A cold welcome

[Kain Owen]

Bone chilling coldness greeted Kain as he woke up. His entire body was stiff, almost frozen, and the appendages he could still feel were violently shivering. A puff of steam left his mouth as he stood up. Below him, plain snow covered the landscape, shining softly with the light of a huge purple planet in the sky, behind an oddly bright night.

Was he still in the Medium? He couldn't tell. There was no snow back at his or any other land there, so he must be in a new, different world. Or maybe he was still in the Land of Glass and Lights, and it's been long enough for it to snow. Who knows what kind of surprises Sburb could throw at him.

Still, this wasn't a pleasant surprise – far from it. His body was screaming at him to find some warmth, and yet, he had to drag it out of the snow by force to get anywhere. The coldness made moving any joint almost painful. Could he make some fire? Maybe shaking something really fast with his powers could warm something up. But there was nothing to try it on. No trees, no houses. Only rocks and snow.

He wished he was wearing something else that wasn't a pajama shirt and some weird shorts. Although as he thought about that, his clothes shifted, the shirt turning into a long sleeved one, his gloves now covering his fingers as well, and his shorts turned into pants. He didn't know he could do that. But still, it was far from ideal clothing for this forsaken tundra, so while hugging himself, shivering, he walked through the landscape. Far in the distance, there was a huge rock formation in the shape of a peak. Being the only prominent feature, he went towards it.

When getting closer to it, Kain started to see the entrance of a cave. While the air was standing still, he would still prefer to not have his feet drag through the snow. He could also fly there, but the idea of having bone chilling wind hit him in the face felt like a terrible option.

He tried teleporting to it, but it didn't work. His power felt weaker, dormant even, not unlike before he awakened it. He couldn't discern the shape of objects and space around him either, now that he paid attention to it, which felt weird after gotten used to it. He had no idea how he would awaken them again. Would he have to die once more? That sounded awful. He cringed. Such a bad moment for having his powers disappear. He just walked to the cave.

The inside of the cave was a strong black color, with only the faint light of the outside sky to illuminate it. It was quite spacious, big enough for a truck to comfortably park here, or go forward into the deep earth. Further ahead, the darkness swallowed any chance of knowing what laid in front of him. If his powers were working correctly, he would know. Kain decided to stay not too far from the entrance, sitting on the ground as tight as he could, shivering, his teeth clicking together. He pulled his hood over his head, and waited. For what? He didn't know.

After a while of nothing happening, and fighting the idea of staying as still as he could to minimize the feeling of coldness, he took out his phone from his shorts-turned-into-pants' pockets. He had no signal. Which was ridiculous – during the game, it didn't matter if he was in outer space or close to the Furthest Ring, he had a freaking signal. Where the fuck was he?! What happened to Liah? Or to her planet? All he could remember was the acute headache of the feeling that came with sensing space tearing itself apart. Was this the end? Was he trapped in purgatory or something? Did he have to solve riddles to earn some warmth?

Kain sinked his head around his hugging arms. This sucked.

Something caught his attention. Footsteps in the snow. He looked to the entrance of the cave. Far away, there was a group of people coming here. He couldn't tell much from the distance, but they had lanterns at least. Were they coming to explore the cave?

After they finally came, Kain stood up. As soon as he did though, one of the men pointed a gun at him.

"Who are you?!" The man with the gun asked.

Kain wanted to raise his arms, like in the movies, but his shivering body prevented him.

"Where are we?" Kain asked.

"That doesn't answer his question!" A woman snapped. "Are you a miner? A hunter? … An enemy?!"

"I'm lost!" This wasn't fun like in the movies. It was actually pretty damn scary. "I don't know where I am."

The man slowly lowered his weapon.

"I don't think he's a threat," another person said from behind.

"But why would there be a kid lost on the moon?" The woman asked.

"He could've been exiled from doing something."

"A kid?"

"That doesn't matter!"

"..."

The group of people argued over what to do with Kain.

One of them came closer to him. He was wearing many layers of dark clothes, but he took one of them and shoved it to Kain. He took them in.

"Don't stay there dying from hypothermia while these jerks argue."

