by Juniper King
“Why didn’t we do this straight from Rochdale to Korinth?” I asked.
“Well, just look at him.” To that, Aksel flipped him off. Ayre brought his fingers and thumbs together to form the shape of a heart. Aksel shook his head before Ayre chuckled and continued his explanation for my benefit. “He needs time in between each jump to recover. The longer the jump, the longer the recovery time. If we continue what we’ve been doing, walking during the day and just misting in the evenings, Aksel can recuperate overnight. This way we can probably cover an extra fifty or so kilometers per day. But to mist all the way to Korinth with two people would be impossible for him, it’s just too far. Especially in the human realm with no ambient magic.”
“Ambient magic?”
“In our realm, there’s ambient magic everywhere, making misting and jumping pretty easy. Think of it like walking in a windstorm with gusts pushing at your back, helping you move with less effort on your part. In the human world, moving is like going against that same windstorm, gales pushing against you the entire time. You move slower and shorter distances before you tire out.”
“So do you two just walk everywhere in the human realm? Or do you usually travel by horse?” I hadn’t thought much about it, but if they were weapons merchants, they must have merchandise to carry with them from town to town. Walking with all of that would be nearly impossible.
“We have our own way of traveling, actually. There are hidden doorways connecting your world and ours, and in turn, those doorways are all connected. We can step into one and walk out on the other side of the continent.” I opened my mouth to speak. “Before you say anything,” Ayre held up a finger, “Humans can’t use them—no magic. And your magic is nowhere near good enough to protect you from traveling through the void without Aksel’s help.”
“Are you finished, professor?” Aksel asked.
Ayre smiled at his friend’s brusque attitude. “Alright, you relax. Sel, you prep the tent and the fire pit, and I’ll track down dinner.”
Oh, great, me making the tent? We could only hope it wouldn’t collapse on us in the middle of the night. I flashed Aksel a dubious smile before hopping up to help Ayre.
12
“Not a drop of alcohol and no sex for almost three weeks,” Ayre complained. The overdramatic satyr was lying on his back in the grass of our latest campsite. He’d been dragging his ass for the better part of two days and when we stopped mid-day to take a break he just didn’t get back up. “At this point, I’m worried I’m going to jump Selynna.”
The small log I’d decided to practice on fell to the ground with a thump as I lost my concentration.
Ayre rolled his head to meet my wide eyes. “I’m kidding, Sel. I wouldn’t do that. But gods, right now, you’re so damn tempting.” He rolled his head in the opposite direction to address Aksel. “Aksel, can you take me to the nearest town before I do something stupid? I’ll make my own way back.”
Aksel shook his head as he walked over to Ayre and hauled him up by the arm. “If it’ll get your melodramatic ass out of here for a few hours, I’d be happy to.” He pointed a finger at me. “You stay put. I’ll be back in less than five minutes.”
My eyes pinched into a glare as I opened my mouth to snap back, but before I could respond, he and Ayre dissolved into thin air, his lingering smile fading before my eyes.
It was fascinating though, watching Aksel teleport. Until this point, I’d only ever been a part of it. Just like Ayre had said, it looked like his body dissolved into a mist. They’d literally vanished into thin air.
Less than four minutes later, Aksel reappeared behind me and collapsed to his knees. I rushed over to him and put a hand on his shoulder and one on his chest to support him. “Are you alright?”
“Fine.”
I slid under his arm and walked him over to the nearest tree, carefully leaning him against it, then sat next to him with my back against the trunk.
“Did Ayre really need to get away that badly? I mean, you said we should arrive in town in about two days.” I asked after his breathing had become more regular.
“It’s in their nature. Booze, sex, drugs. Satyrs crave pleasure of any kind, sometimes with an actual desperation. I’ve never seen him go this long without anything.”
“But you don’t think he actually would have…”
“Jumped you? No. But he might have made a serious attempt to seduce you.”
