Good children stay away from bad adults

Why was she here? Hale felt the ache he got from headbutting Mungo growing. A trace of uncertainty rose in his mind. Wasn’t the female lead’s first meeting with ‘Hale Tenebris’ at the academy? Or was this a hidden story to provide some background for ‘his’ inexplicable dedication to a mere schoolmate?

It wasn’t hard to differentiate the main character from the mob. Even with clothes that were washed and mended so many times that their original color could not be distinguished. Even with a thin figure where the skin was almost attached to the bones. She held a brilliance that stood out in any crowd. No wonder the side characters could barely get a sentence of description but paragraphs could be attributed to a protagonist.

“I’m fine, thanks,” Hale was the first to avert his eyes, suddenly ashamed at the mess he was. Most undead had quick regeneration, provided they had enough energy to support that ability, but he could feel the dried blood pulling his skin tight every time he moved and there were still unhealed wounds.

A rough but warm touch on his hand made Hale turn back. He pulled away unconsciously as if he was scalded but that only made the girl hold him tighter.

“I’m Katharin from the Homini Realm.”

Hale found that his decision to avoid her was correct because it was darn hard to look away a second time. Her eyes were like a sunset frozen in time; shades of orange, pink and purple blended together, radiant and breathtaking. They made the observer so immersed that they wished they didn’t need to blink and could stare into them dusk after dusk.

Hale didn’t like this loss of control and the more innate goodwill he felt for Katharin, the more he didn’t like her. He felt like a pawn whose only purpose was to help the world bring victory to its chosen queen. The game already had a winner before it started and every move was predestined. But he just didn’t want to step on the chessboard.

“Hale Tenebris, Phasm.”

Katharin smothered a laugh. Hale’s appearance was like a wary black kitten with its fur fluffed up, with an intention to threaten but having zero lethality in reality.

“And I’m Chase, also from Phasm!”

The little girl who entered the cage with Hale chimed in. The hood of her robe had come off at some point, revealing two pointed ears poking out from flaxen hair. She looked younger than Auretta but that overseer by the body scanner said she was 16. Looks can be deceiving in the Realms. Each species had different growth speeds and some plateaued at certain ages and those who looked like easy pickings may be anything but.

“Hiiiii newcomers! Lily Roberts, born and raised in Phasm. Don’t worry guys, those assholes will pay when my family comes for me,” a young girl with blue skin thumped her chest, then stretched the cheeks of a crying girl next to her such that an ugly smile formed on her face. “And this is Delys Fleurs, Hominian. Her family’s too far so they won’t come in time, though.” The indigo-haired girl cried harder.

“I believe Miss Fleurs would like to be left alone, Miss Roberts,” a bespectacled boy advised lightly. He didn't notice that Delys's cries increased in volume because he didn't refute Lily's claim. “It’s unfortunate that we had to meet under such circumstances. I’m Tomas of the Pereira clan in Homini.”

“Beatriz here~”

“Charles Saunders.”

A few other children came forward to introduce themselves. The patrolmen shot them a few warning looks but didn’t stop them from congregating. What did they believe in to be so lax? Looking at the other cages, their inhabitants were either sleeping or fighting sleep. The ones with children had 15 captives each while the ones with adults were much fewer. Only Hale’s cage and its neighbor had about 10 children and they all looked much more lively than the rest. It appeared that the captives were put in by order of the time they were captured.

This cage had only people of Homini and Phasm while the other had those of the remaining realms. If the traffickers had wanted ransom, they would only capture those from rich families. If they had wanted to sell them, they would only capture those with generally accepted aesthetics or rare species. But it seemed that they were more concerned about the ages and species of their captives.

Hale suddenly remembered that his siblings were also within the target age range. If they were to be captured… no, they had a swordmaster with them. Even if Amon was as useful as an axe without a handle, the blade was still adamantium.

“Hale… are chu a vam, pire?” Delys stopped sniffling for a moment and asked softly, her speech slightly nasally from a stuffy nose.

“Vampire?” Ah! Hale ran his tongue over his teeth. Delys must have seen the remnants of Mungo’s blood. He squatted down and smiled evilly. “No, but I won’t reject nutrients from crying children,” he said, keenly aware there were many stories of flesheaters and bloodsuckers.

Delys’s reddish nose scrunched up, and she opened her eyes wide, trying to stop the tears from falling. Hale looked at Lily, “I think I understand your taste now.”

“Right, right?” the jolly girl nodded proudly.

Tomas pressed his temples and herded Delys to the other side of the room, a mother hen protecting its chick.