them. They often lurk around here at night and you were just in the wrong place at
the wrong time.”
“They called you ‘Luca the Great’ just like Nissa did.”
“I’ve been called worse. They were being facetious.”
“Two of them looked scared.” I say and he gives a relenting
sigh.
“I have been around for awhile and I’m not known for my patience. I am going to ask you again - what are you doing out here?” He says more forcefully, his patience clearly waning.
“I went to see a troll tonight.” I say through a shaky
breath.
“Lily, Lily, Lily.” He groans and the anger seems to seep right out of him. “What did you see?”
“Something with the Council I think. I can’t be sure. My
death. My friends… ” I trail off.
“Don’t do it.” He says suddenly, grabbing my hand. “Don’t take the Council seat. You can choose to live a normal life and stay away from all of that.” His touch is like an electric shock and I have to pull my hand
away from his.
“But there’s no one else. What I don’t understand is why it has to be an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality. I’ve spent my entire life living as a human and trust me when I say we create enough of our own problems without
having to go to battle with other races. Is it so impossible to imagine that different groups could just live together harmoniously?” I sit down on the grass and Luca joins me, leaning back and resting his elbows on the wet grass.
“It is a nice thought but a naïve one. The reality is that supernatural’s’
number in the hundreds of thousands but the population is dwindling. More and more of us are getting disillusioned with our politics and fractioning off. Some are getting themselves killed by sanction and the races as a whole are not
procreating as much. I think its lead to supernatural’s’ feeling threatened, which naturally puts them into defensive mode.”
“You say there are hundreds of thousands of supernatural’s?”
“There are ten schools like Ex Nihilo around the world: South America, Malaysia, The Middle East and New Zealand to name a few of the places. Most of the students are what we call 'newbie’s' and are actually teenage supies like you and your friends but some of us older supernatural’s’
come back from time to time.”
“Why?” I say, confused. I can’t imagine why you’d want to repeat high school. You won’t catch me setting foot anywhere near Ex Nihilo
once my time is up.
“To brush up on what’s current and to be reminded of why we guard are secrets so closely.”
“So someone wants to kill me so those secrets can be let out and humans can be dominated? It seems kind of dumb to me, I mean, how can a few
hundred thousand expect to rule seven billion people?”
“I guess it depends on how you look at it. Two hundred Spartans took on the Persian Empire. Strategy and intimidation are powerful
weapons; add into that our abilities and you have a unique advantage. Lily, for what it’s worth I don’t believe that anything is predetermined and letting a troll poke around in your head is never a good thing, even a decent troll like Zaros.”
“How did you…? I say, my eyes widening in surprise and he
gives me a crooked smile. “It’s always Zaros. But believe me when I say that the Council is vicious and self-serving and you are sweet and pure and I would hate to see anything happen to you. I wish there was a way that you could stay
away from them and from all of this.” He stands up, pulling me with him and then surprises me by tucking me into his side.
“Why do you care?” I say and he presses his lips against my
forehead in response. His warm lips against my cold skin are like a shock to the system and I don’t know why but his presence is strangely comforting.
“Luca, were you talking in my head earlier?”
“You heard then?” He chuckles. “It doesn’t always work.”
“You mean the telepathy?” I ask and he
the wrong time.”
“They called you ‘Luca the Great’ just like Nissa did.”
“I’ve been called worse. They were being facetious.”
“Two of them looked scared.” I say and he gives a relenting
sigh.
“I have been around for awhile and I’m not known for my patience. I am going to ask you again - what are you doing out here?” He says more forcefully, his patience clearly waning.
“I went to see a troll tonight.” I say through a shaky
breath.
“Lily, Lily, Lily.” He groans and the anger seems to seep right out of him. “What did you see?”
“Something with the Council I think. I can’t be sure. My
death. My friends… ” I trail off.
“Don’t do it.” He says suddenly, grabbing my hand. “Don’t take the Council seat. You can choose to live a normal life and stay away from all of that.” His touch is like an electric shock and I have to pull my hand
away from his.
“But there’s no one else. What I don’t understand is why it has to be an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality. I’ve spent my entire life living as a human and trust me when I say we create enough of our own problems without
having to go to battle with other races. Is it so impossible to imagine that different groups could just live together harmoniously?” I sit down on the grass and Luca joins me, leaning back and resting his elbows on the wet grass.
“It is a nice thought but a naïve one. The reality is that supernatural’s’
number in the hundreds of thousands but the population is dwindling. More and more of us are getting disillusioned with our politics and fractioning off. Some are getting themselves killed by sanction and the races as a whole are not
procreating as much. I think its lead to supernatural’s’ feeling threatened, which naturally puts them into defensive mode.”
“You say there are hundreds of thousands of supernatural’s?”
“There are ten schools like Ex Nihilo around the world: South America, Malaysia, The Middle East and New Zealand to name a few of the places. Most of the students are what we call 'newbie’s' and are actually teenage supies like you and your friends but some of us older supernatural’s’
come back from time to time.”
“Why?” I say, confused. I can’t imagine why you’d want to repeat high school. You won’t catch me setting foot anywhere near Ex Nihilo
once my time is up.
“To brush up on what’s current and to be reminded of why we guard are secrets so closely.”
“So someone wants to kill me so those secrets can be let out and humans can be dominated? It seems kind of dumb to me, I mean, how can a few
hundred thousand expect to rule seven billion people?”
“I guess it depends on how you look at it. Two hundred Spartans took on the Persian Empire. Strategy and intimidation are powerful
weapons; add into that our abilities and you have a unique advantage. Lily, for what it’s worth I don’t believe that anything is predetermined and letting a troll poke around in your head is never a good thing, even a decent troll like Zaros.”
“How did you…? I say, my eyes widening in surprise and he
gives me a crooked smile. “It’s always Zaros. But believe me when I say that the Council is vicious and self-serving and you are sweet and pure and I would hate to see anything happen to you. I wish there was a way that you could stay
away from them and from all of this.” He stands up, pulling me with him and then surprises me by tucking me into his side.
“Why do you care?” I say and he presses his lips against my
forehead in response. His warm lips against my cold skin are like a shock to the system and I don’t know why but his presence is strangely comforting.
“Luca, were you talking in my head earlier?”
“You heard then?” He chuckles. “It doesn’t always work.”
“You mean the telepathy?” I ask and he
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