I just lay on that prison bed with Lorraine next to me, staring at the ceiling, there was not much else we could do. I sighed, “I am never going to visit a city ever again.”
Lorraine giggled, “What, why?”
I looked at her, “Because, every city I go to, shit happens, in Sector 07 I got taken a prisoner, in Brickton that white slime decided to blow up my reality and kill Abby’s parents, most likely Paul’s family as well. Oh god, he does not know yet, and now in Moonhelm, I get taken prisoner again, just for being me.”
Lorraine laughed, “Sorry, but it is funny.”
I sighed, “You are such a meanie, but, I am your meanie, I guess, I have not felt this connected to someone since Haley died, not that I have tried to connect to people often. I just, bumped into you.”
Lorraine let her head fall on my chest, “I get how it is to be hated because of what you are. There used to be many wolf people, not like werewolves, we have seen those, they are different compared to us. However, plenty of wolf people were evil, they hunted down humans, and other weak beings, to eat them. Yeah, don’t ask me why, but the consensus was that they loved the thrill of the hunt. It even went as far, that the wolf people started capturing people, beings, whatever, then they would let them out of their cage to escape into a forest.”
She went silent for a moment, it seemed as if she was trying to twist the story, no, my brain is just going haywire. She is telling you some deep secret about her race, come on, stay focused Steve, she will go on after taking a few breaths.
Lorraine let out a very long sigh and continued her story, “The wolf people would hunt them down, it was cruel, this went on for some time, then, the fairies decided they had enough. They enlisted some of the wolf people who were against these practices, my mom, and dad, for example. The plan was to capture the bad wolf people alive, but things went wrong, and our race went nearly extinct.”
I nodded, “And did things change much when you and your mom arrived in this reality?” I looked deep into her eyes, I did not see horror or fear in her eyes, but rather glee, she must have a good reason for that, and she will tell me when the time is right.
Lorraine turned to look at the ceiling, “When we got here, people knew of us, we were shunned and put in a little village, far away from the others. Even if we pledged our loyalty to the fairies, they have a king, his name is Arthur. That is not relevant right now, we decided to just live our lives and let the others be. However, karma struck, and the void boosted into our town. My mom and I were not home as we were on a caravan for trading goods, since we owned the shop in Brickton.”
I stroked the fur on her chest to try to comfort her, “Is that when your sister and father died?”
There was a very long and awkward silence before she went on with her story, “I only learned later that my dad and my sister had died. While we were in Brickton, I have been there for the last fifteen years, no one paid attention to me. People buy clothes in our shop, but mostly ignored me and my mom, men were not interested in me, I did try to make some advances to men. But the tales of the wolf people hunting down everyone made sure no one was interested in me.”
“That sounds horrible Lorraine, I wish you I could do something to make you feel better, but I do hope people understood that you were not one of the hunters.”
Lorraine sighed, “Even if I am one of the wolf people that stopped it, people did not care, they saw my ears, and my tail, and then it was basically game over for me. I have been very lonely. And then, out of nowhere, this weird guy came up to me and started hitting on me, I was shocked, not only that, he wanted to see my teeth and play with my tail. It was not long before he wanted to play with more intimate things.”
I started laughing. “I wonder who you are talking about.”
Lorraine giggled while shedding a tear of joy, I hugged her tight, “It sucks what happened to you, but, I won’t judge you for what others have done, you are perfect the way you are.” “We are both a bit murdery.”
Lorraine looked at me, “Is that even a word?”
“No, but I just made it one.”
We suddenly heard noises and a guard fell down in front of our cell, a woman who looked a lot like Lorraine but older stepped in front of the cell door. We got up and walked over to her. She smiled, “Hello there, my name is Talia.” Long brown, sleek hair gently hangs over a handsome, timeworn face, hooded brown eyes, set graciously within her sockets. She also has giant wolf ears, they were brown with streaks of white in them, just like Lorraine.
Talia swept her tail to her side, showing it to me. I think it is some kind of greeting, as Lorraine did it as well. Talia’s tail is also brown but with numerous white streaks in her tail, she looked at me, “What is your greeting?”
I stretched my hand, she took it and I shook her hand. “Hello, my name is Steve, I am guessing, Lorraine is your daughter.”
She nodded and lock-picked the door, Lorraine let out a sigh of relief, “Thanks for getting us out of here, mom.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Talia looked at her, “What are you even thinking, shacking up with someone of his race?”
“Wait, you know what I am?” Talia nodded.
“Do you mind telling me?”
Talia smirked, “Nope, follow me.” She started walking to a corner of the dungeon.
