Knowing The End (SAA Book 2) ✔

25: Over the Naked Eye

After the elf's soul returned to his body, he stood. With fidgeting movements, he took a step forward. There was a silence so thick, hanging through the air that could but sliced with a knife. Hunter grasped onto his shirt, whimpering childishly as he hid his face in the crook of Oren's neck.

Oren looked through the portal, and past the sea of glimmering liquid gold, he could see an utterly shocked version of himself. The reflection made him realize that he'd looked like a deer in the headlights. His expression dulled, and his vision finally cleared.

There was a vast, roofed forest beyond the webbing. Lush with green and other assortments of vibrant colors. It didn't look like the last forest they visited. This one... was much more messier. Moss and vines, thick and thin, lay over the grassy grounds, fallen trees and fruits hanging from under the canopy. A flock of colorful birds scrambled through the leaves, and followed a group of people.

Wrapped in both dirty brown, seaweed green and grey, the people charged with weapons in-hand. Some ranged from tan to as pale as snow. One had white hair, the other a burgundy auburn. Black and brown, too. Crimson war paint decorated their tough faces and whose weapons consisted of thorny vines and wooden bases.

The one at the back was tall and thin, holding a bow. The string of horsehair, the curving base ornamented with thin, glowing ribbons. Long white hair fell over his shoulders, pulled into a long braid that reached his lower back. A trifoliate, large and flowered, kept his hair in place.

Oren looked closer.

Their....ears. They had elvish ears, the same as Oren's! Were they...? Were they really wood elves?

"Clay, these are wood elves! My people are there!" Oren whirled back to his lover. Xenia jumped off of the couch in excitement, her tail sweeping up happily. Her claws began to scratch as the decade-old carpet.

"We gotta' go through there!" he insisted. He impatiently sat Hunter down on the couch and gazed back through the portal, nose inches away from touching the translucent webbing. Clayton blinked, slower than usual, and made an attempt to speak. Broken noises replaced full words for a moment. He recollected his thoughts.

"Uh.. Well - I dunno', I got a bad feeling about this." Clayton admitted, shrugging. Finally, realizing his lover's surge of energy and excitement, he slouched and hung his head in defeat. "But if you wanna go in, stay back. I'll take my sword and a few armor pieces I found from the portal in the basement."

"Wait.. You're saying I can't go with you?"

"Someone has to stay behind and take care of Hunter. Besides, I can't risk losing you again. Not after all that's happened."

Oren froze, bewildered that his own fiance would want him to refrain from meeting others with the same blood and flesh as him. "No, these are my relatives! I finally get the chance to meet them and you say I can't?"

"You know how many times you came close to death if it weren't for me? Every time you go through one of those things, those damned portals, you end up getting hurt. I won't be able to control myself if I lost you, or even came close to losing you again."

"Then I'll come with you, and you'll have my back."

"But Hunter--"

"We've gone scouting and you've even journeyed to save me from the portal in the basement. Why weren't you concerned for Hunter then?" Oren argued, fists clenching as he remained stagnant. The other fell silent, and to fill the silence, said toddler let out an intimidated whine.

"He's old enough to wander into the unknown. He could go into the portal and get lost, or even killed. He may not be able to walk just yet, but he can crawl. That's enough for him to get himself into danger." Clayton returned after a while.

"Then you stay back and watch over him."

"Oren--"

"Just stop!" A poisonous ivy shot from Oren's palm on instinct, heading straight for Clayton's eyes. It was only until Oren pulled back and retracted as quickly as he realized what he was doing, that the vine didn't hit the human. The elf looked down to his palm, thoughts racing with questions.

Time stopped.

Oren's eyes slowly teared up, and his heart grew heavy with guilt and worry. The stinging pain that struck his chest was nearly unbearable. He took a breath after it clogged his airway, closing his eyes. His veins coursed with lightning for a moment, before the tears slipped past his closed eyelids.

His green eyes opened to a surprised, and somewhat betrayed Clayton. He couldn't stand that look on his face... The pure treachery lurking in dark pupils. Oren's lip quivered, and shimmering eyes turned downcast. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean-" he choked up, turning back to the portal. He didn't want Clayton to see his face; not like this.

"I love you."

Dashing through the portal, the elf left his fiance upset and his son bawling his eyes out uncontrollably. Xenia let out a worried roar, inclining to chase after him but Clayton pushed her back.

_

Oren wiped furiously at his eyes and tried his hardest to stop crying. He made a few twists and turns in the forest, aimlessly walking until he came upon a small elvish camp. It seemed that his research was correct. Wood elves really did live here... It seemed like natural settlement, protected by the thicket of luscious trees and plant. It comforted him, lulling his racing heart to a tranquil bliss.

Shouting in fluent Greek, giggling and laughing. A family of three, two mothers and a son. The taller mother was tickling her son before his young, wide eyes traced Oren's red-rimmed, shimmering ones. "Mama, who is that?" the son pointed over to Oren, who was shyly approaching.

"How can we help you, young sir?" she politely asked in Greek, making Oren instantly feel at home. Their hair was a familiar snowy white, and their eyes were a light aquamarine. Purple war paint decorated their similar faces.

"Uh.. I'm new here. I don't know if I have a family or not, but I saw a group hunting nearby.. I wanted to meet some of my own kind." Oren explained, using his native tongue to communicate with them.

"Oh, well it is nice to meet a fellow wood elf. Please make yourself at home." her voice... the tone changed. Ominously, the atmosphere thickened, and Oren felt as if he couldn't breathe.

"Oh Oakley, you are too swayable."

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