Dominion

Chapter Four: Some Good Luck

Chapter Four: Some Good Luck

The night had passed slowly as sleep alluded me. And in the morning, we found a caravan headed in our general direction - wouldn't get us to Lake Michigan, but it was the best we could do - and climbed aboard.

So there we sat, Vera across from me, feeling every bump in the road as we rode along and trying to ignore the constant rattle and movement of the caravan's contents. She hadn't said much since she'd woken up. Probably still thinking about what happened last night.

I didn't want her to feel guilty. It wasn't either of our faults. But at the same time, I wasn't going to apologize again for overreacting. Because this was life and death. And this world already had too much of the latter.

Vera looked up at me and just stared, tilting her head after a moment.

"Something wrong?" I asked. She shook her head.

"No. I was just thinking," She paused. "Last night, you said you were taught to live the way you do. Who taught you?" She asked.

I wondered if I should tell her or not. But then I thought about what else I had said last night; that we were partners. And partners needed to trust one another as much as possible. She needed to trust me as much as I needed to trust her. And maybe she would if I explained, at least somewhat, why I was the way I was. I sighed.

"His name was Paxer." I replied. "He taught me everything I know."

"Was he your father?" She asked. I shook my head.

"No." She gave me that same look she had given me in the pub where she knew I was lying, or holding something back. I was still envious of Karsara for being able to do that. "He wasn't my actual father," I added. "He rescued me after The Dominion burned down my village and killed my family. He had gone through the same thing as a kid and decided to take me in. He taught me how to survive. Trained me to be a bounty hunter." I paused, and finally met her eyes. "He died still teaching me."

"I'm sorry." She said.

"It was a long time ago," I replied.

"You're lucky," She said. "To have had someone like that. To teach how to survive."

"Yeah." She was right. I was lucky to have had Paxer. I just wish I hadn't waited until he was gone to realize it.

Her words made me think back to him, though. To when I was so far away from knowing how fortunate I was.

After I had woken up on the caravan and he had given me his knife, it felt like forever before we reached our destination: his family's old farmhouse.

But when we finally did, that was when I took my first steps toward the man I am now.

"Sorry 'bout the mess, Paxer said as we stepped inside. "This place ain't been anyone's home in long time." He added, stepping over a fallen lamp. Mess or not, the place was still nicer than my family's home back in our village. Simply for sheer fact that it wasn't in a village.

I kept quiet. And I also kept a tight grip on the knife Paxer had given me. I still wasn't sure I should believe he had my best interests at heart. He was a Bounty Hunter, after all.

"Hungry?" He asked, stepping into a room I could only assume was a kitchen. This house was old. There was an oven in here, and a refrigerator and a microwave. Things no one had anymore. Things my Grandma had mentioned in her stories. "Well?" He asked.

I nodded, still not speaking. I was starving.

"Good. Go out back and find somethin' to make a fire." He said, tossing me one of the potatoes he'd taken from the caravan that he hadn't skinned. He gestured to the back door after I just stared at him for a moment.