As the time passed, the trees were flashing by and the car was taking Anya toward the unknown, the fresh air inspired her determination. She was the one who broke the silence.
"Since I agreed to come with you, will you tell me where are we going exactly?"
"The fomoires will be looking for us, watching our every step," Daphne said reluctantly. "We need to go as far away from the city as possible."
"Go where precisely?"
"The destination is yet to discover."
Thus the subject dropped, and the taciturn trip continued.
Anya blankly stared out of the window, she looked away only to glance at her phone that marvelously wasn't broken after her fly from the third floor. Dad didn't call, but sooner or later he'd do that. What would Anya say? How was she? Where was she? Was everything okay at home?..
Nikk interrupted Anya's thoughts. "How about we stop and grab some food?"
"Great idea, I'd love to have a break from the wheel," Eirn instantly caught the mood.
Daphne's forehead creased. "No, it's dangerous. The fomoires could be still following us!"
"We can't just aimlessly drive all day, Daph," Nikk said without looking at the daitian, "We need for Amarillis to call. Without her, we don't know where to go."
"Whatever." Seeing Daphne's irritated expression, Anya suspected that Daphne hated when something went the opposite way from what she preferred. "But if the fomoires show up, don't forget I warned you."
"Come on, Daph. As if you enjoy it! Bouncing on this road forever..." Eirn glanced over his shoulder at her, and hurryingly looked away as Daphne gave him an ice cold glare.
"First, for you I'm Daphne. Second, you know I enjoy nothing in this life for many years already."
In a quarter of an hour, their car parked at the gas station with a small shop. It was the only place so far where real people could be. Daphne refused to go out and stayed in the car, while others went shopping.
"Eirn, give me your jacket," Nikk asked before walking through the entrance door. "Bloody clothes are out of fashion nowadays."
The moment Anya was inside and saw sandwiches in a fridge she realized she was starving. She didn't care if those sandwiches were fresh; her grumbling stomach suggested that the food looked delicious enough.
A few minutes later, with her hands full of snacks, Anya turned her head, looking for her new friends. Nikk was by a bookstand, browsing through some magazine with a bored expression. Eirney was a few feet away, chewing potato chips without bothering to pay for them.
"In the theatre," Anya began, approaching. She still hesitated she wanted to know all the answers, but her curiosity was stronger. "Daphne mentioned she hadn't seen the fomoires for almost ten years."
"Yep," Eirn nodded, sending another slice of potato to his mouth.
"Then... how many years have you already spent on Earth?"
"Thirty, give or take."
"You're kidding me?" Anya stared at him in disbelief. The fair-haired daitya looked no more than twenty. Twenty two, at most.
Eirney chuckled at her skeptical face and handed her a bag of chips, but Anya shook her head, refusing the unpaid food.
"And what, you and the fomoires are competing, searching for something on our planet for thirty years, and can't come to peace negotiation?"
"Oh, Anya, you're so naive," Eirn shrugged and continued consuming his snacks. "Yes, our generation didn't start the war. Yes, the children are supposed to amend their parents' mistakes and so on and so forth... But here's a thing." His face darkened as he caught Anya's gaze. "It's more than that. It's personal. You see, Leir's father killed our friend Ther. We can never forgive that."
Anya swallowed hard as Eirney said it with growing hatred deep in his throat. After his words she somehow easily believed she could be next. "What should I do to make Leir leave me alone?"
"You have two options. We either convince the fomoires that you're worthless to us and you know nothing, or that you're truly one of us and they have no chances to get to you." Eirn face was carefree once again, amused even. "The first option requires us to kill you, or play your murder out at least."
The yogurt Anya had been so scrupulously choosing a couple minutes ago fell out from her hands. She watched its strawberry intestines slowly spill across the floor, and then raised her eyes back at Eirney. "And the second option?"
"The second one requires you to learn this." Eirn stretched out his hand, snapped his fingers lightly, and a paper bag in front of them suddenly set on fire.
Anya reeled back in fear, but before she could manage a mere step, the orange flames disappeared with a loud flap, and the burnt paper edges were the only proof left that the fire hadn't been a hallucination of Anya's sick mind.
The boy at the cash register glanced at them in concern, but seemed not to notice anything unusual.
"Well, I should admit, Nikk is more skillful in these fire tricks," Eirn scratched his forehead, looking at the papers.
"Yet, Nikk doesn't try to fry the whole place," Nikk's voice came right from behind. "Rill called. We need to go."
Eirney just snorted at the comment, then took another bag of chips and walked off toward the cashier.
When the three of them got back in the car, Daphne was staring at the sky meditatively, wrapping in a warm sweater she hadn't had before. At first, Anya wanted to ask where the daitian had got it, but then decided it'd be safer not to ask any question.
"Do you have a place to crash?" Daphne cocked her head at Anya expectantly.
