Granted, his brilliant smile would have made him feel friendly even if he had been holding the weapon. He had bright blonde hair that made Theo’s hair look dirty in comparison, and he was almost as handsome as Eli. His green eyes reminded me of moss, with specks of brown complementing the dark emerald color.
Unlike Lucius, who had almost completely ignored me, and his son Theo who initially stared at me the entire time, this guy fell somewhere in between. He immediately grinned at Eli before gawking at me briefly. I tried not to react in order to hide my confusion. I didn’t understand his reaction, because it was very different from everyone else thus far. His expression was then slightly more serious, although still pleasant. “Welcome!” He began, holding out his hand towards Eli. “I’m Landon Vernon, Tobias’ son. It’s nice to meet you.”
I watched in fascination as Eli held out his own hand and clasped the guy’s, shaking it briefly. I had never seen two people greet each other with that gesture, since the elves rarely touched those who they weren’t close to, unless it was for combat training.
“My name is Eliakim Dracul,” he replied kindly. “Eliakim is fine though. I’m pleased to potentially be of service. We still haven’t been told the details of the job yet.”
Landon glanced at me again briefly while he dropped Eli’s hand, before returning his gaze to my supposed master. “Of course. And we’re pleased to have you Magus Eliakim. I’m sure you’ll find the job is fairly simple for a mage like yourself, and we’ll compensate you well of course.” He angled himself away from us slightly, beginning to wave us forward, but then stopped. His eyes were on my thigh now. “But first, did either of you have wounds that needed attending to?” He wondered with concern. I was surprised that he had addressed me directly by saying ‘either of you’ instead of ‘you or your servant’ – he spoke almost as if he was asking me specifically without trying to seem obvious. Remembering that I was supposed to be a slave, I looked up at Eli, waiting for him to respond for me.
However, Lucius chimed in instead. “They’re both alright, I’ve already asked. It’s not their blood. They ran into some trouble in the forest on the way here.”
“I see,” Landon responded, looking back and forth between us. Eli nodded to confirm Lucius’ statement, and Landon’s green eyes lingered on me again before he turned back around. “Very well. We can let you both wash off afterwards. It’s the least we can do. Now, if you’ll please follow me, I’ll take you to my father who can explain what we need. He’s already at the generator to get everything ready.”
I saw Eli trying to hide the confusion on his face as he nodded, taking a step forward. I quickly followed after him. As we all walked away, Landon called out over his shoulder to his uncle and cousin. “Mira’s inside if you two want to stop in.”
Lucius waved at him. “Thanks. We’ll do that, although we can’t stay long. Tell my brother I said hello, and we’ll see you tomorrow.”
Landon nodded, and we continued walking.
“Who’s Mira?” I asked absentmindedly, before clamping my hands over my mouth.
Landon looked back at me, and then he and Eli exchanged a glance. I wasn’t sure what was being communicated between the two of them, but then Eli surprised me by gently resting his hand on my head. The touch was brief, but it almost made my knees buckle from the unexpected surge of pleasure it gave me. His palm was extremely warm in the best way possible, and even though it was hot outside I wanted him to keep it there.
Unfortunately, I was too startled and embarrassed to be angry at myself for my pathetic reaction.
Eli smirked at me, noticing my unspoken dilemma. “You can speak freely Riella, so long as our friend here is willing to converse with you.”
I glanced at him, surprised he used my full name instead of the nickname I’d given him permission to use. But then I realized he was using his full name around the humans too. It made me wonder, and hope, that our nicknames were special just for each other. My godmother had been the one to start calling me Riel and was the only one who used that name. I doubted Eli knew how significant it was that I had offered for him to call me that.
Landon spoke up then. “I have no problems speaking with a pantherian. I just didn’t want to be rude to you Magus Eliakim by doing so without your permission.”
Eli nodded. “Just so long as you speak to her with the same level of respect as you would speak to me, then it is fine.” I knew he was saying that for my sake, probably so I wouldn’t get provoked. I certainly appreciated the gesture. I didn’t want these humans to actually start treating me like a slave. Ignoring me was one thing, but speaking to me as such might set me off.
Landon eyed Eli carefully for a moment, before glancing at me again over his shoulder. His tone was pleasant and conversational. “Mira is my older sister. It’s just the three of us who live here, so she does a lot of the housework and cooking. She’s preparing lunch right now.”
“Oh,” I said in surprise, forgetting to consider my words before speaking. “Where’s your mother?”
Landon shrugged. “She left us a long time ago, just after I was born. She ran off with some other guy. My father never remarried.”
“Sorry,” I whispered, looking down. It seemed like I was running into one person after another who had lost their mother, although it seemed like in this situation the woman had abandoned her family like my father had done to me.
Landon was looking forward again as he continued. “No need to apologize. I never knew her since I was so young, and my sister barely even remembers her. It’s hard to miss someone who you’ve never met.”
I begged to differ, since I missed my mother a lot even though I’d never known her, but I didn’t say anything. Maybe the fact that I knew my mother had loved me made the difference.
