I don’t know what’s more surprising. The fact that the icicle eyed boy from my dream is here, or that I’m talking to an actual, real life faerie.

  I know he’s fae because he looks like one. Something about how his skin glistens and eyes flash, the way he breathes and holds himself. I have never seen anything like it, spare for my mom who always put everyone to shame.

  Suddenly, I blurt, “How do you know I’m human?”

  The boy from my dream just rolls his eyes as if it were obvious, “For starters, you absolutely reek of human.”

  Now that I’ve had more time to look at him, I’d wager he’s from Kah, likely the northmost city, Kandra, based on the extreme whiteness of his skin and hair.

  The dog-wolf thing huffs out dramatically, and I feel in my bones that it was intentional. Turning my gaze from the entrancing, dark brown dog, his fur striped with gold and black, I meet the eyes of the boy from Kah, “You’ve met humans before?”

  His face is blank, but I did catch a slight twitch of his eyebrow, “I mean, no. But it’s not hard to guess. You smell different than anyone I’ve ever met. You smell…strange.”

  “I’m sure I smell like a bag of shit after the day I’ve had,” I snort.

  “Yes.” He grumbles, “Yes you do.”

  Ignoring that comment, I stare in awe at the first real faerie I’ve ever seen. Probably too in awe, because his lips turn down and his eyes narrow.

  The dog settles onto its front paws, which, upon further inspection, are nearly the size of my head. He must reach my waist when standing.

  “What are you doing here, human?” The boy demands, pulling me out of my growing curiosity. His hands are all too conveniently placed by the blade strapped to his waist, but I can’t blame him, mine are too.

  The dog nudges him with his wet nose, leaving a faint sheen on the man's arm. A subtle, sweet gesture that tells me they’ve been together for a long time.

  “I uh, I don’t really know,” I truly have no idea how to explain how I got here, or why I’m in these lands, “I kinda just…stumbled through?”

  His eyes continue to narrow, “Where did you stumble through from, exactly?”

  I feel like I need a lawyer. “Some old farm run by a kraj…I think his name was Szah.”

  His eyes snap wide, the dog growls, “You met Szah?” He seems baffled, “And survived? How did you manage that?”

  “Uh,” I stutter, “I threw daggers in his eyes. They hunt primarily based on sight, you know. I ran into the jungle afterwards.”

  His mouth falls open and even the dog seems shocked, “You- you slayed Szah?” The boy’s voice is several octaves higher now.

  Slayed? Who is this guy? A knight?

  “Well, I wouldn’t say slayed, I’m pretty sure he’s still alive, but he should be…er, blind now.” It’s odd how comfortable I’m beginning to feel with them, it’s like the air around us is shifting into something…familiar.

  “I can’t believe you made it out alive,” he shakes his head, his eyes still as big as the full Moon, “We came across him recently and nearly died, ourselves.”

  “You were the ones who escaped him? Why were you there?”

  “We didn’t know he was there, we saw the wall and were curious, but he was quite close to stealing our souls,” he shudders. Looks like the dog did too.

  “So…is this really Hythalla?”

  “No.” He says bluntly.

  Well, now I’m really confused-

  “This is Neidra.”

  “Neidra…but aren’t they the same thing? It was just renamed after Varkashi took over, right?” I might be an idiot asking that, based on the look on his face I must be, but it seems about the same to me.

  “No,” he groans, rubbing his temples as if I’m giving him a headache, “Hythalla existed before the Emperor took his throne. It was said to be beautiful, perfect even. Now…now the world is only darkness and fear.”

  Well that seems…dramatic, “What’s your name, anyway?”

  His eyes narrow as if I asked him something foul, “Why do you want to know?”

  Trying my best to not roll my eyes too dramatically, I sigh, “You don’t have to tell me, but I’m growing tired of thinking of you as ‘the silver haired, blue eyed man’.”

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  He hesitates a second before muttering, “Kaijren.”

  “I’m Delphine.”

  “I don’t care.”

  Okay, ouch. Moving on from that, “Do you know how I got here?”

  Kaijren’s face softens a touch, the first warmth that has crept into his features. But it's disappears almost instantly, replaced by the sheet of ice he favors, “I suppose you humans don’t know, do you.”

  I shake my head, unaware if it was a question or not.

  “Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your people…well, you were created by Varkashi.”

  My eyes go wide, mouth hanging ajar.

  “What for?! And why don’t we know about you all, about this world?” I have a small understanding of Hythalla, Neidra, whatever, but the rest of my people haven’t a single clue.

  “If you would stop interrupting me, I could explain,” Kaijren huffs, his arms crossing over his chest.

  The dog actually rolls his eyes, lowering his head to the ground. There’s definitely something strange about that dog.

  I hold up my hands silently, desperate to hear more.