"I could stay with friends," Anya shrugged with one shoulder. "But I'm probably too far from them all now."
Nikk shook his head. "No, your friends and relatives are too obvious choice."
"How about our headquarters?" Eirn suggested, driving again.
"Don't even consider it," Daphne retorted. "Nobody will let you come to Kelas with a human."
Anya couldn't believe what she'd just heard. "You have a headquarters?"
"Sure, we're not the only team on Earth," Eirney proudly nodded. "There are others, working all over the world."
"But we're the only ones who run into the fomoires again and again," Nikk chortled grimly.
The road curved, and a girl came into sight. Wearing a light dress that didn't match the cool weather, she was walking back and forth along the road and impatiently looking at her watch. Her green as meadow grass hair was streaming in the wind, making her look like a mysterious part of the forest landscape.
"Finally!" the girl clasped her hands, when the car stopped next to her. "I thought you'd rolled without me."
"This is Amarillis," Nikk introduced the green-haired daitian as she settled on the backseat next to Anya.
"You can just call me Rill," she smiled warmly, then tapped Eirney on the shoulder. "We're going straight ahead now, then turn to the lake. I've arranged a wonderful place for tonight."
"I'm An—" Anya was about to be polite, but didn't have a chance.
"Anya, I know! I've watched a movie last night, where the human was also Anya! What a coincidence, right?" Rill's eyes were bright with enthusiasm. She began to chatter so quickly no one else could interject a word. "Oh, your human culture is so exciting! You Earth people imagine you have these different lives and then you create these movies and write these books out of your fantasies..."
"Did you learn anything?" Daphne's flat voice cut Rill off.
Rill shook her head. "Our people know nothing about the fomoires' returning." She was continuing studying Anya's face with her huge emerald eyes.
"I thought so," Daphna frowned and turned away to the window.
*
When the sun was almost down, and the road merged into shady darkness, the travelers finally saw a dozen wooden houses by the lake.
Anya was greatly relieved that the ride was over. She couldn't even finish her sandwich, because Amarillis never—not for a second—took her eyes off her new human friend.
Daphne, on the other hand, seemed to forget the others existed. She was melancholically staring out of the car window all the way to the lake. Frankly, it was the first time Anya came to like and even appreciate Daphne's reserved personality.
Once they entered the village, Rill pointed at one of the houses with a crooked fence painted red. "Here."
They left the car by the fence and stopped on the steps, while Rill was fumbling for the keys in her bag. Hypnotizing stillness filled Anya's ears. Only blinking dim light in the neighbor's windows showed some life. Streets were totally deserted.
"Who lives here?" Anya asked, scanning their surroundings. The backyard overgrown with shrubs, a lonely sunflower swaying on the wind among them, a warped boat lying by the neighbor's fence.
"Fishermen come on weekends, and some houses are long abandoned," Rill said nonchalantly, keys jingling in her hands. "The owner of this house is out of the country. He won't be back the next few days."
The lock clicked and the door groaned open. The daitias and Anya walked inside the house, looking around. It was modest, but cozy—colorful curtains on the windows, a fluffy rug on the floor, and a warm blanket on the sofa. If not for a layer of dust, the place could look like awaiting guests.
"What's that smell," Eirn wrinkled his nose as he peeped into the bedroom. "No, it's in the kitchen. Did someone die in here?"
"It's a fisherman house," Nikk said. "There must be some fishing equipment, old tackles stashed somewhere or something."
"That's not a problem," Rill waved her hand, reached out for a pot in the cupboard and went back in the street.
"I'll take care of the fire then," Nikk started toward the fireplace, but Daphne stopped him.
"No, Eirney can deal with fire pretty well, and we will go get dinner. Besides, I need to speak to you." After a minute of digging in her purse, Daphne snatched something out, but before Anya could see what it was, she and Nikk vanished into thin air.
Anya froze in the middle of drawing a breath. "I'm going insane."
"Not a believing kind, uh?" Eirn chuckled and shambled over to the fireplace, without any sign of excitement. "Me neither."
For a few minutes, Anya watched the daitya growling as he was sorting out the coals. She couldn't say why, but she suddenly felt lonely as she saw the embers blaze and die again and again when Eirney was repeatedly snapping his fingers.
Perhaps, Anya felt lonely because she had no inkling of where the hell she was and why. In some unmapped village, with some unhuman people whose home is across the universe? Nikk has just evaporated before her very eyes. And that should be considered normal? No way.
Or, perhaps, she felt lonely because she had nobody to talk to about it. The only person among the daitias who understood—a little at least—how frantic all that had been happening was for Anya was Nikk, and he left.
And why wouldn't he? Why would he waste his time explaining to the earthling that the sky was blue and that people could teleport in the blink of an eye, when he had Daphne? Anya could never compete with the platinum-hair daitian, who was elegant and sophisticated and exquisite. Who behaved like an ice queen and spoke like a fire flame. Who was of Nikk's world and understood him perfectly.
