Chapter 13

Everyone seemed to have calmed down over breakfast. They didn't talk that much, but after a few jokes from Alizon they all seemed to peek up a little bit. Alizon told us that the market was in town, and that the streets would be full of stalls. She advised that Elaria straighten her hair since curls or waves are a symbol of higher class, and to not be bothered by everyone. After all, if they saw an upper class elf walking around they'd be more likely to talk to them and draw attention to them. Lydan was also told to pull his hair into a plait, and since Alizon was busy I was left with the job. He didn't talk to me as he did it, but that was better than constant insults and arguments. Alizon was surprised at my skill, but I explained to her that my sister was a hairdresser and good with these things, and she taught me. It wasn't a lie, she often tried out hairstyles on my other sister, and worded how to do them to make sure she was doing it right. She was always weird in that sense. Zath also requested a plait after seeing the quality that I managed to make it with, so I made sure to make it different to Lydan's by making it a more complex and time consuming plait. He appreciated it greatly, constantly thanking me for it when he was done. He said he'd never seen anything like it, so I assumed it was just a human thing. Alizon put her hair into her signature low pigtails, and put a witch hat over it to make her seem more 'witchy' as she said. It was a splash of colour against her black dress, the purple ribbon around it matching her black and purple striped tights. She looked like a stereotypical witch, I suppose that's where we got the stereotype from. Elaria looked odd with straight hair; her face seemed to be longer and thinner, and her hair was less fluffy and looked thinner too. She looked completely different. 

Alizon also gave me a spare witch potion she had. It actually hurt more than I expected, the horns at least. It felt like they were growing out of my head, and my eyes stung a little, but that was it. Zath complimented me on the horns, saying they actually suited me. Much like Alizon and Circe's, they were slicked back, except they stuck up at the end more. The potion was originally made for Alys, but apparently the items Alizon needed to follow the other recipe were unavailable, so we had to make-do. 

The market was actually very busy. I didn't know what I expected after what Alizon said, but I didn't expect to have to grab onto Zath's shirt to not get separated from him. We were arranged in a long chain, with Lydan pushing past everyone in an attempt to get to the docks fast. Occasionally, people would bump into me and attempt to break me from the chain, but after a couple stern looks from Zath they stopped. 

Just before we reached the docks, someone decided to break me from the chain for good, even reaching out to remove my hand. Of course, after they touched my hand, I moved it back, not liking the touch and completely forgetting about the chain. Zath noticed immediately, since he turned around and glared at the one who did it, grabbing my wrist and locking his hand around it. 

"What do you want?" Zath spat, venom dancing on his words. It was the angriest I'd seen him. 

"To talk to you," the elf replied. I swear I saw malice hidden in his eye. "Away from the public eye,"

"About what?" Zath replied, slightly squeezing my wrist. 

"What you're doing here," he replied, a smirk forming on his face. "Alley, now,"

Zath abruptly let go of my wrist, but I grabbed his instead, looking to see if I could spot the others. I didn't, and being in such a different place I didn't want to be alone. Zath looked around, trying to spot the rest, but they'd walked on too far to spot. 

"Don't get involved, alright?" He mumbled. "I don't want you getting hurt,"

"I'll try," I replied. 

"No, I need you to promise me," he replied, a little sterner this time. 

I was interrupted by the elf yelling something. It sounded like a name if I was honest. Zath didn't seem too pleased to hear it, and pulled me through to the alleyway. 

Just as he walked in, the elf threw a punch at him. I managed to warn him in time, and he caught it narrowly, his face coated in a layer of shock. 

"I said privately," the elf spat, looking down upon Zath and turning his nose up. 

"He's never been here before, he'll get lost," Zath replied. 

"I guess I'll have to take care of him then," the elf shrugged, retracting his fist forcefully and setting Zath slightly off balance. 

He approached me, shoes crunching the crisp grass underneath him, and disfiguring it for life, just like I thought he would do to me. He towered over me by at least ten inches, maybe even more, and was clearly bigger than me. I put all my faith into my instincts, praying they would help me. 

I kicked him. Right in the shins. Not particularly hard, but it shocked him enough for Zath to grab me and run. I heard him yelling behind us, but at that point Zath was pushing through the crowd, not caring about the opinions they thought of him. His only priority seemed to be running away. A couple of the people we passed looked at us with strange looks upon hearing the yelling, and connected the dots between the source and us. 

Zath ran into Alys soon enough, attempting to push him out of the way and in the end being stopped. We were both out of breath because of the running, mainly me since I'd never ran so fast. I only had small legs compared to Zath. 

"What's wrong?" Alys rushed to say, noticing us both panting and worn out. 

"I ran into Laos," Zath turned to me. "Thanks for the warning,"

"No problem," I replied through my panting. 

