Last of Her Kind (Book 1, Part 1, of the LAST series)

return of the damned

"Shhhh. You're being too loud, Eira," hushed a small voice loudly. Whoever was talking sounded like a child.

"No, I'm not, Clara. You are!" argued another voice. "Besides, shouldn't she be awake by now?" Another child? "That's what mother said."

I groaned, beginning to move around the bed. Bed? This was a very soft bed. I definitely wasn't in the woods anymore.

"She's moving!" squealed a voice.

My eyes opened to see two young faces staring down at me. I was either seeing double, or they were twins. One had red hair and the other had brown. Both had tan skin and dark brown eyes.

"Hi!" greeted the red headed one loudly.

"Uhhh, hello," I replied awkwardly.

"I'm Eira, and this is Clara. Welcome to imperium Direshare of Ascot."

"Hello, Eira and Clara." Clara gave me a small smile, then ran out of the room. I could tell off the bat she was the more timid one.

"She's shy," stated Eira. "How are you feeling?"

"Alright," I replied sitting up. Looking down, I looked at the white bandage that wrapped around my bare upper thigh. I had on an oversized shirt and loose pants.

"We found you in the middle of the forest, so my mom brought you here and wrapped your leg. We were going to get the town apothecary, but changed our minds when we saw your ears. You're an elf, aren't you?" she plopped down on the side of the bed. "Weird. I've never seen an elf before. I mean, you look normal. Only thing that is different is your ears. I thought they'd be bigger. I mean, they are big, but I thought they'd be bigger. You know? I also thought you'd be taller, but you're normal height. You're shorter than my mom and my dad. But, a lot of people are shorter that my dad. He's really, really tall. I wonder if I'll be that tall when I'm older. Did you know that-"

"Eira, Eira, Eira. Let the girl breathe." I silently thanked the older woman that entered the room. "Don't be a bother."

"I wasn't," she whined.

The mixed-skin woman laughed, placing a strand of her curly, black hair around her ear. "Shoo. Go play with Clara."

Eira grumbled as she stood up from the bed and left the room.

"I apologize for Eira. She can be quite the character."

I smiled. "It's okay. She's sweet."

"She can be," she laughed as she walked towards the window shudders, opening them. "I'm Annie. And you are?"

"Fae."

"Pleasure to meet you, Fae. Welcome to the kingdom of Ascot."

"Thank you. And thank you for helping me. Not many would have done that. I probably would still be lying there if it wasn't for you."

"The fact that there are people like that is beyond me."

I gave her a smile. "How long was I out?"

"Only a day. Your wound wasn't too deep, thankfully."

"Thank you again, Annie."

"Of course. If you don't mind my asking, what attacked you?"

"Oh, um, just some bear. It came out of nowhere."

She nodded. I could tell she didn't really believe me, but she didn't press. "I have dinner ready if you'd like to come down and eat."

I nodded, carefully getting up from the bed, and following her down the steps and into the kitchen. It was a medium sized house and had a lot of furniture. Taking a seat beside Clara, I begin eating the soup.