South Jaga City, Troug, 13th.

“Lenn!” came the shout from somewhere up ahead. Keen looked around also trying to find the kid.

“Where the hell is Lenn…” pondered the young man, or rather boy who would soon be a man. He had at least one more winter before he needed to move on to adulting.

The thought of leaving his little group behind as his predecessors had filled him with a mix of anxiety, fear, relief, and somethings a little shame at that last one. He had no idea who would take up the mantle of watch-warden when he moved on.

It had only been three years now since he had been forced to step up and those days had been the worst. He had had absolutely no idea what he was doing at first, though it turned out that he had to do very little.

There had been another child then, maybe a year younger than Keen was now, who had stepped in and out often with small gifts of food or a tip on where they could safely bed down for a few extra nights without having issues.

That boy had moved on some time two winters back, which had caused Keen a whole new bout of stress; he had no idea how the other kid had done it, or how to fill that role himself. The boy had not even shown Keen any of the ways he had been finding these small treasures and safe havens.

He was brought from his mental wanderings as he caught sight of Lenn in a warehouse on the other side of the busy street. The kid had just ducked under a cart that was being slowly moved around a corner as the merchants made to tuck their things in for the night, it was a day of Turning after all.

Keen looked to the sky above, sheltering his face with a hand to keep the slow soft rain from getting into his eyes. Turning rain was not dangerous, he just hated getting water in his eyes when he needed to be using them. He had time. After looking in both directions, the street was busy, Keen made his way to the warehouse.

A quick look around confirmed that no one was paying any attention to him, he ducked inside. The light was low, having no torches or orbs lit anywhere, but it was lit enough from the gray light of the faded skies to illuminate the area in a low haze of semi-gloom.

There were several stacks of freight and a good many buckled down wagons stored in the far corner away from the opening and any chance of rain while nearer the door there sat a few stout barrels, the kind used for storing water on long trips.

A flash of blonde hair caught Keen’s attention as his eyes were adjusting and he headed further in. Keen was not entirely sure why Lenn seemed to be avoiding him today as they had yet to report in on anything for the evening. Heck, Lenn had failed to report anything for the past two days; it was odd.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Lenn had always been the one to show up with strays or random gatherings of supplies for the group this past year, even surprising them with that strange elf who had eventually joined in supporting the small group of orphans and urchins, though Keen had no idea what form of obligation that one had that would compel her to supply them with bread.

He rubbed at his nose as he recalled the first meeting he had had with the elf, still unsure as to why she had struck him. They were not even fighting!

Once again, Keen was interrupted from his almost-a-grown-up thoughts by a sound as a rear door was swung open and a small-framed individual made their way through at a calm pace. Keen was quite certain that Lenn did not even know he was following behind.

The sound of others coming into the warehouse behind Keen got him to walk a little faster than an innocent person would, even if he knew they were likely not related to his entry into the warehouse. Habits picked up while on the streets had served him well enough, even if they made no sense in civilized society.

He was quickly out the back and standing under the rain once more. The drops were falling heavily now as night approached; soon it would be by the bucket. He knew that Lenn would be fine in the rain of Turning, as everyone knew what to expect and only fools would travel alone at night in the dark with such a high amount of mana in the environment.

Everyone knew that.

The guard patrols would be showing signs of increased regularity soon as they made their rounds being on the lookout for stray monsters coming in from the lake, or above the walls; the latter were normally caught by the archers stationed there.

Keen should be heading back now, and he made to do just that before another sound caught his attention. Above him the sound of footsteps on a creaking staircase caught his attention.

Keen looked up to see Lenn waving from a landing near a window on the opposite side of the alley.

“Lenn!” Kenn called up, “What are you doing on headed for the roofs on the first night of Turning?”

“It is fun, Keen. The wind is alive tonight.” Said Lenn, making little sense to Keen’s logical mind.

Who liked high wind on rainy days during Turning? No one sane. Of course, this was Lenn; the crazy ones tended toward higher survivability.

“Let’s get back to others, you know how the little ones can get when the storms start bangin’ about.” Keen shot back, he had to pitch his voice a little higher over the growing wind, how late had it gotten?

“It will be fine, Keen. You go on ahead, I can catch up later.” Lenn looked down at a shiny ring on the right index finger of her hand before mumbling something that was lost in the wind. “On second thought, I need to go. Keen, you head back now, and I will catch up tomorrow night.”

Keen did not know Lenn had jewelry of any kind and wondered where Lenn may have come by the thing. It was dangerous to keep your valuables on you whilst being anywhere near the docks, every pup knew that.

“Listen, Lenn. You need to come on down so we can head back together, you are my responsibility.” Keen tried appealing to the kid’s loyalty and code of conduct, the rules of the pack.

Lenn chuckled, a mirth-filled low bubble of laughter escaping into the wind as it whipped over the roof above. “I think you might be confused there Keen, though I like you and your ability to stick in there when things get rough. I will be back to the den later; I know where it is. You need to get home and care for the little ones, I have things to do, and I might not make it back for another day or two.”

Keen made to protest and call for Lenn to stop being a turd when Lenn jumped from the landing to the top of the stairs in a single forward leap. His mouth was still hanging open when Lenn looked back from above with a wicked grin on her face before disappearing into nothingness, a grin that showed sharper teeth than he ever remembered Lenn having.

Also, through some trick of the light, it had looked as if Lenn’s eyes were glowing with a deep red inner light.