Mind Games

Chapter 3 - Zain

Earlier that day...
            By the time the sun had risen on the day after he first left the palace, the runaway prince had made it to the nearby city of Akir. Buzzing with excitement, he made his way into the city, surprised by how colorful it was. Every building painted a different hue, most of which had faded. The cobbled streets were dirty and packed with people selling their wares and going about their business.
            He walked the streets with wide eyes, taking it all in, when the smell hit him. Nearly gagging, he started breathing through his mouth. 'Do all cities smell this bad?' he wondered, weaving through the crowd.
After the half-elf purchased his supplies, he reluctantly made his way out of Akir. 'Hopefully I can come back here,' he thought, gazing back at the crowded buildings as he left.
As he wandered the hills, he talked to himself. "Del? Nah, that's not it. Fhir? No. Maybe... Likhor?" he thought for a moment. "Nope, that's not it either."
He didn't know where he was going, he just knew that he had to get away from the palace. There was a chance that his parents were going to try to find him, but he wasn't sure. Just to be safe, he wanted to find a place that they wouldn't think to look. He kept testing names out, trying to find one that fit, but none of them felt right.
By mid-afternoon, he could see a dense forest ahead.
"Maybe that would be a good place to hide," he said to himself, approaching it.
When he reached the edge of the forest, he sat down, leaning against a tree to rest his legs. He pulled some bread and hard cheese out of his satchel, munching on it even though he didn't have much of an appetite.
Not long after he arrived, a group of three young men approached him.
"Hey," the one in the middle said.
"H-hello," the half-elf stuttered, setting his food in his bag. "C-can I help you?"
The guy in the middle, who he assumed was the leader of the bunch, snapped his fingers.
The one on the right marched up to him and grabbed at his satchel,
"Hey! Give that back!"
He took it over to the leader, handing it over. "Take a look, Voka, anything interesting?" he asked, peering over his shoulder.
The blood drained from the runaway prince's face. "There's nothing in that!" he exclaimed, leaping up and grabbing for it, but the taller boys kept it out of his reach. "Give it back!"
"If there's nothing in it, why do you want it so badly?" the tallest said with a sneer, grabbing the front of the shorter's shirt and lifting him off the ground.
"Let go of me!" he exclaimed, his voice shaking. He tried to craft an illusion, but he couldn't focus.
"Let go of me!" the taller mocked, laughing. "I could do this all day," he said, drawing his fist back.
The half-elf tried to twist away, but the grip was too tight. He braced himself, squinting his eyes shut.
"Hey," a new voice said in accented Koteran.
The boys turned their attention away from him and he opened his eyes. He followed their looks and saw two people emerging from what looked like a portal. One had deep brown skin and black hair pulled away from her face. She was tall and had sharply pointed ears; probably an elf. She was rolling something between her fingers and had a slight smirk on her face. The other looked terrified, holding his hands out in front of him. He was fairly average height for a human and had tousled brown hair.
"We don't tolerate bullies in Léona," the elf said, smirking.
With the boys' attention diverted, the runaway was able to twist out of the tall one's grip, falling to the ground as the elf threw whatever it was that she was holding. Seconds later, a mess of thick green vines shot out of the ground, straight towards the thieves. They screamed and took off down the hill, dropping the satchel on the ground, causing its contents to spill.
Once they were gone, the elf smiled and the vines retracted, allowing her and her partner to see the half-elf. He froze as she approached him, leaning on a wooden cane as she walked.
"Hey, what's your name?" she asked, getting down on a knee.
            "I..." he mumbled. "I dunno," he said, his voice barely a whisper.
            The elf sighed and stood. She extended a hand. "Well, sorry about all that," she said as the half-elf took her hand and she pulled him to his feet. "Is there somewhere you're headed? Kina here can transport you anywhere you need to go."
            He looked at the ground. "I don't really have anywhere to go," he said, shyly.
            "Well, we can take you down to Éorand," she said, two of her fingers twitching. Less than a second later, the same vines from earlier broke out of the ground and gently pushed everything back into the satchel, eventually scooping it up and holding it out to the young prince.
            He took it, muttering his thanks to the vines in confusion. He quickly checked inside and sighed with relief, seeing that his locket was still inside.
            "Do you want to come with us?" asked the elf, tilting her head.
            "I'd love to," he said in a quiet voice. "Thank you for scaring those guys away."
            "Of course," the elf said, waving it off. "Now then, Kina, would you be so kind as to make us a portal back home?"
            The human, Kina, drew a circle in the air, creating a portal of swirling blue and magenta.
            The elf looked at the boy clutching his satchel, staring at the portal with wide eyes. She smiled. "Come on kid," she said, giving him a slight nudge. "It's not as scary as it looks."
            He tentatively stepped up to the portal, taking a deep breath before stepping through, his bag gripped firmly in his hands. Seconds later, he found himself in a completely different place.
            He spun around, seeing the elf and Kina come through the portal, letting it close behind them.
            "Who is this?"
            The half-elf turned to face the room and saw four unfamiliar faces staring at him.
            "He was on the border," the elf said in Elvish, leaning heavily on her cane. "He didn't know where else to go, so I offered to bring him back here."
            "Well, if he needs somewhere to stay, we'd better figure that out now," one of them said, shooting him a friendly smile. "Ms. Li, since you offered to bring him back, would you be willing to take him in for the time being?" they asked the elf. "We can send you money to buy extra food if you need."
            "I think that could work," said the elf, drumming her fingers. She smiled at him. "I'm sure that my brother would love to have someone to keep him company while I'm at school."
            'She's a student?' the runaway thought, surprised.
            "Excellent," one of the people said. "Many thanks to both of you for taking care of that for us. We'll be in contact if we need to speak with any of you again."
