Page 168 of The Lost Ones

By the time we’ve gathered all of the wood that we need for a fire and set one up in a circle of stones from the river, it’s starting to get really cold and the light is starting to fade. I guess that answers the question about whether it gets dark here or not.

“Hunter’s been gone for a long time.” I comment starting to get worried about him being out in the forest at night with all manner of unknown predators out there. Having said that he’s a pretty damn dangerous predator himself.

“He won’t be long now it’s getting dark. He’s always the one to do the hunting whenever we’ve been in similar situations in the past. It started out as a joke because of his name but it turned out he really is the best out of all of us at it.” Jax grins as he throws another log onto the fire.

Kai enjoyed it far too much to light the fire and my own fire wanted to come out to play as well, since we haven’t been taught how to control our gifts properly yet and are working with the minimal information we have been given and instinct, I decide it’s probably best to clamp down on my urge to play with my fire and not set the surroundingforest alight.

It was definitely a good call since Jax had to put out a small fire caused by Kai when his fire had a mind of its own a set a pile of nearby debris on fire. Of course Jax has as much training as the rest of us so even though the fire was small enough that a small pot of water would’ve put it out Jax ended up dropping the equivalent to a large bucket on it.

It got the job done though.

I’m pulled from my thoughts as Hunter appears in his wolf form still, he seems to have complete control over his change which is reassuring or he’d be wolfing out at any opportunity. In his humongous jaws are at least six rabbits, one for each of us. It’s kind of reassuring to see something completely familiar. He places them down by the fire and the others immediately pick one up each and start preparing them ready to cook. Hunter quickly changes back and comes to sit on the logs that we have surrounding the fire like a kind of seating, bringing the last two rabbits with him.

“Can you teach me?” I ask, I don’t even have a vague idea of where I’m supposed to start with this.

“Of course.” He grins, his eyes lightening up.

He patiently shows me how to properly prepare the rabbit for cooking over the fire. He gets his done in minutes and so do the others, clearly having done this before, but I am determined to do it myself with his guidance.

It takes me at least twice as long as the others but when I’m done I grin widely.

“Well done, Titch!” Maverick says. “Kai threw up at least once when we were first learning how to do that.” He smirks. Before going back to reading his demon realm book.

“Hey!” Kai says throwing something at him but not denying the accusation.

I’ve never had rabbit before and I’m pleasantly surprised by how delicious it is. It definitely satisfies the gnawing hunger tugging at my stomach. After we’ve eaten I pull out my Demon Realm book and start reading. I know we need to read it all but right now I skip chapters to get to the one about towns and villages here. Levi and Mav have made a sort of lean to thing that will give us a small amount of protection from the elements. If we’d have known in advance that we’d end up in the middle of the woods we would’ve absolutely come more prepared with tents, warmer clothes and more food.

There’s fuck all we can do about it now though.

We settle down for the night, Levi and Hunter taking the first watch and the rest of us lying together for warmth in the small lean to that they’ve made.

“I think it might be a good idea to venture into town tomorrow. We’re going to need proper supplies. From what the book says the main thing is to not look any supernatural that is higher up in the hierarchy than youare here, in the eye. If you do its considered as a challenge to fight to the death.” Maverick says just before we settle down completely.

“Yeah I read that bit too but how exactly do we know if someone is higher up than us?” I ask, not as disturbed or weary as I probably should be.

I sort of love how brutal the Demon Realm is.

“It doesn’t say. Maybe its instinctual? Most of the other stuff has been so far. Nicole said that Levi is a higher demon so he should be ok with most other supernaturals, I’m guessing but maybe not all and do we really want to be giving away Levi’s rank as a higher demon? That might bring more problems.” Maverick muses.

“So we could just not look anyone in their eyes?” Kai suggests. “It might provoke people to want to start something with us anyway but if it comes down to that it’s better to shock them with how strong we actually are.”

“That’s a good point. We can just look at their foreheads or something when we get the things we need.” Levi says.

“Ok this is all very well but how are we going to pay for all of the stuff we need?” Hunter asks.

“Fuck, I can almost guarantee that they don’t accept any money from the Earth realm.” I say, not having thought about currency at all.

“Well that’s pretty much got us fucked then.” Maverick says, frowning heavily.

The fact is, that we need those supplies if we’re going to survive in this unknown land. Yes we do have the book but honestly its written almost like an accompaniment to a lesson so it doesn’t go in depth enough for it to be truly useful.

“It’s late, there’s nothing we can do about it now anyway, lets try and get some rest and see what tomorrow brings. The least we can do is brain storm more, with brains that aren’t as tired as they all are now.” I suggest lying down.

I doubt that anything is going to miraculously help fix our money issue in the morning but I am choosing to believe that Nyx is the one that sent us here so she wouldn’t completely abandon us with no guidance at all as to what we’re supposed to do next.

Everything happens for a reason.

“That’s a good idea.” Levi says, leaning over me and flashing his demon eyes before he kisses me thoroughly making my cold toes curl and my nerve endings fire.