Winter and Rose

“A rose, by any other name would smell as sweet…”

-Shakespeare

1

Over the next few days, Alexis and Iris traveled together quietly. Alexis had stopped answering Iris’s questions and eventually they had stopped conversing all together. The last question he had answered was when Iris asked where he had gotten the leather bag and the new clothes to which he replied “In Little Helios.” She didn’t know if he paid for it or not, but she couldn’t complain. The pants fit just fine and the shirt was tight enough where it wouldn’t get hung up on stray branches, but not so tight that she felt uncomfortable. She might have even picked the outfit out herself if they had come in different colors. All black clothes weren’t really her thing.

Even though he stopped answering questions and talking, the atmosphere between them wasn’t unpleasant. Iris took in the scenery as they passed through wide fields of different colored grass and under waterfalls of a dazzling blue green. She listened to a multitude of bird calls that she had never heard before and the farther from her town she went, the more these things amazed her.

Alexis walked in front of the horse and Iris sat on its back. He moved easily and without hesitation at an almost monotonous pace. Iris thought that he could have moved faster if she wasn’t with him, but Alexis didn’t complain, just walked with his head down and his eyes forward.

One night, maybe a week or two after the naga incident, they were sitting by the fire as usual. They had stopped on the edge of a field overrun with purple and yellow flowers where Nellie could roam and set up camp beneath a large tree. Iris sat next to the fire and ate the nuts she had gathered and stuffed in the pocket of her pants earlier that day. Alexis sat on the other side, poking the fire with a long stick to keep it going. The sun was setting so the sky was lit with thousands of colors, turning everything a bright orange, then pink as the sun settled behind the horizon. Iris watched it, thinking how lucky she was to be there at that moment, even if she didn’t know where she was or where they were headed.

“We’re headed to the city Vera. We should arrive tomorrow evening.” He said and Iris jumped. She hadn’t expected him to speak and it startled her.

“Vera?”

“It’s one of two bigger Elven made cities. Vera and Veralla were created at the same time and are almost identical, only they are set up backwards from each other, like a mirror image.”

She chewed slowly on a nut she thought might be an almond and watched him speak. Why was he telling her this now? It’s not like he even agreed to take her to Olympus, not really.

“Why are we going there?” She asked cautiously. He was libel to just stop talking at any second so it was best to take advantage of great opportunity.

“It’s on the way and I’m going to meet a friend there. He was headed there on business the last time I saw him, so we might be able to track him from there if he’s not still hanging around.”

“Why do we need to find him?”

Alexis stood and placed the stick against the closest tree, just out of Iris’s reach.

“I’m going to need his help if I’m going to keep you alive. Humans are a rare creature and many would either want to harm you, eat you, or sell you to the highest bidder and I only have one set of eyes. Having him as backup would be helpful.”

“I’m not helpless you know.” Iris mumbled.

“Really?” He whispered, but he was no longer standing in front of her. His breath tickled the back of her neck and she jumped to her feet, spinning around to see his yellow eyes glowing in the darkness that had settled around them, his silhouette lit by the moon. He was crouched to spring with his hands splayed like claws. She backed up then stopped, remembering the fire dancing in its pit behind her. “I could have killed you, captured you, even raped you before you realized I was behind you and I’m not the fastest creature out here. Remember the naga? How would you have fared if there was more than one? Think you could take on one of them by yourself?”

He straightened and placed his hands in his pockets to show he was done scaring her. Unsure, Iris stayed where she was with her jaw clenched and her hands shaking. She had never been so scared, not even when she was being attacked by the naga. At least then it was a wild animal or humanoid doing the scaring. Not the person watching the forest while she slept. Not the one who was, apparently, keeping her safe? But in that moment she caught a glimpse of the monster he was or at least the monster he could be and it left Iris with a bad taste in her mouth. Did she really trust this savage beast with her life?

Cowed into silence, she stood watching him, afraid to move even though he had backed up and remained unmoving in front of her. He was too fast, she hadn’t seen him move. There were faster things out there? What was he?

“I just wanted you to see that you are at a disadvantage. Humans are weaker, slower and dumber creatures than most, but you are the most resilient. Even after Zeus had your kind destroyed, groups of you still thrive around the world.”

