This morning was a cold one.

The wind outside was noisy, especially when it snuck in-between the holes of the rocks and buildings around us.

Listening to the wind as I slowly drank the warm liquid; I wondered how long she’d sleep.

It wasn’t that late. Yet I’ve been up for awhile already.

Normally I’d have grown impatient, and upset, by now… but…

I sighed at the memory. The young power had fallen asleep while wiping herself. She had even knocked over the bucket, accidentally.

A part of me knew it was my fault. I had pushed her. Past her limits, and then some.

I’d only allowed a few hours of rest while I carried that stone. And she hadn’t… really slept, during those few hours. She had still been, still was, on edge.

Men had just tried to kidnap her. Kill her, maybe.

That was digging at her subconscious. To the point it was obviously causing her stress.

Sometimes I forgot how deeply it affected people.

“Hunted…” I whispered, and wondered the real reason for it.

Lena might have known, but she hadn’t shared it in her letters. And if the power knew, well…

If she hadn’t revealed it yet, she wasn’t going to.

Was that why she wanted to cross the Rift?

Was that safer than here? Was the Lands of Man that dangerous for her?

Did she comprehend how deadly the Rift was?

Did anyone?

“Sir Riftborn,” a voice approached, and I studied the old woman. She had bruises on her neck, but they had been here when we had arrived yesterday.

Old bruises. Healing slowly thanks to her age.

I gestured for her to speak, and she smiled. “Will you or your companion need breakfast?” she asked.

“Yes. But I don’t know when she’ll wake,” I said.

“I’ll have it made the moment she comes down, and brought to you,” she said, understanding.

“Thanks.”

Taking another drink of the warm liquid, I pondered my next steps.

Question the power? To what level?

Did I need to? Want to?

Have a right to?

Then what? Abandon her, if I didn’t like her answers? Or didn’t like how she tries to lie to me?

Since when have I let that bother me? Since when did I really care over the reasons people had for crossing the Rift?

“Since I screwed up,” I whispered, hating myself.

“Riftborn, sir. Another glass?”

Looking away from my half drank cup; I nodded to the young girl. She happily went to refilling my cup, with a little too much enthusiasm. She didn’t spill any of it, but stuck around a little too long once she was done.

Listening to her footsteps as she retreated to the back, I wondered what she wanted.

A tip? To talk? To find out if I needed company tonight?

For as different as we were, our women were very similar.

Sometimes I wondered if we were really different at all.

What if we were also humans… just slightly different?

The wind picked up, and I listened to the whine of it as I went back to drinking.

I didn’t care for this area. I could faintly smell the ocean air. And when it mixed with the dust, and hot earth, it… reminded me of the war.

This was where most of our army had exited the Rift, after all.

Although the memories were unwelcomed, they also reminded me of simpler times.

A part of me would go back to them, if I could.

“Sir?”

The young waitress had returned, and this time with a small bowl. “Some bread? It goes well with the blood,” she said, smiling.

No. The bread didn’t. That was a rumor. Something she’d not know, though, since she couldn’t afford to drink what was in my cup.

Chances were there were only a few bottles of it in this whole town.

Putting my cup down, I smiled at the young girl. “Sure,” I said, gesturing for her to put it down on the table.

After she did, she fidgeted but didn’t leave.

“Want a taste?” I asked, pointing at the cup.

“Of the blood? Oh… sir I couldn’t,” she expressed genuine shock, and even a little worry, but still smiled.

“Here, go ahead,” I said, offering her the cup.

She hesitated, but with a glance to me… and my smile, she went ahead and nodded. Gathering her confidence, she took the cup gently with both hands… and took a sip.

Most likely a far larger sip than needed. Since she didn’t know.

It took only half a moment, after her first gulp, for her to cough.

Spitting some of the blood out, I did my best to keep a calm smile as she hurriedly put the cup down… and turned away. She heaved and coughed, doing her best to not throw up.

“Yeah… It burns at first,” I said.

“I’m…” she coughed, and I noted the snot. “I’m so sorry…”

She pulled up her shirt, as to wipe her face and cough into it, and as she did I tilted my cup a little as to look into it.

Only a little was left. She’d not only taken a large drink, but had spilled some during the commotion.

