Eyes on Us

Naralis felt nothing and couldn't move if he tried. His face was marred with dirt and in the corner of his eye, he saw his friend as concerned as ever.

"You really don't know how to use your brain." Edward's smile was the only thing stopping him from passing out. The poison that coated the arrows was weaker than the one he'd already faced, but the effects were different. His aethereal body was damaged much more than his physical one.

"I warned you of every possible scenario that the test was going to give us, and you still ended up looking like you grew branches out of your shoulders. Let's get you to a healer before you begin to grow leaves." Naralis wanted to share Edward's laugh, but he didn't have enough energy to crack a smile.

Edward carried him back to a colosseum room where a small, dainty woman was tending to the injured in a room filled to the brim with unmoving patients. Edward dropped Naralis on an empty table as lightly as he could and caught the attention of the pink-haired woman with pointy ears and tiny wings.

"Adelina, please help my friend. I'm not sure what those arrows had on them but he has five in him and is losing a lot of blood."

The fairy snarled at him, but her bubbly appearance returned quickly.

"No patient is more important than another. He came last so he'll be attended to last." Naralis watched the two talk. In his eyes, they were arguing like a couple.

"With our history, you can't afford me a little more privilege than these lot? Come on." Edward slowly walked toward Adelina and ran his finger across her spine. The fairy jerked and struck Edward hard enough to send him back toward Naralis. In the blink of an eye, the fairy was in front of Edward, wide-eyed with shaky pupils. Adelina snatched Edward by the shirt and brought him eye-to-eye with her.

"Speak of that night, and I'll curse your loins to never work again!" Adelina threw him back to the ground.

"That night? You act like we did nothing after that. Remember the bag trick I showed you during the play?" Edward smirked."

Adelina remained stoic and looked back toward Naralis who was still bleeding and in pain.

"The more you insult me with such memories I wish I could take back, the more your friend suffers. I could care less about his importance or innocents in the matter." Her heels clicked as she headed back towards her patient, and Edward folded as the sound of Naralis' blood hit the ground.

"Alright, damnit! You win. Heal him, and I'll go."

Adelina turned back and looked Edward in the eyes. He was truly concerned for his elven friend. He sucked up his pride and apologized to her. Something he'd never done for playing her like a fiddle. Adelina sighed and walked to Naralis' table.

"I've heard a lot about you, red elf. Adelina leaned in and whispered. "Fae is my... relative, and she told me what you are."

Naralis felt uneasy at her words, but he couldn't retort in his condition. Edward remained silent at the woman's side. He knew what she was truly capable of. He'd witness what lay under her cute appearance and there was nothing he could do if she decided to kill both of them.

"I'll keep your secret for a price. I'll need a steady supply of your blood for ritual summoning. When I call, you come. Your other option is that you accidentally die here, and trust me, no matter how much Edward will try to save you, he knows his death will be quick and painless. If you agree to my terms, move your eyes from left to right. If you don't well..." She chuckled. "I'll send you to your maker."

Naralis wasn't stupid. The look on Edward's face told him that the woman wasn't bluffing, but he could only wonder why Edward would bed such a woman. His eyes moved side to side, and goosebumps graced his skin when the fairy woman smiled as if he'd just sold his soul.

"Looks like your friend is smarter than you. Now let's get those arrows out of you!" Her voice turned bubbly and childlike in a split second. Adelina's aura made the process of removing the arrows painless. Her aura was green and warm like a mother's love. It hugged tightly as the poison dissolved and he soon felt feeling returning to his limbs.

"You two should return quickly. The tournament is about to begin, and I'll talk to Naralis when this is all over." Adelina made herself scarce when Naralis finally sat up, wiggling his fingers and toes.

"I won't ask you about your relationship with that she-devil, but how strong is she for her not to care about your father's rage if she killed you?" His gaze landed on the back of the fairy who turned around as if she knew he was looking at her.

"We can talk about that on the way to the rest of the class, but we need to go before she starts handing out more requests." The pair exited as fast as they could, following the noise of their classmates which led them to a room a few doors down.

"I was wondering when you two would show." Ramiel approached them. "I came at you wrong when we first met. As you can tell, I'm proud of my lineage, but that doesn't mean I can't respect a man willing to dive into a lake full of poisonous snakes just to get first place in an exam. I won't lose to you during the tournament "Ramiel walked back to his group of friends while Edward and Naralis found an empty corner of the room.

"We are alone now. Tell me how strong Adelina is Edward."

"Fae and fae-like races outlive almost all races, which is why they rule so much of the world. Of course, some forces oppose that rule like orcs. My father told me Adelina fought in the red-sea war that happened in a territory east of Aflair."

Naralis tried his best to remember what he learned in history books, but the realization took his breath away.

"The red sea war happened over a mana vein between the Astral clan and the Mystic tribe of orcs. One of the only orc clan's mana blessed, but that war was over two thousand years old."

"...."

"She's two-thousand years old!?" Edward suffocated his mouth immediately and smiled at his classmates as they turned toward the outburst.

"Shut your big mouth, you dummy!"

"You didn't answer me." Naralis frowned and whispered. "You had sex with someone that old? I knew you were a freak."

"You are the one to judge. How old do you think Amy is?" Edward grinned.

"Don't tell me. I don't want to know." Naralis waved him off.

"Fine. I won't tell you she's over a thousand years old too."

" You-"

Their conversation was interrupted by the door slamming open and Eburhardt walking in. His eyes scanned around until he saw his pupil in the corner.

"Now that everyone is here, the combat tournament will start. You all will be fighting twice today. It's only a show for the crowd, but enjoy yourselves. This will be one of the few times where you can beat the shit out of someone you don't like."

Ramiel looked at Naralis and smiled while every girl in class looked at Edward with malice.

" Buddy, we are fucked."