“What’s your point?” She scoffed. Alexis’s eyes narrowed, then he sighed.

“My point is that you are at a huge disadvantage out here in the world outside your little town, but I think you can survive if my friend can help me protect you.”

2

The next day when the sun was high in the sky, Alexis set out once again on foot while Iris rode on Nellie behind him. The way was easy going and uninterrupted by beasts, though Iris thought she caught a glimpse of a giant black cat in the trees.

Iris had her hair braided down her back in one braid like Alexis, but her hair kept falling in her face with the breeze. She wore her black t-shirt and pants, getting use to the style and liking that she didn’t have to sit lady like. Her boots went well with them as well almost like it had been planned. She wished she had Alexis’s hat though, to keep the sun from her eyes.

She squinted as they reached the top of the hill they were on and put her hand over her face like a visor so she could see well. Nestled in the middle of the valley surrounded by trees was a group of buildings and what appeared to be a grid of roads between them. From where she was she couldn’t tell how big the town was because of all the trees, but it was certainly bigger than Little Helios.

“Is this it? Is this Vera?” She asked excitedly, sitting up as straight as she could so she could see as much as possible.

“Yes, well part of it anyway.” He commented continuing down the other side of the hill.

“What do you mean by part of it?”

“You’ll see.”

Vera was larger than she expected and quite different from what she was used to. Before they could reach the city they had to pass through a large wooden gate formed by the trees themselves. They twisted together in intricate patterns creating a wall that apparently encircled the city, but the gate to the city was what was most impressive. It stretched to the highest part of the canopy, vines wrapping themselves around the trunks of each individual tree and around each other, all coming together in the middle of the gate where a giant rose grew. The rose, bigger than Iris, gave the greens and the browns in the forest a splash of red.

In front of the gate stood a creature Iris could only describe as gorgeous. He was tall with long blond hair that lay against his back and shoulders in straight sheets. He wore what looked like a baby blue robe held together with a black leather belt where a long sword sat. His pale skin seemed to have a light of its own; it appeared to glow in the shadows of the trees. The lines of his face were perfect, as if he were a perfect stone statue. His triangular nose and soft jaw looked almost feminine, but his long pointed ears and dark blue eyes just made him look strange to Iris, attractive, but strange. She had heard stories about elves and their beauty but she had never seen one, until now.

“Good day travelers! What brings you to the forest of Vera?”

“A friend of mine resides in your city. We ask for entrance to visit him.”

The elf bowed and his silver blonde hair came forward, nearly touching the ground. He put his hands together as if praying. “The forest is dark and vacant.”

“But the Rose blooms with light and life.” Alexis answered and the elf nodded and held a hand up to place it palm down on the gate. Suddenly the vines began to glow and come alive; moving like snakes to gather around the flower and the flower began to bloom. The petals, large enough for Iris to sit in, bloomed, opening to reveal a glow coming from the crack in the gate behind it. The crack split and the gate opened, splitting the flower in half as the trees moved on their own.

Beyond the moving gate were more trees but between them were buildings. Some were the same size as the buildings in Iris’s home town but others were taller than she had ever seen, almost as tall as the trees themselves. From the gate a road started, a road made out of rocks that weaved its way through the city.

Alexis lead Iris and Nellie on that road, nodding at the elf as they passed. The horse’s hooves made a loud clip, clop, clip, clop sound as they walked through the trees. Elves were everywhere, all in colorful robe-like clothing with long straight hair. Iris noticed that if Alexis unbraided his hair he might fit right in and she wondered if he was an elf, but she was too shy to ask.

Surprisingly, even though there were people everywhere, it was quiet, not the normal hustle and bustle Iris was use to wearing in the town square. She saw men reading under the trees, women shopping at various shops, horse keepers, guards, farmers, all in that small space, but there was hardly any noise. Even the horse’s hooves didn’t echo as loudly as they should. Though even if they weren’t making too much noise, they were still being stared at by the locals and Iris cringed, all too aware that she was center of attention. She sat with her head down and tried to appear as small as possible as she studied Nellie’s mane to avoid any eye contact.

“Excuse me.” Alexis spoke to a gentleman at a fruit stand, stopping to speak with them. The man looked at him with disinterest. “Have you seen an elf with short hair and big black cats as a companion come through here recently?”