After a few moments, she finally calmed down. Yet still sniffed wildly as she blinked watery eyes.

“I heard it was delicious,” she complained.

“It is. To powers,” I said.

Wiping her nose, the young waitress suddenly looked much younger.

Probably too young to have been trying to flirt with me.

But humans were like that.

“I… I’m sorry, Sir Riftborn. I’ll go get you some more and,” she started to apologize, realizing that none was left. It was splattered all over the floor nearby.

“I’m fine, I was done anyway,” I said.

She hesitated, unsure of what to say… but she must have interpreted my smile as kindness, for she smiled back. She even blushed.

“I’ll have a glass, though.”

The young waitress nearly jumped at the new voice, her eye’s going wide as Mintmorency walked around her.

With a huff, the power who wasn’t much older than her, sat down in the chair across from me.

“Please,” Mintmorency said to the young waitress, with an odd smile.

“Of… of course! I’ll be right back!” the young girl’s voice cracked, and most likely not just because of the still burning itch within it.

Turning on a heel, the girl hurried to the back.

“Water too!” Mintmorency added.

The girl didn’t pause to let us know she heard.

“Having fun?” Mintmorency asked, with an odd tone in her voice.

“Good morning to you too,” I said.

Her eyes narrowed, and I wondered what was wrong.

Was she upset that I had let her sleep in?

“What?” I asked, not liking her look.

She finally broke her eye contact with my own, but only to glare at the floor nearby.

Following her eyes, I noticed there were splatter stains. From the girl earlier.

“She didn’t like it,” I said.

“What was it?”

“It’s called Blood of Magic. A drink. It’s made from the blood of a hog looking animal from the Rift. Humans don’t like it much,” I said.

“Oh… so why did she drink it?” she asked, as she reached over to grab some of the bread.

“Because I offered her some,” I said honestly.

Once again I got a glare, and wondered if that had been it. Was she upset that I had offered the young girl a drink?

“It’s not liquor,” I defended myself.

“And?” she responded, uncaring.

Sitting back, I studied the young power that was suddenly angry.

Even as she took a bite of her bread, she still glared.

Had she simply woken up like so? Or was it me?

Maybe she hadn’t liked what she saw, upon entering the lobby.

Some human women did get very upset when older men flirted with younger girls. And although I wasn’t really old, I was in comparison to humans. And although she wasn’t human, she had been raised like one…

Such a thing was disgusting, too. The implications behind it… but I hadn’t really…

I wasn’t flirting with her.

Why had I done that, anyway?

To teach her? Warn her, in my own indirect way?

The topic of my concern appeared, with several new cups. And towels.

“Drinks. And I was told your breakfast will be out shortly!” the young girl happily said, laying the cups and towels onto the table.

She had a smile, which told me that she had long since gotten over the embarrassment from earlier. A good trait to have for a waitress.

“Thank you,” Mintmorency said, a tad bit kinder than I had expected her to.

The girl had brought two cups of the blood, and two of water.

“I’ll be right back once the food’s ready,” she said, hurrying off before I could have her take my empty cup.

“I think you scared her a little,” I said.

“Hmph.” Mintmorency made a noise, as she stared at the red liquid in her cup.

“If you do try it, take only a very tiny sip at first,” I warned.

“Is it nasty?” she asked.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Try it and find out,” I said, starting to get annoyed at her tone.

Would she tell me why she was upset with me, if I asked?

Staring at her eyes, I realized where her name came from.

Her pupils were a very bright green in color. Just like her horns.

They were both… pretty.

It was the same green color of her hair, but much deeper and brighter. Her hair even in this darker building looked somewhat blonde. In fact to humans it likely was blonde and not green at all.

The colors made her already unique existence just that more so.

Most horns, and eyes, were… Dull, in color.

Dark colors. Dark reds, blues, dark greens. Sometimes bright colors came, but they were usually mixed with others. Yellow, but with brown stains. Gold, but with black dots.

Yet hers were pure in color.

Mintmorency lifted her cup in apprehension, taking a very small sip.

As she did I watched her eyes. They narrowed, then they nearly closed… as the sour taste burned her throat and tongue.