  Taking a deep breath, stoking the fire to keep it tall and hot, Kaijren at last continues, “The Emperor created the human lands of Nixtran at the beginning of his rule. He wanted a slave race. One to feed to his demons and work for his adversaries. Your kind matures rapidly and dies even faster. Helps make sure you humans don’t start a revolution against him. The quicker you die, the easier you are to control.”

  My mouth falls open, “You mean that we, that my people, were created for the sole purpose of being eaten and enslaved?!”

  He nods in response. Nods! The nerve! I want to throw my knife at him over how casually he just stated my entire race was made to be no more than livestock.

  “Are you kidding me?!” I half laugh, shock overtaking my system. Is that why the esha killed my family that night? Because it was hungry? He has to be joking.

  “Nope.” The word is blunt, unfeeling. Asshole.

  The dog nudges the man once more, and I again get the feeling that he’s communicating with the boy.

  Kaijren huffs pointedly, “Fine.” He bites out, “I’m sorry your people were eaten for centuries.”

  I can’t help but gawk, the reality of the situation turning my mind to dough.

  He glances up and groans so dramatically he could be in a play, “Don’t blame me! I didn’t make you. I’m just stating the facts.”

  Whatever. “And how did I get here? You never explained that.” I snap, beyond irritated.

  His eyes widen for a brief second before his face again freezes, “There are doorways to and from Nixtran. There used to be hundreds of doors from your lands to here, but after…well it doesn’t matter, what does is that Varkashi closed them all. Only the few remaining doorways…or portals, whatever you prefer, are open today by chance. I’m assuming that’s how you got here.”

  If there are doorways to and from…does that mean I can go back? That I can leave these lands and the compound altogether. Could I have a chance of finding my mom and escaping with her?

  “And what about doorways out of here? Can I get back to Nixtran?”

  His eyes go even colder than before, colder than the river we used to swim in on our runs, “There is only one doorway to Nixtran.”

  “Where is it?” I scooch forward, eager beyond measure.

  He takes a deep breath, his face scrunched, “It’s in the Palace of Vershka.”

  I should have known. It’s in Varkashi’s palace. So that means…“How do I get there?”

  Kaijren stills to the point that he looks dead, “You, a human, want to go to the Palace of Vershka?”

  I nod, my eyes closing to slits at the judgment in his words.

  To my surprise, he starts to chuckle. A light, throaty sound that makes me think he doesn’t laugh often. And I would lay my life down that the dog is laughing too. He keeps making chuffing sounds that insinuate humor.

  “You two done yet or are you going to explain why that’s a bad idea?”

  “Humans are so stupid.” Kaijren wipes an escaped tear from his eye, “Anyone who goes to the palace is practically begging for death. You wouldn’t even make it to the gates.”

  “Well, thanks for the encouragement,” I all but growl.

  The humor finally fading from the two companions, silence settles in the muddy hole, the tension cold and awkward to a near painful extent.

  “What’s your dog’s name?” I ask, the only thing I can think of to move on.

  Kaijren snorts and I could swear the dog is offended. He sits up from where he had been laying on his paws, his chin held high in the air, and huffs out with dramatic flair.

  “What?”

  “He’s not my dog, per say.” Kaijren rolls his eyes, as if this is a common conversation, and one he does not enjoy having, “He gets quite offended whenever someone insinuates that. And before you ask again, I don’t know his name. Anytime I’ve tried to give him one he glares at me or worse. And don’t call him a dog. He prefers to be called a wolf.”

  The dog- the wolf just raises his head a notch higher, his nostrils flaring in a way that confirms what the man just said.

  “Okay then,” I look away from the massive being, not wanting to piss off a creature who could easily tear my throat out.

  Maybe that’s my cue to leave. It’s not as if he’s been very helpful anyhow, and I don’t particularly feel like taking my chances against the wolf if they grow tired of me, or worse, turn me over to some foul creature or another.

  “Can you just tell me where we are, or direct me towards the palace?”

  Kaijren looks at me as if I’ve sprouted two new heads, “You did hear me when I said it would be a death sentence, did you not?”

  Standing from the ground, my entire body aching in protest, I wobble to my feet. I’ve always healed from injuries pretty fast, something I always thank the Mother and my genetics for, but it would be nice if I could heal a bit faster. It’s getting annoying how sore I am.

  “Whether it kills me or not, I don’t care. I want to go…” home is the word on the tip of my tongue. But Nixtran hasn’t been a home to me. Not since my family died. I don’t know where I would go if I returned. Anywhere other than the compound seems like a good start.

  Kaijren and the wolf stare at me with expressions as blank as a piece of unused parchment. Fine. Be that way.

  “I’m going to the palace. And I’m going to do it with or without your help.”