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Monique looked very much like she would have smiled back is she could, instead settling for wagging her tail harder. “How long have you been here?” she asked.
“Just over two weeks,” Zoe replied, “but it feels much longer.”
The Nox Gadael all nodded. “We had the same problem,” Isen said. “Our old world had a much shorter day too and getting used to the thirty-six hour day took more time than I think any of us expected it to.”
“When did you all arrive?”
“Monique was the first of our pack to arrive on Taithmarin, then Gerald found a door, and finally I appeared about six months after Gerald.” Isen sat on his haunches. “On our world it was six months. Here it was…” He looked at Monique and Gerald. “About eighteen months, I think.”
“And three years after I first arrived,” Monique continued. “None of us are exactly sure why, because logically it should have been fewer months for us that it was for Isen, but no one here understands the way the door works.” She sighed, her tail no longer moving. “We wish we did, because we’re hoping that more members of our pack may arrive soon.”
Zoe was thankful she’d taken the time to study the Nox Gadael, because it meant she didn’t have to ask what a pack was. “Are there many more of your pack left on your world?”
The three Nox Gadael shared a look. “We don’t know,” Monique replied, looking back at Zoe. “When Isen arrived here there were still six members of our pack alive, but they may all be dead by now.” Monique’s expression made Zoe think of someone biting their lip as they were thinking about what they should say. “On our old world,” she continued, “we are hunted for our magic.”
“That’s…” Zoe trailed off as she tried to find the right words. “I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you.” Part of her wanted to gather all three Nox Gadael in her arms and give them a hug. “I hope that the rest of your pack do make it to Taithmarin.”
“Thank you.” Monique wagged her tail a couple of times. “Taithmarin has been good for us and getting to know other magical races, who don’t want to hunt us, has been wonderful. Although a lot of humans have a problem with talking dogs we have also made some very good human friends here.” Their eyes met. “What did you have to leave behind?”
Zoe thought about the question, trying to find the right answer, but there was no right answer. “My family are all still on Earth, but I stepped through the door with a man I thought I still loved, and coming here has left the naive girl I once was back there.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I haven’t worked out if I miss her yet. I miss my family, because I know I’ll never see them again, but I’m glad they will never know that I’m gone.”
Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.