The Girl Born of Smoke Read online

  Strings of lamps, only some of them lit, criss-crossed above the main street they walked down, hanging just out of reach. Finally, they turned down an unlit smaller road and stopped in front of a squat brick house with spindly vines creeping up the sides.

  Kirian scowled when he saw the vines and idly began pulling a few of them off as Roxanne hunted through her backpack for the key to the front door. As the sky slowly darkened, she finally pulled out a key triumphantly and unlocked the door. Aurora was the last to enter through the front door and she immediately wrinkled her nose at the musty, wet smell of the house.

  “Ugh,” Roxanne complained, “the entire place mildewed while we were gone.”

  Kirian shrugged and opened a couple windows, spilling in a little light and fresh air. The room they stood in was bare, except for a couple dusty chairs and table sprawled in front of a cobwebbed fireplace.

  Roxanne silently observed the room for a moment before turning to Aurora and gesturing widely. “Well, this is it,” she said. “How about a tour?”

  “Sure.” She nodded, following Roxanne out of the room as Kirian began cleaning out the fireplace. They turned a corner around one of the walls of the main room and Aurora found herself surrounded by counters and cupboards. “I'm guessing this is the kitchen,” she ventured.

  “Smart girl,” Roxanne said with a tinge of sarcasm. “Clearly we have no food. At least, I hope we don't.” She opened a couple of the cupboards and shrugged. “Yeah, nothing. Kirian can go shopping tomorrow or something.” She glanced at Aurora. “You're just kind of on your own for food, once we have some”

  “’Kay.”

  “Fantastic. Well, let me show you the rest of the house then.” They walked down the shadowy, narrow hallway connected to the kitchen. Several closed doors were on either side and Roxanne gestured to each one with a quick explanation. “Closet, bathroom, another closet, my room, and,” she paused as she flung the door open enthusiastically, “your room!”

  Aurora entered the room timidly. A bed sat near to the ground in the corner, its dusty blankets neatly tucked in. The only other furniture in the room was a small desk in front of a window. She walked over to the window and stood on her tiptoes to peer out. She saw the road in front of their house, dark and abandoned.

  “How do you like it?” Roxanne asked.

  “It's wonderful, Roxanne,” she said, mesmerized.

  Roxanne snickered. “You don't have to lie, kid. But hey, it's a room, right? Anyway, mine and Kirian’s room is right next to yours. So don't be too loud or anything, alright?”

  Nodding, Aurora looked back at her. “Don't worry, I'll be quiet.”

  “I know you will,” Roxanne laughed. “Alright, well if you need anything, we'll be around.” She left the room, closing the door behind her. Sliding off her sandals, Aurora hoisted herself up onto the desk to open the window. It slid open reluctantly, creaking and moving in spurts. The cool night air immediately flowed into the room, smelling of the ocean.

  She smiled and clambered down from the desk, noticing for the first time that there were narrow doors on the other side of the room. Pulling them open, she found a small, empty closet. Her smile growing, she flopped down onto the bed, putting her hands behind her head.

  It had been several weeks since she had slept in a real bed and months since she had slept in one this comfortable. Closing her eyes, she listened to the low mumble of Roxanne and Kirian's voices coming from another part of the house, highlighted often by Roxanne's laugh. With a sigh, she felt herself relaxing into sleep.

  The next morning, she awoke with a sneeze. Rubbing her nose with the palm of her hand, she ungracefully rolled out of bed and stumbled over to the window. She saw the sun was already high in the sky and daylight streamed through the city, between the houses and trees.

  A few people strolled along the street in front of their house, greeting each other as they passed. Two of the passers-by stopped to talk and Aurora saw one of them gesture in her direction as they both glanced over. Awkwardly ducking out of sight, she ran a hand through her tangled hair and walked out of her bedroom, heading toward the kitchen.

  Her feet softly plodded on the wood floor. She turned around the corner into the kitchen and was instantly buffeted with the smell of warm, sweet bread and fresh fruit. Inhaling deeply, she found Roxanne with her back to Aurora, cutting up the fruit into a bowl. Without turning, she gestured toward the bread sitting on the stove. “About time you got up. You can have some if you want,” she said offhandedly. “Kirian bought it at the market this morning.”