I let out a sigh, relieved it wasn’t something I would have to deal with. If he wasn’t even trying now, I couldn’t imagine what a ‘serious attempt’ would look like.
“Are you disappointed he’s gone?” Aksel asked after a pause, his voice hollow, devoid of emotion.
I chuckled. “No, I’m relieved I don’t have to worry about any wandering hands.” Even a mere touch from Ayre still had the power to send electricity through me. But short of my hormones craving a night of intense physical pleasure, I doubted there was anything more meaningful to these feelings than the current friendship we shared.
“You get along well. You don’t seem to mind when he flirts with you,” Aksel continued as if he hadn’t even heard me.
I waved a dismissive hand. “Because I know he’s just teasing.”
“He’s not just teasing. You know if you ever said ‘go’ he would—” he stopped himself with a sigh before continuing. “You’re saying you haven’t fantasized about a night with him?”
I blushed. I couldn’t say I had full reign of my subconscious when he was around, but I would never admit it. A week or so ago I would have told Aksel to butt out and mind his own damn business. But we were on a path to a meaningful friendship, I actually like discussing deep thoughts with him. I’d already came close to ruining our relationship once, I didn’t want to stamp it out with one stupid, prudish outburst. Besides, Ayre wasn’t the one taking up residence in my thoughts lately, anyway.
My lips pursed together. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t flattered, but satyrs need more than one woman—many more, actually. I don’t want to be part of some list of triumphs, or be waiting up for him to come home after a night on the town… I want to be someone’s one and only. I want someone I can love and trust.” I want someone who won’t abandon me the second someone better comes along.
Aksel’s head rolled to the side to look at me. I was prepared to go on the defensive. “What?” I snapped.
A smirk blossomed on his lips. “Nothing. I’ve just never heard anyone say something like that. It’s sweet.” He yawned and leaned his head on my shoulder. Heat rose in my cheeks. “Satyrs,” he continued, “they’re lucky. They never have much of a problem being around humans. They can be themselves when they walk through towns and talk to people. They don’t have to wear an illusion. People don’t fear them on site.”
I blinked, surprised by what he was confiding in me. Why hadn’t I seen it sooner? Constantly being around someone like Ayre, who could walk into a town and be himself in every way, it was no wonder Aksel was feeling miserable and self-conscious.
Come to think of it, my being here was probably only making things worse for him. When they were alone together Aksel probably wore his regular skin, but with me being here—a human being here this entire time…
“You can be yourself around me.” I mumbled.
The only time I had seen Aksel in his true skin was when he’d saved me from Ilane, and even then, it had been too dark to properly see him. Since then, I’d only seen him wearing his shimmer. Even when we’d kissed, it hadn’t been the real Aksel. A strange sadness weighed down my chest.
His loud scoff brought me out of my thoughts. “I saw you shaking when you first saw me.”
The last time we spoke about his magic and his shimmer he had joked and brushed things off. Today he sounded sad. Bitter.
“I wasn’t afraid of how you looked.” I said sharply, before sagging a little. “I admit I might have believed some of the rumours about reputation, but in my defense, I’d just watched you chop someone
’s hand off—I’d just been kidnapped, for crying out loud.”
He shook his head. “You say that, but when I look like this you can forget what I really am underneath. You can treat me just like any other human.”
Fine. I leaned away from the tree to face him. “Drop your illusion.”
“No,” it was such a definitive answer.
I bristled. “Do it. Let me decide for myself how big and scary the deydre really is.”
Aksel squinted at me. “What are you trying to prove?”
“I’m not trying to prove anything. I’m not afraid of you, Aksel, no matter what shape you take.”
His stare bore into mine. For a moment I thought he wouldn’t do anything at all, but with a flicker the illusion melted.
