The Overworld - The Last Shadowshifter

Chapter 7

With that, Hunter focused himself on Tristan, who was cowering against the other side of the alley. Inferno, I think, already disappeared.

"I didn't mean to -" Tristan was cut off by Hunter.

"You didn't, did you?" Hunter growled, grabbing a handful of Tristan's robes and pushing him against the wall. Tristan choked and sputtered but Hunter didn't seem fazed. "I saw you corner Skyla against the wall. Don't lie to me."

Tristan looked like he was about to faint. His eyes found mine, pleading me to do something. But I didn't. I wanted to see how Hunter handled things his way without getting too extreme.

"Okay, Hunter," I said loudly. "That's enough." Hunter gave Tristan a disgusted look and dropped him to the ground.

"Let's go," Hunter said, striding swiftly out of the alley. I followed, looking back at a battered Tristan. I sighed. If only Hunter could be a little more gentle...

Sunlight met my vision again as we stepped onto the streets of Illinium. "What do you think you were doing?" Hunter hissed.

"I can do whatever I want," I snapped. "That's none of your business." Some villagers that had stepped out of their houses looked at us. I blushed when I realized that we were raising our voices subconsciously, and looked down at my feet.

They whispered among themselves, eyes darting towards Hunter. Some even were pointing. Hunter didn't seem to mind, as if he'd faced this kind of problem almost everyday.

My stomach growled loudly. Hunter glanced towards me, and I was pretty sure I was as red as a plump tomato by now. "Sorry," I muttered. "I'm hungry."

Hunter chuckled. "Do you know how to cook?"

"No..." I replied, even more humiliated. No one knew of a girl or woman in Illinium who didn't know how to cook, but I guess now they do.

The Imperial laughed. "Well," he said. "I do. Let's get back to your house and make us something to eat." This guy knew how to cook? What?

"Are you sure you can cook?" I asked suspiciously. I didn't want burned scrambled eggs or a smoked piece of bread. Hunter nodded confidently and started walking in the direction of Heather's house. This guy also knows his directions pretty well...

~~~

Hunter was already cooking some bacon while I enjoyed my French toast with scrambled eggs, and, from the berries that I got yesterday, I made some jam myself. The rest of it was Hunter's handiwork.

"Bacon's ready," he announced, scraping the bacon from the pan into a plate. Hunter walked over, plate in hand. His bread and eggs were already on the other side of the couch.

We ate in silence. Suddenly, I nearly choked on a piece of bacon as I realized something. "Hunter!" I managed to gasp out as I tried to save myself from choking on food. I coughed, got the bacon down the hatch, then breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong?" Hunter asked, meanwhile taking a bite out of his toast.

"My swords..." I whispered. "I left them in the alley, and I think one of the people there took one of them! What am I going to do..."

"Do you have a blacksmith in the village?" Hunter said, acting like it was no big deal at all. My Draphonin swords, I thought desperately. They're the second best sword here!

I rolled my eyes at his question. "Yeah, every village has one," I answered. "Why?" I resumed to eat my scrambled eggs now that Hunter had a solution.

"We go to your blacksmith and ask him to make another sword. Your swords were too amateur anyway... I used them when I was eight years old." Hunter smirked.