The Other Side

Chapter 8

Amaria trekked deep within the forests surrounding the castle, opting to stay off the well-worn footpaths and roads as to avoid being caught. It was the dark of night, and she wasn't supposed to be out at this time. It was too dangerous, her parents said. She thought that notion was ridiculous, as there were at least two magically gifted guards at each guard tower along the roads, and she herself was well trained in the art of defending herself with her fire. She was on her way to see Ruarni, to see if they had anything to say about brother's rectangle. She had since figured out that the rectangle was made of some kind of metal and glass. It was a shame the glass had fractures in it, she had wanted to maybe give it to brother as a gift, and now it was broken.

The swishing sound of a group of small, furry demons running through the leaves brought her out of her thoughts. She ducked out of the way of their line of sight, not wanting to take any chances. Not all demons could speak or knew anything about the royal family, some were livestock and others lived wild. But these ones could have been out in search of her, so she waited until she could no longer see their long ears poking out from the bushes and trees and their swishing sound faded into the distance. Luckily, they seemed to be headed in a different direction than her.

Continuing on her way, Amaria reached into her bag and pulled out a smaller bag that was filled with sweet bread. It was called "gan" and was utterly delicious. She'd snuck into the kitchen earlier and stolen some from the cook's breadbasket. Amaria wondered if brother had such delicious food on the other side.

Probably not, she thought with a smirk. Humans were only good for two things: killing and reproducing.

By the time Amaria reached the cave in which Ruarni lived, the moon was high in the sky and the air was still and silent. If she didn't know someone was living behind the rocky outcrops of the cliff in front of her, she'd never be able to tell. Ruarni was gifted in many ways, and being able to hide their cave from view of all who didn't know about it was one of their gifts. Amaria extended her hand towards the wall of rock, and was pleased when she found the entrance right away. Her hand passed straight through the magical projection and she walked past to the dimly lit interior of the cave. It was warm and dry, not akin to a regular cave whatsoever. There were no unaccounted-for creatures living in this cave, no drips of water from the ceiling. The walls were covered in strategic, delicate patterns of glowing moss and lichen, and there were small luminescent spores floating through the air.

A small creature zipped in front of Amaria's face, six wings like a dragonfly's with an otherwise humanoid shape. It opened its bird-like beak and spoke in a voice that sounded like small chiming bells.

"Hello Ami! Ruarni is in their lab, what brings you here today?"

Amaria smiled at the buzzing demon. This was Astu, Ruarni's small fairy-like assistant. Astu was the only one other than Amaria herself that Ruarni could seem to put up with, otherwise, the recluse preferred to remain by themselves.

"Good evening, Astu," she said as she continued walking towards Ruarni's lab, where soft light was coming from past the viny doorway. "I'm here to ask Ruarni about something I found in the forest." Amaria held out brother's metal rectangle for Astu to see.

Astu flipped his waist-long black hair out of his eyes and inspected the object, orange eyes glowing against charcoal grey skin. "It smells awful," he said with a tinge of disgust. "I don't want to judge but... why in the world do you have something like this?"

Amaria chuckled nervously. She hadn't told Astu or Ruarni about her plans to connect with brother. She hadn't told Ruarni that she even had a brother. She doubted either of them would let her secret out, but she didn't want a scolding from one of her closest friends. She chose not to answer Astu's question and tried to ignore his inquisitive looks.

"Ruarni?" Astu called out as they reached the doorway. "Ami's here to see you! She has a... she has something she wants your opinion on."

There were large, heavy steps as Ruarni walked through the grey and green vines that acted as a privacy cover for their laboratory.

"Hello, Ami. Welcome back." Ruarni's large frame took up most of the rocky opening. There was a reason they lived in a huge cave system, and it wasn't just because they were introverted. Their body was one of the largest for humanoid demon types, standing as tall as your standard birch tree with huge, rippling muscles and a surprisingly gentle face. Amaria knew that Ruarni often hid their true form- this form- in front of anyone else they had to see, often appearing as a smaller, hunched and gnarled witch character. But when it was just them, Ruarni allowed themselves to be seen as their natural form.

Ruarni was one of the oldest demons on this side of The Barrier, but that didn't mean they looked old. Demons didn't age in the same way Amaria was told that humans do. There were actually no signs of physical aging until one's magic begins to run dry. If you were careful and were lucky enough to be born with excess reserves of magic, you could live for hundreds or even thousands of years without showing any signs of deterioration. Ruarni happened to be both immensely careful, and incredibly lucky.

"Hi, thank you for having me." Amaria bowed slightly to show her respect for the much older demon. "As Astu mentioned, I have something I'd like you to look at, if you don't mind."

Ruarni nodded and held the vine doorway open for Amaria and Astu to come inside. There were bubbling bottles of glowing liquids and steaming rocks strewn all about the many tables inside. There were glass jars filled with every element Ruarni had managed to get their hands on through the thousands of years they'd been alive.

"Astu tells me what you have to show me smells of human," Ruarni said, crossing their arms. Astu and Ruarni shared a telepathic link, set up by Ruarni themselves about a hundred years ago when they had first met each other. It was permanent and could never be shut off, so of course Ruarni would know about the rectangle since she had shown Astu already.

"Well, yes," Amaria said slightly sheepishly as she pulled the rectangle around from behind her where she had been holding it. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you..."