  Licking her lips, Aurora snatched a thick slice of the bread and leaned against the wall, chewing on it slowly, savoring the warm stickiness.

  “You should probably go shopping yourself,” Roxanne continued between bites of fruit.

  “What for?” Aurora cocked her head.

  Roxanne made a face. “Some new clothes, for starters.” She looked disparagingly at Aurora. “Those rags aren't going to hold up for much longer.”

  “Oh.”

  Roxanne set down the bowl of fruit and reached into her own pocket as Aurora gulped down the last of her bread, licking her fingers clean. “Here,” Roxanne said, tossing her a handful of coins, “buy yourself some new clothes.” Aurora managed to catch one of the coins while the others flew past her and clinked to the floor. As she scurried to scoop them up, Roxanne gave her directions toward the market. “Got it?” she asked.

  “I think so.” Aurora nodded hesitantly. “What should I get?”

  Heading out of the kitchen toward the front door, Roxanne shrugged. “Whatever you need. Wish me luck, I'm off to try and get my job back. Kirian’s already out working again in the fields.” She grinned and stepped out the door.

  “Oh, good luck then,” Aurora called after her. She stuffed the coins into the pocket of her tattered pants and followed Roxanne out the door, heading into town. The gently sloping road carried her up into town, where she spotted brightly colored banners hung high up across the street, fastened to the buildings on either side.

  As she grew closer to the market, she saw more and more people lining the streets, chattering with each other. She noticed one old man sitting on a short wall in front of a building surrounded with nearly a dozen scrawny brown and gray cats. He was picking off pieces of a hunk of meat and feeding them to the cats, who hungrily butted each other out of the way. The crowd grew even thicker and she saw stalls lining the street.

  She felt out of place among all the other shoppers and slunk around the edge of the market, looking at the stalls. The smell was overpowering. She saw breads dripping with melted butter and sugar, vegetables glistening with water, and other foods she had never seen before, but no clothes.

  She began to wonder if she was in the wrong area. As she craned her neck to try and see around the throng of shoppers, she caught sight of a group of four kids off to the side, eating pears in the shade of a tall brick building. She smiled timidly at them. One, a tall girl with short brown hair, noticed her and smiled back. She nudged the red-headed boy standing next to her and nodded toward Aurora. The four of them approached her, looking curious.

  “Hey, what's your name?” the girl asked her.

  “Aurora,” she replied nervously. She shifted her glance between the four: two boys and two girls. They were all slightly taller than her and appeared to be a year or two older.

  The boy who had been nudged earlier cocked his head at her reply. His short hair was the color of fire – full of reds and golds. “Are you from around here?” he asked. “I don't think I've seen you before.”

  Aurora shook her head. “I just got here last night.”

  “Oh yeah? Where are you staying at?” the other girl questioned.

  “With these two people I ran into - Kirian and Roxanne,” Aurora said, noticing the others' faces light up.

  “Kirian and Roxanne are back in town?” the boy asked her excitedly. “Oh man, they've been gone for half the year now, I think.”
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br />   The other three looked just as enthusiastic. “Roxanne is awesome,” one of the girls assured her. “She used to work over at that bar by the cliffs.”

  “Yeah, if there weren't any other customers around, she'd give us a few drinks,” the other girl said, grinning. “You are so lucky.”

  There was an awkward pause, then Aurora shrugged. “Oh,” she said suddenly, “do you know where I can buy some clothes? Roxanne sent me out to buy something for myself.”

  The red-haired boy snickered and looked Aurora up and down. “Looks like you could use it,” he said.

  The girls glared at him and the other boy, who had been silent throughout the conversation, rolled his eyes. “Oh shut up, Kalib,” he muttered. He tossed his pear core over his shoulder and grinned crookedly at Aurora. He had darker skin than the others and black curly hair that hung around his face. He brushed it back impatiently. “Don't mind Kalib. He's an idiot,” he said to Aurora. “I can show you where they sell some clothes, if you like.”

  Kalib pretended to look hurt and threw away his pear as well, his freckled chin wet from the juice. “You're the idiot,” he grumbled. Putting his arms around the two girls, who looked up at him and giggled, he continued, “Well, the girls and I are going to the beach. You two have fun. I'll see you around, Aurora.” They headed off, talking and laughing.