"T-thanks!" Was all Kain could muster.

He put on a large piece of thick fabric over him. The clothes were warm, even if they had a weird scent, but he didn't care. Better than suffering from the cold.

"So we just take him in?" one of the group said.

"Yes," the kind stranger answered. "We'll bring him to the station once we're done with the mission."

"B-but he's just a kid?! It's dangerous out there!"

"As opposed to what? Leaving him here to die?"

The others stood in silence.

"Anyway, we have an expedition to do. Let's move forward," the kind stranger said.

The group walked into the cave, while Kain stood behind. The same stranger shouted from further ahead, "What are you waiting for? Come on!"

Kain followed the group.

 

[Kain Owen]

Kain kept walking behind the group. Every now and then, he would receive split-second gazes from the rest of them. The stranger who gave him the cape was leading the group, so Kain couldn't see him through the many people walking through the black tunnel. The lights they carried were pointing forward, with Kain left in the dark. He hated it. This entire situation sucked, and he didn't like literally any of the adults forming the expedition, except maybe the kind stranger. But they did mention taking him off this forsaken place, so maybe, if he behaved, he'll be free of this conundrum. So he kept his head low and followed the group deep into the black earth.

They walked for a long while – Kain couldn't tell for how long, but easily, at least an hour. The group kept murmuring to themselves, sometimes laughing, but he couldn't hear any of what they were saying. The leader (aka the "kind stranger") would shut them up occasionally, but like kids in middle school, they would resume their chit chat, first really low, then it would get higher with time, like a crescendo, until the next warning. This cycle continued for a while, until Kain was deaf to it.

At least he wasn't freezing anymore.

The tunnel, at some point, ceased being a black rock, and became a blue-ish ice cave. The lights of the lanterns reflected upon the clearer ice walls, illuminating the place ten fold, as if they left the night and the sun raised from the horizon – a sight Kain had to admit he kind of missed. The tunnels became even more spacious, with many thin stalactites and stalagmites decorating the ceiling and near the walls of the cave. However, the path they were traveling through was surprisingly flat, flat enough that a truck could easily drive through with minimal issues. As if it had seen a lot of traffic.

The leader shut the group up once more, but as soon as they resumed their talk, he shut them up again.

"Keep quiet!" he said. "Something is out there."

With that, the group remained quiet. Some grabbed their guns, while others took steps behind. Everyone's gazes jumped from place to place.

A clicking noise. It didn't come from the group – no one was cold enough to shiver like that. It came from the side wall. Behind the ice, something was moving. Something big and sinuous. It started hitting the wall with its head. All the lanterns were pointing at that wall by now.

Kain raised one hand and, by concentrating his powers on the ice wall, he kept it from collapsing. The monster was surprisingly strong, and would've passed through the wall by now without his intervention. Each hit sent a shiver through Kain's skin, not from coldness, but like an extremely low yet loud sound.

"Move!" The leader yelled.

The group of expeditioneers scattered, and ran deeply into the tunnel. Kain was left behind, as he had to keep the wall from collapsing. The monster was starting to break the ice.

Something grabbed Kain by the waist.

"What are you doing here! Let's move!" The leader said, as he picked up Kain like he was nothing.

As soon as Kain lost his concentration, the monster broke through the wall. It was a centipeetle-like black creature, but bigger, much bigger, the size of a horse. Its mouth was a circular shape with sharp teeth all around the cavity, but it moved too fast for Kain to get a good look at it.

It didn't look that dangerous.

The leader kept him behind the group of people, as the others blasted the creature with their guns. It didn't stop it from tackling some of the adults, maybe biting them off with its teeth, while its body moved uncontrollably around it, easily breaking the group as the expeditioneers scattered.

Before the monster killed someone, Kain decided to act – although the leader left his position, took a sledgehammer from his back, and smashed the monster's sinuous back. The creature left the poor person off its mouth, and went straight to the leader.

From above, Kain broke off a few stalactites hanging from the ceiling with his telekinesis, and threw them at the monster at the maximum speed he could muster. The stalactites came down like flashing knives, stabbing the creature in three different places – the fourth one missed.