“Geh,” she made a noise, and laid the cup back down.

“That bad?” I asked, transfixed by her eyes. She was doing everything she could to keep them open, as a smile slowly grew on her face.

“Nasty!” she eventually got out, although smiling while she said so.

“I see. Well not all powers like it,” I said honestly.

“I can tell why… jeez, it’s… thick too. Like honey. Blagh,” she stuck her tongue out, scraping it against her teeth as if to scrape the taste away.

Swapping her cup with one with water, I took both of the cups of blood.

“Now my breakfast is going to taste horrible,” she groaned.

“You’re the one that wanted to try it,” I said.

“You should have warned me,” she complained.

“I did!”

“I was distracted,” she mumbled.

Shaking my head, I took a drink of the blood she had just discarded.

It tasted fine.

“Gosh, it tasted like slop,” she continued to complain, drinking her water.

A joke tugged at my mind, but I refrained from voicing it.

She may be a power, but that didn’t mean she had lived like one.

Sitting back, I studied the power as she continued to try and get the aftertaste of the blood out of her mouth.

How many were like her?

I should have known those like her could exist. Many powers had been… lost, during the war.

And not just during the war.

Humans tried to capture our kind on occasion. Sometimes they succeeded.

What would they say if others knew of her existence? How many would then think others were out there, like her? Hoping that it was their children instead…

Lena probably sent her my way, initially, because of that very reason.

To protect her.

Because humans weren’t smart enough to realize that she was more similar to them than us.

All they’d see are her horns. The color of her eyes.

The color of her blood.

Slaves. Experiments. Torture.

Humans had many reasons, but the results were the same.

Death… or something like it.

Yet still, the thought that there had been… probably dozens, of those like her…

Young children. Powers without help of their own families, their own people…

The thought made me sick to my stomach.

I should have paid more attention. All of our kind should have.

There were probably many we had forsaken. That we could have saved or…

How had she survived all this time? How had she hidden her traits?

She must have grown up in some very small town. Far from the Rift.

“Where’d you grow up?” I asked her.

The young power shifted a little. “A small fishing village. There wasn’t a name for it growing up, but I found out the capital called it Fishk. When I sold it,” she said.

“Sold it,” I gestured for her to continue. I could tell she really didn’t want to.

Still, she nodded. “I sold my family’s farm. Which was the largest. Or well, really the only one. Everyone else fished the river that our town was on. I sold it to a baron, who lived in the capital.”

“Which capital?” I asked.

Mintmorency gave me a look, and I realized it was confusion. “Gramblor,” she said.

Searching my memories, I wondered why I didn’t recognize it.

I knew of most capitals nearby. By the Rift, I had sieged some of them during the war…

“It’s the capital of a small nation to the west. It took me and my uncle over a year to get here. Although we walked most of the way,” she explained, noticing my confusion.

A year… to the west? Probably one of the small mountainous nations. They were a coin a dozen that far out.

Which explained it. The nation she had grown up in was just a small, probably poor, land. And the town even smaller.

Though… that was a far distance from the Rift and the wars. Whoever had captured her mother, had taken her quite the distance.

Or had the mother escaped from said capturer, and headed farther inland instead of back towards the Rift?

Back then crossing the Rift was near impossible… and the wars had still been ongoing. Maybe she ran there because she saw it as the best chance for survival.

Especially if she had a child.

“It wasn’t that bad, Krift. We were poor, but I never really had any problems,” Mintmorency said, drawing me out of my thoughts.

I could tell by the small smile that she had read my thoughts well. Usually I kept my face clean of such things.

“What’d your family think of you selling the farm? Is that why your uncle hates you?” I asked, changing the topic.

“My family died of the silver-plague. The only one to survive was my uncle, and he had been in support of the sell… which is why he had gotten upset,” she said, sighing.

I could tell she’d tell me the rest of the story, but I discarded my own interest. I couldn’t afford to know too much about her.

“We’re immune to that disease. How’d your mother die?” I asked.

“I don’t know. One day she just became… very weak. Bedridden. She lasted a little over a year, but eventually passed in her sleep. A year before the silver-plague,” she said.

Depression maybe. Our kind rarely suffered other diseases.

