“Yeah.” Aurora carefully climbed to her feet. “I'm fine.” The forest was dark around them and filled with the strange scrabbling noises of night animals waking. She felt a bug crawl across her foot and quickly brushed it off, shivering.
“We've...got to keep going,” Roxanne said, sounding slightly unsure.
Biting her lip, Aurora nodded. “Alright.”
They walked more slowly, feeling their way between the trees and over the tangle of roots on the ground, stumbling occasionally. “Is this really a good idea?” Aurora asked, but was met only with silence. “Are you glaring at me?”
“Yes,” Roxanne replied tersely.
Aurora grinned despite herself, then froze as she heard a crash. “Roxanne, was that you?”
“Oh damnit.”
Slowly moving toward the sound of Roxanne's voice, Aurora suddenly bumped into something soft. “Is that you, Roxanne?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, are you alright?” Aurora squinted into the darkness, trying unsuccessfully to see what the problem was.
“I'm, uh, kind of stuck.”
Aurora blinked. “Stuck how?”
Sighing, Roxanne shifted slightly. “Under a root, I expect. Listen, I need you to go get Kirian for me.”
“In the dark?” Aurora exclaimed. “But I won’t be able to find my way back!” She knelt down and prodded Roxanne. “Can't I help you get out?”
Roxanne swatted her hand away. “No. Just go get Kirian. The moon will be rising soon and the clouds have pretty much cleared. You'll be able to see where you're going well enough. Just go back the way we came.”
“I don't know which way we came!” Aurora wailed. “I was following you.” She heard Roxanne shift again and saw a dark shape rise up in front of her. “Roxanne?”
“You’re useless!” Roxanne exclaimed, her voice coming from higher above the ground.
“Did you get yourself loose?” Aurora asked in confusion. There was a silence and she could imagine Roxanne rolling her eyes. “What’s going on? I can't see a thing.”
Roxanne sighed. “Fine, I'll show you the way back. Just tell Kirian I'm trapped and need his help.”
“What? But if you-”
“Can you please just do what I ask without questioning everything?” Roxanne asked in exasperation.
“Alright. Sorry.” She followed Roxanne back the way they had come, following the sound of her footsteps and occasionally calling out when she ran into an obstacle or got turned around. Glancing up at one point, she noticed the moon had begun to rise above the treetops, dimly lighting the forest with silver shadows. The clouds slowly shifted overhead, illuminated against the dark sky.
They continued to shove their way through the damp, dripping forest until Aurora noticed the sound of rushing water. Roxanne slowed her pace until she finally came to a halt and threw up a hand. Cautiously, Aurora approached her and looked around. She saw the bridge a short distance straight ahead of them, but Kirian was nowhere in sight.
Roxanne shoved her forward. “Well, go on,” she hissed. “Find Kirian and tell him I'm hurt.”
“But why!” Aurora protested. “I still don't understand. You're not hurt, are you?”
“That's not the point,” Roxanne groaned. “Look, do you have a better idea? Or do you just want to leave Kirian behind? If we get separated now, we might not find each other again until we get back to Kain. That's if we both manage to get back to Kain. So what else do you suggest? This will work, trust me.” She gestured toward the bridge. “Just go find Kirian and get him to follow you. I'll be a short distance behind and after you've gone far enough, you'll find me,” she explained, sounding frustrated. “It's not a big deal. Just do this one simple thing, alright? I'll do the rest. You do want Kirian back with us, don't you?”
Aurora bit her lip. “Well yes, but-”
Smiling pleadingly at her, Roxanne put her hands on Aurora's shoulders. “That’s a good girl. Do it for me, will you?”
“I guess,” Aurora mumbled and turned away. She headed into the clearing, starting to shiver now that they had slowed their pace and the cold night air was seeping through her damp clothes. Crossing the bridge, she saw the moonlight flash below her, its reflection flickering off the swift-moving water. “Kirian?” she whispered, seeing no one. The river easily covered up her voice. “Kirian?” she asked again, slightly louder. Looking back to where she had left Roxanne, she could see no one in the shadows. She was alone.