The leader left his sledgehammer pinned to the dying creature, and looked at Kain. The leader raised one eyebrow, but the rest of his face remained neutral. He picked up the hammer, lifting it above his shoulder.

"Well, that wasn't that hard, was it?" The leader said, while gazing at Kain.

Kain didn't say anything, he just looked away, frowning.

"Well, it seems like guns don't do enough for creatures like these." The leader said, this time to the group. "Next time, pick up your other weapons."

"You do it!" one of the men said. "That thing almost tore apart my arm!" He had blood pouring down from one of the shoulders.

"Don't talk to him like that. You should listen to him," a woman said.

"Yes," a different expeditioneer said, "the monster was too fast to properly aim, and it was easy to hit the others. Let's use our other weapons next time."

"But what about those stalactites?"

The leader wrapped his arm around Kain's shoulders. "Yes, what about them?" He had a smirk on his face.

"Are you saying the kid did that? Is he psychic?"

The group started murmuring to themselves again.

"So, where are you from exactly?" The leader asked Kain.

"I don't know," Kain finally said. "But it's not from around here."

"I can tell that."

"So, we just keep this weird kid with us?" one from the group said.

"Well, he proved himself to be useful, don't you think?" The leader said.

The group didn't look too comfortable, their gazes looking at anywhere but Kain. What was wrong with these people?!

"I don't know, how do we know he's not someone trying to betray us for the goods?" a woman said. "If he can fend for himself, why is he with us anyway? I don't like the idea of a psychic or magic or whatever kid hanging with us when there's so many weirdos in these caves."

The others nodded in approval.

"What do you say then?" The leader asked Kain. "Would you betray them? Or would you be a good kid and help us retrieve the goods, to then get a free ride to the station, where you'll get a comfy bed and real clothes?"

Kain rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Do I really have to say it?"

"Yes."

"Alright, alright, I'll help you out. But you take me out of this place."

"Then it's settled!" The leader patted him in the back with enough strength to almost drop his glasses.

 

[Kain Owen]

For the following leg of their trip, Kain still kept his distance from the group, but this time, he was walking in front of them beside the leader, who seemed much more reasonable than all the others. What made him so untrustworthy towards the group though? Did Kain really look like an enemy to them? He couldn’t tell.

But it felt better to be in front of the lanterns for once. He was still cranky he couldn’t rely on his usual spatial sensing, but staying in the light at least eased some of it.

When Kain was exploring the caves of his own planet, they were pitch black, and the lanterns he alchemized to do it were nowhere near as bright as the ones these people carried. He remembered being scared of the caves at first, not having powers and not knowing how sturdy their walls were, but that fear quickly turned into excitement when he started finding cool items to bring back and riddles to solve.

But here, there were no riddles, his companions sucked, and there were monsters, apparently. These people didn’t look too ready to tackle such dangers, but they seemed to know where they were going. “To retrieve the goods,” they had said. What did that mean? Were there cool items ahead here as well? It certainly didn’t look like it.

But Kain was proved wrong, once they finished their expedition. Eventually, they reached a… not so good sight. There were some corpses scattered around, some machines and what Kain thought were mining equipment. The corpses were all covered in a thin layer of ice, but beside some visible wounds, the scene didn’t look that gruesome. Whatever killed them did it in clean cuts and gunshots. A monster would be too violent for this.

“So,” the leader said. “Where exactly did we have to retrieve the package?”

“Based on the report, it’s hidden somewhere inside the drill,” another person said.

“Alright, start looking. The sooner we come back the better.”

The group started picking apart the drill, some going inside the cabin, while others took the cover plates to look inside the machine itself. The leader was standing away from them, crossing his arms, and spectating the scene.

Kain cleared his throat. “What exactly happened here?”

“An ambush! Some dwemer scum.”

“Dwemer?”

“They’re a group of non-humans who live in these caverns. They want all the treasure for themselves.”

“As opposed to your group, who also want it for themselves.”

“Exactly.”

Ok, if the expeditioneers sucked because they were rude, but they also sucked because they were greedy. Perfect. But that didn’t concern Kain.