A shared dream or no dream, it means nothing in the real world.
Trying to shove away the unavoidable thoughts, Anya went outside. She hoped to see Amarillis and help her with whatever the help might be needed, but Rill was gone, too.
So, Anya simply stood on the lake shore in the night's darkness. The stars were shimmering over the mirror-like water surface. Yes, if there's anything you have to escape the city for, here it is.
Speaking of the city, what had happened to my home? Anya thought. There must be a disaster in the apartment right now, after the fomoires. How should I explain it to my dad? What happened to his room? To his documents? Wait...
Suddenly, Anya remembered something. Just before the fomoires knocked the door she'd been holding a sheet of paper. And when she hurried to hide, she tucked it away in the pocket of her jeans without thinking.
Anya yanked her forgotten possession out. Now, under the moonlight, the drawing didn't look as bright as before. But the strange patterns on the edges of the paper were more vivid.
"Meditating?" Rill's clear voice called from the blackness.
Caught off guard, Anya flinched and whirled around. The daitian was standing on the wooden landing of the house and holding the same pot that was full of soft soil now.
"No, just enjoying the view."
"Oh, yeah, it is perfect." A smile played around Rill's mouth. "The nature gives us a remarkable sense of freedom, don't you think? You instantly stop caring about the trouble on your way. You stop caring for what can happen in a year, a month, a week... It's simple. Freedom."
"Freedom scares most people," Anya pointed out.
Amarillis frowned for a split second, then a full smile bloomed on her face again. "No. most people are eager to watch the others risk, but they never risk themselves. The secret is, if there were no risk-takers, most people would have no one to look at. No one to follow. It is the uncertainty, that scares people."
Shivering at the gust of cold wind, Anya asked, "Do you risk often?"
"Us? All the time!" Rill sucked on her lower lip as she winked. "But I, personally, never regret it. A quiet day fades away from your memory, a crazy one stays there forever."
"Is this the recipe of such a day?" Anya's eyes shifted to the pot in the daityan's hands.
Rill's expression brightened even more. "Sure, you can say so! Let's go, I'll show how it works." She jogged toward the house. "After my recipe you'll never forget this day."
As if it could be the opposite, after everything I've been through today, Anya thought and followed.
The steady fire was crackling in the fireplace as they came in the house. The room was warmed and well-lit, the nauseating smell was the only thing destroying the perfect atmosphere now. Eirney lounged on the sofa, staring at the screen of his tablet. He didn't even blink when Amarillis loudly dropped the pot on the floor in front of him.
"Give me five cups, please," she asked Anya.
"What for?"
"You'll see."
Anya left the drawing she'd been still holding on the table, thinking she'd have a chance to examine it once again before going to sleep, and headed to the cupboard.
When Rill got hold of the cups, she filled each of them with equal amount of soil, put some seeds in them, and fetched a small turquoise stone out of her bag.
"Now look," she said, squeezed the stone in one hand and stretched out the other one over the first cup.
Anya looked at the daitian intently.
"Don't look at me, look at the cup!" Rill laughed, her eyes mischievously sparkled.
As instructed, Anya sat next to the daityan and peered at the cup. She felt really stupid at first. But only at first. This feeling was quickly replaced by another. Astonishment. Right in front of her, a small sprout appeared from the earth in the cup and started to grow. In a minute it turned into a blossoming flower, slightly resembling a small lily.
"Whoa," Anya breathed, staring at the flower.
"They grow on Da'Ariya," Rill explained. "Greatly help to neutralize foreign smells."
And it was quite true. The unobtrusive flower scent masked the reek of fish instantly.
"Place it on the window, will you?" Rill asked and began to work with the second cup.
When Anya was carrying the flower to the window, the front door opened. Nikk and Daphne appeared in the doorway. Nikk was wearing a new t-shirt in exchange for the one that had been stained with blood, and Daphne was holding a big box that smelled like a hot carrot pie.
"We didn't want to shock anyone by teleporting in the center of the room," Nikk said slowly, watching Amarillis work. "I suppose, Rill, you've done a good job already."
Rill smiled without looking at him. "I'm flattered."
"That tone of mine, that was sarcasm."
"Oh, I know."
"What is that?!" was Daphne's amazed voice.
Everyone cocked their heads in unison to see Daphne's frustrated face. She was now staring at the piece of paper Anya had left on the table a few minutes ago.
"I found it home," Anya said, shrugging. "That's some kind of a drawing. A page from a book, maybe."
As Nikk looked over Daphne's shoulder on the silvery patterns, he seemed to be puzzled, too.
"It is not just a drawing," Daphne shook her head and met Anya's questioning eyes. "It is a map."