She cries into my chest for what feel like hours before passing out once again. I don’t know what’s happening here, but it is clearly awful. I lift the girl to carry her while I look around. There is not much here, but she must have lived and grown up here and now everything she had is gone.

I understand that feeling. Like when I woke from the metal-induced slumber. I had lost everything that could mean something to me. The world had been so cruel as to let me think I could find love in Atna, kinship in my cute little sister, friendship in Kamas and Bosir and the rest, before it so cruelly snatched everything away from me. It even seems impossible for me to know what happened to the rest, since it was so long ago. I am forever left with a hole in my heart.

This little girl probably feels the same about now. She can’t be more than ten years old, and lost her birthplace, her parents and all of her friends.

In retrospect, I was really thankful that I was not alone when I emerged, that Amina was there.

In return, I shall be there for this girl. At least until she can fend for herself or I find somebody more suited to the job.

As I start leaving the desolate campgrounds, I start to think. It sounded like the Sylvestri relied on humans for food, but why? The average Sylvester should be a superior hunter to the average human.

In addition, the man spoke of rebellion. The Sylvestri must be subjugated by humans in some fashion.

Where should I raise her? I could live in a dungeon for a couple of years, but wouldn’t that be terribly lonely for her? And I can’t make clothes. And I think salt will be a necessity, since it seemed to be an expensive trade good, but I don’t know where to find it or how to process it…

I will have to live in a city. But if there are definitive differences in how Sylvestri and humans are treated, I will have to conceal her Identity. I glance over her. It looks hard. The ears are a long and seem impossible to hide. The hair as well, I can’t think of a good way to make that horse-like mane look like a regular bunch of hair. I sigh. I will have to wait for her to wake up.

As I leave the camp, I scavenge a few pieces of cloths. I could try to tie them around her head somehow, but for now, I will go back towards the dungeon.

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After a few hours of walking, the girl panics a little. I try to show her a calm, smiling face as she thrashes about. When her eyes meet mine, she stops thrashing about, then presses her face against my chest.

“Can you talk?” I ask her. All I get in response an acknowledging mm-hmmm.

“What is your name?” Answering with her face still in my chest she replies “Kassa”. It sounds a little muffled, but I think I got it.

“Listen, Kassa… Can you tell me a little bit about how you lived?” I think I might be able to glean more information from her about the relation between humans and Sylvestri.

“We… Lived in the camp… Always… Moving to where the humans… Told us” She replies somberly.

What were they? Slaves?

“What did your mother and father do?” She clenches me a little as I mention them. Did she see them in that pit? I feel like she is going to start crying, but she answers me, although with a weaker voice than earlier.

“When I was smaller… They mostly built… roads and buildings…. But ever since the war… We moved more, and the adults were often taken out… Many didn’t return” She sniffles a little between some of the words. I feel really sorry for her.

It certainly sounds like they were slaves. Is it all Sylvestri or just these guys?

“Do you know of any other Sylvestri camps?” I ask her. She merely shakes her head. I sigh. This is going to be difficult.

“Listen… Kassa… This might be a weird question, but do your ears bend?”

She looks at me a little confused, before showing her ears fold inward towards her face.

“Does it hurt?” I ask. She merely shakes her head again.

I put her down and fetch one of the pieces of cloth I found. It is grayish and somewhat rough.

“Can I try tying this around your head?”

She pauses a little before nodding. I take the piece of cloth and tie it around her head, keeping her ears down. I try to pull a little of hair in front of her face as I do so, leaving what looks like very thin bangs. I am kind of proud of how much it looks like a human, until I see her neck, that quite obviously still sports the mane.

What could cover it up? A turtleneck? But I have never seen such clothing in this world. I sigh a little.

Then I remember a certain piece of garment I wore for a time, the priestly robes Amina smuggled a set of out to me. Right, if it was those, it could cover her up. But would a child wear a robe?

Running out of ideas, I wonder if she can just live with the loneliness and I could go in to the city every once in a while. I built a cabin before, although it was shoddily made and can do it again. We could live out near this abandoned dungeon.

“Kassa, listen. It might be hard for you right now, but I will take care of you the best I can. I am pretty strong you know? I can protect you and give you food. But you will have to do as I say, okay?”

The girl looks scared, but eventually nods along. I wonder if she understands she can’t make it alone, or is she simply afraid and agreeing with me out of fear? I loosen the band around her head once again.