“No, sir, I haven’t, though your friend sounds strange enough to ketch the eye of Guiney, the bar tender at Avellino’s. Do you know the way?”

“Yes, I do. Thank you very much.” Alexis replied and took a gold coin out of his pocket and tossed it to him. The elf nodded and pocketed the coin.

Alexis started moving again and Iris tried to follow, but Nellie was tired and didn’t move as fast as she did on the way there. People walked all around them and even if Iris had the advantage of height on her horse, she soon lost sight of him and she found herself alone on her horse island in a sea of elves.

3

Iris got down from her roost and began pacing in front of the horse, dodging the passerby’s out of respect, or maybe they were dodging her. Everywhere she looked there was long hair and cloaks, but nowhere did she see Alexis.

“Alexis!” She called but nothing came out of her mouth. It was as if someone had stolen her voice and it was lost to the noiselessness vacuum around her. “Alexis!” She screamed again, but no sound reached her own ears, how could he hear her?

She began waving her arms high above her head and even though the elves were staring at her, she began hopping up and down. She continued to scream but it wasn’t helping as her blood ran with fear. Iris had never been alone and even though she didn’t want to admit it, she had grown attached to having Alexis around. He was all she had that was familiar anymore and she needed to get him back.

Looking over her shoulder at Nellie who looked unenthused by what was going on; Iris began moving through the crowd, weaving in and out of people with ease. The elves seemed to move out of her way as soon as she decided which way she was going. Everywhere she looked were pale faces starring down at her, but none of them had Alexis’s yellow eyes.

“Alexis…” She whispered and for some reason, she heard it, but it didn’t make a difference. She stopped and looked back towards Nellie, but she couldn’t see her. Worried, Iris headed back the way she came, but she couldn’t find her horse. She was completely lost now and her teeth clattered with fear. Tears welled behind her eyelids and she stopped pacing, gazing down at her scuffed old boots and dirty looking pants, trying not to blink. If she blinked she would cry and if she started crying, she would start feeling sorry for herself.

Something moved in the corner of her eye. A shadow or a black figure flitted between the elves and at first she thought it was her imagination. Then she caught a glimpse between two elves of a yellow eye, very similar to Alexis’s, but with a hint of green. As soon as it appeared, it was gone, like it had never existed in the first place. Then there, a black tail twitched near an elf’s feet and again, it disappeared. She turned to a brown haired elf next to her and asked, “Did you see that or am I going crazy?”

The elf didn’t even look at her, just continued about its day, walking along with its nose in the air. She could hear herself if she whispered, but maybe the elf couldn’t hear her. She would hate to think it was just being rude.

“Maybe I am going crazy…” She muttered to herself as she saw the dark figure dart between a tall red building nearby and the tree next to it that was bigger than any tree she had ever seen. Iris took a moment to look around her for Nellie and Alexis, but when she didn’t see them, she followed the shadowy phantom.

It was gone by the time she made her way through the crowd and found herself starring down an alleyway. The tree was on the left and was strangely square like someone had rounded the edges of a wooden building. The building on the right was made of some sort of brick and had to be at least 6 floors tall, shaded by the canopy above. A door lead into the building a little further down, but otherwise there was nothing but the dirt floor and the forest beyond. There was no dark figure to follow, but if it had been real, Iris couldn’t figure out how it disappeared unless it was faster than her eyes could see.

“This is crazy.” She sighed and turned back to the crowd.

Suddenly, a strip of black cloth was thrown over her eyes and a strong hand gripped her shoulder. Instinct took over and she took a deep breath to scream, but a gut clenching low growl sounded near her and she forgot how. She held the breath until her chest hurt, until it was safe for her to let it out slowly. Animals spook at loud noises so she didn’t want to make matters worse by screaming.

“Stay still and stay quiet.” A voice whispered in her ear, breath warming her skin. Iris resisted the urge to twitch and took a step forward even though she couldn’t see. At that exact moment, as she reached up to take off the blindfold, she was turned upside-down and lifted by something that was now holding her by her hips and legs. Startled and thrown into a panic, she flailed and finally let out a scream, but nothing came out, at least anything that she could hear. This made her panic more and she beat her fists at whatever it was she was being abducted by. It didn’t let go and the blood was rushing to her head, pulsing in her brain with a cadence that matched the rhythm of the stranger’s walk.

