Elven Legacy

Chapter 82

Jaden

He'd been gazing out the window when there was a knock at the door. Observing the stars and the moon, breathing in the fresh night air like something new and ineffable, something never before tasted. It held a refreshing after-storm scent as it breezed in, rustling his hair and leaving pleasant tingles. He'd gazed at the modest, close-knit homes and shops of Azuria's harbor district.

From here, he couldn't see the docks, only the city lights – street lanterns and warm glows spilling from taverns and homes. People frequently crossed the street below, deep in conversation or laughter.

Jaden saw and heard it all as he tried to soothe his nerves, attempting to breathe calm into himself.

It didn't work.

He felt jittery from about a thousand different emotions prickling across him. He was a downright mess.

"Come in," he said, and it nearly shocked him that his voice sounded normal.

Noah opened the door, slipped inside the room casually, a glass of something amber in his hand. Of course. Leave it to Noah to find the only place in Azuria where they served the stuff.

Jaden's first impression was that Noah looked tired. But then, Noah grinned as he closed the door behind himself, and that impression breezed past his thoughts like the wind. Jaden couldn't help but grin back, halfway risen from the bed already, pushing back the covers.

There was an eerie moment during which time stretched, and the world appeared to stand still beneath him.

Noah seemed taller and leaner than Jaden remembered, clad in black boots and black pants with a long-sleeved khaki shirt that set off his eyes. His skin was considerably more tanned than before, a golden shade now nearly identical to Zemisha's.

He had a slight stubble along the well-drawn lines of his jaw, and raven hair tumbled down the side of his forehead and into the corner of his eye. And yet it was his smile that captured Jaden's attention.

"Zemisha said you wanted to see me."

It felt surreal hearing his voice. Not in his thoughts, not through the catalyst, but his real voice. Jaden swallowed with some effort, as he got up on legs that proved too shaky for his liking.

"She said that, did she?" Jaden concealed the agitation within behind a façade of amusement.

Noah's smile turned sly in the corner. He shrugged, bringing his glass closer to his lips as if to take a sip.

"What, did she get it wrong? I can go back, it's no problem." He stuck out a thumb to point behind himself.

Jaden took a few steps on unsteady legs, tremors running down his knees. The floorboards made a tiny creak under his bare feet, and – he wasn't sure how it happened – he threw himself in Noah's arms. He was probably being too keen about it.

Noah laughed with some surprise, and there was perhaps the sound of liquid spilling, but Jaden ignored it. Noah smelled like soap and something else, subtle and comforting, difficult to put into words. The way each person carried their own unique smell. Even though they'd body swapped, therefore Jaden wasn't unfamiliar with it, well. This felt very different. Noah's shirt was thinly woven like most Nimisian clothes, and Jaden's hands pressed tight, clutched at the fabric, craving the warm skin just out of reach.

Jaden held him like he was his anchor to reality. As if pulling away would send him back to the chains, as if this had all been an illusion – just a dream after all, and this moment right now couldn't possibly be happening.