The hover vehicle they rode in wasn't nearly as fast as he was used to, but Kale found it enjoyable anyway. Juli sat across from him in the large rear compartment while her father piloted the craft from the front.
"Are you sure you're not cold?" she asked.
He shook his head, though his lips may have been quite blue by now. She had the compartment canopy open about halfway and there was snow everywhere around them. Fortunately, his uniform was well insulated and the thermal fibers incorporated within the garment made it suitable for such environments.
Still, it was cold. Juli seemed to be quite used to this sort of weather; thoroughly enjoying the cool wind whipping through her shoulder length auburn hair. Kale thought the sight of her quite nice, though he never would have said so.
The intercom chimed into the compartment with the voice of her father, Olson. "We'll be arriving very soon, young master. If you have any favorites for supper, I can call ahead to my good wife and she will prepare it tonight?"
"Anything would be fine, thank you."
Kale liked this Olsen Barone and his daughter. They had been the only ones willing to trust him among the citizens of the town, even though he had saved them all from their enemies.
Within another fifteen minutes, they arrived at the Barone family's small home, surrounded by snow and trees. This is nice, Kale thought as he scanned the hills around them. The snow had begun to fall again in great flakes, nearly the size of his hand.
Olson put his arm around Juli as they walked from the vehicle toward the wooden house. Kale thought of his own father, far away, without any clue where his own son was. He felt quite sad and guilty at having done this to his parents, but his dreams of murder and the symbyte lying semi-dormant within, cured him of it. This was still for the best.
"Come, Master Kale, Mamma will have something hot for us to warm your bones."
When they entered the house, the scent of burning wood and the wonderful aroma of food filled Kale's nostrils. He had been hooked like a hungry fish. He supposed his last home cooked meal had been before the trials back home-before the symbytes had put them on the run.
An older woman version of Juli met them inside. "Supper's ready, everyone!" she shouted as she hurried back to her cooking. "Juli, help Master Kale to find a spot and then help me in the kitchen."
Juli found him a seat at the small table, big enough to seat about six people then headed off to help her mother. The house was very cozy and warm, with a fire burning in the stone hearth. Even the inner walls remained bare wood of some kind-primitive but peaceful. It reminded Kale of Wynn Gareth's former home for its lack of overt technology.
Wynn had always hated the gleam of it. The old Barudii master enjoyed technology only as a necessity and he had often taken Kale out into the mountains to train for weeks at a time. Even Wynn's Barudii blades and kemsticks were handled in etched wood. Kale had often noted that the ancient Barudii warriors had used adomen blades alone and were still quite deadly even without the use of molecular dispersion fields and pulse blasters.
Juli and her mother soon returned to the table with a number of steaming dishes full of food that smelled even better sitting in front of his face. Kale sat next to Juli's father who heaped his plate and passed the dishes around to him. Kale supposed he would enjoy everything they were serving and piled on the food as her father had done.
When they had all been served, Kale waited. They bowed for prayer and thanked Elithias for their provision and blessings and for the promise to someday return and cleanse the worlds.
That touch of prayer made it feel so much more like his home. Kale felt at ease in a world that he had presumed would be a constant fight for his own life. He felt these people were trustworthy and that he might just find some peace here.