Nameless [CURRENTLY BEING EDITED]

17. It's Not a Joke

The elf-girl pulled Veryan through the streets which were normally silent, lined with trees and wild grass but now packed with market stalls and elves... The sounds of many voices overlapped and blended together into one sound, constantly rising and dying away.

Thalion followed several feet behind.

"Remind me as to why we are doing this?" he muttered, not really expecting an answer, but Veryan heard him and laughed, shouting over his shoulder just to be heard.

"Lighten up, Thalion, we're just going to check out the main square. We'll be back at the training yard before anybody notices."

"Right, but why?"

Veryan ignored his friend, instead slowing to a walk as the wood-elf paused. A group of laughing elven guards without helms slid down a tree and strode past the younger elves without a second glance. Both Veryan and Thalion looked away, shielding their faces, hoping they wouldn't be recognized. Their pulse raced as adrenaline flooded their bloodstream, but the elvish guards moved on, joining a crowd by one of the market stalls. There was a collective sigh of relief.

In those few moments however, the crowd of elves had thickened in the streets and the three young elves were forced to come to a complete stop as they were trapped on the flagstones. Feet trampled over their own. Voices died away and grew louder, as monotonous and constant as the tide. The sun filtered briefly through the clouds and cast golden light on the trees and grass only a few feet away.

The wood-elf tapped her foot against the stones, shaking her head at the cloaks that brushed against her face.

"You would think that the festival would call for some paths to be clear," she muttered.

Thalion and Veryan both nodded their agreement vigorously.

Thalion crossed his arms and edged a little closer to his friend and the wood-elf. The amount of pressure around him was suffocating and the cloud-packed sky didn't really help either, instead adding to the claustrophobic atmosphere.

Off to their left, a brief opening cleared itself, but not towards the main square. It led into a darkened path, shielded by two towering buildings. Vines of ivy grew across the entrance and the wood-elf shoved forward, grinning widely, beckoning for the others to follow.

"It's a shortcut, this will take us to the main square faster than anything." she said matter-of-factly as Veryan and Thalion stared dubiously into the gaping darkness.

Thalion laughed. "That's a joke right?"

The wood-elf blinked. "What?"

"I mean, you're obviously out of your head if you think we're going to trust you to take us the right way to the main square. We have been there before, we do know how to get there." Thalion said coolly.

Veryan groaned and taking hold of Thalion's jacket sleeve, jerked the smaller elf behind him. The wood-elf opened her mouth to shoot Thalion a biting remark but Veryan interrupted her.

"You two are not getting into another argument. Not on my watch." he said firmly.

The two others glared at each other but remained silent, each eyeing the other with distaste.

Finally, the girl shrugged. "We'll continue this later. But for now, let's go. Unless of course, His Royal Grouchiness would wish to stay behind and fight his way through the crowd."

Thalion muttered something under his breath but followed Veryan and the wood-elf as they pushed aside the vines and entered the alley.

The glass buildings, which usually would have caught the sunlight and brightened up the path, were now dimmed under the cloudy sky. Creepers grew up the sides of the glass and trapped even more shadows underneath.

Plants grew thick beneath their feet, as lush and springy as a carpet, spreading before them and vanishing into the curving and thinning darkness beyond. The three elves slipped like wraiths between the twisting buildings, their feet barely touching the ground, leaving no sign that they had been there. They walked single file, the wood-elf first, then Veryan, followed by a lagging Thalion, several feet behind, his jaw clenched and his eyes darting, constantly looking over his shoulder.

The shattering of glass above them caused all three to stumble backwards as a rain of shards sliced through the air and hit the grass around their feet. A rush of cold air hit their faces as a figure in a dark cloak landed on the ground, rolling to its feet, where it stood, eying the wood-elf and Veryan. Thalion stepped backwards, hiding in the shadows, covering his face with one hand and staring at the ground with interest. Veryan was not so quick to cower, stepping in front of the wide-eyed wood-elf, a protective, dangerous glint in his eye.

Shouts echoed and the figure jerked its head up, towards the gaping hole in one of the buildings, but in doing so, its hood fell back, revealing a face that was both elvish... and not.

Familiar yet different.

Alike yet unalike.

Recognizable but never seen before.

Veryan stared in distaste. "What are you?" he whispered.

The figure hissed, pulling it's hood back over its face, it's eyes running over the elves as it moved backwards.

The shouts were growing louder.

It's eyes caught on Thalion. It inhaled sharply, then chuckled, bowing low to Thalion who had visibly paled, ripping his hand away from his face and meeting the gaze of the cloaked figure, giving only the tiniest shake of his head. Barely noticeable, yet there. A shadow, but not recognized.

The figure laughed again, and swept its cloak to the side, bowing even lower to Veryan, who only stared, confused.

"There will be a time when you will beg for it to be over. For the pain to stop. You're only as high as you can fall." It whispered, its voice hoarse.

The wood-elf stepped out from behind Veryan, her eyes flashing, her hand hovering over the knife at her side. "What are you talking about?"

The figure ignored her and moved towards Thalion but Veryan cut it off, his face merely inches away from its cloaked one. "I would think twice before I said something like that." Veryan managed to get out between clenched teeth.

The figure only smiled, but the smirk quickly vanished as footsteps echoed in the alley, drawing nearer.

It muttered something about blasted guards and turned away from Veryan. No one made a move to stop it. They held back, unsure and uncertain. It was all so strange. And so they stood still, watching as the figure darted through the grass and shattered glass before coming to a curve in the path. It whirled around abruptly. Underneath its hood, its eyes shone brightly as it locked its gaze on Thalion. It called out in a rasping voice, "Even the immortals must end." and vanished into the shadows.

Thalion sighed and whispered back, "Because we must make all equal." but neither of the other two elves heard him.

A group of armed guards rushed past, completely ignoring them. But words were tossed were to the wind and snatchs of phrases could be heard.

"Second appearance of a half-elf in under a week..."

"Scum. All of them."

"They should stay on their side of the Cliff...next time I see this one, I'm running my sword through her."

Thalion kept his eyes glued to the grass, heat rising to his face, flinching at the words.

But no one noticed.