Shadow Beings

41. To Alesund

"Oi, Trina, pass the jar of water," Elek said without paying much attention to his surroundings. Trina rolled her eyes as she idly saved a glass from being knocked over by Elek's thin hand while passing the jar to him.

"Thank you," Elek responded with a genuine tone, nodding his head, "although I'm sure I could've saved it myself," he added sheepishly.

Clumsy kiddo... I don't know how he manages to do so much.

"Don't play with it," Trina's eyes reflected a dull look, and Elek frowned with a childish annoyance. He proceeded to levitate the water, bending it into the shape of an umbrella over Evelyn's head, earning a giggle from her which made him smile immensely. Shadows didn't really need to drink water - or have anything, we weren't carbon life-forms, after all - but sometimes we did anyway because it felt nice. Elek told me that anything we took in would be destroyed into pure energy inside our vessels and its essence would be transferred to our aura, so it helped in a different way.

"Come on Treeny, let the shadow live!" Evelyn exclaimed with a huge grin, the blue in her eyes especially bright. Trina and Conrad looked at each other with their standard dull looks and sighed, shaking their heads.

Elek waved his hand and the water shifted over my head, breaking into infinite tiny drops, a light pattering sound coming against my head. At the same moment, a gush of wind surged through my hair and I broke into laughter.

"He should take you flying someday! He's taken me twice now and it's awesome. I don't know how he managed to let me control my flight."

Elek gave a shy but proud smile. "It's simple, really. I just gave Evelyn's vessel a boost, basically putting her physically in the air. Evelyn has always been great at controlling her energy so she basically used her own ability afterwards. Speed in the air gave her flight!"

Evelyn wore a look of surprise, afterwards sharing a knowing look with Conrad while suppressing her little moment of pride. However, a flicker of sadness reflected in her eyes. The atmosphere around suddenly lightened and felt... free, open to thoughts, the aura similar to how it felt in the Valleys. Evelyn smiled, and so did Elek.

"It was very impressive," a gentle voice said. All of us turned towards the entrance to see Clay, his thin hands resting in his pockets as he smoothly made his way inside. It was as if his motion held no imperfections, his low energy vibrating ever-so-slightly about its mean. "I wonder if you can use your ability on my illusions, we should try it sometime."

Elek stood up, an excited gleam in his eyes. "Of course, anytime you want! I could try and manipulate your illusions - wouldn't that be something, if it worked? Maybe I can create a physical illusion with the sunlight and all, though that seems pointless when we already have a strong illusionist like yourself. Levitation and image seem like an odd pairing, but I'm sure a lot can be done."

Evelyn nodded heartily. "Hm. You do that and I'll run through your illusions, destroying them."

Conrad hit Evelyn on her head - hopefully not too hard. She covered her head with her hands, wearing an expression of annoyance while Conrad paid no attention to her. Elek laughed while he sat down, inviting Clay to do the same.

Evelyn scooted over to Elek and the two of them decided to now trouble Clay, eventually pulling Conrad in. I smiled upon seeing the four of them have to go take comfort of the present calm with each other. Conrad's usual solemn expression remained, but the tension was broken by a warmth.

Aura not hidden anymore, though silent nevertheless as it was content in listening. The sight simply relieved me.

Other than the occasional chatter, the table was quiet before Theo spoke up.