Chapter 16

I was violently woken up in the middle of the night. Lydan was shaking me roughly to wake me up. 

"Careful!" Elaria slapped his hands from my shoulder, letting me sit up and look at him. "I asked you to calmly wake him, not to shake him!"

"He's awake isn't he?" Lydan complained, turning around and sitting on what I assumed was his own bed. 

Elaria rolled her eyes at him. "We're leaving now to give us enough time to get the boat,"

"Alright," I nodded, rubbing my eye and calming my nerves down after the rude awakening. 

"The other two have gone to pack a couple provisions for the night, although I'm sure we won't need much food," she explained. As she finished talking, the door opened. "Speaking of them,"

"What?" Alys cocked his head to the side like a lost puppy. "Whatever have I done now?"

"We were just talking about where you were," Elaria gave him a bright smile. "Well, I was anyway,"

Alys looked a little relieved at her comment. He placed a rucksack on the nearest bed. "Locito insisted we take this food with us, in case we get hungry,"

"I doubt we need it," Elaria walked over to inspect the food. "I'm very sure we don't need it,"

"It's better to have too much than to have too little," he shrugged in response. "Anyway, are we leaving or not? Locito said the guards will be changing soon, and the next one isn't pleasant to deal with,"

"Who cares, I'm sure you'll still be able to murder them if you wanted to," Lydan waved his hand in the air arrogantly. I saw Alys tense up, and grab the bag. 

"I'll meet you in the entrance," he promptly swing the bag over his shoulder and left the room without another word. Elaria snapped to face Lydan. 

"Be a little more respectful, would you?" She scolded. 

"He's dangerous, you need to assert dominance over those who are dangerous," Lydan stood up, towering over Elaria in an attempt to intimidate her. 

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes, turning to the door. "If you're going to be such a colossal dick then you can stay behind,"

"Watch your mouth," he scolded. 

"Sometimes it's the only way to get your point across," she replied, about to exit when she was stopped by Lydan's words. 

"Why do you care for him so much?" He asked. "He's darkened, dangerous, and works for the witch, so why?"

"He-" she cut herself off. "No reason,"

"I know you, there is a reason, else you'd see my side of the argument more clearly," he placed a hand on his chest. "So tell me,"

"I… see a little… a little bit of an old friend in him," she mumbled. 

"You can't be serious," Lydan cracked a smile. "What part of him do you see? The stupidity?" 

"Yes, but I also see his compassion too," her lips curled into a sad smile. "I'm sure it's just me trying to find someone like him again,"

"It is," Lydan rolled his eyes. "Whatever, you've always been weird,"

"Let's just go," she picked herself back up again, straightening her back and looking serious. "We don't wish to be late, do we?"

She left the room without waiting for an answer. Lydan followed her, and so did I, wondering about who the friend was and if there was another tragedy that happened to someone she knew. If so, there were lots of tragedies happening to elves. 

Alys and Zath were waiting somberly in the entrance room. Alys was sat on the desk next to the door, keeping his gaze away from Lydan who was practically stabbing him with his eyes. Zath gave Elaria a questioning look, but she shook it off. 

"Are we ready to go?" She asked. 

"As ready as ever!" Zath gave her a triumphant smile. I saw her lips curl into a small smile. 

"Then let's go and save Va Bor!"

She was just about to walk through the door when Alys stopped her by talking. "And what about me? Everyone will surely see me,"

"Just use your magic," Lydan retorted. 

"Magic doesn't work like that," he replied with the same amount of venom. 

"Stop it you two," Elaria scolded. "You have a point though,"

"Doesn't Alizon have another disguise?" I asked, hoping I was right. 

"Nope, she used the last one on you," he shook his head. "Speaking of you, it's wearing off,"

"What?" I went to touch the horns on my head. 

"The eyes are," he pointed to his eyes. "It'll be fine in the low light,"

I breathed a sigh of relief, removing my hands from the white horns on my head. 

"How did you get here earlier on?" Zath asked. "Maybe we could use that?"

"I suppose so," he nodded, picking up his hood. "Well, it's the only choice we have,"

"Let's just go already," Lydan pushed past Elaria, opening the door and stepping outside. 

"What's his problem?" Zath asked when he was our of earshot. 

"I don't know," Elaria shrugged. "I guess it's almost the day when Shyael disappeared. He's like this every year. Gets mad that he couldn't save him I guess, though it's just a thought,"

"Is it almost the day already?" Zath asked. 

"Tomorrow evening it happened, I've been keeping track of the dates," she nodded solemnly. "It was his birthday tomorrow too,"

"A tragic day," Alys walked past her, a different air around him; he wasn't like he was before. "I give you my condolences,"

"Thank you," she nodded. He promptly left to follow Lydan with his hood up. 