  “Sorry, I didn't mean to take you away from your friends,” Aurora said to the boy.

  He laughed. “Don't worry about it. My name's Djerr, by the way. Aurora, right?”

  “Deh-yair?” She sounded it out slowly.

  Djerr grimaced. “I know, I know, it's a weird name. My mom was from one of the islands and she wanted to name me after her father or something. I’ve lived in Kain all my life, though. You’re not from around here, are you?”

  She shook her head. “I met Roxanne and Kirian pretty far away and I wanted to find somewhere new to live, so they offered to let me stay with them.”

  “Wow.” Djerr raised an eyebrow. “Roxanne’s pretty easy-going, but Kirian kind of freaks me out. You’re brave.”

  Laughing, she grinned at him. “He’s a little scary, but he’s not so bad. Thanks so much for showing me around, by the way. This city’s so big. Everyone seems really friendly, though.” She stayed close to him as they flitted through the crowd.

  “No problem.” Djerr darted between two large women, glancing back to make sure she was keeping up. The marketplace went whirring by, and the two soon came to a halt. “Alright, you should be able to find everything you need here,” he explained. “I'll probably hang out here for awhile, so maybe I'll catch up with you later, alright?”

  “Oh, okay.” Aurora nodded and looked around at the stalls with bewilderment. There were more clothes in more colors and more sizes than she ever imagined possible. With a wave, Djerr turned and was swept away in the crowd. Biting her lower lip, she turned to the nearest stall and began her shopping trip, buying the brightest, most colorful clothes she could find.

  Lugging around all the clothes, she finally spent her last bit of money on a woven bag to hold them all. Pleased, she turned to head for home. To her relief, the market had grown emptier, and she found she could actually see where she was going. Trudging along, bag in tow, she squinted against the glare of the sun lounging low in the sky. Half-blinded, she felt someone grab her shoulder and she turned, startled. It was Djerr, breathing hard.

  “Hey there, I almost missed you,” he panted, grinning. “How'd it go?”

  Aurora glanced down at her bag heaping with clothes. “Oh, it went alright, I guess. I managed to get a lot of stuff.”

  “Cool.” He pulled at one of his thick strands of curly hair, which sprung back into place when he let go. “So you probably haven't seen much of town yet, have you?”

  Aurora shook her head. “No, not yet.”

  “Well then, would you like a little tour?”

  Glancing down at her bag again, Aurora made a face. “Well, could we stop by my house first, or something? I don't really want to lug this around everywhere.”

  Djerr laughed. “Sure, that's fine.” His face lit up. “Oh, how about you drop it off at my house? It's really nearby.”

  “Oh, alright.” She nodded. As they left the market, they walked past a man standing on the corner, passing out scraps of paper to everyone who passed within reach. He gravely handed Aurora a paper as she looked at him curiously.

  It read:

  Don't be taken Advantage of.

  Stand up for your Beliefs.

  Join the Wizard's Army.

  Djerr glanced over at the paper and made a face. “You should probably throw that away,” he warned.

  Confused, Aurora looked over at him. “What do you mean? What is this?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “That guy's there every week. He's just some advocate for the Wizard's Army, always passing out those fliers. Most everyone just ignores him though. We don't want to get involved in some stupid war.”

  “That's right,” Aurora remembered suddenly, “Kirian and Roxanne mentioned something about a war.” She noticed Djerr was staring at her. “What?” she protested.

  “Just where have you been living all these years?

  She shrugged. “Why?”

  “Are you telling me you're only now hearing about the war?”

  “I guess. Why? Is it really that important?” She looked away from his stare.

  Djerr smiled at her. “I guess not. I was just surprised, that's all.”

  Wordlessly, Aurora followed Djerr down the street a short ways, before turning off onto a wide dirt road. It was dry and they kicked up dirt with every step, creating a small cloud of dust behind them. The road was lined with trees, which rustled slightly in the breeze, sending sunbeams dancing across the road.

  “So what's it like living with Roxanne and Kirian?” Djerr asked suddenly.

  Aurora glanced over at him. “I don't know. They argue sometimes, but they’re mostly pretty nice.”

