The Raven And The Wraith (Completed!)

Chapter 15

The Wraith
Chapter 15

"Replace the Council." I said slowly, trying to come to grips with that idea, along with the disorienting revelation that The Eighth Order actually existed.

Rhonda nodded seriously. "Yes. The Council has grown corrupt over the decades. It no longer serves our realm and the Other. It serves itself first. And it's destroying the Balance between the two realms."

Jewel stepped closer to us, looking around nervously.

"Hey, can we maybe have this nice little conversation once we're out of these woods? Or at least keep walking while we're talking? I don't think we should stay in here any longer than necessary."

For once, I agreed with her, and we set off again. I set a faster pace, as I had no desire to be in these woods after dark. It would be close, but I believed we would be able to make it to the open, rocky foothills at the bottom of Donners Pass before it got too dark to travel.

Keira walked next to me. "How do you know where you're going, anyway? I see no trail and you told us you never really left the city..."

I shrugged. As far back as I could remember, I had always been able to find my way back to a place I'd been to before. It felt instinctual, like I simply moved in whatever direction felt right for my goal, and I eventually reached it. I hadn't thought too much about it, just like one doesn't think too deeply on the ability to detect different tastes or scents.

Now, hearing the concern in her voice, I thought about how everyone else would have needed a map, or a trail, or some other guide method, to find their way back to Donners Pass through these woods, if they weren't following the caravan trail. It was yet another reminder of how different I was to everyone else I had ever met.

I had always had these instincts, so I couldn't place the blame on the touch of the cat. I wondered what else I had been doing, or was capable of, that set me apart from everyone else. It wasn't a comfortable thought.

"If I've ever been somewhere, I can just find my way back to it. Kind of by feel."

Keira nodded, accepting that without question. I liked that she wasn't so distracted by her curiosity that she would go off track from her original intent.

"So does this...instinct guide you around potentially dangerous areas on your way back?"

Jewel hurried to walk next to me on my other side. "Yeah. Are you-"

Keira interrupted her. "Jewel, I've got this."

I glanced over at Jewel, noting the tightness around her eyes. Noting the small beads of sweat on her forehead. She was a noble girl, she was not at all comfortable hiking like this through strange, dangerous woods. Even though she annoyed me, I still felt a flash of respect as I realized how much out of her element she was, and how as yet she hadn't complained once so far.

"Not really. It's not like I can inherently know where all the dangerous things are and pick a path around them. But if things get directly threatening, I usually sense it enough in advance that I'm prepared." I told them.

Prepared as much as I could be, anyway, I thought to myself. Remembering the first time I had wandered through Possum Hollow on my way back to my hiding hole, back when I was fourteen years old.

Possum Hollow was the slums of the slums. It was a landscape of ruins, burned out shells of old buildings, and no people lived there. It was inhabited, though. Or maybe infested was a better word.

The two-legged dwellers in that cesspool of filth were so far removed from normal humans that the rest of the city had given them a name. They were called Draelkin. A hybrid word, meaning "Cousin of the DraelWar".