Born in the Flame

Chapter 30

   
    Lautauis was the one who walked me to the docks. He didn't have to, but he did. For some reason, my talking to him the way I had last night made him soften up around me. Maybe he saw his daughter in me, maybe not. Either way, his kindness was appreciated. Once he walked me there to meet with Gabris, Kirdan, and Uzlos, he said his goodbyes and left.

    There was a stiff tension between Uzlos and me, and I think for our mental well-being we avoided each other during the journey. Just as Lautauis had promised, everything was in my bag that I wrote on my paper; down to the toothbrush in the bag. I was even more appreciative of the god since I had not gotten the chance to clean my teeth the night before, nor the next morning.

    During the journey, Uzlos and I continued to avoid each other. I spoke a few times with Kirdan, obviously avoiding the topic of his friend. More than I would like, Gabris spoke to me too. Mostly he tried to pry me open for information about the plan we had on a back burner, but other times he asked me about myself. My full name had been accidentally exposed at some point, which ended up with him pestering me more. The rest of the time, I spent the majority of my time reading through my father's journal and keeping to myself in the small room I had been given.

    In truth, there had been a lot of things I wanted to say to Uzlos. I'm sure he did as well, but really what was there to say? It'd be easy to chalk this up to miscommunication or our emotions getting the better of each other, but I couldn't. He said his piece. I understood he wasn't mad at me anymore, because I laid out everything I felt before me. Not a stone was left unturned. I knew I wouldn't want to hurt him by eventually dying, and I wouldn't want to watch him stay beautiful while I aged. Maybe he could see beneath my future wrinkles, but I knew I couldn't. If he was my mate, my sanity couldn't take it; so, I'd reject it, just as I had done with Salim.

    Though I had built up a wall of boundaries between us, I hoped to at least continue the civility, even friendship, we had before I died. For now, I'd have to deal with the stagnant tension between us.

    I looked forward to meeting Chither. Whenever Gabris talked about him, I got the sense that he completely cherished his uncle. He would tell me about how kind he was to the refugees from the other Isles. Many people inhabited the island the Night Spire was located on. Cholarians on the other isles often discarded their crippled people, but Chither would take them in. Though he was the god of night, cholarians on his island looked to him as if he were a saint. Gabris also told me that Chither was blind, but while he couldn't see his surroundings, he had one of the eyes of Corys. The eye allowed him to see far beyond the island, giving him the rumor of being all-knowing. He could only view things one at a time and usually did not talk about what he could see. Anything else Gabris knew about the god, he told me I would have to discover for myself.

    When we got to the island, I was surprised by the tropical paradise it was. Palm trees covered the island, and behind them was a small city. Limestone buildings crept up from beyond the lush foliage. Gabris wasted no time taking us to the Night Spire. It was hard to miss, it was a shimmery blue tower that stood higher than any buildings I had seen in any city we had been in. Thankfully, I wouldn't have to climb up the spire to get to the top. It seems the Cholarians had taken the initiative to install an elevator for their god. Human inventions sometimes made me hate them, but the elevator was one of their finer inventions.

    "Uncle, I brought them." Gabris called out in a library that waited for us at the top. A bright luminescent blue head of hair popped up from a mountain of books, followed by a servant mumbling to the god.

    Chither emerged from the piles of books, the servant guiding them carefully over to us. The god was utterly gorgeous. He had his eyes covered by a thin strap of cloth but did not hide the rest of the beautiful features of his face. He had the body of a cholarian; the pale green skin, the fin-like pointed ears, and the gills on his toned neck were evidence of it. Chither smiled as if he knew exactly who stood before him.