The hairs on my body stand on end as I wait for hostility. Disgust. Anything at all. But all he does is watch me as he hands Keary a piece of fabric.
Keary grabs my wrist and pulls me along. Now that I’m out from under the watchful eye of the monster at the gate, I can look around, and… I’m startled by what I see. This must be a snapshot of what the world looked like before monsters destroyed it.
There are streets and parks and people everywhere. Houses are standing intact, with life teeming inside them. There are gardens and pastures and what are obviously business buildings with people coming and going.
There’s electricity! There are moving vehicles! There are people who look like people and those who look unmistakably like monsters. With the two walking side-by-side, it’s far more obvious that even when a monsterlookshuman, they’re far from it.
I’m not even sure where to look.
“Never been on a base before, have you?” Drystan asks.
I shake my head.
“Pretty cool, right?”
“I…” I’m not sure what to say. I can barely register what I’m seeing. It’s overwhelming. All thissafety, this technology, this obviously more peaceful way of life is hidden behind city walls!
Should I be angry? I feel angry.
“Come on. Time to heal that ankle for real,” Keary says.
I don’t speak. I’m not sure if I’m going to like the words that come out of my mouth. I’m irrationally angry, I think.
I mean, if what they told me is true and these are the monsters who fought against the ones who destroyed everything, why are they keeping all this to themselves? Regardless of the fact thattheytried to stop it, it was still their species that killed the humans. Don’t they owe humans this safety?
We walk down a road, and I try hard not to dwell on these feelings. My fingers dig into Kaida’s back. She can feel my anger. She keeps looking back at me, maybe waiting for me to tell her I’m alright. Or explain why I’m angry.
I know when we start getting into House territories. The general feeling of an all-inclusive city falls away, and we’re left with gated areas. They’re not walled off, keeping those on the outside out. They’re actual gates, though not at all manned by anyone.
We take a sharp right and step through the golden gates, probably heading into the homes of the Eriva. Gold is a symbol for divinity, isn’t it?
Except that I’m wrong. A few feet away, I see a sign that reads “House of Malak.”
“Malak is another divine family,” Keary tells me. “What we refer to as the god breeds, like the Ra and the Ioa, tend to keep themselves separated from the angelics, like nephilim,seraphim, angels—for whatever reason.” He waves his hand in the air.
“Why? Are there the opposite of gods, like demons and devils? Do the two get along?” So many damn questions!
Drystan grins.
“Why? I don’t know,” Keary answers, shrugging. “You’ll find that while it’s not unheard of for families to have a broad mix of species within their walls, it’s not often that the classes mix. Something we don’t really give much thought to is that within the classes, there are subclasses, which is why you see the angelic species often separate from the god-like species.”
“Yes, there are demons and devils,” Notto answers when Keary doesn’t continue with my questions. “Yes, angels and demons get along. There are three prominent demonic Houses residing inside Base 6, and there are two divine Houses—Eriva and Malak.”
“We’re stopping at Malak because nephilim are a type of angel, and they are the ones that heal,” Keary says as we approach a house.
There are people everywhere, and some feel blinding, like they have inner suns. Looking at them makes my eyes hurt.
Keary knocks, and a boy opens the door. He’s super young, probably not more than eight or nine.
“Keary!” he says with a beamingly bright grin.
“Hello, mini glow stick. Feel like lending us your healing touch?”
The kid beams, his eyes shimmering like stars. “Yeah!” He steps backward, opening the door further to let us in. He definitely recognizes Notto and Drystan, so his attention is pointedly on me and Kaida.
Keary gestures for me to sit in a chair. Drystan brings a stool over and puts my heel on it.
“This is Rainer,” Keary introduces, “and his friend, Kaida.”
