The old woman finally stopped in the middle of nowhere beside a pile of firewood.
“I was gathering firewood when I heard you crash,” she explained, noticing his curious look. “I need it to cook and to stay warm at night,” she added.
He frowned at her words. “What year is this?” from what his mother had told him, people on this planet shouldn’t be using firewood to cook unless they wanted to.
She looked at him intrigued by his question, but answered anyway. “It’s the year 5022, as you should know…”
“It can’t be! Did you have wars or an apocalyptic event that destroyed the planet?” he asked, astounded. Could it be possible the black hole had taken them that far into the future?
Again, she looked at him puzzled. “No, not, as far as I know, we have the annoying demons I mentioned before, making our lives miserable, but I wouldn’t call them apocalyptic,” she replied.
“This is planet Earth, right?” he asked, unable to shake off his astonishment. Something was wrong, but he still couldn’t figure out what it was.
“Yes, of course, now, let’s get going,” she said, walking away.
“Wait, let me help you with that,” he said, taking the bales of firewood from her back so he could carry it.
“Thank you.”
They walked in silence for several minutes, as fast as possible and by the time they reached the edge of the forest, the sun was coming down in the sky.
“Demons love the night, and they usually spend it flying around the woods and the villages. We better hurry up,” she warned him, looking around before she stepped out of the woods.
“Where did these creatures come from?” he asked, as he walked right next to her, attentive for any suspicious movement.
“We have no idea. Demons don’t speak our language, they only speak some gibberish no one really understands. It’s hard to establish a communication with them, even if they wanted to,” she explained, with scorn. “So far, they have only shown interest in raiding our villages, killing our men and taking away our women.”
He frowned at her answer. “Aren’t you able to fight them?”
“We are, but no matter how many of them we kill, the following night there will be the same number or more. They reproduce faster than we’re able to kill them,” she stated, with a sad tone.
“How long has this been going on?”
“A few years now. According to the few travelers that go through our small village, this is happening all over the country.”
“That’s terrible. There has to be a way to stop them.”
“I believe so too, but we haven’t found it yet. We stay away from them as much as we can, but we often have some casualties.”
He nodded. Kael wanted to offer his help, but he needed more information about the situation before he would be able to act.
A few minutes later, they arrived at a small basic cabin, made of wood. He assumed the demons didn’t have fire. Otherwise the cabin wouldn’t last a second.
She invited him in and asked him to drop the firewood in a small deposit box near the stove. “I have a spare room, from when my children lived with me, so I guess you’ll be comfortable enough. The bed wasn’t made for someone your size, but it will be better than sleeping on the floor,” she explained.
“Thank you, anything will be fine.”
She walked towards the stove and lit it, putting a heavy pot on it. “I’ll prepare some stew for us, so why don’t you take a shower? I’m sure it will do wonders for your body, after that crash.”
“That would be great,” he nodded.
“Come, I’ll show you the bathroom.”
She took him to a small room behind the kitchen, and he was happy to see it had a rudimentary plumbing system, with cold and hot water. There was no tub, but a shower would be just fine.
She rapidly explained how to use the shower and left him alone.
Not for the first time, Kael thought of his friends and prayed they were alright. Finding him would be an impossible task so he would do better to head to the rendezvous point. He would have to travel undercover, but that shouldn’t be that much of a problem.
By the time he got out of the shower, and he changed into a clean jumpsuit he found in his bag, Gwendolyn already had the meal cooking on the iron stove.
“How are you feeling?” she asked him, with a smile.
“Much better, thank you.”
“Why don’t you take a seat? I would like to take a look at that scratch,” she asked, grabbing a small wooden box from the kitchen counter.
“There’s no need. It’s already healed. I can’t even tell where it was,” he explained to her.
“That’s impossible,” she was astounded.
“See for yourself,” he offered, taking a seat and allowing her to check his forehead. “I told you my people heal incredibly fast,” he said when she let out a small cry.
“It’s amazing, are you immortal as well?” she asked, sounding as if she was having trouble believing her eyes.
“No, we die too, when the injuries are too severe or when we become aged, but we do live longer than you,” he explained.
“That’s nice I guess. I’m not sure I would like to live much longer, though. I’ve lived too much, been through too much,” she let out a sigh and turned away to check on the food.
“Do you live here all alone? I thought you mentioned your children,” he asked, curious. Gwendolyn was starting to feel like the grandmother he never had, and he liked the feeling.
“Yes, I had two. A boy and a girl, but they are adults now, and they have their own lives. My husband died during one of the first demon attacks leaving me alone,” she explained, with a sad tone.
