Cerberus Rex, Nameless

From Bad To Worse, 12

Light peeked through the curtains keeping Mr. Noarwin's apartment dark. Silas's brow crumpled as a beam of it found his face. His lashes fluttered. He opened his eyes. Brief surveillance of his unfamiliar surroundings and its foreign smells reminded him of where he was. He looked at where Asinis had fallen asleep and frowned at the abandoned blankets. Silas sat up. With some probing, he decided Asinis hadn't turned invisible but was gone.

"Hello?" he called, standing.

No one answered. He tilted his head. His gaze swept about once more. He hesitated to approach the curtained hall, but with no answers and Asinis's disappearance, he worried about the others. He snuck past the satin heavy with dust and oil and went to Feri's room. The door hung open. Silas poked his head in. Empty.

A flutter of anxiety and loneliness spurred him toward Mr. Noarwin's room in the back. It remained shut. Silas knocked.

"Mr. Noarwin?" he called.

No answer. Silas waited a moment and then another. He listened for breathing. Nothing. He turned the doorknob and looked in. The dark interior showed a large futon in the corner, blankets of various fabrics and colors made on it. Three chests lined up along the wall. A table stood in one corner with a chair, its cushion flat and the fabric faded. A brass, elephant incense burner, some ashes under it, and a mess of papers lay across the table surface. Hanging shelves displayed colorful crystal jars with various liquids inside, and a glass bowl of potpourri. A red velvet curtain covered one wall, but Silas found no sign of Mr. Noarwin or anyone else.

He checked the washroom but only found a rod of towels, tub, and other things he didn't take the time to identify. Silas returned to the front room. His gaze lowered as he wondered if he'd done something to chase the others away. He searched for a sign of their whereabouts and then finally noticed a white page on the table Mr. Noarwin had pushed under the window.

Silas went to it and read, "Dear Silas, don't be alarmed. I woke to discover Mr. Noarwin and Asinis missing. I didn't want to wake you after your long day and have gone out to look for them. I will return as soon as I can! Feri. Oh..." Silas set the note down. Then, anxious to find the one who had named him, he hurried out the door in search of her.

Sunlight fell in a blast of bright yellow outside. It lit the slums in the same golden color as the rest of the city, and the sun glow on the colorful canvases made the gray stacks of homes more inviting than they seemed the previous night. Silas hurried downstairs. People sent him curious glances as they went about taking down laundry from outside their doors and other various chores. A few greeted Silas, who waved in return.

He looked left and right in an attempt to gage the best direction to go, but he couldn't determine the most likely route. Then, instinctually, he lifted one hand. He tilted his head and wondered at the sunlight gathered in his palm, "Can you show me to her?"

The warmth he held flexed, and the light gathered into floating, golden beads. He blinked at them, waiting, and then they drifted through the slum entrance archway that led into the city. Silas avoided other pedestrians and some carts as he pursued his spell. Some people watched while a few children laughed and raced after the swirling firefly stream with Silas. And then it dispersed and scattered around one small gnome figure.

The children voiced their disappointment, but Silas let out an air of relief. "Feri..." He trotted toward her and the little boy she wiped the tears of.

"It's alright," she cooed. "Don't let that pigheaded lord of bad manners upset you."

The boy, a crutch under his arm to support him sniffed noisily and nodded, though the tears still dribbled from his grey eyes. Feri looked about to cry herself. Silas knelt beside them, and Feri gasped. Silas set her surprise aside for now and pet the boy's hair. Its texture reminded him of the sheep he saw on his voyage outside of Waywin. It felt soft and tickled and, if he thought he could get away with it, he might have stroked it a little longer. The boy bit his trembling lip and looked at Silas. He had a disfigured leg, one floppy pant leg, and a dirty face. Silas tilted his head.

"What a handsome color," he murmured.

Feri and the boy wondered at him.

"I have seen some with this color of skin." Silas took the boy's hand and studied his callouses and bruises. "Others with a different shade too and..." he glanced at Feri. Pink, he thought. She cleared her throat.

The boy ran his arm under his nose. "But we're everywhere. How could you not have seen us before?"

"I'd only seen animals until coming to the city," Silas said.

The boy's eyes widened, and his tears dried up. "Where at?"

"The Waywin Wood." Silas pointed in the direction it lay half a day's journey beyond the city.

"Whoa. Then... what about them?" The boy pointed at a pair of solare, one blue different than Mr. Noarwin and the other green.

"Not until yesterday," Silas said.

The boy's head swiveled. "And him?" he asked at a black elf with tightly kinked hair. Silas looked from him to the boy. "He looks like you," he said.

"Them?" The boy pointed next to some pale-skinned people.

"I suppose I match them." Silas turned his hands over. "Though, I'm a little bit green. I'd not looked at myself until recently."

"You've lived pretty isolated, mister," the boy said.

Silas chuckled. "That's true. I'm seeing many new, beautiful things. I'm glad you're not crying anymore."

"Oh!" The boy looked surprised, and then he smiled. "I feel better. Thank you, mister, miss." He hobbled off and disappeared into the crowd.

Silas turned to Feri, still squat beside her. "Feri," he started, but she pressed her hands over his mouth and shook her head.

"We can't use my name. Mr. Noarwin has decided I'm Abby for now, and my friend is Klyde. Make sure that's what you call us in public."

Silas nodded, though he didn't understand the reason. "As you wish."

She blinked at him and then sighed. "I'm sorry, Silas. I didn't mean to be so brisk." He shook his head. "You were pretty good with that kid. He didn't even realize he'd stopped feeling bad until you said something."

"Taking a creature's mind off its distress tends to help. Or so I've found when dealing with the animals in Waywin... why did he cry?" he asked.

"Ah. Some noble was in a hurry and ran into him. He started yelling about getting in people's way. The kid can't run let alone weave out of a blind bull's path. Stupid stiff," she grumbled. "Anyway," she sighed. "What are you doing here? Didn't you get my note?" she asked.

"I did. I came to find you."

"Why?"

"I was alone." It hadn't mattered before, but now that he'd experienced companionship, it was hard to let it go.

Feri's expression fell, and her eyes fluttered in a moment of astonishment. "Oh! Silas, I'm sorry. Should I have woken you?"

"Next time, please," he said.

"Alright. I will." She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

He looked down at it, but she let go before he decided to do anything. "You haven't found Mr. Noarwin or A—Klyde?" Silas asked.

Feri shook her head. "I've looked everywhere I can think of, but there's no sign. I'm worried. What if Mr. Noarwin took Klyde somewhere bad."

"Mr. Noarwin wouldn't do that," Silas said.

Feri tilted her face to look up at him. "No?"

Silas shook his head. "No." It didn't occur to him he should explain how he knew. Creatures gave off a scent when being deceitful. He'd become familiar with it in his few encounters with humans, and a couple of times when dealing with trickster animals.

"Silas. You might be too trusting of people," Feri worried.

He wondered if she thought that a problem. No one had fooled him yet, but his experience didn't compare to hers. "I trust you," he said.

Feri paused. "Well." She shrugged her shoulders. "Let's see if we can find them anyway."

Silas nodded and, following Feri, continued their search for Mr. Noarwin and or Asinis.