The Journey of a Thief, Dominique Pearce (heavenly.kaos) [ebook smartphone txt] 📗

/> “Huh, yeah. I guess.”
Things went on, slow and actually somewhat uncomfortable. At some point we both got bored and said we should get to bed. He fell asleep pretty fast, but me... I stayed up all night. I couldn’t sleep, no matter what I tried. Something was making me anxious, and I couldn’t figure out what. It was actually kind of irritating. When I finally did fall asleep, something happened that almost never happens for me: I had a dream.
It was dark, and hazy. I could barely see; it was like there was some kind of mist everywhere. Every now and then a bright flash of light lit up everything, like lightning, and I got a glimpse of where I was. It looked like I was by some kind of lake.
My dagger was in my hand, but I don’t remember grabbing for it. There was some kind of sticky, warm substance all over the blade. It was still really dark, and I couldn’t see what it was, but I reached for it and touched it. It was warm, and fresh, whatever it was. I rubbed it between my fingers. Then a flash of light came and I saw what it was.
It was blood.
What was blood doing on my blade?
I began to think of all of the reasons why fresh blood was on my dagger. I cut myself. I don’t feel any pain. It fell from the sky. Why would blood fall from the freaking sky? I killed an animal, or something. I don’t even know where I am, why would I kill an animal? But then I thought... no...
Did I kill someone?
I brought the blade up to my face, and another flash of light came. My reflection appeared in the blade. I was absolutely covered in blood.
Then I woke up screaming.

