Kael stares at me, his amber eyes searching through my soul. At this moment I realise just how... not human, he looks.
"I didn't think you would accept it that fast" He says softly, his unblinking eyes still on me.
"I am a shapeshifter. A wolf shapeshifter to be exact." He says slowly, as if trying to let the words sink as he speaks.
I let out a shaky breath.
"What is this place?" I ask. How is it possible? Am I not in my world?
"You are in the land of Varena." He says softly. "You are in the land of shapeshifters."
My hands go numb with realization. I'm in a different world. One with shapeshifters.
"Oh my God. Can you help me Kael? I need to go back home! I don't know how I got here or what happened! I just need to get home! Do you know any human colonies or something you can take me to?" I plead, my voice breaking with panic.
Kael shifts in his place. "As far as I know, you are the only pure human, Elara. I nor my tribesmen have ever encountered a being like you before. I'm afraid I cannot help you" he says defeatedly.
My eyes blur, filling with tears that flow down my cheeks as hopelessness fills my chest.
I place my head in my hands and sob at my ill fate.
Kael moves closer, placing his hand on my upper back, stroking and soothing me, but I'm too occupied with my new found answers to notice.
WTF.
WTF.
WTF.
What am I going to do now? No. I cannot give up like this! If I could come to this place then there is sure as hell a way to go back too. I just need to find it and find it soon.
But what if I can't? What if I am well and truly stuck here? What if my stubborn nature lands me somewhere worse?
No. I have to try at the very least.
"I know this a lot to ask if you Kael, but can you please help me find my way back? If I entered this world shouldn't there be an exit too?" I ask, pleading.
"I have thought about that Elara. All through that week in the cave? I used to search the woods for any signs for how you came here" he says fixing his gaze at me.
"I never found a thing" he sighs, a hint of defeat in his voice.
"But I will help you find your way back if that is what you want, but for now you need to rest plenty and regain your energy" he says getting up from the bed and walking to the door.
"Wait! But I still have questions!" I call out.
"Sleep Elara. I will answer the rest after you wake up" he answers, closing the door behind him.
I stare at the door for a few seconds before I get up and inspect the room and snoop around.
It was a decent sized room, but it didn't look occupied before.
Maybe a guest room, I think to myself.
My muscles ache from the time I was asleep, pushing me to lie down on the soft mattress and stare at the ceiling.
I am so lost in this world, with no one to trust and no one to talk to. The weight of my predicament settles on me, now that it was just me and my mind.
Hot tears stream from my eyes and into my ears and the mattress under me.
Is it something that I had done? Am I being punished?
I was taken away from everything I had known and the very world that I grown up in but now I didn't even know what tomorrow is going to look like for me.
I cry with all the pent up emotions in me until I fall asleep.
I wake up hours later, the sun setting on the horizon, feeling much more refreshed and energetic.
The cry session, the hot porridge and our conversation helped me more than I thought it would.
I stretch my muscles a few times, relieving the soreness in them when I hear a soft thud somewhere in the house.
I open the door to my room, peeking through the crack before walking out and towards the source of the sound.
The house was similar to the room I was staying in, mud walls with barely any signs of occupation or furniture.
A door similar to one in my room was present on the opposite side of my room. I walk through the corridor and into a large room with a centre round table and multiple chairs.
Kael walks out of the room adjacent to the large living room with a cup of water in hand.
"Here you go." He says before handing me the cup of water.
He moves around me so naturally but I still feel so foreign in his disarming demeanor as I take to water and down it.
"Why don't you freshen up and sit down while I prepare some dinner for us" he says and walks back into the what I presume is a kitchen.
I go back to my room and enter the attached bathroom in the corner of the room with a bucket filled with water.
I bathe myself and come out in the same clothes of mine to find a set of handmade clothes siting on my bed with a towel.
I quickly dry my hair and wear my new dress and come back into the living room to find two sets of dishes laid out and Kael sitting by one.
My stomach growls at the aromatic smell of well cooked and seasoned meat and vegetables.
I sit down with the other set and we eat in silence until I break it with a question.
"Why didn't you tell me about yourself all through that week in the cave?" I ask, my gaze fixed on his face.