Steel Ethereal

Ch. 6 Promenade

Rob

Walking with the two near strangers creates a lull. I'm aware that I'm walking and covering ground, but I'm not as afraid as before. Their powers, gifts, whatever they were, weren't beyond my greatest imaginings. I was aware of such things, but in fiction. Just like I was sure that those living in the time before my own were sure the reality I lived in was a fantasy as well.

It was having gone seventeen years and somehow never hearing about Enochs or their supposed natural abilities that was a shock to me. I suppose there had to be word of them somewhere beyond here, somewhere beyond their home we were headed to, this Promenade. Surely, in small villages that did trade amongst one another had to hear about such things.

My former settlement was isolated and self-sufficient. With laws keeping us from outsiders. Stragglers who wanted in were shot on sight or promptly turned away. Often it was the former to keep word of our home from reaching outside ears. We cut off the old roads and hunted deserters with extreme prejudice.

It makes me wonder if maybe there had been knowledge of the outside world. Maybe the elders did know about Enochs and about the legends they heard from men and women they interrogated. People pulled from the outside before given death. The deserters who couldn't live with day to day life that was so menial and constant.

I drape fingers across my face thinking that maybe Gina knew about this outside world and never wanted to tell me in fear that I'd become away of the dangers and wonders outside the settlement.

I couldn't be angry with her. She was in charge of keeping me safe. She never bore ill will for me and always seemed to lookout for my best interests in her heart.

The two women in front of me are quiet. They were mysterious but seemed able to fend for themselves. Had they been people who lived in the settlement, they would have been adored and sought out for their willpower and strength. I shake my head to ward off the thought of what the elders would plan for them reproductive wise. Thankfully, I think, that's something I never have to worry about again.

"Something on your mind?" Luciana asks over her shoulder quietly.

"I... I was just thinking about how I'd never heard about Enochs. Are... Are you known around your home?"

"You kidding? Luciana doesn't leave anyone alive to remember." Sam says in what I'm assuming is humor.

"Sammy, really?" Luciana snap, "Like you haven't burned a building or two."

Sam chortles, "It was an accident, mostly."

The curly haired Luciana turns back to me, walking backwards as she spoke, "We really try not to make ourselves known, but yeah, I'm guessing people know about us, or some semblance of us."

"Do... Do you kill people who find out about you?" I ask nervously.

"Pffft, no, we usually just check them in. Give them a home, train them, let them work for their place in Promenade."

"Oh," I say and we continue to walk on. They don't pry me for questions for my life before. It's probably the last thing they want to do. They must have some semblance of an idea as to what I'd been through back at the burning smolder I once called home.

Thankfully the smoke that soared as high as the two woman had flown to get here was behind me. It couldn't be seen anymore and we were covering ground. Though the rain from the day before was a thing of the past, the sun still remained behind a thick layer of clouds. Worse yet, a front of cool air had come with it, making me shiver.