Regius (35 page)

He had dropped down from
his high tree branch, stopping the white lion's second and killing
blow by falling onto its back. Although the Regius could have, he
did not kill the forest king. The sudden presence was enough to
scare the lion away. Allowing the large animal to flee, the man
focused his attention on the wolf's wound instead.

Pure blooded Regius are
not healers. They do not offer any kind of comfort unless something
called 'light' triggers them. Love didn't have to occur in order
for the light to happen. It was a gentleness that a Regius could
feel towards anyone. Be it a sibling, parent, friend, stranger and
sometimes even an animal. The man knew the wolf was his light, he
could feel it, as could the wolf. Although the beast would never be
obliged to feel the same soothing calm the Blue Blood felt, one
thing the wolf knew instantly was that this man would never harm
him.

Throughout the years, the
wolf began to see the strange man as his new pack and because he
was no longer fit, he'd accepted the Regius as his leader. They
lived in the forest, tranquil and quietly. Until three years ago
when the Regius man returned to their forest home with a new
presence. The wolf was in charge to keep this new person within a
certain area, outlined by the Regius. If the captive tried to
escape, the beast was in charge of stopping him. The man tried, but
soon realized he would never leave this place. Although the strange
man and the captive didn't share much of what you'd call a friendly
relationship, the wolf came to appreciate the captive due to his
kindheartedness.

~~~~~~~~

Yet, the beast still
growled when he stepped over the limit of the assigned
area.

"My apologies, I wasn't
paying attention." Jan whispered, reaching down to pat the wolf
between the ears.

Turning around when the
wolf, Lucerne, did, they made their way back to the small residence
nestled between some trees. As they neared it, they instantly knew
the assassin had returned. The captive picked up the pace and when
they reached the front of the small home, he waited for the beast
to lay down before entering. Lucerne always stayed outside, but Jan
knew he should leave the door open so the wolf could see his
master.

Digitalis.

Jan was no longer
frightened for his life when around the assassin. He knew Digitalis
didn't want him dead. He needed him, it's why Jan had been brought
here in the first place.

"You are free to go, Jan."
Digitalis spoke, surprising the him. "I am sure your wife, daughter
and brother will be glad to see you return."

"Aren't you afraid I will
speak of your location?" The assassin was a strange creature. Jan
had the opportunity to get to know him somewhat during his
captivity. So when the assassin raised and eyebrow, he knew that he
was privy to the rare sight of Digitalis being
surprised.

"I live in the middle
of
Immortalis Silva
. None but I know how to travel through this forest without
getting lost." Pausing, he watched Jan's reaction to his words
before he added, "Currently there are thirty-one Altors in Zinc
looking for my very self. Two of those have once been my captives
as you were until a minute ago. Never did they find me. One of
those thirty-one is an Elder you know particularly well. Had Rose
known how to find me, you wouldn't have been stuck here for nearly
three years."

Curious, Jan eyed him.
There was something that had changed. "You found something to do
the research in my stead."

"Honestly, now is when you
finally start to show interest in my case? Humans confuse me to no
end," Digitalis declared.

As they should. The
assassin was like nobody else on this land. "While I never managed
to find her location, I did reveal that you are most likely the
only Regius who has more than one light." Three years of research
dedicated to Digitalis and that was the most surprising detail Jan
had uncovered.

"So I have a disease, what
else is new?"

"A disease?" Jan exclaimed.
"Digitalis, the fact that you are able to care for more than just
one being, what with you being a pure blood, is extremely rare,
abnormal and more than shocking. But it is not a
disease."

Sighing, the assassin
walked past him to greet one of his many lights, Lucerne. "It makes
my job complicated." Digitalis murmured as he placed a hand on top
of the wolf's head. "Thus, it's something I do not enjoy, and so, I
view it as a disease." His eyebrows knitted in what seemed to be
confusion when he added in a murmur, "A handicap."

Shaking his head, Jan
stared at the strange pair. "You're wrong, it should have been a
blessing. But you do suffer from something that categorizes as a
disorder which numbs out this blessing that was bestowed on you for
reasons I cannot possibly fathom."

Detaching his eyes off
Lucerne, Digitalis offered Jan bored attention. "And what might
that be?"

"Psychopathy." Ignoring the
statement, the assassin nodded down at the wolf before turning his
back on Jan, setting off in a run, his figure disappearing between
the large trees.

"Is Digitalis incapable of
lying?" If that was so, it meant that Jan was truly free to
go.

Looking back into the hut,
he stared at the place he'd resided in for so long. It felt strange
for Jan to think about leaving. He'd given up on that thought long
ago.

When his eyes landed on the
closet, he remembered the assassin placing something in there
before their conversation. Jan made his way over, pulling out
Digitalis' bag, opening it and taking a look inside. He did not
know what it was and he wouldn't be able to identify it without
removing the brown paper wrapping. All Jan knew is that this thing
is what had led to his freedom.

He didn't think twice
about it as he slung the bag over his shoulder and marched out of
the hut. The assassin knew Jan would never find his way out of the
forest and Jan knew that is exactly how Digitalis wanted it. While
he could appreciate the fact that the assassin was allowing him to
try, he also knew this new situation was as cruel as the one he'd
found himself in for the past three years. While Jan had no choice
but to accept that, he had no intention of doing so without
fighting back, because this time, Jan
could
fight back. The assassin had
taken him away from everything he loved and now Jan was going to do
the exact same thing.

Clutching the bag that held
the object that would give Digitalis his answers, Jan walked into
the forest, allowing himself to get lost, package
included.

* * * *

Coughing as a vespa flew by
me, making the sand on the ground dust upwards, I stared after it
