Savage King: New Worlds - Milly Taiden Page 0,37
far the sun had traveled. The woman was right when she said many of their questions would be answered. Unfortunately, so many more had popped up.
The young crowd sitting around them had disappeared and joined into what looked to be preparations to eat. Recalling the story, Wren remained in her spot by the fire, while Lilah and Daph were helping the children with their tasks.
Haml raised a dirt seat and sat next to her. “What questions do you have that I can answer for you?”
She smiled at him. “In our world, had you told a story like that, no one would believe it. They would call it fantasy. But here, I’m assuming it’s what really happened.”
His head tipped to the right. “Yes. Our creation has been passed down from elders to children since the beginning of our time.”
“It was that way for a time on Earth too. When we invented the written word, stories were recorded for others to read whenever they wanted.”
“The people on the other side of our planet have words on leaves. They use it mostly for tracking money when trading goods.”
“There are more people here than you guys?”
“Yes. There are many species. The citogan fae live in the volcanoes in the direction of the setting sun. Dreoxbat fae stay in the swamplands closer to those who bargain and trade. There are probably others, but Gnoleons have not been the traveling type since defeating the Qhasant.”
“Who are they?” she asked.
Haml sighed. “Those were beings of the dark magic in the dimension’s past. They existed just to bring suffering and pestilence to the inhabitants. At that time, our village was twice as big as it is now.
“Being a peaceful race, we didn’t hunt the Qhasant to kill, until villagers began disappearing. I won’t go into what happened to them. Just know that death would have been better than what they experienced.”
Sorrow and anger flowed from Wren’s heart. She wanted the Qhasants to come back so she could beat the shit out of them some more. “How did you get rid of them?”
“That is a story unto itself. It is known as the battle for the life of the planet. The other fae nations joined us to wipe out the evil. Fighting was fierce. We lost many good people including our alpha leaders—Iridia’s parents—and my best friend.”
The shadow over Haml’s face she’d seen earlier returned. “Were you alive then?” The way he talked, the fight was long ago, but his deep emotions said he had lost those he loved.
“I was barely past boyhood, not yet a man. That was two hundred cold moons ago, give or take.”
Wren choked on the air in her throat again. “Seriously? How old are you?”
“Around five hundred cold moons, but sometimes I feel like a thousand.” He chuckled. She was having trouble wrapping her mind around it.
Haml stood and offered a hand the same as he had in the forest when he helped her up. “The meal is ready. May I escort you to your seat?”
Wren turned to see scores of tables with mounds of dirt for eaters to sit. How had that been setup so quickly? She thought back to Elgon, the new village created in the Crystal Kingdom with her other cousin Chelsea.
“Why don’t you use tree roots to make chairs? You control the trees, right?”
He tilted his head to the left. “No. Only the ground and plants in it. The trees are their own entities. Too powerful for us to control. Only a true female alpha can talk with the trees. Perhaps you can show us some of your magic.”
Wren laughed. “I don’t have any magic to speak of. My grandmother was a queen in the Crystal Kingdom, but I’m not the one who inherited her powers.”
“What do you mean?” Haml asked. “You can do what Gnoleon fae cannot.”
The little girl who sat next to Wren during story time ran up to her and grabbed her hand.
“Please sit with me. You’re so nice,” the little one asked as she pulled on her arm, dragging Wren from Haml.
What had he meant? What could she do? She’d have to get her answer later.
Chapter Seventeen
Xenos watched the village gather for the evening meal from his position in the forest canopy. His cat would lay long days in the cool breeze and patchy sun. This high up, he was safe from most creatures. Besides normal birds, only the big snakes came and that was only for a meal worth going up for. He wasn’t worth