Chapter 3

Zhavier led me down an alley he seemed to pick at random. Despite the rather depressing colour of the buildings, the people were anything but.

They were…social and it surprised me, more so because the Glaze was an hour or so from starting. The elf colonies always grew eerily silent before it started, like they weren't sure they'd survive. Although I'd landed very close to what seemed like more of a group of vendors than a market, the yard was more of a residential area which was mostly composed of double storied buildings that grew lighter in colour until they were almost a greyish white at the top. We came out of the other side of the alley to a large circular pool. There were a few people milling about, the children cooling off in the water since it was already hot and I spotted an inconspicuous bunch huddled at the mouth of another alley that led to the pool.

Zhavier led us straight to them.

"This is not the time to be causing trouble." One of them says. "Royal Guards' been sniffin' around 'ere for the past three days."

"I know." Zhavier says. "This one needs to find someone. I'm guessing your uncle?" He says this to me, to which I nod.

"Description." Another one says.

I tried to catch their eyes or at least a glimpse of their faces, but they were all carefully hidden behind the beige cloaks they were wearing. I could barely even make out the shapes of their mouths even with the light shining above.

"Blonde with a fair complexion and a slight tan. About more than a head taller than myself but less than two, and surly looking."

"Wha' waz' e wearing?"

"A lime green cloak, he could've changed what he was wearing underneath it, but when he…when we went our separate ways, he was in a light blue tunic, slightly faded, with brown pants and the same boots as mine, only bigger."

"And wha' are you willing to pay for us to find 'im for ya?" another one asked.

"What are your rates?"

"I'll take care of it." Zhavier says, cutting in.

"No." the one who'd raised the question said. "We said no trouble."

"Just put it on my tab, alright." He said. "And find his uncle quickly."

There was a moment of tense silence where I felt like just walking away before violence broke out, but the three cloaked men nodded in unison and one of them said. "Come back 'ere tomorrow."

"Thank you." Zhavier said, dragging me away.

"Wait, what happens tomorrow morning?"

"They'll tell you where your uncle is." He says confidently. "I've used their services before, so trust me when I say they're really good."

I ripped my arm out of his grasp, before fixing my tunic and durag. "Well, I guess I'll be on my way then."

Zhavier snorts. "You owe me."

"Excuse me?" I questioned, smiling incredulously at him. "I didn't ask you pay for me."

"Well, it would've been impossible for someone like you to pay."

"Someone like me?" I questioned, starting to get offended. Who did this brute think he was?

"Yes, someone like you." He continued. "And I wasn't talking about that, I offered to pay. I'm talking about helping you find the Eloge."

"Those people were Eloge?" I asked, looking at the group still closely huddled by the alley.

Eloge were sort of into all trades, most of them real nasty. They took coin as pay for simple and legal tasks, but the bigger and complicated the favour, well…uncle had told me they took something else instead of coin. Sometimes body parts, emotions, senses and even magic. I'd been warned against them by uncle and I'd promised him I wouldn't ever use them.

Seeing my expression, Zhavier quickly said. "It's all perfectly safe."

"You could've given me a warning." I gritted out. I wanted to punch him.

"I know, but would you have used their services if you'd known?"

"Of course not."

"Then how were you going to find your uncle?" he asked. "By walking around and asking everyone you come across?" he finished with a scoff.

"Maybe that's exactly what I would've done."

"This place isn't exactly safe during the Blue Glaze." Zhavier said. "The city garrison becomes lax, not enough that there's chaos, but enough that all sorts of scum get up to no good. The inns are very pricey and coin gets spent really quick."

I bit my lip in worry.

"Stay with me tonight."

My lips curled. "I am not sleeping with you." I said in disgust.

"That's not a no."

I sighed. "Fine, but if you try anything, I'll rip your spine out through your nose."

Zhavier laughed. "This way then."