Brunet hair shifted and grew before my eyes, lengthening over the right side of his face and darkening until it became an all-consuming black. The colour faded from his skin, leaving it with a faint purplish hue. Three horns materialized on the left side of his head and his ears grew to a dynamic point. His shoes, having been part of the shimmer, disappeared and raptor-like talons burst from his toes.
My heart stuttered in my chest. This was the first time I’d seen him so close up. This was Aksel—the real Aksel.
We stared at each other for several seconds, his tail seemed to count the time like a metronome. I didn’t have a chance to fully appraise his new form because with one quick movement his hands were on my waist and he lifted me over his outstretched legs to straddle his lap. I squeaked in surprise, my hands automatically flattening on his chest to keep myself from collapsing into him. I blinked, my face scorching, trying to ignore my current seating situation and not wilt under his scrutinizing gaze.
The first time I had seen his eyes in the darkness I’d thought they were pure, unbroken black, but seeing them properly in the daylight, only his sclera were black, surrounding bright green irises. They were the same colour as his human shimmer, but now the green almost seemed to glow, it was so bright. The stark contrast was beautiful in its own way.
He brought his hand up in between our faces, his fingernails just a few inches from my nose. My eyes shot open wide as his fingernails extended three times their normal length, ending in razor sharp points. Claws. He really did have claws. On closer inspection, they were separate from his fingernails, almost black in colour and much thicker. They seemed to grow from underneath his human nails, almost like the fingernails were a decoy and the claws burst free when needed, like a feline.
“Well, here I am.” A slight hostility rang through his words, his claws sheathing back into his fingertips.
“Here you are,” I echoed. I continued to stare at him unabashedly, my heart racing.
His stare hardened even further into a deep squint. “Racing heartbeat, wide eyes, body trembling. Guess the fearless little human isn’t so brave after all,” his tone had grown even more hostile.
I watched his mouth as he spoke and saw the flash of fangs, snapping me out of my awe. “Fangs, horns, claws, and a tail? That’s it? You protected me from the bad guys, saved me from a burning city, held me while I cried, taught me to use my magic,” kissed me so passionately, “Guess the big bad deydre needs to work a little harder if he wants to be scary.”
His eyes relaxed from their squint, a slight confusion marring his brow. “You’re… really not scared of me like this?”
I shook my head, a slight smirk pulling up the corner of my lips. His genuine confusion was actually kind of cute. “Just because you have claws doesn’t automatically make you more aggressive, or mean you’ll use them to hurt me. Looks are just something a person’s born with, like the colour of their skin, or the shape of their nose.” At such a close proximity my voice had a bit of a waver. “They don’t say anything about their personality. Ilane was gorgeous on the outside and downright evil on the inside. Besides,” I added as an afterthought, “How someone perceives beauty is all relative.”
To my relief, Aksel didn’t seem to notice the blush that sprang to my cheeks at my offhand comment, I wondered if he’d even comprehended it through his current brooding. His expression had softened, but his frown stayed in place, hands still resting casually on my hips. The sound of my beating heart thundered through my head.
Being so close, sitting on his lap, I couldn’t help but remember the last time we had been this close. The heat that had surged between us and how good it had felt. I wanted to bridge the distance between us. To close the gap and bring our lips together…
I tried to swallow through the dryness in my throat. “Why are people so afraid of deydre? How did the rumours get started?”
He seemed to mull over the question for a moment. “Seventy or so years ago, only a few decades after the conflict between humans and Kimyrians ended, there was an incident with a deydric mercenary hunting a Kimyrian who was hiding in a human town. The merc found who he was looking for but didn’t care about human casualties.
“A lot of people died that day and the image of a murderous deydre just stuck. It didn’t help that he was without a human glamour and ripped the other Kimyrian apart with his bare hands.” Aksel shook his head, “We were lucky he didn’t ruin everything our leaders had accomplished in bringing our two species together.”