"Let's just go," Zath said sheepishly, probably trying to lighten the mood after he dampened it.

"Let's," I nodded, helping him to do what I assumed he was doing. 

Elaria nodded, giving us a fake smile and hiding her sorrows. 

We had to run to catch up with Lydan. He was almost at the docks when we found him, with Alys not far behind. He was keeping a close eye on him, any time he moved too slowly he would glare at him from the corner of his eye. I didn't see if he reacted underneath his hood. At least they both waited for us when we neared the docks. 

"Go and do your thing," Lydan pushed him towards the guard on duty. I saw Alys roll his eyes at the contact. I saw Elaria move to say something, but she stopped herself and turned away. "Is something the matter?"

Elaria shook her head, turning away from him and crossing her arms. Lydan mumbled something, and I saw Elaria's ears twitch. She mumbled something back, something in another language, and Lydan's ears twitched. He mumbled something again, and the cycle continued until Zath moved, signalling to the both of them that Alys had done his 'thing' as Lydan said. We all followed him to a boat, climbing the stairs to get onto it. It was odd, there were stairs built into the pathways used to get on, and a couple planks of wood were out in case the boat was too far away. Alys helped us all across except for Lydan, who refused the help. He simply walked to the helm and began to make the boat move. I followed Zath and sat down next to him by the railing. He was looking up at the moon; it was full and casting it's heavenly glow on us. He didn't say anything for a while; we just both stared at the moon and the stars. 

"Do you see that constellation there?" Zath pointed to a cluster of stars. "That's Flumen, the water goddess. The stars in her constellation are supposed to represent good luck, mainly Fortuna, Lady Luck, and Fortunae, Lady Fortune. It's said that whoever looks at them and makes a wish that it'll be granted, since the Ladies will receive it," he turned and smiled at me. "Make a wish,"

I stared at the stars he was talking about, and noticed two bright stars, assuming that they were the ones he was talking about. I wished for my family and friends to be okay, to have confirmation that they would be alive and well. I also saw Zath make a wish out of the corner of my eye. He turned to me when he was done. 

"Don't tell anyone now," he smiled. "It's a secret between you and them, else it won't come true,"

"I'll keep it a secret," I replied, unable to stop my lips curling into a small smile. 

There was another small moment of silence, but it was more of a content silence. I looked around a little bit, watching the boat move and feeling the wind in my face, brushing my hair back. The place we were in was a little shabby really, made of houses barely held together by planks of wood. 

"Zath, where are we?" I asked, a little confused. There was no way it could be Domun, right?

"Oh, this is the Egium," he replied, his voice a little dull. "It's the poor district,"

"Ah," I nodded, turning back to look. "How many are there?"

"There's the Egium, where we are now," he explained, counting them off on his fingers. "The Opia, or the working district, and Domun itself, the posher district, but they all come under Domun. It's weird I know,"

"I see," I nodded. 

"It's set out like an oval," he made one in the air with his fingers. "This river takes us directly through the centre of the oval," he demonstrated again. "It's the quickest route to Domun,"

I nodded in understanding. It was nice to hear about different places other than where I came from. 

There was another longer silence, and I felt my eyes drooping and become tired. I wanted to sleep again, and the quiet didn't really help. 

I'm pretty sure I did fall asleep, since when I woke up we were in a different place and I was on Zath's shoulder. 

"Enjoy your sleep?" He asked, his lips curling into a small smile. 

"Sorry," I jumped from his shoulder, looking away in embarrassment. 

"It's fine, I don't mind," he shrugged what happened off, staring at my pink cheeks and making them turn redder. 

"Stop looking," I covered my cheeks with my hands. 

"It's no big deal, I think you look cute with pink cheeks," he smiled at me, and I felt my cheeks heat up more. "And tiny red ears,"

"My ears are not tiny!" I replied, turning away and covering my ears in mock sulk fashion. 

"Aw, c'mon, don't be like that," he moved a little closer. "Your tin- I mean ears are cute,"

I moved my hands down, still not looking at him, continuing my mock sulking. He playfully laughed at me. 

"Well, I'm not lying. They are tiny and cute," he shrugged at me. 

"And yours are large," I replied. 

"Ouch, I've been wounded," he placed his hands on his chest, playfully pretending he had been shot. I simply laughed at his childish actions. "Someone call for help,"

"No," I went back to my mock sulking with a smile, unable to hide it. 

"And I'm dead," he relaxed, sitting limp against the railing with his tongue out, playing dead like a puppy. I laughed, and a few seconds later he stood up and bowed twice. "Thank you for coming to the performance of my death, you have all been such a wonderful audience,"

I clapped, unable to stifle my laughing. He sat back down next to me. 

