Sky Full of Stars

Chapter 7: Strangers and Friends

    I snapped awake in a cold sweat, heart pounding nearly out of my chest. By instinct, I reached for the cloth on my night stand, the very one Miznia gave me the night before. I didn't find it, however, and with a quick glance to confirm, I saw that it was, in fact, missing. I blinked back my surprise.

    Huh... Maybe that was just a dream too...

    But why was I dreaming about Miznia...?

    I shook my head and stood quickly, donning my armor and grabbing my pack with haste. Once I was fully dressed again and had my belongings strapped on tight, I headed for the door to my rental room. A hiss of rage drew my attention, and I yanked the door open to see Miznia, her wrist held tight in a strangers hand, an ugly man, clearly heavily drunk. The two were surrounded by three other men, each easily towering over her and two nearly as tall as me.

    She looked oddly helpless here... That didn't fit the Miznia I met. Her eyes snapped to mine, and I saw the fear there as clear as if she had screamed for help.

    I strode forward, still unnoticed by the men surrounding her. The one holding her wrist laughed haughtily, his alcohol tainted breath making her wince. I felt a sudden anger rise up in me, but quickly beat it back as I took in the scene.

    "C'mon, little lady... Me and my buddies here just wanna have some fun" he laughed again, and the sound was beginning to really anger me.

    Miznia tried, unsuccessfully, to twist away from him, but he only tightened his grip on her wrist, making her cry out in pain.

    I was momentarily blinded. Possibly by sudden rage? I wasn't too sure. Her eyes locked with mine again and the fear on her face mixed with a sudden... Curiosity? I raised a brow in her direction, and she nodded as subtly as she could manage, her eyes pleading.

    I shoved two of the surrounding men out of the way just as the man holding Miznia reached up to grip her chin. Before he could get another hand on her, however, I snatched it out of the air and twisted him so suddenly he didn't have a chance to react, holding his wrist tightly behind his back. He cried out in surprise and I kicked the back of his knee, shoving him to the ground.

    "I'd suggest you and your 'buddies'" I growled low, "Make yourselves scarce. Or I'll do it for you." I felt a strange heat around me. Perhaps the kitchen had stoked the fire, it was just beneath us.

    The first man's eyes widened in fear and surprise, and he scrambled to get away from me. His three friends stared at me in shock until I took a step toward them, then they raced off to their rooms. I glared after them, feeling anger radiating from me.

    I could feel Miznia's eyes on my back, and when I turned to face her, her eyes were wide with surprise and curiosity.

    "You managed to scare off all four of them... I had intended for you to go get the others, but... You handled it yourself. And your eyes..."

    "What about them?" I felt sudden worry pulse through me, completely replacing the anger. I felt the heat die down and shivered slightly at the sudden cold.

    Miznia watched me curiously for a moment longer, then shrugged and turned to the stairs. "Nothing. Trick of the light, I suppose. Ready to meet up with the others?"

    I raised a brow but didn't argue. If she wanted to discuss it, she would. If not, there was nothing I could do to convince her. I knew that much from our first meeting alone.

    "Ready" I responded, following her down the stairs.

    We were, not surprisingly, the first of our group downstairs. We took our seats at the back table and I waved down a waitress, who quickly took our breakfast order and hurried back to the kitchen, flashing me a warm smile. I smiled back, but it was not nearly as warm. A quick glance at Miznia showed her watching the waitress with some emotion I couldn't quite identify.

    Before I got the chance to look too far into it, Cylqis joined us at our table, their face schooled into a cool calm. I smiled lightly at them, and they returned the gesture before glaring at Miznia.

    "Where were you last night?" They asked, brow raised.

    Miznia met his glare with a calm nonchalance. "Whatever do you mean? I went straight to bed after we met our new friend." She nodded to me, and I raise my brow in suspicion.

    Cylqis shook their head, clearly not believing her. "I know you went up again" they said, looking up toward the roof.

    Wait... Miznia did go up to the roof the night before? So I wasn't dreaming? But then where was the cloth? Had I merely misplaced it?

    As if in answer to my question, Miznia pulled out the very same cloth she gave me last night and began cleaning her dagger. It was all I could do to keep my jaw from dropping. Had she snuck in last night and taken it back? But why?

    "I don't know what you're talking about, Cylqis" she replied coolly, and I could tell this conversation wasn't going to end well. She shot a glance at me, head tilted slightly until she realized where my eyes were focused. She frowned and quickly tucked the cloth back into her bag, then tucked her dagger back into her boot.

    Thankfully, the twins, Ulneak and Alben, came down next and settled in next to each other, Ulneak next to Cylqis and Alben on Ulneak's other side. Or... Maybe it was the other way around?

    I shook my head and took in the scene around me. Cylqis was sitting opposite Miznia, one of the twins at his side while the other was between Miznia and his brother. There was a single empty chair between Miznia and myself, and I found myself incredibly tempted to move to that empty chair.

    Before I could resolve myself to do so, however, Emdrom finally emerged from his room and took the seat between us. I felt my shoulders sag, and the emotion behind it only confused me more. Why should I want to sit so close to someone who should be the enemy of everything I believe in?

    I felt her eyes on me as the waitress returned, finally, with our meals. We had ordered for everyone, so breakfast would be ready when everyone got together. I thanked the waitress and paid her five silver, easily quite a bit more than the total cost of our meals.

    I turned to my meal, not giving Miznia another glance as I dug in. The meal was very basic, overcooked bacon and undercooked eggs with grits, but it was filling. The entire time I felt her eyes on me, watching me with that same curiosity from earlier, when the men were holding her.

    Eventually, the tension between her and Cylqis became too much for Cylqis to bear, however, and they launch back into questioning her.

    "So, where were you?" They asked immediately. Emdrom and the twins looked between the two, confused. "Doing your so called 'good deeds' again?" His tone sounded quite accusatory, so I knew he was being sarcastic.

    Miznia rolled her eyes. "Yes, actually, so lay off"

    "You can't keep stealing in every city we go to! You're eventually going to get caught!" Cylqis hissed, keeping their voice low but harsh.

    I felt that strange anger again, but beat it back to look at Miznia. "You've been out thieving?" I nearly growled out, glaring at her, though I wasn't sure my anger was meant for her.

    Something flashed behind her eyes. Hurt? Was she hurt by my anger? That made no sense, we shouldn't have been getting along at all. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. But it seems that triggered another reaction from her. Defiance.

    She stood, shoving her chair back. "I don't need this, not from any of you. If you don't want my services, I'll take them somewhere else" she hissed out.

    With that, she was gone, storming out the front door. And a strange sadness filled me. I glanced at Cylqis, who looks quite shocked.

    "I take it that's not her normal reaction to stuff like this..." I huffed out.

    Cylqis shook their head. "Not even close... I've never seen her lose her temper like that. I'm not sure she'll actually come back after that..."

    I heaved a heavy sigh. "I'll get her. I don't know what we're doing, but I'm sure we're gonna need her..."

    Emdrom looked up from his plate. "I figured out exactly what we're doing first. There's a call for help in Nightgate. Some kind of pest infestation. We're gonna handle it and get the reward."

    "What kind of pests?" I looked at him skeptically.

    "Vampires"

Authors Note: So sorry I've been MIA for the last 2 months. I'm back though, just not as frequently as daily. I will try to keep a steady posting schedule though!