Regardless of how genuine he was, something was off about Zhavier. I was old enough to believe that meeting him had nothing to do with luck. It was a chance meeting, yes. Him offering to not only pay one of my debts but also house me for the rest of the week was more than a little suspicious. I hadn't survived this long by trusting everyone who was kind to uncle and I, and I certainly wasn't going to start today.

The further we walked, the lighter the colour of the marble buildings became. Even the cobblestone on the streets grew lighter, no longer a great contrast to the greenery peeking from the yards on both sides of the road. I could tell we were moving to the much wealthier parts of the city because even the architecture started to take on a different feel. The roofs were boarded by mosaics and rounded arches and the buildings were very open with plenty of space in between them, with huge windows and double doors, fountains and small monuments. There was less marble and more stone, probably to keep the insides cool during the day and warm at night.

What really caught my eye and kept it was the statue of Nnenya.

She was ethereal.

"Don't tell me you believe in that rubbish about deities." Zhavier said.

"Are you incapable of saying something without being a complete lump of shit?" I asked, pleasantly.

"Why are you so prickly?" was his retort.

"I don't like people who can't respect other people's beliefs." That is, unless you're my uncle, I thought. "And I'm not prickly, just allergic to arses."

Zhavier laughed again. It was annoying, how attractive he was.

I wasn't short, not by a long shot. Everyone else was just freakishly tall. Uncle said I had few centuries to grow before I reached full height, so I didn't let my height bother me much. Zhavier was obviously taller, with a head golden spun hair. It looked a bit odd when you paired it with his obsidian coloured eyes, but somehow it suited him just fine. His face was very androgynous, with thin brows and full pink lips. He had thin almond eyes that were slightly narrowed into squint, with an almost unsettlingly calm gaze, even when he was laughing. He had a pair of titan-shoulders, a slight bulge of muscles was visible on his light green tunic and he moved with a feline grace. He was very easy on the eyes.

I cleared my throat loudly, averting my gaze. I heard him snicker.

"Before, when you said I brushed off your lure, what did you mean?"

"I'm of the Wind. Someone somewhere out there is burning aphrodisiacs."

I'd met plenty of people who could use wind to this degree, they were plenty amongst the elves, but rarely someone as young as Zhavier. Uncle had told me that out of the four elements, wind was the hardest to master. Something about air being fickle.

"And?"

"It's a bit complicated to explain." He said. "Basically I just gathered it up and used it against you."

"If it's complicated to explain then it's surely a complicated spell." I said. "Why did you use your lure on me? I mean, what reason would you use such a complicated spell on me for? Do you really want to er...do me— do that so badly?"

Zhavier laughed. "No, of course not."

"Well?" I questioned when he didn't elaborate. "Why then?"

"I'll explain later." He said. "Go say your prayer to your goddess first."

I rolled my eyes at him before walking up to the large statue. As I knelt down in front of her and bowed my head in subservience, I barely resisted the urge to curse Zhavier to Hel. I started unloading all my worries to Nnenya through my thoughts and I may have mentioned Zhavier once or twice. It was only after a while, when my mind grew silent that I really started to notice the power exuding from the monument before me and how wrong it felt.

I'd been to Holy places before where statues of both Nnenya and Mehal'umbr were raised from the ground up. There was usually an otherworldly feel to them, I wasn't sure if anyone else felt that way too, but every time I visited those statues I left revitalized, relieved of my burdens, lighter and just happier. And that was mostly because of the energy, the power in those places. I could almost feel the Mother and Father presence. Here though...even though I could feel Nnenya, I was nauseated. My stomach was rolling with unease. There was something wrong with this place.

A hand landed on my shoulder.

"Look." Zhavier said, pointing to the horizon.

The blue sun had finally risen and the Glaze was upon us.

The Blue Glaze had been there since the dawn of our people, well, all people on this world. We'd been immune to its incredible heat at first, able to breathe the air even when it became incredibly thin and even walk the earth when our bones grew incredibly heavy. But something changed. Children were born...wrong.

Well, that's how it started.