Though this land wasn’t ours… who knew what existed out there, far beyond the Rift.

For a few moments I sat in silence, and she realized I wasn’t going to ask any more.

Mintmorency returned her attention to the bread she had only half eaten. Instead of taking full on bites, however, she went to tearing off small pieces.

“We need to talk,” I said.

“Haven’t we been?” she lightly responded while tearing a tiny piece off.

“About your future.”

A tiny piece of bread hesitated in the air, and then disappeared into her mouth. “All right. I’m ready,” she said, suddenly solemn.

“The Rift is not a normal place. The wind can blow wrong, and you can die. Its dangers are more than just physical too, it can break the mind. About half the people who go through it are never the same afterwards, some of them become empty shells of themselves… drooling, blankly staring at empty walls,” I warned.

“I’ve heard… some of that. I didn’t know it could hurt the mind too,” she said, honest.

“There’s little to no reason to risk said dangers either. You’ll not find wealth, power or fame by crossing it. Not really,” I said.

“You just made a fortune because of it, didn’t you?” she asked.

“The stone? Yes. But in all my years working with the Rift, that was the first stone of that size and purity I’ve seen outside it. Ever,” I said.

Mintmorency paused at that, and it seemed she understood the significance of it.

She was a power after all. Although not as old as I, she innately knew what I meant.

I nodded. “Nearly fifty years of traversing the Rift, and that was the first. I’m not saying there isn’t wealth to be found, or power, but I am saying you will likely not find it. After all you will be simply passing through it, not exploring it,” I said.

“Passing through…” she whispered.

“On paths already traveled. My paths, yes, which no one else knows of, but still paths I’ve been on many times. You’ll not find anything precious upon them,” I explained.

“I see.”

I tapped the table with a finger, and hoped she really did.

Mintmorency gave me a look as my finger tapped again. “I don’t want anything in the Rift. I want to get through it, to the other side,” she said.

“I simply want to know if you’re willing to take the risk. That you comprehend it, as well as you can,” I said.

She nodded. “I am. I’d not have followed you here if I wasn’t,” she said.

“And if you can’t find your family on that side?” I asked her.

The somewhat angry power suddenly became worried, her glare turning into a frown. “I don’t want to think like that. But if I don’t then… I’ll just live, like I am now. One day at a time,” she said flatly.

One day at a time. In the Lands of Power.

Sometimes that was harder than surviving the Rift.

“Do you have anything to help find them? A symbol or name?” I asked.

She slowly shook her head, and I could tell my question bothered her. “Mother destroyed everything. The only thing she didn’t was her dress, which she sold when I was very young. For food,” she said.

“So you don’t know your crest. Your family name… or anything? How about towns? Did she tell you which town you’re from?” I asked.

I got only a shake of the head as my answer.

Either she was keeping it a secret, or honestly didn’t know.

A part of me had believed she was just being secretive… but I’ve spent enough time to now know how little she knew of our kind. How little she knew about the world in general.

If she was trying to scam me in some way, she very well could be the greatest actor my kind has ever seen.

And…

Staring into her eyes as they studied the bread that was almost gone, I could tell she was contemplating her hunger. She wished there had been more.

That hunger was real and simple. So simple that had she been trying to trick me, it would have never been able to control her to such a degree.

With a sigh, I decided I believed her.

If I had been her mother, destroying… and purging all memories of the Lands of Power from my mind would have been the best way to survive.

Can’t reveal you’re a power, if you had absolutely no knowledge of such a thing… after all…

So why did she not break off her horns?

What if they had grown larger? Too large to hide by hats, or hair?

Maybe she hadn’t been able.

A small thought of a young power… sobbing as she held a small baby… trying hard to do the deed…

I had to toss the thought away, lest I grew angry.

I couldn’t afford to get angry outside the Rift.

“I know I’m asking for the impossible. And… that it’s stupid… but…” Mintmorency fidgeted, messing with her empty cup. Her bread was gone, so she had focused her attention elsewhere.

She was like a child, always needing something in her hands.

Reaching over, I gave her the cup of water that had been mine. “It’s not stupid to want to go home. You may never have been there, but you’re still a power. And I’m not in the business of making decisions like that. If you want to hire me to guide you through the Rift, all you do is shake my hand. Conversation ends there,” I said.