The more she wiggled the tighter the grip on her got so she was forced to stay still except when her ears popped moments later so loudly that she jerked in surprise.

“Stop moving will you? Jeez, you squirm around more than a worm on a hook.” Said the same voice, only it was a normal volume and it made her think of the sun; warm and inviting even if the person who owned it was trying to kidnap her.

“Let me go!” She yelled and tried to break free again, but the grip around her waist only got tighter so she stilled. “Please, I don’t know what you want from me.”

“Well first I want you to stop moving so I don’t drop you. Have you ever climbed a tree one handed while carrying a wiggling body? It’s not easy and we’re up pretty high.”

Iris froze. She wasn’t afraid of heights; she had helped her father repair roofs without any issue, but knowing she was being dangled off someone’s shoulder over any height would be nerve wrecking. He continued to climb and Iris stayed as still as possible so he wouldn’t drop her.

Moments later the rhythm of his walking changed and then he stopped, flipping her upright and off his shoulder to her feet. She staggered backwards and bumped into something with the back of her knee. She stumbled and very ungracefully fell; sitting hard on the object she bumped into. She immediately stood up again, but was pushed back into her sitting position and her arms were tied to whatever it was she was sitting in, though at this point she believed the object was a chair.

Once her hands were tied, Iris grumbling under her breath the entire process, her blindfold was lifted. The sudden light made her eyes water, not because the blindfold had been on too long, but because the light was a lot brighter now than it had been in the crowd. Light came through the leaves above them almost as if they didn’t exist.

“Who are you?” The voice demanded and Iris turned her head to see a very tall muscular man standing before her holding the blindfold in one hand and a four inch steel blade in the other. He had the elven pointed features that she had seen on the elves in the crowd but there was something different about him. He didn’t have the elven arrogance that she had seen and his skin was too tan, very much unlike the elves before, but he did have the long pointed ears. He also had short black hair that spiked in random places making it look like he had just gotten out of bed. He also wasn’t wearing the long pale robes that seemed to be popular with the race; instead he wore baggy grey pants with many pockets that sat low on his hips and covered his feet. The man had apparently chosen to only get half-dressed because he wasn’t wearing a shirt and his distinct muscles were only covered by a strange tattoo surrounding his belly button made of different sized triangles in a circular pattern that resembled a sun, the triangles making up the sun’s rays.

He was standing on the platform they were resting on high up in a tree and from where Iris sat she could see other platforms above and lower down, but farther out in other trees in the distance. On this platform was what looked like a bed to her left hidden by clothes and glass bottles, some only half empty. A table and one chair sat next to it off to the right, the other chair she assumed she was sitting in. The floor wrapped around the giant tree limbs, two of which sprouted through the center like a giant slingshot. Not too far above was a similar platform that had a red bottom from which hung a net of some sort.

“Ah, Hello, I was asking you a question. Who are you? What are you for that matter?” The man interrogated, crossing his arms.

“Well who the heck are you… and why did you kidnap me?” She retorted, glaring at him. A stray hair fell in her face, but with her arms tied she couldn’t fix it so it tickled the end of her nose. “I’m here with a friend, you know, and he could kick your teeth in before you could even say you’re sorry.”

“Is that so?” He smiled, but it wasn’t a very friendly one. He leaned forward and crossed his arms over his chest, using the hand that held the knife to rest his chin on like he was thinking over what she had said. “Well if you are such good friends, how come he isn’t here to protect you? Isn’t that what friends are for?”

“I… I lost him in the crowd… but he’ll come and find me and if he finds me here tied to this chair, you’ll be sorry.”

“I doubt that. I doubt that very much.” He snickered and grabbed the other chair from next to the table and turned it so the back of the chair was facing her. With much more grace than Iris could ever dream of having, he flung his leg over the chair and sat straddling it, leaning on the top of the back of the chair with folded arms. “Now, one more time; who and what are you?”

“I am Iris.” She spat, glaring at him as hard as she could. That seemed to make him smile more, which just made her even angrier. “And I am human. Who and what are you?”

His eyes widened, as did his smile, so much so that she thought his face might split in two. “Human? Human?!? What a novelty! I never thought I’d actually see one up close. A real live human! What corner of the world did Alexis dig you up from?”