Whenever uncle had allowed a visit to the library, I'd devour texts written by scholars of the first Ark, Heidr Néel. When I asked him, uncle told me that he was an ancestor of mine. Arks didn't exist anymore, not amongst my people at least. There was no need for them, not since religion had mostly fallen to science. Arks used to be the bridge between races. They connected Ogres, Elves, Dwarves, Nymphs and even skin changers amongst other not so friendly races, all under a shared belief. To keep IT away.

I shuddered, turning away from thoughts of IT.

They'd spoken of him receiving prophetic dreams from the gods, but none of them had ever elaborated on what those visions entailed. What they'd all noted though was a gradual change in our people after Heidr Néel received his visions. Not only in their imperviousness to the Blue Glaze but also their way of life.

When I asked uncle about it he told me it was the obvious next step in the evolution of our people. He told me that we wouldn't have made as much progress with science if the gods hadn't lost their favour in us. Privately, I thought uncle was wrong. Despite not being extremely close, Dwarves, staunch worshipers of Mehal'umbr, had helped our civilization a lot in regards to where we currently stood. They'd given us Melhal millennia ago to protect children born different from perishing during the Blue Glaze. What only started as a huge building became a town, which grew into towns that spawned cities protected by Melhal. And what started off as a few children born different, became a whole generation and now none of my people could survive out there. It may have seemed like the gods weren't in our favour anymore at the time, but if that had been true then the Dwarves wouldn't have helped us, not if it meant going against their god's wishes.

I looked away from the dark sky to Zhavier, and suddenly I wanted to be inside and away from the sun and the statue of Nnenya. I'd let my thoughts run and now I was feeling a down.

It saddened me that my people only believed in Nnenya when it was convenient.

And seeing the blue sun rise further into the sky without lighting it up always unnerved me. The black sky would always leave me with chills.

I took a deep breath and decided to stop thinking about the GIaze and Arks. Instead I wondered what Nala and her sons were up to. Those seemed like safer thoughts.

"How much further do we have to go?"

"Just around the corner."

"What are we doing in these parts? The inns were all in that direction."

"I didn't say I was taking you to an inn."

"You live here?" I questioned. "Didn't you say you were in the city because of the glaze?"

"I did." He said, smirking at me.

"Alright, that's it." I said, stopping. "I don't know what your deal is. You're suspicious, obviously have an interest in my chastity and are up to no good. I don't know why I've been following you around because every one of my instincts tells me not to and seeing as you're regularly in contact with shady individuals, I'm inclined to believe that my instincts are right and that you are very much up to no good. So I'm leaving."

"We were just about to get to the good part." He said, amused.

I swallowed past my unease. "I don't care."

I turned around and started walking.

"It's going to be very difficult for you out there." Zhavier called.

"I have a feeling it will be equally as difficult being in your presence." I said. "And don't you dare follow me. O-otherwise you'll regret it."

I heard him snicker again. "I'll be waiting right here for your return."

It was a bit embarrassing how quickly I returned.

It certainly wasn't because I missed the arse. I just wanted to go somewhere safe, and the wealthier parts of the city looked very much safer than another place. I went back to Nnenya's monument because I was hoping to find comfort in Her and mostly because I had no idea where else to go. The last thing I wanted was to get lost and that was sure to happen if I wandered too far from the only recognizable place in the city.

Zhavier was calmly waiting for me, the bastard.

"You lasted longer than I thought you would." He said, smiling brightly at me. His eyes were still unnervingly calm.

"What do you want from me?" I asked, eyes narrowed. "If you're honest, I'll come with you. And I won't complain…much."

Zhavier hummed. "I just want to have a conversation with you."

"What about?" I asked. "And do you really want to sleep with me?"

"Well, I don't believe we're in polite company, so I'll only ask questions once we're somewhere private." He said. "And no, I'm not interested in your virginity."

"I-I'm not a virgin!" I stuttered.

"Right." He agreed, dryly. "Shall we?"