Aurora kept searching the area, crossing back and forth across the bridge and starting to feel desperate, although she assumed that Roxanne must still be in the area. Finally, she took a deep breath and held it for a moment, hesitating. “Kirian?” she yelled finally, wincing at the sound of her own voice.
Cocking her head, she listened for an answer, but heard nothing over the sound of the river and bugs chirping nearby. Sighing, she looked up at the stars and blundering into something soft at the base of a tree. Tripping, she yelped and tumbled over the lump, which grunted and rolled, pinning her to the ground with its weight.
“Who is it?” she heard a voice grumble near to her ear.
She struggled to get free, thrashing wildly. “Let me up!”
“Aurora, is that you?”
“Yes!” she protested. “Let me up!”
He grunted again and rolled off her, slowly climbing to his feet. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Pausing for a second, Aurora stood up as well, brushing herself off. She looked away from Kirian. “I, uh, need your help. Roxanne tripped and fell in the forest and sprained her ankle, I think. She sent me back to get you.”
Kirian was silent for a moment as he looked up at the moon. “It's been quite awhile since you two went off by yourselves. I imagine you two must have traveled quite awhile before Roxanne tripped. So how is it that you managed to find your way back in the dark? No offense, but you’re just a kid. One who’s never gone beyond her own town.”
“Well, I'm here, aren't I?” Aurora frowned, still looking away.
“You are. I could be wrong. Maybe you have an excellent sense of direction. Maybe you have enough trust in yourself to know that you can find your way back to Roxanne. Maybe you even have no fear of walking through a strange forest in the night by yourself. But one thing I know for sure is that Roxanne would not put up with being rescued if she was really hurt. Especially not for something as minor as a sprained ankle.” He gently turned her head to face him. “Aurora, tell me what's really going on.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it again, glancing around the surrounding area. “I-I'm sorry, Kirian. Roxanne just wants you to come back,” she told him in a low voice. “She thought this was the only way. Please just play along. She'll be mad at me if she finds out I told you.”
Taking a deep breath, Kirian shook his head. “You don't have to be sorry Aurora. I'm sorry you had to get wrapped up in this. Just give me a second to get my things together and I'll follow you. It's probably for the best, anyway.”
“Thank you.” Aurora sighed in relief. “I really didn't want to lie to you, Kirian.”
“I know. It’s alright though. You’re not a very good liar. It makes me trust you more, to know I can tell when you’re lying.” He folded up his blanket, stuffing it into his backpack and pulled on his boots. “Let's just get going.”
The two walked back into the forest, the moon now almost directly overhead. Aurora led the way through the trees and around the areas of heavy underbrush, glancing around once in awhile to try and see if Roxanne was following as planned. She didn't see her, but after several moments of meandering through the forest, she heard something rustling in front of her. She slowed her pace. “Roxanne?”
“Aurora? Did you bring Kirian?”
“Yeah, I'm here,” Kirian answered. “Are you alright?”
“I'm alright,” Roxanne replied. “I'm actually much better now, but figured I had better stay put so you two could find me.” Aurora hung back as Kirian
walked forward to where Roxanne sat on the ground and reached out his hand, helping her up. “I'm sorry, Kirian,” Roxanne said softly. “I'm glad you came.”
Kirian bent down and kissed her on the cheek. “Of course I came. Come on, let's just sleep here for the night.” She nodded slightly and Kirian settled down on the ground, pulling his blanket out and lying down almost immediately. Roxanne glanced over at Aurora and motioned to her as she walked a short distance away.
Walking quickly to catch up, Aurora cocked her head as Roxanne stopped and turned toward her. “What is it?” she asked.
“I know you told him,” Roxanne said quietly, “but it worked out, so...thanks.”
Aurora tugged at a strand of her hair. “I'm sorry. I really tried to lie to him, but I guess I'm not very good at it.”
