Klef wakes up before I do the next morning, and is taking a shower when I finally come to. I knock on the door and the water turns off. Klef pokes his dripping head out in front of the door. “Yes?”869Please respect copyright.PENANAB6qDxtYYoP
“I’ve got to pee,” I deadpan.869Please respect copyright.PENANA6o53rKXsEN
“Nah, I don’t think you would yet…you went before bed, didn’t you?”869Please respect copyright.PENANAiPxQ5rQTNt
“Nope,” I say, shaking my head. “Dry off in the bedroom, bird brain.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAePlP8wIUhs
Klef closes the door and I’m about to yell at him when the door opens and he walks out in just a towel. I walk into the bathroom, closing the door harder than necessary. I do my business as fast as I can and open the door to the bedroom when I’m decent. Klef walks in, ruffling his hair and feathers. “There a comb in here?” he asks.869Please respect copyright.PENANAjfv9kS6iA5
I toss the brush by the sink toward Klef. “Use a brush, comb might be hard to find when everyone around here is covered in fur.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAfOAtfYo6SR
Klef whines. “But brushes are for long hair!”869Please respect copyright.PENANAEJRVcx9Z1l
“I use a brush, and my hair is almost as short as yours.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAxvb2hmqEcE
“But I don’t wanna!” Klef protests.869Please respect copyright.PENANAn2rKQIrrOL
“Use it or have a nest of birds in your hair.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAFVHHiwurN4
Klef frowns and chews the bottom of his lip. Then he hands the brush back. “‘Kay, I’ll risk it.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAGWc2T5vz9d
“You are ridiculous,” I scoff, running the brush through my own hair.869Please respect copyright.PENANAaZgPABjhKw
“And you love me for it!” he cheered.869Please respect copyright.PENANAN4vkmzAPbl
I look just beyond Klef, to find Dad in the doorway, jaw dropped and looking murderous. “Klef…” I try to warn.869Please respect copyright.PENANAOqjCXkPLOW
“No no, don’t even try to deny it! You know as well as I do that you are smitten!”869Please respect copyright.PENANAyZOzuX4I4R
“Klef, it’d be best if you shut up, now.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAutAdzXOAsB
“Oh yeah? Why?”869Please respect copyright.PENANALYJyzTaK4e
“Probably because you didn’t lock the door,” Dad growls.869Please respect copyright.PENANAEVZEPjLBvx
Klef jumps up and runs behind me. I roll my eyes. “Really? Treble, you’re 21.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAhvg4gpIXjm
“Sh-shut up!”869Please respect copyright.PENANAusG4OFwJKT
Dad frowns. “A good boyfriend would stand up for his girl, you know.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAfbT4EJRn6q
“A good father lets his grown daughter stand up for herself,” I threaten.869Please respect copyright.PENANAn73NAdGXsY
Dad smiles. “Always nice to see you, Iri.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAtgsCzVsT86
“Why are you here, Dad?” I ask.869Please respect copyright.PENANAhANyd5nlpJ
“I need to get you somewhere safe. Out of the way of a siege or an uprising.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAejpPed9uWJ
“Oh, come on, what are the odds of me getting hurt out here?” I scoff.869Please respect copyright.PENANAa7hSl4Ba4X
Klef tenses behind me and wraps me in his wings. “Get down!” he yells.869Please respect copyright.PENANAwdfPHXhUv8
All 3 of us hit the floor as a flash of light and a loud BANG appear from the main room. Everything in the room is shrouded in dust and smoke. But when it starts to clear, Klef stands up. “Thought I recognized the shape! That was a grenade!”869Please respect copyright.PENANA2P01kvsBxW
“What’s a grenade?” I rasp, even though I dread the answer.869Please respect copyright.PENANAAUlVPaOqD4
“It’s a bomb. A small, strong bomb.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAI4AO1X3O2B
I swallow and cough. “What was it doing in our bedroom?!”869Please respect copyright.PENANASXWyQxWlt0
“I saw someone throw it in! Crap, I thought you were gonna die!”869Please respect copyright.PENANAVo5Z2s2Kem
Dad growls, fur standing on end as he stands up. “And how do you know what that thing was?”869Please respect copyright.PENANAbwddfltmyl
“I-I stole one once,” Klef says, scratching the back of his neck. “You both know my job. It took my buyer until I got the grenades he wanted to tell me how dangerous it was to have them loose!”869Please respect copyright.PENANAlK3KyobHl1
“How dangerous?” Dad asks.869Please respect copyright.PENANAURKdBkWMkB
“You pull a pin, and then throw it or roll it. When the timer runs out, or if it’s jostled too hard, that happens,” he nods at the flames licking the remains in the bed. “Unfortunately, with more technology being spread, weapons are being made more too.”869Please respect copyright.PENANANeEzABIYBv
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” I say, standing up. “That had to have come from the doorway. One of the Crusaders is trying to kill us.”869Please respect copyright.PENANABqdD1iqS3F
~/~869Please respect copyright.PENANArhffaTYP9R