  Shrugging, Djerr put his hands behind his head as he walked. “I don't know, I could just never imagine them living with a kid, you know? I mean, it's not like they really have to take care of you or anything, it's just that Roxanne doesn't seem to be very into the whole responsibility thing and Kirian would always get annoyed whenever any of us would tag along with Roxanne anywhere. You know what I mean?”

  “I know what you mean.” Aurora giggled. “It's interesting, living with them. I don't think Kirian really wants me around all that much and it seems like Roxanne’s mostly going to let me do whatever I want, but it's not really all that bad. It works out.”

  Djerr smiled back at her. “Alright then. But if they ever start driving you crazy, you can always come hang out with me instead.” He slowed to a stop and pointed at the small house, set back into the trees. “Well, this is it.” He walked up to the door and paused. “Try to stay a little quiet. My dad's probably still asleep.”

  Blinking, Aurora cocked her head. “Still asleep? Does your dad work at night?”

  “Nah, he just sleeps late.” Djerr waved a hand dismissively and opened the door. “He can sleep through a lot though,” he said quietly.

  It was dark inside the house and it took Aurora's eyes a moment to adjust. The air was dusty and the windows were slightly tinted with the brownish color of grime. One of the windows had a large crack in it, which let in a small splinter of bright sunlight. The house was surprisingly empty of much furniture or belongings, so a small potted plant on the counter caught Aurora's eye. It was brown and withered, long dead. Djerr seemed not to notice Aurora's unease.

  “You can just set your stuff down anywhere.” He leaned against the wall by the door and waited. After quietly plopping her bag down on the floor, they headed back outside into the sunlight to walk around town. “So what else would you like to see?” Djerr asked, pausing in the shade under one of the giant trees lining the road.

  “Do you know where Roxanne worked before she left?”

  He g
rinned. “Of course! Is she working there again?”

  Aurora nodded. “Well, at least, she was going to try and get her job back.”

  “Fantastic.” He leapt out into the sunlight. “I haven't been to that place in ages, basically since Roxanne left, I think. It was so dull without her around.”

  “How come?” Aurora asked, following after him.

  He shrugged. “She would tell us stories about stuff if she wasn't busy, give us free drinks, things like that. Basically just let us hang out in there. Without her around, it was just another dirty, smelly bar.”

  “Yeah, sounds like Roxanne,” Aurora laughed.

  They followed the steep roads around the edge of town, coming out on top of the cliffs that bordered the ocean. Gesturing, Djerr led her through an open doorway, into the bar. They stood for a moment in the warm beam of sunlight leaking into the room as their eyes adjusted to the darkness.

  The bar was mostly empty with only a couple young women sitting at one of the tables by the dusty window, talking quietly while they ate, and one older man sitting at the bar, laughing as Roxanne talked to him with a grin on her face. She glanced over when the floor creaked, announcing their presence. Her smile broadened as she saw who it was. “Aurora!” she called, waving them over. “What're you two doing here? You're...Djerr, right?”

  “That's right!” Djerr sounded pleased. “I'm just showing Aurora around town and she wanted to see where you worked.”

  “Well, this is it.” Roxanne gestured widely. “Not all that great, but it'll be better now that I'm back.”

  “That's what Djerr told me,” Aurora said, nudging Djerr.

  Roxanne laughed. “The boy obviously knows what he's talking about. You listen to him, alright? Anyway, you should've seen what happened when I got here this morning. I walked in the door right as they were opening. The manager is this old, old guy. I was a little surprised to still see him here. Thought he might’ve died while I was gone, right? So anyway, he looks over at me, squints, looks me up and down, and then looks over at this girl I don't recognize. She must be new, because she looks real awkward. She's walking around with a tray in one hand, picking up all the dirty glasses from the night before and trying to balance them on the tray. Anyway, she's teetering around, trying not to drop it all with this really concentrated look on her face. She finally glances up at me, the tray still wobbling, just staring at me. The whole place is silent until the manager sighs really loudly and just says, 'Git outta here, girl.' The girl kind of grins, looking down, because she clearly thinks he was talking to me, until I walk over, take the tray from her and turn away, picking up where she left off. I can tell she's staring at me, her mouth probably dropped open. I glance back and she looks over at the manager and finally realizes he was telling her to leave, not me. She makes this little squeaky noise and runs out of the bar, slamming the door behind her. It was hilarious.”