The Hidden Orphan (The Chronicles of Mistar - Book 2)

Five · · · Dest

Faz, Rol

DEST WAS SURPRISED TO FIND out that her new friends from Pezda brought a baby wolfa with them. She didn't how much longer it would be able to last in the heat of the day. Dest also didn't know if it was actually legal for the wolfa to be on Rol. She was tempted to tell the authorities about the wolfa, but when she saw the cosmic connection between the little beast and Ryn she couldn't take the wolfa away from him.

Ossian. That was the name of Ryn's wolfa.

Dest was pretty sure it meant sweet in the intergalactic language of Wanish. She thought it was a fitting name for the little wolfa since Ossian really was sweet.

At night, when it was cooler for Ossian and the cover of darkness hid him from spying eyes, Dest visited the Pezdans so she could play with Ossian. They wrestled in the sand behind Pent's East with the pup. The wrestling mostly consisted of Ryn and Ossian since Ryn was too scared that Ossian would hurt someone. A few times, Ryn got cut himself. Red blood from his arms and the cut under his right eye were only a few examples that turned the sand from yellow to dark orange.

Harmun Square stood in distance, just in Dest's eye view from the window of her room. She could see Theo's dark figure standing under a street light, waiting for her and Roppy to come and meet him.

Dest threw on a light fur coat, made for outings during the chilly nights. She went to bed in her clothes so she would be ready to meet Theo and Roppy at twelve at Harmun Square. When Dest looked at her clock, it read: 11:50 p.m. Theo was early.

Opening her window slowly, Dest paused to see if she could hear her parents waking up. She could only hear her poppy's loud, low snore that kept her up at night. When she heard nothing else, Dest grabbed her bag that she carried everywhere with her and slid through her window. She landed in a roll on the dusty ground making her damp, washed hair dirty again. Dest could already feel her scalp starting to itch, sand clinging to her sweaty skin. She was used to it though. Everyone on Rol was used to it.

Smirking, Dest looked behind her, her window wide open. She watched the wind gently blow her room's curtains back and forth, giving off a cool breeze to the sweltering heat that Dest called night. Dest had jumped over the small fire escape that led to her window that was more like one flight of stairs. It was so small that she knew she wouldn't kill herself in the jump if she did it right, but she wasn't stupid enough to try and jump to her window when she came back home.

Dest took off running through the dusty streets. A few times, sand got in her eyes. Dest only blinked them away and ran faster. She had broken the rules many times, sneaking out of the house late at night without her parent's permission, but this time it felt different. Dest didn't know why, but she felt a rush of adrenaline surge through her bones as if something exciting was going to happen. To Dest, it was as if it was her first time sneaking out of the house as she had done so births before.

In only a few minutes, Dest entered the ring around Harmun Square. At night, the usually busy street was bare. Very few guards patrolled the area searching for crime and watching the taverns for any drunkards. A young man exploded through the doors of one Harmun Square's taverns only to be caught by a guard who handled him with care. The guard dragged him away until they were out of Dest's eye view leaving her alone in the square with Theo nowhere in sight.

A gust of wind slowly rolled through Harmun Square sending a chill down Dest's spine. She watched the sand under her feet move, left to find small particles of sand in between her toes.

Dest jumped when Theo's voice sounded behind her.

"You're late," he grunted. Dest spun around, just in time to see him push his muscle-bound body off the wall. "It's twelve-o-one. You said twelve and that makes you late."