“Found it!” One of the people from the group said. They were deep inside the drill, from a hole they carved behind it. Several pieces of its interior were scattered in the nearby ground.

The same person squeezed away from the machine, to retrieve a small-ish brown bag. The group of people gathered around them, and they opened it. Inside, there was a huge geode. It was a nice lavender color with veins of cyan shimmering brightly.

These people died for a geode?!

The leader slowly approached the group, took out a gun, and pointed it at the one with the geode.

“I don’t think I need to explain myself here, do I?” He said.

“What is this?!” another person said. “You’re taking the geode to yourself?!”

“Of course. Y’all did nothing. You don’t deserve it.”

“Henry, you asshole!”

The leader –Henry– shot one of them in the head.

“The geode or you’re all dead.”

Slowly, they gave the geode to Henry. who ran away with it deeper into the cave.

A few of them took away their own guns and shot at the traitor, but Henry was nimble and fast – none of their bullets connected, until he disappeared at a corner.

“Hey, you!” one of the expeditioneers said. Kain looked at her. “Yes, you! Bring back the geode, and you’re with us.”

“Oh, yes. Can’t you use your powers for that? You’re not coming to the station unless you bring it back.”

Kain cringed. He already hated all of them, this just made it worse.

He ran towards Henry.

Luckly, the cave didn’t have any branching paths to get confused at, so Kain only had to follow the tunnel. But Henry was fairly ahead of him, there was no way he could catch up.

Why did the traitor run inside the cave, and not towards the entrance? Did he know some secret passages where he could hide? Or other exits? If that was the case, Kain’s chase would be pretty useless. But without the geode, these assholes wouldn’t let him come with them. Goddamnit if this adventure sucked.

Some yells and loud noises were up ahead. Turning around a corner, Henry was fighting against a giant locust monster. He wasn’t fighting with his hammer or his gun – instead, he was using a dagger. His moves were so nimble and precise, he had no problem injuring the monster while avoiding its attacks. He tried to keep running, but the monster followed him deeper into the cave.

Before they ran too far ahead, Kain stood up, as he raised both arms and, by concentrating on the walls and the ceiling in front of the traitor and the monster, he started to break apart the ice. When it was ready, Kain let the cave collapse in front of Henry and the monster, sealing their escape. Seeing this, the traitor slashed the monster’s neck with a quick jab, and looked at Kain, as the monster’s blood dripped over him.

“So, you want to stop me?” Henry said. “You think this is the only way I can go? I don’t have any qualms at going back to the humans and slashing their throats up, you know.”

“Why are you killing people over a rock?” Kain was frowning, clenching his teeth. He didn’t want to fight this guy. Not at all.

“You don’t know what this ‘rock’ is. This is a valuable magical material the humans stole from us. They’re lucky I didn’t kill them all for it.”

“Are you… Not human?”

Henry took a step forward. As soon as he did, Kain took one backwards.

Henry smirked. “You know, you don’t have to help them. I know you don’t like them. Why don’t you come with me?”

“I’d rather not stay with a murderer, thank you very much.”

“Alright, enjoy dying with them.”

Henry sprinted towards Kain, his bloody dagger in hand. Kain tried to break a stalactite to defend himself, but the traitor was too fast for him. Soon, Henry’s entire body was over him, Kain lying prone on the ground, his dagger millimeters away from his throat.

“What are your powers, exactly?” Henry said. “Psychic? Magic? Killing you here would be a waste. I know you’re not from around here. You must be from very far away, so far it’s even impossible to get to it. The arbiters must’ve chosen you, which means it wouldn’t be a good idea to get rid of you. They don’t choose random people, so why don’t you reconsider my offer?”

“Y-you mean, coming with you?”

“Exactly. You can tell me all about your little world on the way back.”

“Do I really have a choice?”

“If you value your life, then you don’t, no.”

“Alright, I’m going. Take that knife away.”

Henry smirked again, and took away his dagger, with a sleek spin around his fingers.

As he stood up, Kain touched his neck, his hand coming up with a bit of blood. He didn’t like the idea of hanging out with a murderer, not at all. In fact, he should’ve stayed with the other expeditioneers, maybe done something before Henry managed to escape, so he would have an excuse to bribe them to let him come with them. But it was too late. He didn’t react in time.

