The Kingdom of Wolves

Chapter 6

He looked up toward the sun, shielding his eyes with his hand. "C'mon, there's a stream a little ways away. I'll help you walk over there so you can clean yourself up."

I nodded, starting to stand. The world seemed to slant, and Syl caught me by the arm. I leaned against him heavily. He straightened out, putting one arm across my back to support my weight. He grunted under the effort. "You're heavy."

"And you're weak. Can we just get moving?" I said impatiently, shifting my weight to lean less on him. My head came up to about his shoulder, so either I was really short or he was really tall. Or both.

He gathered my stuff and we started making our way towards the stream he had talked about. A question broke the surface of my mind as we walked. "How did you know about the stream?"

He looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact. "I've...I've been here for a while."

He didn't elaborate and I didn't push.

As we got closer to the stream, I saw a body leaning over the water. I stiffened, trying to stop, but Syl kept moving. I looked over at him with a look that I reserved for special occasions of "are you nuts?" I looked up at him and saw a giant goofy grin crossing his face.

"Hey!" He shouted, waving. The person looked up. It was a girl, about 5 feet, jet black hair just barely brushing her shoulders. She had a small face that made her look like she was sizing me up. Or maybe she was. Her face split into a grin when she saw Syl.

"Hey, Syl!" She shouted back as we neared her. "I haven't seen you in at least a month!"

"I missed you, Lena!" Syl set me down under a nearby tree, then went to embrace this other girl. He had the biggest and goofiest of grins covering his face. It was the weirdest thing I'd ever seen - and I'd seen some pretty weird things when I was on the run.

When they hugged Lena was facing me, so I could see her confusion when her eyes fell on me. I guessed that Syl didn't bring other girls around much.

Lena broke away from Syl and opened her mouth to ask a question - probably "who's she" - but Syl, held his hands up to stop her. He pointed back at me. "Lena, this is Lucia, Lucia, Lena."

I gave her a quick nod and smile, though my smile probably looked like more of a grimace. She returned with a wide grin that didn't quite reach her eyes. After a moment of awkward silence, Syl seemed to remember why we were there. He rubbed his hands together, like he was getting ready to teach us something. "Okay, Lucia, let's get your leg cleaned off."

I gave a quick nod and began to stand up, but Lena held up a hand. I had a feeling she thought she had control of everyone here, so I froze. I'd give her that satisfaction for a little while (I had a feeling she was going to stick around whether I liked it or not).

"Are you a werewolf too?" She asked, her eyes wide.

I didn't want to tell her. She'd have to gain my trust. Syl had gotten it easily because...I wasn't really sure why I trusted him I just knew I didn't trust her. "No," I said at the same time Syl said "Yes."

She looked between us in total bewilderment. "So...?"

"She's a friend. You don't have to lie to her," Syl's eyes were soft, his face unguarded. Maybe that was why I trusted him. He seemed so willing to trust it was like I couldn't not trust him.

I turned back to Lena, nodding slowly. "Yes. I - I am a werewolf."

She squealed. Squealed. "Me too!"

I gave Syl an incredulous look. He shrugged slightly.

The next 15 minutes involved quite a few "Ow!"s, a great amount of wincing, and some cringing as I cleaned off my leg. Lena had watched when I unwrapped the bandage, then went "ewwww" and turned away, nose crinkled in disgust. I had rolled my eyes, turning back to my leg. Syl tried to help a little, but I shooed him away. I knew how to clean my own injuries. I also cleaned off a series of smaller gashes on my arms, stomach and other leg.

Now Syl, Lena, and I were standing under a tree by the stream talking. Well, I was leaning against the trunk so that I didn't have to put weight on my leg while they talked. Mostly it was just the latest gossip of who was hiding out where and who recently got hunted and killed by the king's men. Usual stuff, from what I could tell.

"So, Lucia, where are you from?" Lena asked, her face all bright and smiley. How can she be so happy? I wondered.

"A little cottage. Outside of town. I, um, ran away," I looked down at my feet. I'm all good and confident in a fight. I can threaten people. I can even kill people, though I don't usually. But small talk? No way. I can't just talk to people like Syl and Lena were doing. I never really had any friends because my parents wouldn't let me out of the house, so I never developed that skill. Anyways, it was hard to talk about small things like where you're from when you know your life's at stake.

"Lucia? Earth to Lucia!" Lena was giggling out of control. I wasn't sure I could stand much more of this girl.

"What?" I tried not to snap at her. It was hard considering the fact that she was incredibly irritating.

"I asked you when you ran away and you didn't respond!" She replied between giggles.

"Oh. Um, about two weeks ago," I told the other girl, looking down at our feet. Mine were small to match my height and clad in falling-apart tennis shoes. Lena's were long and thin, covered by what looked like moccasins. Syl's were big and he sported almost-new looking tennis shoes.

"I ran away two years ago! I had to escape my crazy parents," She put so much emphasis of "had" her eyes almost rolled back into her head.

She continued talking about how crazy her parents were, but I wasn't really listening. I was thinking of ways to possibly tell them about my father and my plan. They were both werewolves. They needed to know, especially if my plan was going to work. I wasn't just going to come out and say "Oh yeah, my father's the king who wants to murder us all and he recruited me to do it!" It just doesn't work that way.

"Lucia, did you zone out again?" Lena giggled.

"Wha - oh yeah. Sorry," I said sheepishly. "I was just thinking," This is it Lucia, now or never. "I have - something I need to tell you guys. But I need you to trust me."

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Last one for today!

Ravenclaw567