AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I need to get to higher ground,” I said to Tessa. The wind was blowing outside, and there was a draft somewhere in the small house.
“Is there anywhere higher up? Where I can survey more of this place and the surroundings?”
Tessa was silent while she thought, but then her father stood from where he sat in an old, threadbare armchair.
“Take the demon up to Miller’s Point,” he grunted before walking out of the kitchen and into the bedroom he shared with his wife.
“That’s a great idea. You’ll get the best view of part of the desert surrounding us from there.” Tessa’s mother murmured. She went over to the bucket with the dishes and bent down.
Tessa turned and went in the direction of her own bedroom.
I watched with fascination as Tessa’s mother took a bar of green soap from her apron and started washing down each dish individually.
Tessa returned, wearing a long cloak. It was thick and oversized. It must have once been her father’s.
Or had it been left behind by an old lover?The voice in my head asked snidely.
Hot jealousy burned in me for a second, but when I inhaled, I could smell her father’s scent all over the coat.
At least no lover had left a cloak behind for Tessa to covet.
“It’s some ways away,” Tessa said as we left the small house. When I turned to look back, I saw that her father was staring at us from the window.
“That’s fine,” I answered and turned back to her. “I don’t mind the walk. So tell me, what books have you read?”
I had been dying to ask her the question all evening. I had read a lot of books after teaching myself.
But I doubted I would ever read enough books to satiate my appetite.
I listened closely as Tessa spoke about all the books she had read as we walked away from Camp Shadows.
TEN
TESSA
Varzig expressed a desire to look over the land and estimate areas where orcs might approach from. Apparently, as a military demon, he has practice with various strategies of invasion. I realize that this may be beneficial for the town, so we head out just as the sun begins to fall behind the Protheka horizon.
The air around the moor appears thin with fog, a likely haze approaching to sprinkle in the dark, so I take my cloak with me. Varzig brings his own cloak with him, and I inquire jovially if that, too, increases with his size as he does.
He’s tying the cloak around his neck as he responds. His smile is dazzling beneath the filtering light of the moon, and the siren-red and black shade of his scales looks almost lilac in the ambient shine.
“That’s a good question,” he muses. “I’ll have to let you know should the occasion arise.”
His humor makes my chest heave with anticipation. Anticipation for what? I’m not really sure … though my body seems to be aware of something my mind cannot yet fathom.
I swivel around so our eyes do not linger and shoot the hood over my head, facing the mound and the direction of our travel.
“Let’s head out before the night falls too thickly,” I remark.
He nods, and I can feel the heaviness of his feet behind me as we walk.
The fog grows thicker as we move on, and I'm thankful that the mound isn’t too far from our homestead. We mostly walk in silence, a respectful kind, one of wonder and tranquility.
“I hope the haze isn’t too heavy for us,” I said as the land began to incline. “There’s a likely spot that I think the orcs may take, especially if they are looking for a surprise attack.”
I feel him nod, and instead of behind me, he’s beside me. Even in what he calls his ‘small’ form, Varzig towers over me. His body is like the thick trunk of a tree, a physical eclipse standing by my side.
A part of that, for whatever reason, thrills me. I’m not a woman in need of protection or rescue. I have never been. But having this strong, capable, curious demon next to me makes me feel the most peaceful I have in ages … perhaps ever.