“You know Alexis?!?” Her anger turned to shock in a split second, watching the joy play on the tan skin of his, her fear temporarily forgotten.

“Oh yea, me and the Red Wind go way back, though I am a little surprised he told you his real name.”

“Red Wind?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Oh it’s a very long story- just like this one I’d imagine.” Alexis said as he climbed up over the edge of the loft. His hat and coat were missing but in his hand he held the scruff of a very large black cat. His fist was almost level with his ears and the cat’s back paws were dragging on the wood beneath its feet. It was a mass of black fur and muscle with a long tail that curled around its body and long white claws. The cat’s glowing yellow eyes glared at Iris as Alexis brought it forward to sit it down at the tan guy’s side. The massive cat shook its head and licked its lips with what seemed to be annoyance. “Found this lurking behind me and I believe it belongs to you.”

“Arees! If he was able to catch you, I think you need to hone your stalking technique. Maybe we’ve stayed here too long, spoiled you too much.”

“The cat is named after the God of War?” Iris wondered out loud. It was the one question out of so many in her head that managed to cross her lips. Why it couldn’t have been ‘How do the two of you know each other exactly?’ or ‘If you’re friends, why did you kidnap me?’ or even ‘Why am I still tied to this chair?’ she didn’t know. Leave it to her scatterbrained mind to choose the least important question to ask.

“No not Ares, Arees. Soft a, like in Amazing because he’s just like me; amazing.” The strange man replied with a snide grin, brushing his hair to the side with the back of his fingertips. Alexis rolled his eyes and walked around Iris’s chair to undo the rope holding her still. She winced as the blood she didn’t know her limbs were missing rushed back to her fingertips and toes, her limbs tingling.

“In the future, Winter, can you please refrain from stealing my traveling companions? It’s beyond rude.” Alexis scolded, watching the dark haired man.

“Companions? Ha! The only traveling companion I’ve ever seen you with other than her is me and that was a long time ago.” The raven haired man stretched back, his hands holding the sides of the chair showing off the lean muscles of his torso. Iris shifted her gaze trying not to stare; none of the men in her town looked like that and it was a little hard for her to keep from admiring him. She looked at the cat instead who was watching her. She was safe she guessed. After all, these guys seemed to be friendly. “And I wish you’d call me Danny- I told you I don’t care for my second name, it makes me sound cold.”

Iris’s eyes snapped from one man to the other, mouth gaping. The men turned to look at her with inquisitive looks; Alexis’s eyes were narrowed with confusion while Danny’s eyebrows lifted on his forehead with amused suspicion. She looked from one to the other not knowing how she should feel about any of this. She got to her feet and put her hands on her hips, noting that she was almost as tall as Danny while he was sitting. He had to be freakishly tall.

“This is the friend of yours that we came here to find? The friend who is supposed to help protect me?”

“Yes.” Alexis replied, expression unchanging.

“And he kidnapped me, brought me up a tree and tied me to a chair.”

“Sure did.” Danny snickered, reaching down to pat the giant cat’s head. Arees closed his eyes and purred.

“Yet you still expect me to trust him and expect him to come with us?”

“Yes.” Alexis said and Iris thought she saw a hint of a smile in his face. “He’s the best.”

“Ooooh , that’s a real compliment coming from you.” Danny mocked, getting to his feet. He had to be just shy of 6’5”, maybe even a little taller. Even Alexis had to look up at him. “So you really want me to join with you? To help protect… her? A human? I know you’re all for protecting endangered species and pissing off the gods, something you are really good at by the way, but this is very unlike you. Why is this so important that you’d track me down?”

“We’ll talk about it later.” He said and shot a sideways glance at Iris, who narrowed her eyes at him. “We should find a room for the night at least. We’ve been traveling for a while and I think we could use a short rest.”

“But you don’t sleep.” Danny pointed out and Alexis glared at him as if he were trying to pierce through his skull with that one look.

“Of course he sleeps, don’t be silly.” Iris rolled her eyes and when she looked at Alexis he looked somewhat relieved. ‘Does he really not sleep?’ she wondered but didn’t say anything. Instead she finished with: “Everyone sleeps.”

“Let’s just find a room for the night, preferably on the ground. Danny, your place is a mess. Don’t you ever clean?”

