Alone, but Never Alone

What's a Dæmon?

Chapter 2, part 1

It was beginning to darken in Amble, the sun was quickly going down.

Yana couldn't say anything. She only stared at the boy. As her eyes adjusted she saw that the boy was quite a bit taller than she was, he was also very thin. He had brown hair, which fell over his forehead and ears. His skin was a bit tanner than hers, which she was rather pale, as a result of living in the dark for so long.

"What's wrong?" asked the boy when she hadn't said anything for a few moments.

Yana said nothing. She had never held a conversation with another person before. No one was ever interested in her. Who was this boy? Was he homeless, too? He had to be like her.

"Are you okay?" asked the boy. He took a few steps towards her. In his arms, the golden cat whispered something into the boy's ear. Her ears were pinned back, and she had a concerned look in her green eyes.

"Say something," whispered Amicus.

Suddenly, the cat jumped out of the boy's arms and landed gracefully on the ground. "You're dæmon doesn't have to hide around us," she said.

"Dæmon?" Yana finally managed.

Amicus poked his head out of Yana's jacket. For a moment he only stared at them. He didn't have a chance to say anything.

"Hey!" shouted a man's voice from behind Yana. She glanced around only to find a young city guard standing three feet behind her, pointing his gun toward the cat, prepared to fire.

In that split moment her only reaction was to turn around and grab the gun and point it away. At the same time, Amicus crawled out from the bottom of her jacket and down her pants leg. He sprinted as fast as he could with his short ferret legs toward the cat and the boy, all the while shouting, "Run! Run or they'll kill you!"

The cat turned and shot toward the other end of the alley, the boy following close behind. Amicus couldn't go any further, he was already five yards from Yana, who was battling to get the gun away from the guard. She had both hands on each end of the gun, trying to twist it out of his hands. However, he was much stronger than her. He shoved her back, causing her to lose her grip on the gun. She stumbled, but kept herself from falling on her back. The guard then took the butt of the gun and smashed it into the side of her head.

The pain went through her temple like a shock, and then traveled down her spine. She let out a cry of pain and before she knew it she was flat on the ground, and her consciousness left her.

"Wake up!" came a voice.

Yana felt a light shake. She opened her eyes and saw the boy staring down at her. She felt the fur of Amicus's ferret form draped over her neck. He began to stir, too.

Her head throbbed, and she couldn't find any will to stand.

"You're very lucky that guy didn't see your dæmon," said the boy. He then just grabbed Yana by the shoulders and pulled her up to a sitting position, causing her head to spin. It was the most horrible feeling she had ever felt. It felt as though her head would split apart.

Amicus changed to a small tree frog and flopped to the ground, then he laid there as if he were dead. He just didn't want to move.

Yana reached up, expecting to feel a knot on her head, but instead she felt warm liquid, and when she looked at her fingers they were covered in blood.

"He did a number on you," said the boy. "I'm sorry."

"I couldn't let him shoot your cat," said Yana, and so those were her first words to him.

"Thanks for that, you saved my life," said the boy.

"How long was I... asleep?" asked Yana. She didn't know the word for what had just happened to her.

"I dunno, an hour maybe?" said the boy. "We circled around the block and hid in trash bins for a while, then when we couldn't hear them near anymore, we came back. Didn't know if you were still here."

"Hey," said Yana, when a question came to her mind. "You keep saying 'dæmon', what's a that mean?"

"What? Like the definition or something?"

Yana only stared at him. She had no idea what 'definition' meant.

The boy sighed. "Alright. I'll play along. Where we are from everyone has a dæmon. It's the animals that walk beside us. They are our souls, while the people in this city have their souls living inside them, which, I suppose, is why they fear animals so much."

Amicus finally moved, changing into a mouse and staring at the boy in disbelief.

"You mean, that's what Amicus is to me? My soul?" asked Yana.

"I thought you already knew that," said the boy, who was now stroking the golden fur of his cat, who was laying beside him. "That's what Kae is to me."

"So you are like me!" said Yana. How exciting this was! She didn't quite know how to react. She had so many questions for the boy, and no idea where to start. She wanted to know everything.

"Yeah, Kae is my dæmon."

"Is that her name?"

"Yes, and my name is Keith."

Yana began to feel dizzy. It was dark now, and she began to think back at the crazy turn of events that happened that day. The angry crowd, the cat and the boy, the guards, being smashed in the head...

"Your name?" asked Kieth when she didn't answer.

"Oh," Yana said, snapping back to present. "I'm Yana, and this is Amicus."

Amicus quickly scurried up onto Yana's shoulder. "Hello," he said. Kae chuckled in response.

"Wait," said Yana. "What about your's? Does she change?"

"Not anymore."

"Why not."

"We grew up. Papa says when we grow up, our dæmons stop changing."

"Papa? You have a dad?" asked Yana quietly.

"Yes, don't you?"

"No..."

"A mom?"

"No, just me and Amicus."

"Oh..." said the boy. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah." Yana felt odd speaking about it with someone other than Amicus. He in turn crawled into her jacket and hid there.

"Do you have a place to stay?" asked Keith, the worry starting to show in his voice.

"No."

Keith stood up. He held out his right hand toward her. "Come on, then."

Yana took a hold of his hand, and he pulled her to her feet, and steadied her when she felt that she would fall.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"I'm going to take you to your new home."