Born in the Flame

Chapter 24

We left the manor the following night. I guess when I had noticed Uzlos's whistle for Aingidh the first time, I had just ignored the fact that the whistle carried loud and far. It carried farther than my whistle ever could have; or any mortal's, for that matter. It took her nearly the entire day to come back, but she came. Aingidh created a sandstorm around her to get to us, but she came.

With both of us on her back, she took most of the night to get us back to Yaanlian. I had at one point asked why he didn't carry me, but was only met with "I would if you could reach my back." The point was made, and it was valid. He was around thirty feet tall on all fours, and half that laying down. It would have taken years of practice to have been able to climb on. He also told me that he didn't like being in his godly form unless he was in a forest, preferably the one up north. It made sense, being a giant panther in the middle of the treeless, sagebrush terrain we were at would be easy to spot.

The sun had begun to rise in the sky when we arrived back at the dark city of Yaanlian. I tried to push back the memories of that night, but it was difficult. Yaanlian was truly a beautiful coastal city, but that one horrible night seemed to taint everything it touched. The memories seemed to snake around my mind. Thinking about these gods being thousands of years old, made me think how much in my short life I had endured. Maybe after this was all over, I'd travel. Spend a decade of my life exploring the world.

When we arrived at the alleyway that hid the entrance to the home, a dusk elf clothed in fine, loose silks of blacks and blues, leaned against the stone wall. Green jewels dangled from his wrists, ears, and ankles. His leaning against the entrance to an alley looked very out of place. Bright green eyes turned to face us, looking me up and down, then moving over to Uzlos.

"Well, it's about time you showed up, cousin." The male said. I observed the male, but his eyes seemed to do the same to me. Though, his eyes weren't as cautious as I was.

"Lautauis." Uzlos' back straightened a bit at his presence, "What are you doing here?"

"I heard what happened at Moonlight. I wanted to investigate." He said, then his eyes fully fixed on me, "And who is this lovely creature?"

So, this was the god that Uzlos told me about last night. God of predator beasts, Lautauis Virginis. The way he looked at us like we were his next meal confirmed what he was god of for me. His long silvery white hair dangled loosely around his back and his deep charcoal skin was lovely, even godly. The two of them were beautiful creatures, above just being mortals. To think they looked like their mortal parents were insane. How could such beauty exist among us mortals?

"We'll talk inside." Uzlos motioned for him to follow, but placed me in front of him.

The inside of the home was exactly how it had been left. The glass I had drank from, a bin half full of garbage, and a pile of dishes in the sink all had seemingly waited for us to return. Lautauis looked around the home and gave an exaggerated whistle.

"So this is what this property looks like." He chuckled, his jewels jingling against each other.

"We've been... away." He said, dancing around what happened.

"So what happened at Moonlight? My staff couldn't give me a single unified answer, except that they all recalled seeing you two there." He paused, looking at me, "Well, I assume her. Unless you have another fire mage dusk elf hiding around here somewhere."

"Do you own Moonlight?" I couldn't help but ask. The dusk elf whipped his head toward me and gave a flirtatious smile.

"Oh, I own a lot of lounges. Since us children of gods have almost no real purpose, I've taken my recreational activities and made them into a business." His voice was smooth and deep. It was the kind of voice you'd hear after sex. I felt flustered at the way he looked at me.