Bunches of Crusaders, attracted by the noise, swarm the bedroom and bathroom after the flames are put out and the rooms are impossible to navigate. I try to find Klef in the chaos after I’ve been furiously questioned, but in all the people it’s impossible to find his wild dark hair. Ama and Dad whisk me out of the room as soon as I’m close to the door and to my relief Klef is waiting outside. I wasn’t comfortable around him at first, but now I find it hard to be away from him. Maybe it’s Stockholm syndrome, maybe it’s just the fact that someone is trying to kill me. But I’m not going to fight it as long as it doesn’t cause trouble. “Hey, pointy ears,” Klef teases. “Meet anyone in there half as great as me? Anyone I need to beat up?”869Please respect copyright.PENANApkxCxI6I2g
“Not today, bird brain,” I scoff. “If anyone should be beating up anyone, I should be smacking you around for making that grenade thing public!”869Please respect copyright.PENANASr874kj4Tc
“I didn’t know it was dangerous, all right?!”869Please respect copyright.PENANAMbng7tphvd
“Oh, a likely story,” I say sarcastically. “I told you your thieving ways would catch up with you.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAog9GRdxoGo
“Lighten up Ride!” Klef retorts. “You and I both know you thieve as much as I do nowadays.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAWWGHTlBvau
“You have no proof!” I protest.869Please respect copyright.PENANA0NVBqeAYc0
“A testament to how good you are,” he points out.869Please respect copyright.PENANAVjyes47cSU
I pause. “I am good,” I reason. “Maybe not at thieving, but I am good.”869Please respect copyright.PENANA2oTqAPcyNT
“Oracle,” Ama murmurs. “We need to move you.”869Please respect copyright.PENANA1lheq8TyhR
“Don’t,” I snap. “We need to know who wants to kill me before I can leave. They could just endanger me somewhere else if they tagged along.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAtWx6eBZhv8
“Much as I hate to admit it, Iri has a point,” Dad grumbles. “If we move her, she could be in even more danger.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAtt3nORB3vE
Ama bites her lip. “…Fine. But she’ll need a human I know for protection in addition to myself.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAXuTl9lgVH6
She walks off and I don’t hesitate to follow. “So…can I ask you a personal question?” I request.869Please respect copyright.PENANA8hP4UZf8uk
“I won’t guarantee an answer, but sure,” Ama says, smiling.869Please respect copyright.PENANApHvFZrKzpy
“You seem so sweet. How are you a necromancer?”869Please respect copyright.PENANAyr0z37avy2
Ama’s smile drops. “You wouldn’t like me angry, let’s put it that way,” she mumbles.869Please respect copyright.PENANAk28Z8VWCY7
Someone laughs walking towards us down the hallway. “You lose it again, Ama?” they chuckle. “Bobbi, they/them. Pleasure to meet you.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAmko7upZT2g
“Likewise,” I stammer.869Please respect copyright.PENANAXlH8Zfgm0p
Bobbi runs a hand through their bright blue hair and fixes me with hazel eyes. “So you’re the Oracle, huh?”869Please respect copyright.PENANAAVtfzWStPo
I cringe. “Uh…yeah.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAnTQ2s2Tefw
“See anything about me?” they tease.869Please respect copyright.PENANAEacEp2EPPk
“Bobbi!” Ama reprimands.869Please respect copyright.PENANAaFx43QvBxE
I laugh, but it’s too high and sounds more like a choke. “Haven’t seen you that I know of,” I supply. “Sight is sort of finicky. Can’t really control it like everyone thinks.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAyq0oYR4FeI
Bobbi nods. “Wasn’t expecting much,” they chuckle. “I’m not a celebrity like you.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAvfQXFA28QE
“Please don’t call me a celebrity,” I ask. “I don’t know you all that well, and it sort of…makes me really uncomfortable.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAS8CTAssAq9
“Oh!” Bobbi exclaims. “Sorry. Want to go somewhere quiet? Away from everyone like me who doesn’t know how to make sure you’re comfortable?”869Please respect copyright.PENANAUsvUgQ8ojL
“Is there such a place?” I laugh.869Please respect copyright.PENANAEmjb13EpxY
Bobbi crooks a finger. “Follow me.”869Please respect copyright.PENANA79mXbxbIO5
I run to keep up with their quick pace. Ama follows behind, slower. “Bobbi is who I was going to look for. They’re my partner in crime, I suppose, the way you and Klef are to everyone around here. I couldn’t think of someone I’d rather have my back in a fight more.”869Please respect copyright.PENANA91S3PZHwOc
“Oh you,” Bobbi laughs, looking back at Ama. “Speaking of, where’s your partner in crime?” they ask me.869Please respect copyright.PENANAOneoP6ko3S
“Oh, Klef!” I exclaim. “I left him at the bedroom we used last night! I’m not sure if I could find my way back, though,” I say, looking back down the hall we were walking through, upset.869Please respect copyright.PENANA6rv678rISt
“He’ll find us,” Bobbi assures. “He’s that kind of guy.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAmgMoSmI7Fe
“He’s really not the best tracker, especially in a concrete jungle.”869Please respect copyright.PENANAe7BfppxTV6
“True, but he also won’t stop until he finds you. It’s his way of caring,” Bobbi rebuts.869Please respect copyright.PENANAqOBc9pK8QD
I smile at that. “He’s a big softie,” I sigh, shaking my head.869Please respect copyright.PENANAvU8CWRhFnE
“Oh, we’re here,” Bobbi says, gesturing to a nondescript door.869Please respect copyright.PENANAgzbIWTPQHP