Without being told, Kain lifted some of the rocks that blocked their path, and left enough space for him and Henry to pass. Once they were done, he put them back into place, to prevent others from following them.

Kain hugged himself, adjusting the cape Henry had given to him earlier this evening. But he didn’t do it out of feeling the cold.

 

[Kain Owen]

After crossing the ice blockage, Henry adjusted his hair. He was still smiling from the confrontation.

"I guess it's time to lift the thrash off," he said.

Henry's form shifted, a shimmering rainbow covering his entire body. He became shorter, his blond hair turned a deep blue, his skin a medium gray color, and his ears grew. So he wasn't human after all.

"I'm… thinking your name isn't 'Henry", isn't it?" Kain was still rattled by the situation, his head and shoulders low, tense.

"You'd be right. I'm Mos." Mos tied his long hair in a ponytail. "What's yours?"

"I'm Kain."

"Alright Kain, it's time for some more walking. I'm sure you'd be thrilled by that."

Kain didn't appreciate the sarcastic tone. Knowing this guy could murder people just like that felt odd and uncomfortable. Like he wanted to lift up the mood after utterly ruining it by himself.

They went back to walking deeper into the ice caves. Kain wondered how he would be able to escape, being so far from the exit. He had to find a way. Destroying the ceiling, until he made a new exit? Maybe, although there was so much distance between their position and the surface, he thought that that might not work at all. If he had his full powers, he would just teleport himself to the exit, but that was out of the question. His powers still felt dull, like trying to sculpt with a viscous liquid – he knew he wouldn't have to try to know it would fail spectacularly. He made a mental note to try if he could still fly. That should be helpful in an escape. Flying was faster than running.

He gave Mos a quick look. He looked bored, his face neutral, but he was playing with his dagger on one hand, lifting it, spinning it through his fingers.

Mos caught Kain's gaze. "What? Do you like this dagger?"

"Not really."

"That's a shame. This dagger is special, not like the weapons the humans wield."

"What's the difference?"

"Kathres is its name. Its blade is semi corporeal, allowing it to sink into the flesh of your enemies with ease, ignoring most protective armor."

Mos showed Kain the dagger's blade. It was a beautiful blue color, with a curved yet angular blade. It was also a bit translucent.

Kain didn't want to talk to Mos, especially not about weapons. But the elf-person seemed relaxed, and a bit enthusiastic to talk about his cool dagger. Kain also remembered that it was him who gave him the thick cape when he was freezing, and back then, the group didn't know about his powers. Mos just took him in.

But no, Mos was a murderer. That was crossing a line, Kain couldn't trust someone like that.

"Why did you pick me up at the entrance?" Kain asked this time.

"I thought it was odd to find a human kid alone, so one could say it was mere curiosity."

"Can I keep the cape?"

"Sure. The deeper we go, the warmer it is, so neither of us will need it anymore."

Now that he said it, Kain realized he was, indeed, a lot warmer than he was back at the entrance, and it wasn't just because he'd been walking for so long.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Kain said.

"Home. But first, we have to gather with the rest."

"There are more?"

"Yes. We came as a group to ensure the mission would go well, if I failed. But you saw those humans, they were helpless."

Yeah, me too.

"Why then come to retrieve the rock so unprepared?"

"I was with them when they prepared the expedition. The guy who hired them didn't want to pay for proper weapons and skilled soldiers. They thought the orb wasn't valuable enough."

Kain adjusted his glasses. "So their boss just took the worst people for the job and hoped it would somehow work."

"Pretty much."

It still sounded like bullshit, but Kain wouldn't give it much thought anyway. Those people sucked, and while they didn't deserve to die, it was hard to feel bad if they failed their mission.

"And I'm guessing they didn't expect you," Kain said.

"I've been tailing them for a while, after their previous expedition failed. I couldn't find the orb with them, so I assumed they had it with the survivors. But I was wrong, and so, had to infiltrate their group and let them find it for me."