Lorraine looked at me, “My mom can be like that.”
We followed Talia, she pushed something on the wall and a secret passage opened up, she looked at us, “Well?”
Lorraine took my hand, we ran up the stairs, and soon we ended up behind the cathedral, Talia pointed to the west, “Follow me,”
we did, we used the alleyway’s to get through the city, trying to avoid being seen by people, after a short while, we stood at the exit, in the shadows. I sighed, “Thanks for that, Talia, but, why don’t you want to tell me what I am?”
She sighed, “Because that will only make matters worse.”
Lorraine looked at her mom, “We have two friends in there, can you please get them?”
She nodded, “Soon, you mean the insect, and the c-, I mean the human.”
I tilted my head, “What were you going to say?”
She smiled, “Nothing.”
Talia seemed to be perfect for sneak missions, as she was dressed in black adventuring gear, she put her hand on Lorraine’s shoulder, “You should leave him, go to a safe reality, where they don’t know us.”
Lorraine shook her head, “I want to save this reality, and I have the feelings for him.”
Talia sighed, “I understand, but it is dangerous to be near him.”
I raised my hand, “Do you mind telling me why?”
She looked at me with a glare that could kill me, “Because everything near you is going to die.”
“Well, thank you so much for the pep-talk, usually parents get mad at me after I did something wrong.”
Talia growled at me, I did not know they could do that, but it makes sense since they are part wolf, she came very close, “I do not want you near my daughter, you have a target on your back.”
“Do you mean the Bishop? Or Maybe Alice?”
Talia growled even louder, “No, everyone is going to target you.”
Lorraine pushed her mom back. “Leave him be, I want to be with him, he is the first person who actually has feelings for me in a very long time. I don’t mind that he is from a different species, my wolf sense chooses him! I don’t care from what race he is. If I die while being near him, then I will at least die as a woman with a person who likes me.”
Talia backed off, “Fine, if it is your wish to die, then so be it, I am going to get your friends.” She ran off on four legs.
It looked to me like I was watching some kind of staged play, as if this was practiced. I shook my head as my imagination went wild, of course, this was not planned as Talia seems to be caught in the middle. I sighed, “I am sorry, I would rather not create friction between you and your mom.”
Lorraine looked at me, “Don’t be bothered by it, she has always been protective, but she has never kept secrets before, at least not that I realized.” She hugged me. “I will stick with you, until the end.”
I smiled at her, “I like your tail, it is soft.”
She started giggling. “Why do you always say stupid things to make me giggle in a serious moment?”
I caressed her cheek, “Since I like your smile.”
She kissed me with passion, then she smiled at me, “I don’t intend to die.”
“Good, me neither.”
After a while, Talia came back with Funk and Abby in tow, Abby looked at us, “What is going on?”
I shrugged, “I got arrested, just for being me.”
Funk sighed, “What did you say?”
Lorraine stepped up for me, “He said nothing wrong, he got arrested for what he is.”
Funk tilted his head, “And what are you, Steve?”
Lorraine and I looked at Talia, she let out a sly smile. “I am not going to tell any of you, but the Bishop had good reason to order an execution for the both of you, all four of you need to leave. There is a library with information on the void, you will need to pass through the voidlands, stick near Steve, and you won’t die.”
Funk and Lorraine stared at me, Funk spoke up, “But going into the voidlands, it means certain death.”
Talia smiled, “Not if you take Steve with you, On the other side of the voidlands, you will find a city, there you will find the library.”
Talia walked over to Lorraine and hugged her, “I hope you won’t die, I love you, peanut.”
Lorraine blushed, “Not in front of Steve.”
I chuckled, “I haven’t heard anything.”
She sighed and looked at her mom, “Fine, I love you too mom.”
Talia let out a big grin, “Here is a bestiary, it holds a large amount of information on beasts from this reality, and other realities, now go, before the Bishop finds out, his prized possession is gone when the king arrives.”
I took Lorraine’s hand, “Come, let’s go.”
Funk sighed, “And here I hoped we could spend one night in a decent bed.”
Abby nodded, “I had hoped that as well.”
Lorraine and I started walking, she looked back, “Are you coming slowpokes? To get to the voidlands, we must first cross the ravine.”
Funk and Abby nodded and quickly ran after us, leaving Talia behind, as I looked back I wondered, this all seemed to be, a big coincidence, maybe just too much. Oh well, never mind that, what could Lorraine have planned, when I look at her, I see a woman who is truly falling for me. Or am I fooling myself? These feelings I have, she means so much to me, as if I am starting to find myself again. All these doubts must be my way of processing this, yes, that's it.