Immortal Tales - the boy with magic

Chapter One - third part

His nose realised he had found the square even before his eyes.

The orgion was a celebration of fertility in honour of the god Dyonisus, a make-believe deity that the mortals had created for themselves in order to justify severe alcoholic tendencies. The rule during orgion was that there were no rules.

Everything was allowed, nothing considered too excessive. If you were there, then you allowed anything to happen to you. Dyonisus himself was the god of excess and wine.

Which also meant that people wrenched anywhere they wanted, pissed themselves sick and laid together in the middle of the square. The statue of the god that was erected in the middle showed no sign of being disturbed by the naked couple on top of its feet.

Someone handed him a pitcher of wine and breathed heavily in his face with a stinking breath. The boy didn't even have to push him away because his attacker passed out on the ground by himself.

The crowd was so large it was impossible to tell who was a priest /priestess or a simple visitor. Even the immortals were well spread out, only highlighted by their lack of emotions.

The boy found it extremely intimidating how good the path-changers were at acting. He spotted a few of his teachers, talking to mortals dressed in colourful drapes, laughing at their jokes, stroking their arms, kissing them ... all without a flicker of feeling. The children were almost just as good, but still faltered whenever a mortal approached them.

A hand went over his shoulder and the boy almost jumped out of his body.

A cold shiver went down his spine when he realised it was one of his immortal teachers, the one who had whipped him just a few hours before.

-You are late - he said simply. A statement. No anger. -The other children are all in position, you need to blend in like we did in class. -

The boys nodded and strolled in the crowd. The people of the orgion were just as varied as the colours of the village. They were both old and young, male and female, wonderfully cloathed or naked. The boy wished he knew what his teacher had meant by "getting in position", because he had absolutely no clue. He could have asked but ... questioning always put him in problematic situations.

He spotted a few of the children from his sleeping area and joined them. They did nothing to acknowledge his presence as it would have looked suspicious otherwise.

A mortal in his twenties approached him with a grin on his face, walking with the confidence of someone who knows can have everything. He was handsome, in a mortal way. His blue eyes were sparked with green and reminded the boy of the sky seen from the forest.

-What a lovely evening for celebrating Lord Dyonisus, don't you think? - the mortal asked him. His eyes kept darting at his back for some reason. Was there maybe something behind him?

The boy waiting only a few seconds before replying. The children were not allowed to directly interact with the mortals on a one to one basis, only in groups. He could get in serious trouble for this. But he could also get in serious trouble by arising suspicions.

-Lovely indeed - he replied, trying to make his voice sound as calm as possible. Which was not a simple task considering puberty had left him with an alternating high pitched and baritone voice.

The mortal put a harm around his neck and leaned his head on his shoulder.

-What do you say we get out of here? And we take the party elsewhere? - he asked. His heart was burning with an emotion that the boy interpreted as desire.

He was just about to ask him how they could take their party elsewhere if all the people were there, that another hand clawed around his wrist and pulled him away from the mortal's embrace.

-Sorry man, this one is already taken - said a familiar voice at his back. Hands were wrapped around his waist in a tight embrace. His aching back was complaining loudly about the closeness, but his head kept telling it to shut the Nature up.

The mortal scrawled but moved away. -If you change your mind I will be next to the wine source. - he said before leaving.

The arms moved away from his waist and the boy kept his gaze to low to avoid locking eyes with his saviour.

-Ah newbie you need to be more careful with mortals like that - he said forcing him to raise his head.

He knew the child of the mist in front of him as one of the senior counselors of their sleeping area. He was just about to turn eighteen, the treshhold of immortality. Just like the rest of them, he had light brown hair and brown eyes, but the boy always thought they looked more golden than brown. His pointy nose was covered with freckles for the sun exposure, giving him a boish look. The boy was slightly taller than him, despite being a year younger.

-Not like I looked for him - he muttered justifying himself.

The other simply smiled, as if he knew a secret he was not aware of.

As far as approachable immortals went, the guy pretty much ticked all the boxes. He always put his duty for the mist people in front of everything else, like any good immortal, but he wasn't afraid to help out other children in the process.

The first time the boy had talked to him, he had been around ten years old and was failing at mastering his healing potions. The older boy had spent countless nights teaching him his secrets to prevent him from further punishing. The boy might have faked a bit of his dumbness after a while.

The senior took him by the hand and pulled him away from the mortals, into their little group of children.

-The mortals will always look at you like that, no doubt more once you reach eighteen. - he explained. -You are breathtakingly handsome -