“Why don’t you move in with one of your children?” Family was essential to Kael and his people, and they took care of each other all the time. He could imagine how worried his mother would be when she didn’t receive news from him.
“I guess I could, but I don’t want to. I’m used to living my own way and being a guest, I would have to live under someone else’s rules,” she explained, scowling.
“I understand your point of view, but considering how dangerous things have become, perhaps you should reconsider.”
She shrugged. “I’ve lived long enough.”
He smiled. “I’m sure you would be missed.”
“Probably. My granddaughter seems to enjoy spending time with me, but she knows life can be cruel,” she let out a loud sigh. “I’ll take a shower while the stew finishes. If anyone knocks at the door, ignore it and hide in your room, it’s the second door, down the hall,” she explained.
Kael nodded, though he didn’t like the idea of hiding himself, he understood he needed to go unnoticed, at least, while he got to know the place he was in and its people.
While Gwendolyn was in the bathroom, he picked up his bag and went to look at the room she had offered him. Like she said, the bed wasn’t big enough for a man almost seven feet tall, but he would be comfortable enough.
The room was austere, with the bed, a small closet and a small table by the bed. The furniture was all made of wood, in a very rustic style, but the place was spotless. He could tell the sheets and blankets were clean and that was more than he could ask.
He had no means to repay the woman’s hospitality since all they had brought to trade for Earth’s currency had been lost with the destruction of the ship. He would have to find another way to pay for all he might need.
Taking a seat on the bed, he opened up the backpack to check what was in it. He had never needed one of these before, and he couldn’t recall what they held inside. Unfortunately, the only thing useful he found was a small scanner. It was able to scan living beings and all kinds of objects. There was also one more jumpsuit, like the ones they usually wore, a few rations of dehydrated food and a small weapon. It wasn’t much, but it might be helpful.
He put it all back in and returned to the kitchen. Gwendolyn was already there, stirring the stew.
“Did you like the room? It’s not much…”
“It’s perfect, thank you,” he interrupted her. “I couldn’t ask for more.”
She nodded, pleased and put down the wooden spoon. “I have to lock up the house for the night,” she warned him.
“Can I help you?”
“Well, an extra pair of arms is always useful,” she said, smiling as she walked out of the house.
She walked around the house to one of the windows and started to pull some iron plates from the sides of the window until she had half of it covered. Kael mimicked her drawing the other side, and she secured the plates with some sort of lock.
“We learned the hard way that we needed to protect our windows. This way the demons aren’t able to penetrate our homes,” she explained, as they moved towards the next window.
“What if they set the cabin on fire?” he asked, with a worried frown. People would be trapped inside their own houses.
Gwendolyn shook her head. “They fear the fire. They don’t go near it. No idea why, but it’s a fact. We fight them with burning arrows,” she explained. “But we can’t fight them every time they decide to come by. It’s exhausting, so we protect ourselves and only fight when we don’t have another choice.”
They secured all the windows and returned inside. The night was falling, and soon it would be dark.
Gwendolyn locked the door and invited him to take a seat at the table. “Dinner is ready. Would you like a glass of wine with it? I believe I have some, somewhere,” she offered, with a smile.
“Water is fine, thank you,” he said, not sure what wine was.
The meal was delicious. Kael ate it all, enjoying the new flavors exploding in his mouth. It had been a while since he had had a meal this good.
“You’re an amazing cook, Gwendolyn, thank you,” he said when he finished.
“Thank you, I like cooking, and it’s a pleasure having someone else enjoying my meals.”
He looked at the old woman, puzzled. “Why did you help me? After all, you’ve told me, what made you so sure I wasn’t a demon like the ones raiding the village?” he asked her.
“Those are dreadful creatures, quite ugly and they have wings. But it wasn’t just that,” she told him. “My instincts told me I could trust you, that you would mean no harm to my people or me. I usually trust my instincts.”
Kael was happy his wings hadn't come out after the crash. If she had seen them, she might not have thought that way. He guessed showing her his other skin was out of the question for the moment.
“Well, thank you for helping me.”
“I’m sure you would have been just fine on your own, but it’s good to feel needed again,” she said, smiling as she got up and started to clear the table.
He helped her. “Yes, perhaps, but it would have cost me a lot more, to understand this place and the people in it,” he assured her.
“I guess you’re right,” she chuckled, as she quickly washed the dishes.
“Would you mind answering a few more questions?” he asked, leaning against the stone counter, next to her.
“Of course not, go ahead.”