Daegelus | Volume One: Subject 0333

Chapter Thirty-Nine | One and a Half Cidaris

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Once the plane was in the air and stopped shaking and rattling like it was on its last legs, Elijah got up and made his way to the open cockpit. He didn't like that he couldn't see where he was going, and from where he'd been sitting, he could see spare seats beside and behind August.

"What are you doing up here?" the fae asked as Elijah slumped down into the seat beside him.

"Sitting," he replied.

"I told you to sit back there," he muttered, glaring out the window.

Ignoring him, Elijah set his eyes on the mountains in the distance. Knowing that he had to sit there for twelve hours irritated him, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He couldn't sleep because he didn't want to end up in The Darkness and face Maverick again, not until he knew more about that place and who that man was. Staying awake wasn't going to do him much good, either. He'd start overthinking, asking himself questions that he couldn't yet get the answers to.

August glanced at Elijah. "So, where'd a bunch of researchers get all that cash, anyway?"

"Zoe's parents are rich," he muttered, leaning to his right to stare down at the city as they flew over it.

"And the guns?"

"Protection."

"So...you are her bodyguards? You and that other kid."

"No."

August frowned.

"You've been over the wall before," the demon then said, turning his head to look at him. "Why?"

"I transport things; it's the only way I can make money out there."

"What sort of things?" he questioned skeptically.

"A lot of crystals," he said, looking confused. "There's stuff over The Ice Wall that people can't get inside it. Silver out there actually grows out of the ground. How cool is that?" he said with a grin.

Zoe then joined them, sitting behind Elijah as she asked. "It grows?"

"Yeah," August confirmed. "Well, they call it organic silver, but it's literally just silver."

"Who pays you to transport these crystals?" the demon asked.

"Uh...well, I never actually meet the client directly; things are always done through their lawyers or representatives. Makes things less messy," the fae said and glanced back at Zoe. "I hear your parents are rich. I'm not going to find a bounty on my head when I get back because I was the last one seen with you guys, am I?" he joked, but it was clear in his eyes that he was actually a little concerned.

Zoe shrugged. "It's possible."

"Just get us there and back and you'll be fine," Elijah muttered.

"Roger," August mumbled, fiddling with his headset.

"Is August a fae name?" Zoe then asked curiously. "I've never heard it before."

The fae man chuckled. "I suppose it is in one way or another. The realm that I lived in harbours a portal to another world, one much like this. August is that world's name for the month Tria Quarteria here; I was born in Tria Quarteria, so my parents decided to name me August."

"Oh, wow. That's really interesting," she said, resting her arms on the back of Elijah's seat so that she could lean forward and see a little more of August. "What world is it from?"