It was clear that the faerie had burned the serpent down. But how?
How was he able to burn the serpent in open water? In this Kingdom, even cooking was done in hydrothermal vents or the hollows of seamounts. Maybe he had come from the Kingdom of Fire and possessed more power than the others—but I did not think so—no one from the Kingdom of Fire could ignite flames in water, not even the King. And the flames rising in front of me seemed different, not quite like the fire I was used to seeing—not orange or red or even the usual yellow, but a different kind of yellow—almost white and very, very bright; like sunlight.
“It’s too sad I cannot hear your thoughts,” a deep voice spoke into my ear.
I looked at the faerie who stood uncomfortably close to me and expressed his desire to hear my thoughts. Cutting a sharp glance at him, I moved away creating a safe distance between us. “Who are you?”
The faerie observed me for sometime. “Drystan Starr,” he replied.
I hmphed. “What are you doing here?”
“That question is more appropriate when directed at you,” he said. “What is a human doing in Odalis?”
“My whereabouts shouldn’t interest you,” I said in a firm tone.
“Neither mine you,” Drystan smiled. I noticed he had handsome features— yellow eyes, dark brown skin and pitch-black hair, but something did not seem right about him—maybe the fact that he emerged out of nowhere in the kelp forest and burned the serpent down, or the fact that he was not behaving like most faeries behaved on seeing me.
I removed my gaze from his face and narrowed my eyes at him. “How did you burn that down?” I gestured at the area where the serpent had been lying a few moments ago, and that was now occupied by its floating ashes.
“I thought you would thank me for saving you from that monster,” Drystan said instead.
I snorted. “Saving me after I already immobilized it? Yes, thank you so much for that. Now answer my question.”
Drystan’s eyes widened. He crossed his arms in front of him. “You are quite snarky for a human.”
“Are you from the Kingdom of Fire?”
Drystan chuckled, shaking his head. “Miss, may I ask why are you so eager in knowing about me?”
I rolled my eyes. “I have no intention of exchanging greetings with you,” I snapped.
Drystan laughed, crossing his arms in front of him. “You are spoiled too.”
Spoiled? Right. And he was crazy.
“Answer my question,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Also hot-tempered,” Drystan noted.
“Maybe you did not understand what I asked. I asked,” I said slowly, “about you. Tell me clearly who you are, what are you doing here. I already know what I am.”
Drystan took an extremely long breath. Then drawled, “I am not obliged to tell you any of those things.”
I closed my eyes, then opened them, looking at the eyes of the faerie. “Well then, I see no point in me being here.”
Drystan shrugged and motioned me to go ahead. Then, “Your dolphin is waiting for you. Poor creature. Waiting even after you abandoned it.”
My head snapped towards him at that. “I did no wrong. It was better to abandon her,” I said. “Dragging her along with me here would not have been safe for Kia. And how did you know about my dolphin?” I raised my brows.
YOU ARE READING
A World Of Treason and Tides
FantasyA few dreams and a note were all it took for Venus's life to change. A note telling Venus that her family was whisked away to a place unknown to her was all it took for Venus to decide that she is going to go to that place- to that world- to Odalis...
