Heirs of the Gods

Ch 35.2: A high elf and a half-fae walk into a bar

Warnings for violence, blood and death.

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There was something to be said about being escorted by a literal tree of a man. Everyone—regardless of how drunk they were—scattered out of the way as if they just knew better.

Loathe as Ella was to admit, she did feel a tad more secure. As they made their way out into the rundown streets, Ella was once again reminded of how dangerous this town was. They dodged murky potholes, shattered glass bottles and dirty debris, marching down streets lined with dilapidated buildings. All types of noises could be heard coming from within these shacks, and Ella's spine stiffened just imagining what the origins could be.

As much as it deeply unsettled her, she kept her composure. Aedion had warned her that this was not the place to call attention to oneself or make grand movements. It was a tight-knit underground market where outsiders who caused trouble were not to be tolerated.

A loud crack broke through the air, as a mad-eyed faerie stumbled out of one of the dilapidated shacks. Even in the gloom, Ella could see the state of decay the faerie was in. Sickly skinny limbs, leftover clumps of blue hair sticking from a prominent skull, yellow boils and torn, sagging skin visible where the rags didn't cover, falling off his frame in grotesque folds.

He mumbled incoherently and stumbled forward blindly, barely missing a collision with Ella, had it not been for Aedion pulling her out of the way. Ella stiffened and gripped Aedion's cloak instinctively, pressing herself closer to him as an unwelcome pang of terror struck over her.

A soothing, circular motion on her back broke through her stupor of fear. "They don't really know what they're doing," Aedion said, his deep, steady voice serving to calm her. "They're not really dangerous if you stay out of their way. It's like they're not really present."

Ella breathed deeply, nodding and eyeing others in a similar state. Addled out of their minds. "What do they take?"

Aedion shrugged. "All sorts of things. Although, they sell a very particular item here. Powdered Alicorn horn. It's usually used for another sort of thing, like potions, but I've heard the effects of inhaling it are something like this."

Ella's brows raised substantially. "Isn't that illegal by faerie laws? Alicorns are a rare breed." Not only illegal, but morally gruesome. Alicorns were creatures venerated by faeries. To kill one would be akin to destroying a temple.

"That's precisely why they sell it here," Aedion subtly nodded in the direction of a rickety clapboard building where two people seemed to be exchanging goods. "It's highly illegal and extremely difficult to get a hold of. Not many people would risk the type of punishments that come with it. Legal and nature-wise."

As they neared the two individuals exchanging items, Ella froze in her tracks, effectively causing Aedion to stop as well.

He furrowed his brows and opened his mouth, but before he could utter a word, Ella tugged them both into the small crevice of a building, shoving him up against the wall.

Ella lifted a single finger, signalling for him to be quiet. If she craned her neck ever so slightly from this position, she had a good view of the pair by the clapboard house.

One of the two was a hooded figure. It turned to where Aedion and Ella had been, waited for a moment, before turning back to the other figure, a large orc.

Ella breathed a sigh of relief, letting herself ease. Well, as much as she could. It was tight quarters in this nook, she was all but wedged between Aedion and a wall she was pointedly trying to avoid thinking of. Ella did not want to imagine what types of things contaminated that surface.