"What is the orb, exactly? You said the humans don't value it as much, but you do?"

"This orb is a powerful catalyst for other magic reactions. I won't tell you what that means."

"I guess that's fair. But I have no interest in magic anything. I just want to get out of this place and go back to my home."

Mos raised his shoulders. "I don't believe you can. If you're from another world, that'd be impossible. From what I know, no one chosen by the Arbiters have returned to their home universes."

And mine has been torn apart…

"Who are these 'Arbiters'?"

"Beings of great power. They can do feats we couldn't even imagine."

"Like gods?"

"Maybe."

Then what could Kain do, if returning home was impossible? Was there even a home to return to? Would he stay with this elf murderer for the rest of his life? He didn't want to! He wanted to run away as fast as he could. But then again, there was nothing out there.

Or wasn’t it?

"Hey, Mos?" Kain asked.

"What?"

"What planet is this?"

"It's not a planet, but a moon. We're in Inverxe. The planet the moon orbits it's Ioun."

"And you're an alien? Wait, no, sorry. Are you from around here?"

Mos frowned in disgust. "You could say that. But don't call me an alien ever again."

"Yes, sorry."

After that, Mos kept quiet. Kain didn't want to bother him any more after misstepping like that.

The tunnel became even more spacious as they walked deeper into it. Some sections were not made of ice, which, now that Kain thought about it, were too illuminated to be a deep cave. These rocky sections were pitch black, unlike the ice ones, but Mos seemed to have no problem navigating them. Kain followed him by the sound of his steps.

This deeper into the cave, the rock's had bioluminescent fungi growing off them. Their light was not enough to work as lanterns, but they did show if the cave took a turn or if it descended in altitude. They were of many colors, some hanging off the ceiling, some growing on the walls like stacked plates, others coming high from the ground.

Up ahead, there was more ice. When they got there, the cave grew several times its size. It was incredibly spacious, big enough to build a mansion and have ample space for a garden. Half the hole was made of ice, which provided that oddly illumination that seemed to come from nowhere. In the middle, there was a lake, its water perfectly still and clear, letting Kain see that there was nothing living inside of it. Just rocks and ice.

At the side of the lake, there were three large-ish tents, as well as some people working. Some were cooking, the scent of their meal something Kain had never smelled before. It seemed good though.

The others, when they saw Mos, came right back to greet him.

"Mos! You're finally back!" One of them said, a woman elf, before kissing Mos.

"Mos is back?" Some others from the background called.

"Yes! He's back!"

All the elves gathered around Mos.

Some gave weird gazes to Kain.

"Who is this?"

"A little fella I picked up on the way," Mos said. "He's not with the humans or the others."

"So you just… Brought someone?"

"Yes. And I also brought the crylium."

"Then we can finally return to the city!"

"Indeed."

"But first," the woman said. "We're not leaving before eating our meal."

Mos rested his arms behind his head. "Of course."

"You'll have to tell us all about that spy mission."

"In due time. Come on Kain, let's eat some soup."

 

[Kain Owen]

It was the strangest soup Kain had ever tasted. It wasn't bad, but its weird flavor would have to be something one got used to over time. It had a lot of small solid parts to it, which were chewy and soft. Probably mushrooms, but many different kinds, as their flavor changed with each spoonful. Still, Kain ate the soup without complaining, sitting beside Mos and who Kain thought was his girlfriend. The others were all on a circular formation, all hearing Mos' story of his spy mission.

Behind the elven meal formation, someone was sneaking from a tent, its figure quickly closing the tent's door after their gazes met. Was that an enemy?!

"Hey, Mos?" Kain murmured to him.

Mos finished his sentence about how the humans were shivering not from the cold, but from fear, exaggerating a bit how he got the orb by fighting the humans, which was nonsense.

"Yes?" Mos said, after he was done.

"I think there's someone sneaking on that tent."

Kain, using his telekinesis, lifted the door of the tent high in the air, letting everyone see who was hiding. It was another elf, but smaller. Was it a teenager?

Mos laughed. "Oh, that's Fay! I thought he was playing around in the caves."

Kain left the door alone, which went to its original position in a swift, sinuous move.

