Infused with Darkness

Chapter 9

'Let's go outside,' Vespana said, gesturing at the open doors that let light fall into the hall.

Zuwha stretched and got up. 'I like that idea.'

The two others got up as well, leaving their plates and cups where they were. Zuwha was the first one to exit, breathing in the fresh air. The screaming and yelling from the fighting pit had stopped as well, so it was much more silent now, except for the high pitched shrieks of huge birds and the roars of other creatures, outside the walls.

Vespana lead the way to the gates, followed by Zuwha and Roshiro. As they walked through the crowd, Zuwha softly nudged the other boy.

'What do you think of her?' Zuwha whispered softly so Vespana wouldn't hear. He had his doubts about the elf, after what she said. She seemed to have something against humans.

'She's been nice to me, so I trust her. Besides Raglein, she's the only person I know,' the boy replied, shrugging. 'Raglein says he'll watch out for us.'

Roshiro walked a few steps faster so he was next to Vespana, leaving Zuwha behind the two. Zuwha sighed and observed the people around him. Once again Zuwha noticed how they all had different colored clothing and all bore different marks, though the people with the same colors and marks stuck together in small groups.

Despite that, there were still a few people that had different marks yet still talked to eachother, so maybe it didn't matter that much. What confused Zuwha most was that there were some people without marks or special clothing. He wondered who they were and what group they belonged to.

Zuwha came was pulled back to reality when he felt someone shake his shoulder. He looked up and saw a man standing there. 'You're standing still in the middle of the gate,' he said, glaring at the boy. His eyes seemed to have flames in them, literally.

Zuwha gulped and quickly started walking again, looking for Vespana and Roshiro. He saw the two waiting a few paces away from the gate, looking around. Roshiro noticed Zuwha and waved at him, beckoning for him to come closer.

He walked over to the two and rubbed his arm. 'Sorry, I was looking at people and was carried away,' Zuwha said sheepishly.

'It's alright, observing things is a good thing.' Vespana smiled, then gestured at the forest. 'Want to go there?'

'Aren't there bad animals in the forests? Like ents, wolves and bears?' Roshiro asked, staring at the treeline, his voice trembling slightly. The thought of going into the forest seemed to scare him a lot, which Zuwha didn't understand. The forest was practically his home, he went there every day.

Zuwha frowned at Roshiro. 'Why are you scared? I've been in the forest thousands of times and nothing ever happened.'

Roshiro stared him down, making Zuwha shift nervously in his spot. 'Okay maybe.. I might have been attacked by wolves the last time I was there. But I'm still alive, right?'

'A-attacked by wolves? So they really are out there?' Roshiro gulped.

Vespana gave Zuwha an annoyed look as if to say 'look at what you did now'. Zuwha shrugged hopelessly, to show that it was an accident.

'Come on, are you really scared by some animals? I'm an elf, I can save you all if needed,' Vespana said, still with that annoyed expression.

Roshiro looked at the ground, clearly unhappy. He sighed and looked at the elf and the other boy. 'Alright then.. let's go. I do sense strange things in there though.'

Vespana patted the boy on his shoulder and smiled. 'That's probably just your imagination. To the forest!'

The three of them started walking towards the treeline, past the lake and the greenhouses. Zuwha looked at Roshiro and noticed that the boy got more uncomfortable the closer they got to the forest. He noticed Roshiro kept looking around as if he was feeling watched.