Chapter 8- Beginning the mission

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"What was that? I didn't quite catch your name," Dakelo told the shy girl. She kept her head bowed and shuffled her feet almost constantly. To him, she seemed too timid to be a Thislik child. Either she was lost, or she was very new. It fascinated him, it been a long time since he met someone who came from outside the city, he was sure she had many interesting stories to tell. But for now, he almost felt sorry for her. If she kept acting like she did, she will be a very easy target for pretty much anyone.

"Isildilia," she muttered again.

"Isildilia?" he asked. She nodded in response. He turned his head to the side, almost upside down, in an attempt to see her face. "It's easier to hear you when you are facing me," he suggested. The girl hesitated and, after hearing her take a deep breath, she finally decided to tilt her head up. He gasped.

Her face was pale and slightly thin, although most people in the Thislik were, but it wasn't that what caught his attention. It was her eyes.

He had never seen a person with eyes of such colour. They were vibrant purple. The most enchanting colour he had ever seen. The more he looked the more shades he saw, even what looked like flecks of gold streaks. He didn't realise how much he was staring until the girl started to take steps back.

"You're staring," she whispered. He shook his head in amazement.

"I can't help it," he explained. "Your eyes..." As he said those words, his already beating fast heart took another leap. Like ink dropped onto wet paper, the edges of those purple eyes start to turn to a rich blue, spreading inwards until they had changed completely.

"How did you do that!" he exclaimed in pure excitement. Her lower lip started to tremble. He stopped. He didn't mean to upset her; he couldn't understand what he did.

"Go ahead, tease me, bully me! That's all everyone else does!" she suddenly yelled, the edges of her eyes starting to brim with tears, very close to becoming full waterworks. Dakelo held up his hands. This girl was very sensitive, he observed.

"Now then, I wasn't going to tease. Why would I? I think they are beautiful. How do you do it?" he asked. The girl seemed completely taken aback by his words. Before the tears even started to flow the eyes melted back to purple. "What other colours can you do?" he asked.

"I don't know. I don't look at my own eyes. I can't stand to." She rubbed the left one on the back of her hand. "Why did they have to be different? Why did I have to come here? I hate it here."

"How long have you been here?" he asked.

"Just a month." She sniffed. "I'm surprised you hadn't heard of me, everyone else has," she said, glancing back down at the floor.

"I normally go it alone, that way there is no one to drag you down." He turned around and started to make his way down the street. "No responsibilities, no ties to anyone-

"It must be lonely," she spoke up, making him stop in his tracks. He spun back around to stare at her. The same eyes stared right back at him. He felt a shiver overcome him if he looked at them too long, like those eyes bore into his very soul.

"Why would you say that?" he finally asked. "I'm Dakelo of the hundred knives, I already start to strike fear at the mention of my name. Why would I want company? I've always been on my own and that's how I prefer it." He paused. Why was he suddenly revealing all of this? He's never spoken openly to anyone before, but when he looked at that stranger's face he just felt himself compelled to answer her questions. The girl looked disappointed by his answer. She turned away from him.

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