“Oh shut up blondie.”

4

Eventually they found a room for rent on the ground in the tallest building Iris had ever seen. The shops and other buildings next to it looked like play things in comparison. Along the way the guys explained to her a little about Vera and why it was so strange. Apparently it was a city with three levels; ground level, tree level and the underground. Ground level was mostly inhabited by what were called High Elves, the upper classed and highly educated people of the race. Scholars, teachers and what Danny called the ‘book smart’ people lived and worked on the ground level and had put a spell on it to keep things quiet for those who were trying to work or study. Elves have a reputation for being very intelligent, polite and civilized, so these elves are the ones they want visitors to see.

The tree level was mostly inhabited by the elves who like to socialize or ones who move around a lot. They tend to live in larger groups and are much more creative than the High Elves. They have a system of platforms built around the trees where they can move and live without touching the ground and being forced to interact with the High Elves if they don’t want to, though there are also systems of rope ladders or steps formed into the trees so the dwellers could easily visit ground level if they so choose.

Iris was most excited to hear about the third level of Vera, the Underground. When the city was first created, the elves dug a series of underground tunnels and caverns and created their own place. It was usually home to miners or blacksmiths, not all of them elves. Trolls lived amongst them as well, though Iris had yet to see one anywhere. Apparently whatever race came to Vera, no matter their shape or size, there was a place for them there.

Iris listened to all this as they got their room and sat down to eat an actual meal, or at least a meal they didn’t have to forage for; apparently elves are vegetarians so all they had in the downstairs kitchen was green. Iris didn’t consider salads a meal, she preferred meat herself, but at this point anything would taste good. She guessed Alexis wasn’t a big fan of leafy food either because he didn’t even pretend to touch his food as they sat together at a round dark wooden table in the middle of their room. Danny ate his with gusto as Arees sat at his feet with his head in his paws.

“Sorry I wasn’t able to get two rooms.” Alexis began, glancing distantly at his salad bowl. “I could afford it, but I thought we might go shopping instead. We need supplies and you need a weapon.”

“That’s fine, as long as Danny keeps his hands to himself.” She teased. She was beginning to like Danny now that she wasn’t tied to a chair in his loft. He had a great and quirky sense of humor, something Alexis was severely lacking, though she did notice Danny was able to put him in a good mood, if a good mood even existed for the tall brooding monster.

“Oh I promise nothing.” He teased back, shoveling his food in his mouth.

“He will leave you alone, or I’ll break his hand.” Alexis threatened, a smile tickling the corner of his lips. “He knows I’ll do it too.”

“Oh how sweet, sticking up for her like that. You must really like her.” Danny taunted. Alexis growled and glared at him, which only made him laugh.

Iris got up and crossed the room to the only window, unshielded by curtains. Below, elves bustled about in their silence; above they laughed and bartered like normal town folk. If she closed her eyes she could pretend she was home, but it still wasn’t the same. Nothing was the same here, not the buildings, the people, the food, not even the trees and she found herself overwhelmed by a sense of home sickness. Even if the home she was longing for had been destroyed. The town was still there but the people who made it home were gone.

The big black cat got to its feet and padded over to her. To her surprise Arees rubbed his head on her hip like a barn cat does to the door frame of its barn, smiling from ear to ear. Feeling slightly better, she scratched him behind the ear. A low grumble came from him and at first Iris thought he was growling, but then she realized he was only purring.

“Hey, he likes me.”

“Of course he likes you. He has a soft spot for pretty girls and strays and you happen to be both. Besides, he thought you looked like you could use a hug.” Danny explained between mouthfuls. Iris turned her attention to him noticing he was now eating Alexis’s helping.

“How do you know what he’s thinking?”

“We talk to each other through telepathy. It’s how a magic user and its familiar communicate.”

“Familiar?”

Danny sighed. “Yea, it’s… well to make it easier for you to understand, our souls are linked, as are our minds. It makes magic easier, among other things.”

Iris shook her head, not out of denial, but as if she was trying to shake her thoughts into order. This was unlike anything she had ever heard of and she didn’t know if she should take his word for it or believe everything he was saying was a lie. Either way it was a very imaginative story.

“Do all elves have… familiars? Are all familiars cats?”

