Faeling

Chapter #05

       An uncomfortable heat roused Kayla from her uneasy slumber. She picked herself up and hissed at the pain in her arms. The sun was finally going down, sinking below the horizon as she watched. Picking up her bag, she continued North, ignoring her arms and face for the moment to continue the journey she had fallen behind on. There were still few trees in the area, just tall grasses and wild animals that didn't bother her as she passed by.

       She found a small stream in her way when the moon was right above her, and she quickly kneeled to drink the cool water and splash it on her heated arms and face. When the cooling water hit her overheated body, she sighed in relief. The pain was lessened momentarily, but after a few minutes of her walking away from the stream, the heat returned, leaving her just as uncomfortable and slightly annoyed as she was when she woke up.

       She travelled North for a few more miles, not quite knowing where she was going, before seeing a small hut on the side of the path she was on. There was light shining through the windows, so she peeked in and saw a sleeping man there. She pulled the door open (for this house was a way house, a place for people to sleep in shelter for the night without having to own the house) and took a tentative step inside.

       She was immediately met with cold steel nipping at her throat, a man that she didn't see previously holding a sword and glaring at her with hostility. "Who are you and why are you here?" He spat, not lowering his sword an inch. Kayla gazed at the sword with undisguised disgust, and lifted her finger to it, gently pushing it away from her neck and down towards the floor. The man, obviously confused at her lack of fear, let her do it as he waited for her response.

       "My name is Kayla, and I am here because this is a way house, and all are welcome. Or am I wrong in that assumption?" She says calmly. He eyed her for a moment, then sheathed his sword and walked further into the house. He pulled out a chair and plopped down in it, still watching her suspiciously, but no longer openly hostile. He set the sword against the ground and leaned it against his leg. He then leaned over and snagged another chair, shoving it in front of him with a wave at it. "Sit." He grunts, and Kayla wasted no time complying, tugging the chair a bit further away and sinking gracefully into it. He stares at her for a good few minutes longer before leaning back and crossing his ankles. "My name's Geoff. What's yours?"

       "Kayla" She said, simply. They lapsed into the silence of staring at each other once again, simply challenging one another to speak. Finally, Geoff broke. "What're you doing here, on your own? This is no place for a little girl." Kayla smiled, her eyes cold, and said, "Whose business is it but my own, why I am out here? I will tell it to you this way. I was there" she pointed in the direction of where she came, "And I need to be there," Her arm swung to point North, "And here seems to be between there and there. Is that reason enough?"

      He scowled, her answer obviously irking him, but the rest of his body remained stone still; he was studying her yet again. "So," He said, after finally seeing what he wanted from her. "are you one of the ones that eat people?" Kayla started, unused to that manner of bluntness, then smiled, her face changing to that of a predator's.

       "That depends. Are you one of the ones that kill for sport?" her eyes met the sword that rested against his thigh, her predatory gaze turning to anger the longer she looked. "That blade is coated in the blood of living things. It reeks of it; you reek of it."

      He shifted uncomfortably, then muttered, "I only kill the ones that attack me. For some reason there has been an increase of hostile activities with the vampires up North. They have begun attacking without warning, wiping out entire villages and leaving one or two survivors, if they're so lucky. The agression of the vampires spurred on the random attacks of usually peaceful creatures, making me, sadly, have to defend myself." He did look sad, sick, even. He obviously hated killing things unnecessarily, but hard times had spurred him on to use his sword for things other than for cutting bread.

       She lifted her eyes back to his, her anger fading a bit. "Are you travelling South to escape?" She asked, softly. He nodded, then stood and wandered over into the small kitchen. He shuffled around in there for a minute, then returned carrying a steaming bowl of stew and a hunk of bread. "Here. Take this and eat it while I make something for your skin. You still haven't answered my question. What are you?"

       Kayla took the food gratefully, for she hadn't eaten since the Tavern, and answered him between bites. "If you must know, I'm not really human anymore, but fey." The man stared at her questioningly, then, finding no answer in her eyes, he said. "The word fey covers a lot of creatures, y'know. Care to give me a better hint than that?" She smiled, her cheeks puffed out with stew, then swallowed with effort. "I am a Faeling, about a month or two from abandoning that name for the title of Aluklai."

       His confused eyes only got more intense as he stared at her. "So you're from the Faeling woods? I don't believe that for a moment. Those creatures are dark and dangerous and never leave the woods. And, I've never heard of an Aluklai, so what are you really?" He frowned, grasping at his sword again. She simply smiled at him, and said, "Believe what you wish." then resumed eating as if the man in front of her was not pointing a sharp pokey at her.

       When she finished, the man never moving an inch from his guarded position, she stood and set the empty bowl on the table. She then dragged the chair to the empty window and sat in it, staring out into the night. "You may sleep, if you wish. I will watch the night for you." She muttered, and then continued to ignore him for the rest of the night.

               *****

       When the sun finally rose, Geoff never taking his eyes off the still form at the window, she finally stood, brushing her clothes of imaginary dust, and turning to him. She took in his red rimmed eyes and tired posture and said, "You really watched me all night? Must have been riveting, I tell you." She giggled, and then opened her knapsack and pulled out a blanket.

       "I have watched the night for you, it is not my business that you chose to watch me instead of sleeping. Now, it is my turn to sleep. You may leave or stay, I do not mind, but all I ask is that you not raise your sword in aggression at me again. Quite frankly, I'm too tired to hold back and may accidentally kill you if you do." Kayla then rolled herself into the blanket and laid down next to the hearth, and promptly fell asleep.

       Geoff stood and stared at the still form for a good while, still slightly disbelieving that she had actually fallen asleep, then shrugged it off. He quickly gathered his stuff and made his way out the door, vowing to himself to ask about the Aluklai as soon as he arrived at the capitol.