She studied me, and I knew what she was thinking.

We haven’t shook hands yet.

“I… I can’t afford you,” she whispered.

“I knew that the moment I saw you,” I said.

Not really. I had thought she was simply eccentric. Or maybe in hiding.

Also… that her family would have been able to afford her debt to me, once I reached her to them.

But now that wasn’t guaranteed.

By the Rift, even if she found them… that didn’t mean they’d accept her.

“So you’ll… you’ll really help me?” she asked.

I nodded, and hated how easily I did so.

I really should be crueler.

Or at least, try to be.

I used to be. In the past…

Yet that cruelty was what I had run from…

Once again I couldn’t win, even when I lost.

“Really?” she sat up, her eyes brightening… although no smile could be seen.

Instead of saying anything, I simply held my hand out across the table.

Without any hesitation, she took my hand. With both of hers.

Shaking her hands, I nodded. It was done.

“Thank you Krift,” she softly said.

I had to dislodge our hands, since she kept shaking them, but she didn’t seem to take any offense to it.

“Just listen to what I say. Especially when we’re in the Rift,” I said.

The young power had watery eyes as she nodded, happy.

At first I stared into those eyes, since it was a look I’d never seen from her before… but I had to glance away.

Powers shouldn’t have such emotion, let alone ones so vivid. It was almost wrong.

Children had such blatant emotions. Yet she wasn’t one. Even if she sometimes acted like one.

I was going to have to remember that.

“Oh… here, your coins,” she then said, reaching to her waist.

“Leave them. You’ll need them to buy clothes and supplies,” I said.

She hesitated, looking at me with a new look… again. Just how many different faces did she have?

“I’m serious. You think you can wear that through the Rift? You’ll be half naked by the first day,” I said.

She didn’t say anything, but I could tell my words bothered her.

“We’ll spend a few days here. Get supplies, and let you rest. Then once I feel the time is right, we’ll enter the Rift and cross,” I explained.

“The time is right? How will you know? Are you waiting for a door?” she asked.

“It could be a door. It might not be. I’m your guide. Either trust me or don’t,” I said, waving her look away.

“Fine… are you sure you don’t want the coins? What if I lose them?”

“Will you?” I asked.

She stiffened, and shook her head. “Not unless someone forcefully takes them from me.”

“And you think someone will do that?” I asked.

She opened her mouth as to say something… but stopped herself.

For a few moments she studied me, and then she smiled. “No, I don’t think anyone will.”

I nodded, glad she understood.

Running through the topics I was going to have to bring up, before we entered the Rift, the sound of a door opening changed my plans.

Mintmorency brightened at the sight of our breakfast being brought to us.

Oh well. We had time. Didn’t have to go over all of it right this moment.

I stayed silent, and allowed Mintmorency to converse with the two waitresses. It seemed her earlier anger at the young girl had dissipated.

Or rather, it had never been directed towards her in the first place.

The plates of food weren’t as numerous, or large, as our diner had been. But it was enough.

Especially since I planned on a nice large diner later tonight. Since she was now rested enough to actually enjoy it.

“Stuff your face already, so we can go bathe. Your stink is making me lose my appetite,” I said, reaching for a knife.

“I don’t stink that bad…” she grumbled as she went to eating her food.

She didn’t believe me, but at the same time was right to do so.

Her smell, like most powers, was gentle.

Humans stank. Even when clean.

Our kind…

In fact I found her smell to be pleasant. Enough so that even if she didn’t want to bathe I’d not have been bothered by it.

But I’d never say that aloud.

The two waitresses hadn’t returned to the backrooms yet, and were talking over near the counter. I ignored them as well I could, even though I still listened to their conversation.

“Bet you one of those square coins, that once you’re in the bath you won’t be willing to get out,” I offered.

The young power paused in her chewing, staring at me with worry.

“Really,” I said, wondering if she hadn’t believed me.

“Is this… some kind of…” she glanced away, most likely to the counter where the two women were talking. “A… sexual thing?” she asked, confused.

Laughing, I shook my head and felt sorry for whatever family she belonged to.

They were in for a serious surprise.