Landon led us past a few of the large red barns, taking us towards a smaller white building close to where a field began. Unlike the other structures, this one was made of painted stone, and the large door was made of thick metal. I began feeling uneasy again by the sight. The fence already made me feel caged in, but I suspected I could cut through those wires with my unique sword. Alternatively, the thick walls and door of this shed made me feel confident that escaping from there would be nearly impossible if we were to be locked inside.
I was definitely not going to be the first one in, or the last one out.
Thankfully, just as we arrived, the man who I assumed must be Tobias stepped out of the building to greet us. His dark brown shirt was torn at the shoulder and he overall looked a little dirty like he had already done a lot of work for the day. His hair was a similar shade as Lucius, indicating Landon’s mother may have been where the blonde hair came from. Tobias was built slightly smaller than the man who claimed to be his brother, but overall he was a muscularly large man.
Tobias had a rag in his hand to wipe them clean as he smiled at us. “Welcome!” He said in an excited tone, introducing himself. Eli gave his introduction as well, and Tobias got right to the point.
“Right, so I just need you to install the magicite into our generator – nothing too special. We had a set of magicite gauntlets to do it ourselves, but one of them fractured from the strength of the crystal, and I can’t do it one-handed. Paying you to do it will be much more affordable than replacing the gauntlet, not to mention that the delivery time is absurd.” He chuckled at some unspoken thought. “Anyway, in return for your assistance, I’ll pay you four gold as well as add in a silver for you to stay in the inn if you want. That’s about all I can offer for the job, other than a meal too, if you want to stay for lunch.”
Eli crossed his arms as he considered it. I had no idea how the money system worked in the human world, so I didn’t know what the value of four gold was. Finally, Eli replied. “That’s a lot of money for something you make sound like a simple job. I’ll be honest with you, I’ve been studying magic for so long that I haven’t taken the time to familiarize myself with the empire’s technology. I have no idea even what m
agicite is, which makes me wonder if I’d be able to help you.”
Landon gawked at Eli like he was crazy, but Tobias seemed unaffected. “It’s no problem. I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of it, since not every town is as fortunate as ours. Your lack of knowledge won’t be a problem though. The procedure is fairly simple, and I can give you directions on what to do.”
“If it’s so easy, then why do you need a mage?” I blurted out without thinking.
Tobias looked at me in shock, before Landon quickly intervened. “Magus Eliakim allows his pantherian to speak freely.”
The man looked at his son and then quickly recovered. “Excuse me,” he said apologetically. “I just wasn’t expecting that.” He glanced at Eli before looking directly at me again. “Magicite is very dangerous to normal people, which is why we have special gauntlets to handle it. However, mages who naturally have magic inside their bodies can touch it without harm. While it is certainly an easy task for someone like your master to accomplish, it is nearly impossible for someone like you or I.”
Eli unexpectedly cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention. His tone was reserved, like he was trying to hide irritation. “My pantherian, who you may call Riella, is capable of using magic herself.”
The two men suddenly stared at me like I had three heads, their mouths literally open, gawking at me. Finally, they began recovering and eyed me with a new level of respect I wasn’t expecting. Was being able to use magic really that special to them? It seemed normal to me, since almost all elves could use it.
Tobias bowed his head slightly. “My apologies to you both for the assumption. I have never heard of a pantherian being able to use magic.”
“Depends on the parents,” I informed him, crossing my arms. I didn’t feel the need to be so reserved anymore.
Eli nodded in agreement. “Doubtful a mage would ever subject themselves to the process of creating pantherian slaves. Unlike a traditional slave-owner, I summoned and bound my unique servant with magic, hence the lack of physical chains.”
Tobias nodded with his hand on his chin, listening as if he were a student in the middle of a stimulating lecture. I realized he was studying the tattoos on my neck and Eli’s forearm. “I see,” he said, almost to himself. He then spoke louder. “That makes perfect sense. Well, I would be happy to instruct your pantherian instead, if you would prefer her install the magicite.”
Eli replied before I had time to say anything. “No, I will do it. Please lead the way.” He took a step forward and I quickly followed after him. My curiosity was getting the better of me again. I wanted to see this for myself, but then realized I should probably ‘ask’ in order to keep up the façade. However, I was going to be pissed if he said no, so I was hesitant. Hopefully he was smart enough not to exert his artificial control over me while in public, because I’d give him a piece of my mind once we were in private again.
“I would like to watch,” I said loudly, catching Eli’s attention. I gave him a look as I continued. “If that’s alright with you?”
“Of course,” he said quickly. “You should learn how to do this too in case we are asked in the future and I need your help.”
I sighed with relief and smirked at him approvingly. He gave me a small smirk back. Unfortunately, the exchange didn’t go unnoticed by either of the men with us, but neither said anything about it.
I was expecting the inside of the white stone building to be dark and damp, but instead it was bright and dry. The walls and stone floor were all painted white as well. The source of the light was a piece of twisted metal inside a glass casing on two of the white walls. Despite the small size, the lights were exceptionally bright, to the point where it hurt to look directly at them. Below each of them was a metal box with a glass window revealing a shard of white crystal entrapped in a metal brace.