“Don't worry about it.” Roxanne shrugged. “But don't you dare tell him that I know.”
“What?” Aurora asked, blinking. “But if you and him both know that you were faking, why does it matter?”
“Because if he knew that I knew that he knows I was-” Roxanne yawned. “Look I'm too tired for this. The point is, I don't want to get into a discussion with him about it, which is what would happen. It's just better this way. We can both pretend we know nothing and go on with our lives. Okay?”
Suddenly feeling dead tired, Aurora nodded. “’Kay, Roxanne. I won't tell him.”
“Good girl.” Roxanne patted her on the head and headed back to where Kirian lay. “Now get some sleep,” she called over her shoulder, tossing over a spare blanket.
Nodding again, Aurora plopped down on the ground a short distance away from Roxanne and Kirian, wrapping herself in the blanket, which was unexpectedly dry. Resting her cheek down on the wet ground and closing her eyes, she felt herself almost immediately floating away into dreams. With a small sigh, she nestled deeper into her blanket and relaxed, drifting off into an exhausted sleep.
Chapter 2
They reached a small town the next morning, nestled on the edge of the forest. Aurora felt a strange sense of disappointment deep in her chest at the sight of the town that would be her new home. The people looked at the three with stares of suspicion. “People really aren’t too friendly in this part of the world, are they?” Roxanne muttered under her breath.
Aurora shrugged. “Well, thanks for showing me the way,” she said, reaching down to slip off the loaned sandals. “You can have these back now, I won’t really need them here.” Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up.
“Look,” Roxanne said awkwardly. “We kind of talked last night and we don’t feel right just leaving you here. We want you to come back to Kain with us. We have a house there with an extra room and you could stay with us, if you wanted.”
Confusion tickling at the disappointment in her chest, Aurora looked between the two, noting Kirian’s unhappy expression. “No, you don’t have to-“ she started.
“Seriously,” Roxanne interrupted. “You can come. It won’t be a problem.” She gave Kirian a look.
“Yeah,” he said flatly.
Aurora’s eyes lit up. “Really? I can come live with you? I swear I won’t be a nuisance,” she said hurriedly. “And if I am, well you can kick me out if you want.”
Roxanne laughed and tousled her hair. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Now let’s get out of here.” She grimaced at the people openly staring at them, silently disapproving of their presence.
The three left quickly, only stopping to buy more supplies and find out the name of the town so they could locate it on the map. After that, they walked and walked. They walked longer than Aurora thought possible without walking right into the ocean. They slept huddled in the sweet, warm grass in meadows, on the needle-padded banks of streams, and occasionally in rented beds if they were near a town. Although Kirian was mostly silent for the first week, he slowly opened up when Roxanne began naming the things Aurora would like about Kain.
“Leafy trees,” she said, “and pastries and the sea.”
“Kites,” Kirian said suddenly. “She’ll like the kites.”
Roxanne grinned. “Yeah, and the sight of mountains in the distance. It’s too flat here.”
“That’s for sure.” Kirian nodded. “Hey, and buildings more than one story tall.”
They both laughed and the tension that had been present finally eased. Aurora felt herself relax for the first time since leaving Delobo.
“You know, I'm kind of surprised we haven't seen any Citizens’ or Wizard's armies on our trip,” Roxanne remarked, leaping from one boulder to another as they climbed a grassy hill.
“I imagine they're probably all still over in the Caleth area.” Kirian answered, walking calmly around the boulders. “They couldn’t have moved all that far in just a year, especially with all the fighting that was going on.”
Aurora scrambled up the hill, struggling to keep up with the older two. “What?” she panted.
“Oh, Caleth,” Roxanne explained, “it's an area far from here, on the other coast. Probably not the nicest area to visit right now.”
It hadn't been what Aurora was asking, but she shrugged and leapt off a rock into the long grass. They were approaching the top of the hill and the chilly wind swept through the grass, tickling her bare arms.
“You don't think maybe the war is over?” Roxanne asked.