"How did you get away? Where is he?" Alys was visibly concerned with the matter. 

"Oliver kicked him in the shin, and I grabbed him and ran," he replied. "Nice kick by the way,"

"Thanks," I replied, leaning on my legs. 

"And where is he now?" Alys asked, looking around the streets. 

"Somewhere down there," Zath replied. 

"If you don't mind me asking, who was that?" I asked, raising my finger. 

"He's one of my ex's friends," Zath replied. "He essentially lied about the relationship, and him and his friends tend to be a little… violent around me,"

"Ah," I nodded, understanding that he wasn't a very pleasant guy. 

"Let's just hope that he doesn't decide to return,"  Alys mumbled, looking around for the others. "I see they carried on. She can be oblivious at times. C'mon, let's go,"

Alys began walking at a brisk pace, hardly allowing me to keep up with him with my small legs. I concluded that elves were just in general taller than me. Alys was about a head taller than me, maybe even more, and Zath was only slightly smaller, and Lydan was at least a few inches taller than Alys, possibly more than a few, so I worried about the other elves in Domun. I didn't appreciate being small. 

After a small while of walking, we eventually came across the three, who were looking around for us. Alizon smiled and waved at us when she saw us, beckoning for us to come over and drawing attention to us. 

"Hey! Over here!" She balanced on her tiptoes, even though the path was clear. 

"Ah, there you are," Elaria turned to us. "Did you guys get lost?"

"I guess you could say that," Zath straightened up. 

"What happened to you guys? You look like you just ran around the whole place!" Alizon exclaimed, looking us over. 

"We did," Zath nodded. "Got cornered by an old friend, didn't end too well,"

"Are you alright?" Alizon took on a look of concern,"

"We're alright," I replied, still out of breath. 

"That's good," Alizon smiled. "C'mon, the docks aren't too far away,"

"Do you know who it was?" Lydan asked as we began walking. 

"Yeah, why?" Zath questioned, looking up at the tall elf. 

"No reason," he shrugged, walking to join Elaria and talked to her. She laughed and punched him in the arm. 

There was a moment of silence before Alys grabbed his arm and looked around. Alizon also noticed the odd movement, but it didn't seem like anyone else did. 

"What's wrong?" She mumbled, looking at his hand. I walked closer to listen to the conversation. 

"It's wearing off a lot quicker than I anticipated," he mumbled, barely allowing me to catch the string of words. 

Alizon mumbled a curse. "We'll book the boat for later. I'll get one of the spares Puella said she was making,"

Alys nodded, and the two disbanded. He looked me directly in the eyes out of the corner of his eye and shook his head, signalling for me to be quiet about it. 

The docks was a short way away. It was extremely large, with many different boats lined up in a pier, with pathways leading to each one. There were also plaques in front of each one too. 

Lydan approached the elf leaning against a little booth. I saw him roll his eyes and turn up his nose. 

"The docks are closed," the elf sneered. "Nobody's allowed in or out,"

Lydan pulled a necklace from underneath his shirt, one I hadn't seen before. It was deep purple, with shining smog in it. The elf rolled his eyes. 

"You found her then?" The elf looked at Elaria. "Passage for you two?"

"No, five," he replied. 

The elf looked us over with a cold glare and a judging eye. He shook his head when he was done. "Only you two,"

"Why?" He questioned. 

"That's the rules," he shrugged his shoulders, his palms in the air. "Altiorem's orders,"

"He needs to come with us," Lydan roughly grabbed Alys' shirt, dragging him next to him. He glared in return for the harsh movement. 

"Why?" The elf asked, seeming a little curious. 

"He's a prisoner," Lydan hissed. 

"A light witch?" The elf scoffed. 

Lydan roughly grabbed Alys' hand, tearing it from his arm and revealing a patch of his normal skin colour. The elf seemed shocked. 

"Why the disguise?" He asked, looking Alys over. 

"To save the public panicking," Lydan replied. 

"He can't go in anyway," the elf shrugged. "He's a threat to the Altiorem, so he stays here,"

"He has to come with us," Lydan spat. 

"Sorry, no can do," the elf went to grab Alys, except he moved back. "He'll be kept here,"

The elf moved to grab Alys again, except I saw a cloud of smoke around his hand. He raised it up, and it clouded the elf's eyes, stunning him for a minute and allowing Alys to swiftly flick his hood up and walk away, hiding his now dark skin. Zath called after him, running after him, and Elaria and Lydan followed after exchanging glances. Alizon walked after then after a moment of shock, and only stopped when the elf called after us. 

"Hey! What're you doing?" The elf asked sternly. "Elves only,"

"We were…" Alizon trailed off. 

"We saw the boats, and thought they were like the ones from home, we came to check them," I replied, grabbing Alizon's arm. "We're leaving now,"

I dragged Alizon away before he could say any more.