better because they thought I might not make it long? Meaning… I’d be cast off and sent to the dungeons.
“Gilly is a bit of a concern still.” She nods to the blond girl with sunken eyes.
The thought of that girl heading to the dungeons makes me sick. Though I suppose I can understand why some girls are hesitant to befriend someone who could be forced to face such a horrible fate at any moment.
The constant heartbreak would be awful.
More proof that despite the comforts, this community is facilitated by evil. We are surrounded by it. The women shield themselves from the ricochets of cruelty.
My heart is heavier as I walk with the other Drahkitas to the cascade pools. Helena stays back, walking with the other guides.
The three girls are near my age, but they’ve been in the community for years. Annabella has been here for three years. Julian has been here for two. And Cordy for three and a half.
I cannot imagine living here for that long. But then again, time is a strange thing. I could not have imagined traveling without a home for over a year either.
“It gets better,” Annabella tells me. “The first few weeks are the hardest. But now that you’re really welcomed, you’ll make friends, and you’ll be comfortable and safe.”
I bite the inside of my cheek.
I am welcomed, but I am far from safe.
“Helena did a lovely job on your hair,” Julian says. “It is so lush now!”
“Yes, I am so jealous of those curls.”
I am tempted to tell them how terrible the curls are when you don’t have access to soaps and oils, but I decide against it. I don’t need more reason for them to tell me how much more wonderful it is here than out there.