I waited for him to continue but it seemed that was the end of his explanation. It still didn’t add up in my mind. “That sounds awful, but I still don’t understand what makes deydre so—” I almost said ‘hated’ and quickly backpedaled, “Notorious. Other Supers have bad reputations among humans too, lamia, finfolk, redcaps, they all enjoy attacking and maiming humans, but we’re just told to avoid them, they don’t provoke such a visceral fear in humans.”
“It’s not just the bad reputation. Those Kimyrians generally avoid direct contact with human civilizations, humans would have to willingly walk out of their towns, and pretty far, to run into them.
“Tell me, before Ilane, did you ever think you were in danger from Supers in your own town?”
“No…” I had never given it much thought before but he was right. Supers were welcome in most human towns, but they were expected to behave themselves, and, as far as I was concerned at the time, the bad or mischievous ones wouldn’t dare enter. But there had been no real logic behind that thinking. I had never once seen a merc taking on a Super that was causing trouble, or patrolling the edge of town to keep the mischievous ones at bay, what had been keeping them out other than their own sense of morality?
“Humans have a sense of security in their towns,” he continued. “It’s where the big bad Supers can’t get them. That deydre waltzed right into town and decimated a not insignificant size of the population and brought the rest to their knees with an illusion while he walked out with his dead mark. He shattered that sense of security.
“Now they fear us on sight. They call us monsters, attack us before we can attack them.” His eyes darkened a little bit. “We’re terrifying to them, like something from a primal nightmare.”
“That’s terrible,” my voice came out meek, overshadowed by sadness and pity for Aksel.
Anyone who knew him could see he was nothing like that merc he’d described. He was kind and sympathetic. There were times when he could be vicious, like when he’d fought Farras or killed that flereous, but it had all been in defense of me. He had fought and risked his own safety just to protect me.
My eyes roved over his features, wondering how anyone could call any part of him monstrous. Exotic, sure, but not monstrous.
My wandering gaze caught on his neck and my stomach dropped. On the side of his throat, just above his collar bone, was a vicious looking scar. The skin was discoloured and raised, but didn’t stand out horribly against his purplish complexion, which is the only reason it didn’t draw my gaze right away. Whatever had caused it, it looked like it should have killed him. My fingers brushed the discoloured skin.
His hand covered mine and gently pulled it away. “Let’s just say I learned quickly not to drop m
y illusion around humans.”
“A mercenary did this?” Could this have been why Ayre was so bitter about Aksel not being able to walk around as his real self?
Aksel didn’t answer but something about his expression made me think I was correct. “It’s like you said before; humans can frighten easily or become aggressive without much prompting when confronted with something they don’t understand.”
Sickness flooded my stomach at hearing him repeat my own words. People harassed me and shouted at me, poured drinks on me and avoided me, but no one tried to actively hurt me.
I just couldn’t accept people would treat him so badly. That someone had tried to kill him just because he was the same species as some ancient, ruthless mercenary. “But… that’s wrong. You’re no threat to humans any more than I’m a threat to humans.”
“Don’t be fooled, Selynna, we can be dangerous. We can rip someone apart with our claws or destroy someone’s mind with an illusion without even touching them.”
I rolled my eyes, “Are you trying to scare me, again? I already told you, it won’t work. You’re not some cold-blooded monster, you’re just Aksel.”
He smiled weakly, his gaze trailing up to the canopy of leaves above us. “I honestly can’t tell whether you’re genuinely this altruistic and open-minded or whether you’re completely unhinged,” he goaded.
“Wow, real nice,” I harrumphed before relenting with a smirk.
I actually liked our back-and-forth taunts. It demonstrated a special kind of closeness between us, we could be honest and heartfelt, but we weren’t afraid to tease each other and speak our minds. I had come to develop a genuine trust with Aksel, something I didn’t think I could ever find outside of Jess, and I hoped he could feel the same with me. I didn’t know what would happen once we found who’d set the bounty, if we would all go our separate ways, but that was a worry for a later date. Right now, we could just enjoy being together.
