The land of the Gods (Complete)

Chapter 4 - Edan

Edan had a smile on his face as he climbed out the window.

It hadn't been hard to track her down, in fact, Edan was a little disappointed with the lack of effort he'd had to put into his search. For all her skill in pickpocketing, even she couldn't change the past. While Edan couldn't change the past, either, he could see it.

Witnessing was a type of rarer magic. It was intricate, layered and difficult to master, however, someone with an aptitude could easily untangle the web of the past. Witnessing was looking into layers of the world and pulling the threads of history to view a moment of time which had already passed. And luckily, Edan was great at it.

After leaving his apartment, Edan had waded through layers and layers of threads and string to find the strand of the past he was looking for, he'd tugged it, and the reaction had been instant.The air became alive, filling with invisible electricity that danced along his skin. The sky had become a deep orange and a blanket of the orange had floated down to the ground. This orange mist had danced and swirled and finally settled around Edan, curling into colourful shapes and people. It twisted and flowed round corners and had somehow led Edan through the streets of Glenham, back the way he came towards where he met the girl.

The smoke had been swirling into characters as Edan walked down the cobblestone paths. A young girl made of the smoke who couldn't have been older than eight ran past an older man and reached her hand into his pocket, grabbing something and turning to run in a flurry of orange. Some more people turned the corner in front of Edan, none of which had been the young lady he was looking for. There were some people walking the streets who weren't bathed in the orange smoke, however, none had seemed to notice the smog that littered the entire path. None had noticed the reenactment of the past happening all around them.

The voices that had rung out from the orange figures were heavy, and the sound was like it had been bathed in honey. Almost as if Edan had been listening to it with his head underwater. Snippets of past conversation had reached his ears.

"If we can save ten gold, then we'll have a roast this Friday-"

"I won't be able to work for another week yet-"

"And then he ran off with my coins-"

Then Edan had heard it. A voice that was louder than the rest. It called to him and the words made their way directly to his ears, clear as day.

"Can we go to Tom's?" The voice had said. Edan had turned, catching a glimpse of the bodyguard he'd seen with the young lady that night. They had both bathed in the smoke, the guy's hair matching the orange that surrounded them. Edan had smiled as they walked past, heading towards the orange smoke Edan, who was going to cross their paths any minute.

"Are you sure? It's a longer walk to the cistern." The young lady's voice had lost the innocence and politeness Edan had heard in it earlier. Instead, she'd sounded blunt and straight to the point.

The boy beside her had looked as though he was going to jump up and down from excitement from her response. "Uh, yes I'm sure." he'd responded eagerly, taking the hat off his head and holding it in front of his chest. He had continued to walk beside the girl, this time facing her and awkwardly crossing his legs over each other to continue in the same direction. It had looked uncomfortable and Edan cringed now, thinking back to it.

"Thaleara, did you not hear Cara this morning? There's a slide."

So, her name was Thaleara.

He'd then heard a chuckle, quiet and soft. It had been Thaleara, shooting the other boy an amused look. "We can go, Delyn, just spare me of your constant talking."