wondering how the driver managed not to run anyone over. Although
Brass thought working with cars would be something he could do, I
didn't see the fun in it at all, so I hadn't followed him inside
the garage, telling him I'd wait outside.

There was so much noise in
this city, I'm sure I'd never get used to it. Sighing, I leaned
against the garage wall and let my eyes scan my surroundings. It
couldn't be dryer anywhere else than Cobalt. There was sand
everywhere and what with the hot burning sun floating in the sky
all the time, I wasn't all that surprised to notice cracks of
dehydration in the walls of houses and shops. If the streets were
empty of people, I was sure that the coloring of the architecture
around here would look dull. But since I heavily doubted Cobalt
could actually become empty, the burnt orange color was balanced
out by the many flashy colors the people wore.

Letting my eyes trail over
the canal, I checked out a bridge and then stared at the tiny
details that I found along the windows and doors. People watching
was a lot of fun here, much more entertaining than LV for sure. I
noticed a woman holding the hand of her child, who was holding the
hand of whom I assumed to be her brother, and that boy was holding
onto the hand of their younger sister, who had a tight grip on a
leash attached to a huge dog.

Further along an old and
frail woman had decided to take a break in her walk and had sat
down in the middle of the street, looking content as she sipped a
bit of water, people nice enough to walk around and not over her.
As I kept watching, I noticed that she seemed to be waiting for
something, and a couple of seconds later I realized it was a
someone. Observing the interaction, I could see a boy of about
fourteen, although, I couldn't be sure since he was covered in
scarves. How he didn't die of a heatstroke was beyond
me.

He knelt down before the
old lady, taking her hand and placing a kiss in the center of her
palm, which led her to smile lovingly at him. They exchanged a few
words, and then the boy gave her a package. Although I was curious
to know what was inside, my eyes followed the kid as he walked
through the busy street with a lot of ease, telling me he was used
to it. That, and he'd most likely been living in this city for a
while as he stopped on occasion to talk to someone, greet another,
exchange a few laughs, and then he was on his way again to
wherever.

As he began walking in my
direction, I decided I'd stared at the dude long enough and that I
was now bored watching him. That is, until I saw him press up
against a wall out of the corner of my eye. He clumsily tried to be
stealthy and ninja-like as he moved into an alley, his eyes
everywhere as he made sure no one saw him. Clearly he wasn't doing
a good job as he hadn't noticed me.

Curious, I checked over my
shoulder to see if anyone else had noticed, but figured neither he
nor I needed to worry as everyone was much too busy with their own
lives to notice two paranoid guys.

Deciding Brass was a big
boy and could take care of himself, I slowly started to follow the
partly masked kid, surprised how there was nobody in the alley
except him and myself. The city noise seemed to drown out and the
heat wasn't as harsh here thanks to the shadowed area between the
two buildings.

He rounded a corner, and I
pressed myself against the wall so I could sneakily look past the
corner. At first glance it looked as though his destination was a
dead end, but then he crouched and pushed a small and barred
window, creating an opening that I'd have thought led to the
sewers. Although that was just disgusting, it wasn't enough to kill
my curiosity and stop me from following.

I waited for him to climb
through then I quickly ran over to the opening, kneeling down so I
could take a peek. Eyes wide, I stuck my head inside to get a
better look. The tunnel was about as busy as the main street, just
hidden. There were torches, candles and lanterns hung at random
intervals from the ceiling, lighting up the place. Lots of fabric
stands, the vivid colors of those popping out in this hidden
underground shopping district. Black Market perhaps?

The first and most flagrant
thing I noticed though was that this place was filled with the
people that wore fabrics to cover their hair and part of their
faces. While I could see the occasional Cobalt pale blond and maybe
two or three mops of blue hair, the veiled ones were
everywhere.

"You gonna go in or are ya
gonna make me wait and stand here all day, Altor?"

Blinking out of my
observation, I looked back over my shoulder and stared up at a
rather large man, his heeled boot tapping impatiently on the
floor.

Sending him an apologetic
smile, I nodded with a frown down at the street below. "Uh, yeah,
so I just jump down?" The impatience seemed to dissipate from the
pale blond man as he laughed heartily, his hand coming to rest on
my back to give it a sympathetic clap.

"New to the Rangers Alley?"
Although I had no idea what that was, I simply nodded at him.
"Well, don't ya worry. It's a war free zone, any of our kind can
enter and shop there and so can you honorable types." Eye twitching
now, I figured it was just best to keep on nodding along with him.
War free? Honorable type? Rangers? Altor?

"Whatever it is you're
lookin' for, you'll find it down there. Just slide your feet into
the opening first and let yourself drop." Doing as he instructed, I
found myself in the tunnel and stood from my crouch when the man
landed beside me.

"See, that wasn't so
hard."

"Thanks." I offered him a
smile and watched him give me a nod before he walked off into the
mass off people. Clearly I'd found something I wasn't supposed to
find. Deciding that I was enjoying this quite a bit, I started
walking into the mess, not able to decide what to focus on first.
There were so many different sounds, smells and things to see.
Guitar music was coming from somewhere on my left, but was then
battling with the sound of a fish vendor over to the right. I could
smell jasmine as I passed by one stand that offered so many
different flowers, I'd have to stop and spend fifteen minutes just
staring to be able to count how many there were. A little further
ahead the smell of steel filled the air as I saw a man sharpening a
saber.

"Watch it!"

Eyes widening, I caught a
hold of the wicker basket that was about to fall down on top of me,
peeking into it curiously once my arms had wrapped around it.
Apples, pears and bananas. Smiling at how delicious these fruits
looked, I looked up and apologized to their owner.