The Girl Born of Smoke Read Online Free Page A

all just
gave up. Like that'd ever happen.”
    With a quick glare over her shoulder in
Kirian's direction, Roxanne shook her head. “Maybe they found that
boy they're looking for.”
    “You honestly think he exists?” Kirian asked
incredulously.
    “Sure, he might. Or will.”
    Aurora glanced back and forth between the
two of them and sighed slightly as her hair blew in her face. She
brushed it back impatiently, just in time to reach the top of the
hill where Kirian and Roxanne had paused. The clouds above her
seemed closer to touch than the land sprawled below. She leaned
into the wind and squinted her eyes, peering at the rivers and
streams dividing up the land below. Huge groves of trees sheltered
the towns and cities and far off in the distance, the hills leveled
out and faded away into blue, smearing together with the sky.
    “Aurora.” She barely heard it over the rush
of the wind past her head.
    “Huh?” She turned to Roxanne, standing
beside her.
    “What?” Roxanne asked blankly.
    Aurora screwed up her face. “I thought you
said my name.”
    “You're hearing things.” Roxanne
grinned.
    “Guess so.” Aurora half-grinned back at her.
As she looked down at the land spread out beneath her, she wondered
how long it would take to walk through it all. They slowly began to
descend, leaving the lonely peak and returning to the world. The
wind subsided and the warmth she didn't even notice missing
returned to her body. She tried to connect the forest they walked
through and the streams running through it with the overhead view
she had seen from the hilltop, but the world looked different
straight on.
    Over the following several weeks, they
passed through many more towns, hills, rivers, and forests until
they finally intersected a wide, dusty road. The road was covered
in footprints and they frequently passed people traveling the
opposite way, who Aurora always peered at curiously. The people had
colors of hair and tones of skin she didn’t even know existed and
absolutely everyone was dressed in bright colors that matched
everything from the intensity of the deep cerulean sky to the pure
scarlet of the setting sun. She looked down ashamed at her own
clothes, ragged and dull-gray from wear.
    “Hey,” Roxanne said, giving her a sideways
look, “don’t stare at everyone. It’s rude.”
    “Oh, sorry,” she replied, looking down, but
continued to peer at the others from the corners of her eyes.
    They walked in silence as the sun crept
closer to the horizon directly in front of them. Aurora squinted
uncomfortably at the bright light and began to wonder where they
would camp for the night. She had begun to lag behind and dashed
forward to catch up to the other two. “Hey, where are we staying
tonight?” she asked tiredly.
    Roxanne grinned at her. “You'll be staying
in a bed tonight, kid.”
    “Oh, alright.” Aurora was silent for a
moment. “What town are we staying in?”
    Even Kirian had started to smile slightly.
“Oh, just some big town by the sea,” he remarked off-handedly.
    Aurora's eyes widened and she darted in
front and turned to face them, walking backwards. “Are we going to
make it to Kain tonight?” she asked with excitement, nearly
tripping over her own feet.
    Shrugging, Roxanne looked at Kirian. “I
don't know, it's been so long, is that the name of it?”
    Kirian rolled his eyes, still smiling, and
didn't answer. Barely able to contain herself, Aurora sprinted down
the road with a new burst of energy. “Wait for us at the entrance,”
Kirian yelled after her. As she ran, the road became wider and more
people milled about, talking to each other and glancing over in
amusement when they saw her run by. She slipped between the groups
and dodged the people walking the other way until she reached a
clearing.
    In front of her sprawled the sea, glowing
brightly as the edge of the sun brushed it. To her left was the
city. It was much larger than any town she had seen so far and she
paused to