            "Thank you, Councilan Ori," the elf said, dipping her head. "Let's go."
            She took off down the hall, the half-elf hurrying after her. He caught up by the time they got outside of the building. The sun had already begun its descent and the air had started to cool down. He quickly began to regret his clothing choices. Wherever they were, it was much warmer than his home.
            "Do you speak Elvish?" the elf asked in Koteran.
            "Y-yes," he responded, slinging his satchel over his shoulder.
            "Which would you prefer I use?"
            He shrugged. "Either is fine. My mother was Elvish, so she had us learn the language."
            "So, you're Koteran?" asked the elf, switching back to Elvish.
            He nodded.
            "What region?"
            "Up in the north," he said, hiding his discomfort.
            The elf nodded. "I'm Maenora Li," she said, shaking his hand as they walked. "Most call me Mae. What's your name?"
            He shrugged. "I dunno," he muttered.
            A look of realization passed over Mae's face before she smiled. "Trying to choose one?"
            His face turned red as he nodded.
            "I can help you, if you want," she said. "I know choosing a name is a big deal, but I can give you some suggestions."
            "Thank you," he muttered.
            "For now, I might call you Zain," said Mae as she walked.
            He tilted his head.
            "It's Elvish for 'wanderer,'" she said with a smile. "I think it's fitting, but in the end, no one can pick one for you. Is it okay if I call you that?"
            He nodded, testing it out in his head. "Yeah, I like it," he said with a small smile.
            "Great," said Mae, turning back to the path. "So, what's your deal?"
            "I ran away from home," he said, keeping his eyes on the ground. "Things got... bad... and I had to leave."
            Mae nodded, not prying any further. "So, kid, how old are you?"
            "Seventeen," he said quietly.
            "Man, that makes me feel old," Mae said with a laugh. "I'm already nearly twenty-one."
            They walked the rest of the way with Mae trying her best to keep conversation flowing. It wasn't long before they arrived at a small terracotta house with ivy growing on the walls and all sorts of plants taking over the yard.
            "Welcome to your temporary home," Mae said, opening the door with a flourish. Inside, he could see a room split in two; one half held a small kitchen and table, and the other had a cabinet and a couch. A hallway branched off to the side, holding what he assumed to be bedrooms.
            "Dorian, I'm back!" Mae called down the hall as the two of them entered. Mae slipped her boots off, leaving them at the entrance.
            Seconds later, a young kid dashed out of one of the rooms and wrapped his arms around Mae with a huge grin on his face. "Mae, you're back!"
            "Sorry I was late, kiddo," she said, ruffling his hair. "Took a bit longer than expected. Did you eat dinner?"
            The kid nodded.
            "Well, Dorian, this is Zain," she said, pointing to the short half-elf standing awkwardly in the doorway. "Zain, this is my half-brother, Dorian." Before she had even finished her sentence, Dorian had dashed up to him and given him a hug.
            "Nice to meet you!" Dorian said with a smile.
            "Likewise," he responded shyly.
            "Now, Dori, you should be getting to bed. It's past your bedtime," Mae said, ushering her brother down the hall.
            "Aww, I don't want to!"
            "Come on," Mae said, leading him down the hall.
            A few minutes later, Mae returned, having changed out of her two-tone top and pants into something more casual. She settled down on the couch, propping her leg up on the table in front of it.
            She looked over at Zain. "Come and sit down," she said, gesturing to the spot beside her.
            He reluctantly sat down next to her, his body tense.
            "So, let's figure out what you're going to need, okay?" Mae said, pulling a piece of paper and an odd-looking pen out of a drawer. She made a few notes. "Anything in particular?"
            Zain hesitated before nodding. "I need some cloth strips for..." his voice trailed off as his face turned bright red.
            "No worries," Mae said with a smile. "I think I can find you something even better."
            After a few more minutes of chatting, she set her paper down and glanced up at Zain's hair.
            "Do you... need any help with that?" she asked, her eyes flicking back to his hair.
            He blushed. "It's not great, is it," he mumbled.
            "No problem," Mae said, standing up. "Follow me."
            He followed her towards the kitchen and waited as she grabbed something from down the hall.
            "Do you want it similar to... whatever this is?" she asked, having him sit down at the table.
            He nodded, and not long after, Mae set her odd tools down, satisfied with her work.
            "Looks good, shorty," she said with a smirk. "Are you fine with sleeping on the couch?" she asked, looking out the window.
            Zain nodded.
            "Cool. The bathroom's the only door on the right," Mae said, pointing down the hall. "Do you want something different to sleep in?" she asked, gesturing towards his outfit.
            "Oh, it's fine," he said, flexing his hand. Seconds later, his traveling clothes had the appearance and the feel of loose pants and a comfortable shirt.
            Mae's jaw dropped. She looked him dead in the eyes. "We're going to talk in the morning," she said, schooling her features back into neutrality. "Sleep well," she said as she limped down the hall and entered a room.
            Zain flinched as the lights shut off, seemingly on their own. He shook it off and went down the hall, slipping into the bathroom. Even in the dim light that the moon provided, he could see how much better his hair looked. He reached a hand up, feeling fuzz where there used to be two-foot long hair. He smiled, running a hand through it.
He glanced out the door, making sure everyone had left. After slipping off his gloves, he splashed some water from a stone basin onto his face. He quickly pulled his gloves back on, heading back into the family room and laying down on the couch. He laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. The whole day had felt like a dream. Bandits, magic, sleeping in a stranger's home.
            He glanced out the window, watching a blue bird fly past, and imagined that it was the same one he saw the night before.
            Looking back up at the ceiling, he smiled. "Zain," he said to himself. "I like that one a lot."