I realized immediately the shards must be magicite, powering the light with the magic held within. Tobias directed us to a large machine, which I assumed was the generator based on what Landon had said earlier. A door was open at the base, revealing bracers much larger than the ones for the lights. The opening between the metal prongs was currently empty, although it was obvious a large chunk of magicite was meant to be placed within. I watched in awe as Tobias opened up a metal case to reveal a piece of crystal almost twice as large as my outstretched hand.
The man was careful not to touch the quartz as he gestured towards it. “This of course is magicite. It’s mined from the earth and contains an astronomical amount of magic. The empire discovered how to extract the energy and has used that technology to revolutionize their cities. They still primarily use gasoline-based energy for the general public in the capital, but much of their electricity comes from magicite now.” He grinned at us. “The electrical fence around my property, as well as the lights in our house are all powered by this generator.” He then sighed. “Unfortunately, it has been difficult to bring electricity to the entire town due to the cost, so most of them still rely on oil lamps for lighting.”
We were both listening intently, but Eli had his arms crossed. “If you don’t mind me asking,” he wondered, “why do you have this fence in the first place?”
Tobias nodded in acknowledgment and stood up straight. “We have a unique business involving a very expensive product that we sell in the surrounding cities, especially Vanardis and the capital Xenith. The fence was installed to protect our business from thieves.”
Eli uncrossed his arms. “Okay, I understand now. I hope I don’t offend you when I admit the fence had been bothering me, and I am glad to know the reason behind it.”
The man smiled. “I understand. If you weren’t aware of what magicite is then I’m sure a lot of this technology would seem foreign to you, not to mention the fact that it is out-of-place in a town like this.” He then gestured towards Landon, who was standing against the wall behind us. “Son, would you want to show them your gun?”
Landon pulled the strap off his shoulder with a huge grin. He held the weapon up, close enough to get a better look, but not so close we might have misinterpreted him as offering it for us to hold. “This is a magicite gun,” he began cheerfully. “It takes the raw energy from the crystals and fires it as a thin beam. Fairly harmless to a mage like yourself, but it can really do some damage to regular creatures.”
I looked down at the black metal in awe. The majority of the gun’s length was a cylinder that looked like it might be metal wrapped around some type of glass. The actual magicite was nowhere to be seen, but I discovered that by trying to find it I could actually sense it towards the base of the gun where the metal widened. Landon held it up to his shoulder briefly, pointing the weapon at the wall as if he were going to demonstrate its use. The wider portion of the gun rested against his shoulder as he looked down the barrel to aim.
Lowering the weapon, Landon turned back towards us with another grin. “I can shoot it later if you want to see.”
“What would happen if you shot a mage?” I wondered seriously.
He looked down at me with a frown. “Well, if fired this close, it might cause unconsciousness, but otherwise it’s harmless like I said.”
Tobias grunted. “Yes, however, for regular people it can be lethal for the same reasons as why it is extremely dangerous for them to handle magicite directly. I’ve given a handful of such guns to the town guard, only to be used as a last resort in the event it’s necessary. Otherwise, most of them have regular guns.” He then abruptly clapped his hands together, unexpectedly changing subjects. “Anyway, enough of that. Let’s get this thing installed and then you can join us for lunch.”
Chapter 6: Secrets
Installing the magicite really was simple, although it did definitely require two hands. It turned out that the crystal wasn’t a new one – it was actually the same one they had originally purchased over a year ago, having the capacity to last for over a century like Lucius had mentioned. However, the generator itself had required a tune-up, which pr
ompted them to remove the source of the power to work on it. One of their magicite gauntlets cracked when taking it out a few days ago, leaving them unable to reinstall it.
I stood behind Eli to watch, but also to guard his invisible wings. At one point, Tobias actually reached out to tap him on the shoulder to get his attention, and I smacked his hand away as fast as lightning. He looked at me in shock, and Landon immediately became tense. I explained myself quickly.
“My master,” I almost cringed when I said it, my ears and tail twitching instead, “doesn’t like to be touched. Please refrain from doing so.”
Tobias nodded and surprisingly apologized to both of us. It seemed that them finding out I was technically a mage too went a long way to earning their respect, slave or not. Eli seemed especially embarrassed by the whole incident, although I wasn’t sure why. I figured he would appreciate me watching his back, literally.
After he was done, Tobias asked if we would rinse off the blood before coming inside for lunch, which we were both happy to do. They had bars of soap available by the well, and there was even a small building that served as a washroom for cleaning off. Neither of us used it though, since we didn’t want to be rude by making them wait while we fully bathed separately.
I had to avert my eyes when Eli took off the armor covering his chest to rinse it off. His muscled torso made me too excited and I was embarrassed by that fact, knowing he represented something I would never have.
While I was in the middle of soaping up my thigh to wipe the dried blood off, Eli quietly thanked me for protecting his wings, which made me feel a little better. I couldn’t imagine what I had done to embarrass him earlier, or why he even cared what these humans thought.
At least, I initially assumed he felt humiliated on their behalf. But maybe it was what I said. Was he just as uncomfortable with me calling him ‘master’ as I was?
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