The Ancients

3: Diversity

As if I didn't feel like my heart hurt. I wanted to walk away like she did.

"Learn to be punctual, Catherine. It's a virtue, an important one. You'll do well to remember that."

When I turned around, I expected to meet her cold stare, but instead she had her back turned to me and continued her way home. 

She hadn't even asked about the bruises. 

Touching my cheeks, I checked to see if they were already healed. 

When I found three spots that hurt by lightly running over them with my fingertips, the pain in my heart proved greater.

Clenching my hands to fists, as if they would actually protect me, I huffed. What did I expect?

Trying to talk myself into ignoring my mother, I passed through a small part of the woods and quickened my pace when I finally came back to my senses. 

Jogging the rest of the way, I soon reached the end of our section. I continued down a steep hill that overlooked the human part of town. It was much more colourful than the neighbourhood beside it—the Immortals section. It was the most lively area in Everett Valley, its streets bustling with life. 

The town was drenched in the colours of diversity. Where there was one house painted in a burgundy red, the house next to it was the colour of green vomit. As a whole, the neighbourhood was one canvas with all the colours of the painter's palette.

It seemed out of this world, so different as it was. But it mirrored the human principles like looking at one's reflection in still waters. They were known for their artistry, their creative inventions and their busy way of life, trying to find a balance between it all. Staring down at it, comparing it to the spacious living style of our section, I admired humans in that regard. 

Their capability of adapting, of progressing and living with so many differences was prodigious. Still, with it came an arrogance and a strong belief of being superior.

As I reached the border from our section to theirs, I took a step over the threshold and walked through an invisible barrier. The protection barrier. Instantly, the atmosphere shifted and wasn't as lush and nature-soaked like ours. Strange aromas wafted in the air instead, carried by a soft breeze. I smelled cinnamon mixed with peppermint and cardamom. 

A small hint of lemongrass reached my nose, ultimately creating a boom of smells that tasted both good and bad.

At the end of the street, one that was stubbornly straight and cut off from where the bustling life began, was a junction. The junction was like the entrance—either it led to the Iarhus, a building that stood on neutral grounds to my left, or if one wanted to reach the Immortals section by passing through human grounds, the street continued straight ahead. 

On my right, the mundane city life bloomed with an explosion of artists.

I crossed the junction with quick steps and finally entered Iarhus grounds. Another protection barrier needed to be passed here, since the Iarhus stood on neutral soil and was a place that utilised the council's magic. If the barriers weren't here, teaching the three races simultaneously would not have been possible. 

The magic in the barriers pumped a spell through the crossers blood that kept their feral instincts dormant. If it wouldn't, shifters would attack humans and Immortals would fight shifters.

Without needing to scour the place, I already spotted a curly mess of hair sitting on the surface of a round, stone table. Breathing heavier than usual, I smiled as my Maecena turned around to face me.

"What's happened to your face?" Kendra asked incredulous, her wide doe eyes staring straight at me.

Caught off guard, I had halfway started to believe that they might not have been visible after all. A stabbing pain in my chest nearly caused my eyes to water.