Chapter 6
Luneth
I woke up to the sound of screaming, a really, high pitched scream that pierced the air. I jumped up from where I was sleeping, hit my head on the ceiling (ow...), and leaned up against the cave walls with my arms outspread, startled and breathing fast. At first I thought the worst, that someone was hurt, but then I saw Kitiraa and my fear quickly turned to irritation. Figures. I stay one night with her, and I’ve already got a head injury and nightmares.
Kitiraa was sleeping on her back, apparently, but now she’s sitting upright, holding her knees to her chest. She was breathing fast and hard; whatever it was that scared her, it must’ve been pretty bad, to startle her like this. But at the moment I didn’t care. Judging from the position of the moon, it was only five or six in the morning.
“What the hell? Do you always wake up screaming?” I asked, trying to make as clear as possible my irritation.
She thought about this, and for a moment all you could hear was our frantic breathing. “Oh, no,” she replied. “This doesn’t usually happen for me.”
“Then what’s the special occasion?”
She took a deep breath and calmed herself. “Nightmares.”
So she had a nightmare too?
She got up and looked out at the sky. I think she was trying to tell what time it was. When I told her it was about five and a half hours past midnight, she freaked out. “It’s that late?!” Late? The sun won’t even be up for another hour and a half. She scrambled up and started grabbing everything on the cave floor.
“You, uh, want to tell me what’s going on here?” I asked her. She stopped for maybe a second and a half and then continued. “Okay then, maybe not.” She only shook her head. “Luneth, grab everything, we got to get moving.” She picked up the pack and started stuffing everything inside. The only things she kept out were my sword, her weapons, and whatever was in that stupid pocket belt of hers. She grabbed the now completely stuffed pack and threw it at my face. “Get moving.” she said.
“Okay, what’s going on here?” I asked, still as confused as I was when she woke me up two minutes ago screaming.
“We’ve got a place to be in half an hour, so move it or I’ll stab your ass.”
Isn’t she lovely?
“Where are we going?” I asked. “That is, if you’re going to tell me?” As I said that, I started walking out of the cave, because let’s face it, she scares the crap out of me. “There’s, uh, someone I want you to meet.” she said. Why does that make feel like she’s gonna kill me? “She’s really important, and maybe she tell us more about Isaaru.” Isaaru? Oh, she means the dragon. She pulled out her map, and pointed to a spot about a mile south of us. “That’s where she lives.” She pointed south. “Let’s go.”
After a while I decided to break the silence. “So, who is this person we’re going to meet?” I asked her. She turned back to look at me, like she’d forgotten I was there. “Oh, her. Her name is Rose, but everyone calls her Rosie. She’s... uh... special. She knows a lot about dragons and their behavior, and in some cases more than me. I thought that since she’s in the area, we might as well ask her what she knows.”
At least she’s calmed down. “How do you know her?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re from Ivvana, right? How do you know someone from Aavia if you’ve never been here before?”
“You know how I said she was special? One of the things that make her special is she’s a familiar.”
That didn’t really help. “A what?”
“A familiar. Assuming that you don’t know what that is, a familiar is like a spiritual helper. Normally they’re given to witches and mages, to help them with their magic. But some familiars don’t have a master, and they use their powers for whatever they choose, good or evil.”
“And what does that have to do with you?” I asked, still a little confused.
“Well, familiars are one of the only living creatures besides Sages that can actually cross between realms, like how I came here. Rosie used to belong to a mage in Eruyt, the city I live in. When he... died... she was all by herself, and we quickly became friends. A few months ago, though, she decided to try living on her own, so she thought it would be best if she started somewhere new. Earth was out of the question; the people there are so selfish, petty, and ignorant; who could live with them? So, she came here.”
Hm. Makes sense to me. I probably wouldn’t last with the Earthans either. I’m better off with the elves here.
After another five or ten minutes of talking, we came across a river. Weird. I never knew there was a river here. Then again, I haven’t been this far into the forest before. I guess there are things about the Kyr Woods that I still don’t know.
The river was wider and deeper than the one I was so used to. It could be the same river, just farther upstream. The whole place seemed peaceful... the trees were like willows, with low-hanging branches, smooth white bark and silver-green leaves, giving lots of shade. There were lilies, water lilies, floating along the riverbanks; they smelled fragrant, and sweet. I couldn’t even believe that such a beautiful place could exist in my forest without me knowing, considering I’d lived here so long. But at the time, I didn’t care. I was just wrapped up in the beauty of the river.
I actually forgot Kitiraa was there until she shoved me and I fell on my face.
“Oh, damn!” I cursed. I got up slowly, shaking the dirt off of me. “What the hell was that for!” Kitiraa was smiling like the little devil she was. “Hee hee hee... just making sure you were conscious.” I hate her so much right now. I wonder how hard you have to swing a rock over someone’s head before their skull cracks...
Then I looked up, and I saw just the strangest thing. It was a fox... yeah, a fox, about fifty feet away. But I could tell it wasn’t a normal fox. It’s fur was fiery red-orange, and it was larger than most foxes; actually it was taller than a wolf. It looked like it was trying to fish in the river, because it was sitting on it’s haunches staring at the water. That’s another thing that was strange: even at this distance I could see it’s piercing jade green eyes. Almost like Kitiraa’s eyes...
I started walking towards it for a closer look. Naturally, I expected Kitiraa to object, but she didn’t say anything. That’s when I knew there was something wrong.
The fox noticed me, and looked me over. I kept moving toward it, even though at this point it was pretty obvious it was a stupid idea. Then the next thing I know it’s running towards me, and I think I had thoughts of running away, but by the time my legs decided to move it was within arms reach. Then I get slammed on the ground pinned to the riverbank, unable to move. The fox had an angered look in it’s unnaturally green eyes. At this moment, three thoughts were going through my mind. One, I think I’m going to die.Two, why on earth did I walk towards this thing? And three, why isn’t Kitiraa helping me?
Then all of a sudden, the fox gets off of me and runs somewhere behind me. I slowly sit up and turn, only to find the fox licking Kitiraa’s face while she laughs hysterically. Oh, sure, you’ll try to kill me, but when you see her, you act all friendly.
Kitiraa managed to get out from under the fox and ran over to the riverbank a little bit farther upstream. She bent over and picked something up... a kimono, I think. It was sky blue with water lilies and white roses all over it. It had been folded neatly on the riverbank, and I felt kind of stupid for not noticing it before. The fox came over to Kitiraa, and sat down in front of her. Then Kitiraa slowly wrapped the kimono around it, and tied it. Then the strangest thing happened: The fox turned into a hume. It slowly stood up as fox like features began to form a human face, and delicate paws extended into fingers. What was this? Was it magic, or an illusion? I had never witnessed anything like this before. The fox stood tall now, fur peeling back to reveal smooth skin, and arms coming out of the sleeves of the kimono. However, it's tail, claws, and fangs stayed as they were, making this creature seem like a demon.
Well, as it turned out, it was a she, with tan skin and long, fiery red-orange hair. Kitiraa picked up a ribbon that was the same color as the kimono and tied up it’s-I mean her-hair. She smiled, and piercing gaze met mine. She looked a little confused. Kitiraa noticed this and said, “Oh, Luneth, I’d like you to meet Rosie. Rosie, this is Luneth. He’s going to be traveling with me for a while.”
“Wait a minute. You’re Rose?” I asked, pointing at the she-fox.
She responded with an indignant look on her face. “You act like you’ve never seen a hydra before.” She turned her nose in the air, acting all prideful.
“A what?”


Chapter 7
Kitiraa

It took a while to explain to Luneth what a hydra was. He’s not exactly the brightest of people, if you know what I mean. “Luneth, a hydra is a fox-like creature with magical abilities.” I explained. “Many of them are shapeshifters.