Kirian scoffed. “Yeah, right. They all just gave up. Like that'd ever happen.”
With a quick glare over her shoulder in Kirian's direction, Roxanne shook her head. “Maybe they found that boy they're looking for.”
“You honestly think he exists?” Kirian asked incredulously.
“Sure, he might. Or will.”
Aurora glanced back and forth between the two of them and sighed slightly as her hair blew in her face. She brushed it back impatiently, just in time to reach the top of the hill where Kirian and Roxanne had paused. The clouds above her seemed closer to touch than the land sprawled below. She leaned into the wind and squinted her eyes, peering at the rivers and streams dividing up the land below. Huge groves of trees sheltered the towns and cities and far off in the distance, the hills leveled out and faded away into blue, smearing together with the sky.
“Aurora.” She barely heard it over the rush of the wind past her head.
“Huh?” She turned to Roxanne, standing beside her.
“What?” Roxanne asked blankly.
Aurora screwed up her face. “I thought you said my name.”
“You're hearing things.” Roxanne grinned.
“Guess so.” Aurora half-grinned back at her. As she looked down at the land spread out beneath her, she wondered how long it would take to walk through it all. They slowly began to descend, leaving the lonely peak and returning to the world. The wind subsided and the warmth she didn't even notice missing returned to her body. She tried to connect the forest they walked through and the streams running through it with the overhead view she had seen from the hilltop, but the world looked different straight on.
Over the following several weeks, they passed through many more towns, hills, rivers, and forests until they finally intersected a wide, dusty road. The road was covered in footprints and they frequently passed people traveling the opposite way, who Aurora always peered at curiously. The people had colors of hair and tones of skin she didn’t even know existed and absolutely everyone was dressed in bright colors that matched everything from the intensity of the deep cerulean sky to the pure scarlet of the setting sun. She looked down ashamed at her own clothes, ragged and dull-gray from wear.
“Hey,” Roxanne said, giving her a sideways look, “don’t stare at everyone. It’s rude.”
“Oh, sorry,” she replied, looking down, but continued to peer at the others from the corners of her eyes.
They walked in silence as the sun crept closer to the horizon directly in front of them. Aurora squinted uncomfortably at the bright light and began to wonder where they would camp for the night. She had begun to lag behind an
d dashed forward to catch up to the other two. “Hey, where are we staying tonight?” she asked tiredly.
Roxanne grinned at her. “You'll be staying in a bed tonight, kid.”
“Oh, alright.” Aurora was silent for a moment. “What town are we staying in?”
Even Kirian had started to smile slightly. “Oh, just some big town by the sea,” he remarked off-handedly.
Aurora's eyes widened and she darted in front and turned to face them, walking backwards. “Are we going to make it to Kain tonight?” she asked with excitement, nearly tripping over her own feet.
Shrugging, Roxanne looked at Kirian. “I don't know, it's been so long, is that the name of it?”
Kirian rolled his eyes, still smiling, and didn't answer. Barely able to contain herself, Aurora sprinted down the road with a new burst of energy. “Wait for us at the entrance,” Kirian yelled after her. As she ran, the road became wider and more people milled about, talking to each other and glancing over in amusement when they saw her run by. She slipped between the groups and dodged the people walking the other way until she reached a clearing.
In front of her sprawled the sea, glowing brightly as the edge of the sun brushed it. To her left was the city. It was much larger than any town she had seen so far and she paused to catch her breath. Brightly colored flags danced atop the buildings and all the windows glinted in the bright sunlight, causing the city to glow with light. The buildings were taller than she had ever imagined, taller even than the leafy trees scattered throughout the city.
She stood staring, awestruck, until Kirian and Roxanne walked past her, waving her forward. “Come on, come on,” Roxanne urged. She looked nearly as excited as Aurora. The three walked quickly through the city, glancing back and forth at the buildings and people they passed. Several times, Kirian or Roxanne pointed out a particular building to the other, commenting on how it had changed.
The Girl Born of Smoke Page 2