Danny set aside the now stack of empty plates and stretched, rubbing his belly. “First, Arees is not a cat; he is a panther- an ancient breed of wild, big cats that is now extinct. Second, no, not all familiars have the same form. I’ve known people who have birds, snakes, even fish familiars, though the fish are rare and annoying because you have to stay by a body of water. Or carry around a fish bowl.”

Alexis snorted and Iris’s attention turned to him. His straight face hadn’t changed, but she got the distinct feeling he was laughing. She watched him for a second then looked back at Danny. He was watching her with a knowing gaze and she could feel her face turn red.

“Eh huh.” He laughed then continued. “Anyway, familiars aren’t an elf thing at all. As far and I know, familiars are characteristics of only gods and Darklings.”

“What’s a darkling?” She asked, happy the subject was still on track.”

“A darkling… well it’s kind of a long story.”

“I want to know. It’s fascinating.” She smiled and Danny’s impish grin turned into a genuine smile too.

“Ok. Well legend has it that elves and darklings were created at the same time, one for the sun, one for the moon. They are Apollo’s and Artemis’s people. The elves mimic everything Apollo prizes; beauty, arts, knowledge, perfection. The darklings got the shorter end of the stick so to speak. Not that they aren’t pretty or smart; they just aren’t elves. Because of the way they look or act in comparison, they get looked down on a lot.”

“That’s not fair, they didn’t get any say.”

“Well no, but Artemis gave them a gift to make up for what they missed out on.”

Enthralled with the story Iris barely noticed she had sat back down in her seat and was leaning forward as if she needed to be closer to him to hear the rest. She propped her head up with her hands, placing her elbows on the table for support. “She gave them familiars?”

“Well it makes sense at least; Artemis is the goddess of beasts.” Alexis added.

“When a darkling is born, a part of its soul is split off and takes the form of its familiar. This is why the bond is so strong and so sacred; they are literally an extension of each other.” Danny nodded. “Artemis’s gift, we are never alone.”

“So you’re a darkling?” Iris asked. She had never seen one before so it sounded like it was true or at least made sense that he would be, seeing as his appearance was so much different from all the other elves she’d seen. But as soon as she asked, Danny shook his head, making her even more confused. “No?”

“I’m half darkling, half elf. My father was an elf from a nomadic tribe, which most elves are in his area unless they live in Vera. The group stopped one day outside of Verella and that’s when he met my mother. To my knowledge they are still traveling somewhere up north, but I don’t see them much. Dad doesn’t think well of his half breed son, probably because I came out more darkling than elf. He’s kind of prejudice, like most elves are.”

“But he fell in love with your mother; he can’t be too prejudice can he?” Iris put in, trying to lighten the mood that had all of a sudden gotten much darker, like a fog that had appeared out of nowhere.

“Oh, you’d be surprised. At least I didn’t get the black skin of my mother; he might really hate me then.”

“Black skin?”

“It’s a darkling thing, how we got our name. Darklings have jet black skin.” He said simply. “I’m tired. Think I’m going to say good night.”

5

Iris slept soundly in the full sized bed, snuggled up with Arees who had claimed the spot on the bed near her feet. Danny was on the couch and Alexis was nowhere to be found, though Iris wasn’t worried because she knew he’d be there in the morning like he always was. At first her mind was content, floating in the realm of dreams in peace, but not settling on anything specific until one dream found her.

She was walking through a field of tall grass under pale moonlight. She watched as it made her skin glow and fireflies danced above her hand. The wind was still and all was quiet except for the rustling of the grass she walked through.

“Ayame.” A voice spoke behind her and for some reason it brought a smile to her lips. She turned and there was Alexis standing behind her, smiling. She was amazed at how nice that smile was; she hadn’t ever seen it before.

“Alexis.” She said, but it wasn’t her voice and somehow that realization made everything strange. “We shouldn’t be meeting like this.”

“I know, but I can’t live without you. It will kill me.”

“Alexis…” She whispered, but something tugged on her arm and she turned. A huge wolf with a head bigger than her whole body was staring at her with fangs bared and dripping with saliva. It reared its head back to show the other two heads protruding from its massive body, both just as big with just as many teeth as the first. All three pairs of eyes looked at her and her blood ran cold.

She screamed.