The World's Start

Jack

Jack knew he had to save Heath from whatever the Elvors were planning to do to him. He cursed under his breath --- of course it had to go this way. He'd mentioned his fear, the other student hadn't taken it seriously, and now it was too late.

Luckily, it seemed that the Elvors were simply escorting Heath to a temple nearby. The boy hadn't put up a fight --- actually, he was trying to act cheerfully, asking the supernatural creatures if perhaps they would be interested in buying some of his hair or nails.

Jack hoped he didn't mean it, and that he'd never asked anybody else. He couldn't begin to comprehend the disgust he'd feel if he knew one of those transactions had taken place before.

Of course, Jack was very skilled. The Elvors had told him to go back to school, and weren't aware that he was, in fact, following them.

He supposed he could have gone back to school, and wash his hands of the Laoch. Mister Tenney would have picked him up, eventually. Probably. But Heath had agreed to be a team, and this is how a team should have worked. Besides, Jack hated Elvors even more than he hated Heath, so he didn't want to give them any satisfaction, momentary as it was.

Would the Elvors eventually notice his presence, or were they already aware of it? What if they expected to make a Deal? Something in exchange for his friend's freedom? 

Jack tried to stop thinking. It usually worked, and it was better than going down the dark path of his thoughts. He'd become accostumed to shut up the annoying voices in his head.

It was too bad he didn't know how to shut up Heath's annoying voice, though.

"I just can't understand why my magic is so draining and yours isn't," he was teasing them now, though it was common knowledge that the Elvors' magic was full of secrets, and they wouldn't reveal how it worked to anyone.

Jack had to refrain from rolling his eyes. Mister Tenney himself had slapped him once for doing it every time the Laoch opened up his mouth. The man had said that, while Jack had a point, 'mature adults did not react so pettily to those who annoyed them.'

To which Jack had almost rolled his eyes, but had decided not to.

"First of all," one of the Elvors, the youngest-looking of the bunch half evaded the question. "We don't use magic to get high."

"Because you're already high on power," Heath muttered.

In the meantime, the Elvors had entered the temple. Jack had to change his pace to match their footsteps --- concrete floors were not like the forest, where leaves muffled his sounds, as long as he didn't step on a tree branch. The temple was eerily silent, and every sound would echo.

The Elvors guided Heath to a smaller room Jack had never seen --- not that he'd seen so much of the temples' before --- where there were things Jack recognized because they belonged to some of the religions of the Corporation of the Kingdoms. Altars, oils, bones.

He wondered why the Elvors needed them. Those things had nothing to do with their Deals, but maybe they powered up their magic. He vaguely entertained the notion of telling so to Heath, just to see if he would have chewed a bone.

"You wait here," the blonde Elvor who'd spoken in the forest said. "We have to go to the main hall to make the Deals. After that, we can talk."

Her cold voice made Jack shiver. Surely 'talk' couldn't have any hidden meaning. They wouldn't go as far as to strip the Laoch for pieces, would they? They'd have to answer to the people, and to Caladium.

But what if the Laoch had been reborn in a stupid, reckless, junkie? Perhaps the people and Caladium would have agreed that it was better to wait that the role would pass into somebody else.