"You're not that bad of an actor," I said. 

"I know, I know," he waved his hand in the air, putting on a mock posh accent. "Can you fetch me a pretiosa? The Altiorem of acting is thirsty,"

"One for me as well," I waved my hand too, attempting the same accent as him. We both laughed at the accents, knowing how badly we failed to replicate them. 

As out laughs slowly faded to silence, I looked around at the scenery around us. Instead of the wooden huts now, they were little cottages with plants and trees growing around. We passed a farm with the colourful fruits from before and even a few more I didn't recognise. 

"Where are we now?" I asked, turning back to Zath. 

"This is the Opia," he replied. "It always looks so quaint and friendly,"

"It does," I nodded, looking at the lamps with candles inside. The smoke was let out from the sides, and some wafted onto the boat, making it smell of sweet fruits. 

"They always have the scented candles as lights," Zath smiled. "Gives off such a warm and inviting smell,"

I nodded, unable to say anything since I was in awe at the Opia. It was just too beautiful to handle. 

The silence around us was broken by the sound of laughter. Alys emerged from under the deck, pulling Elaria along at a quick pace and leaving her stumbling. She laughed, simply playfully telling him to slow down. He stopped, catching her before she fell. 

"Careful Altium," he helped her to stand straight. "Wouldn't want you to fall now would we?"

"Don't even think about dropping me," she playfully scolded as he helped her. He let go of her for a second, catching her before she hit the ground and pulling her back up. She laughed at him, shaking her head. 

"Sorry, my hand slipped," he replied. 

"It better not do it again," she replied. He smiled, moving and almost dropping her again. 

"Oops, my foot slipped," he smiled. Elaria simply laughed at him. He looked up, noticing the full moon and turned back to her. "Care for a dance, Altium?"

She looked up, noticing the full moon too. "I don't mind if I do,"

The two set off dancing around the deck at a speed which again meant Elaria stumbled lots. She was only small compared to Alys, much like I was. Zath shook his head. 

"I see they're trying to appease Ignis, he's always been known to bless those who are energetic," he smiled. 

"What do you mean?" I asked, not knowing who he was talking about. 

"It's an old tale that if you dance under the full moon, one of the Gods or Goddesses will take pity on you and bless you," he replied. "I've always been a favour of Flumen myself, she likes those who can't really dance but try anyway," he shrugged, turning to me and holding his hand out. "Care for a dance?"

"Sure," I placed my hand in his, feeling my cheeks turn pink once more. 

He pulled me up from the chair, slowly moving around and softly holding my hands. He slowly moved his arms around, pulling me a little closer hesitantly in case I pulled away. I let him, and he was soon hugging me, swaying softly. I wrapped my arms around him, slowly swaying too. It felt as if time slowed down, as if nothing else existed in the world besides us two dancing. The floor felt as if it melted, replaced with soft, light clouds that were delicate, almost separating us from the world. It was blissful, and I didn't want it to end. I felt his arm move up, his hand slowly getting tangled in my hair and brushing through, catching on a few knots and carefully undoing them. He began to hum a melody, a soft melody, a kind melody. I felt my head rest on his shoulders as he continued. 

"Don't fall asleep on me, okay?" He mumbled, breaking the song for a couple seconds to talk. 

"I don't know, it's a little tempting," I replied, closing my eyes. 

"We're nearly there, when we get there you can sleep," he mumbled. I opened my eyes for a while to look around, and could faintly make out some houses, but that was it. 

"But I'm tired," I replied. 

"I know, but you can't," he moved his hand, placing a finger under my chin and picking it up softly. "When we stop in a few minutes you can,"

I looked up at him, locking eyes with him and not being able to move, paralysed by his hazel eyes almost. They looked like pure hazelnuts, one of my favourite things to eat around Christmastime. I felt him slowly move closer, and I did too, only realising when our noses almost brushed. But we were stopped. There was a loud cry, and the boat rocked violently, almost tipping over. Zath grabbed me, steadying us both. 

"What was that?" Elaria asked. Lydan ran up from below the deck. 

"They shot at us," he yelled, almost interrupted by another yell and rock. The three of them ran to the edge, with Elaria and Lydan yelling things in another language. Whoever was shooting the boat didn't care, and yelled again, causing another shot to be fired. Zath grabbed onto the railing, steadying himself, and I saw Elaria almost fall overboard, barely stopped by Alys. 

There was one final shot. I remember it rocked so bad I fell away from Zath. I remember standing up, running to grab him when the boat slipped. We grazed hands, I felt his fingertips on mine, but I felt back, crashing into the cold water with a loud splash and sinking. There was a sharp pain in my head, and I remembered seeing Zath swimming over to me, but nothing else.