"I called him to eat with us," said Mos' girlfriend. "But he didn't want to, with you here."

"That's nonsense," Mos added. "Come here, Fay!"

Slowly, the elf kid left the tent. He was burying his head on his shoulders, and had a deep frown on his face. His hair was the same shade as Mos, a dark and deep green-ish blue, but it was all spikey and a bit tangled, like he just woke up. He was wearing purple clothes with gold accents.

He came and sat between Mos and his girlfriend, barely letting them make space for him. Some of their soup splashed into the icy ground with the sudden movement. During the whole endeavor, Fay never sent a gaze to Kain.

The kid really looked like a moody teenager.

"You're missing my story," Mos said to Fay. "I'm not telling it twice."

"I heard enough of it." Fay's voice was a mumble.

"Don't be like that!" The girlfriend added. "Here, have some soup."

She took a spoonful of her own soup and gave it to Fay as if he was a baby.

"I want a bowl for myself!" Fay said, as he rejected the spoon.

Kain covered his mouth to hide a laugh.

"What are you smiling for!?" Fay snapped while looking at Kain.

"Don't be like that," Mos said.

Fay made himself even smaller. Someone else gave him a bowl of soup, which he took in a quick jab.

Was this guy really that shy? He looked moody and disoriented. Kain prevented any more awkwardness by trying to keep his gaze away from Fay, while Mos resumed his story.

Mos never got to the part where he threatened Kain. Instead, he said that he had helped Mos deal with the locust-like monster, and made a blockade to prevent the other humans from reaching them.

Kain cringed at that.

After they finished their meal, the rest went back to their duties – some cleaned the dishes, other mended clothes, and others went back into the caves, maybe to forage mushrooms.

"What should I do now?" Kain asked Mos, as they both stood up from their small, rudimentary bench made out of a plank over some rocks.

Mos shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe play on the water. What do human kids do?"

"Games?"

"Yeah, play some games. Why don't you show some otherworldly human games to Fay? I bet he'd be thrilled."

Fay had disappeared as soon as he finished his soup. Mos also went into one of the tents.

Kain checked his phone, but turned it off and saved it back into his pocket as soon as he saw the battery percent number. It wasn't that different from last time (it was at 78%), but still, he didn't want to waste it on playing games. Who knows when he'll be able to recharge it, if he'll be able at all. So, he sat near the lake's shore, and watched the little ripples in the water for a while, his mind jumping from topic to topic, never staying on one for too long, following the tangents.

"You!" Someone said from behind Kain. It was Fey. "Why are you here?! You wouldn't be a spy, wouldn't you?!"

Kain left a short sigh. "Why, are you scared I might pull off the same stunt as Mos?"

"I'm not scared! But why did you help my dad? And why would he bring you here? I won't tolerate anyone endangering our group!"

Kain stood up to face Fey directly, but as soon as he took a step forward, Fay took a backwards one. The elf kid pulled out a dagger – the same one Mos wields. Another threat display?

But Kain wasn't scared. In fact, it seemed like it was Fey who feared him. But still, Kain didn't like this.

Kain frowned. "You take that knife away or I'll do that for you."

"What?"

Kain raised a hand, and pulled the dagger into him with his powers. Fey fought the telekinetic force, but lost quickly enough. The dagger landed right into Kain's hand. Why didn't he do this when Mos tried to threaten him? I guess I was too scared to think straight…

"That…!" Fey's hands turned into fists. "You can't do that!"

"I just did."

Fey ran towards Kein and jumped at him. Both kids fell into the lake. Although the water wasn't deep enough to plunge them, it was still freezing cold.

Fay fought Kain, trying to take the dagger for himself again, but Kain Kept the hand holding it stretched, away from Fey's. When that didn't work, he moved the dagger with his powers to his other hand. And when that didn't work, he threw the knife far into the lake. Fay stopped his struggle and stood up, water dripping from his wet clothes.

"You're gonna pay for that!" Fay yelled.

"Pay for what?" a woman said from behind Fey. It was Mos' girlfriend.

Fay turned to face her. "Mom! He took Kathres and threw it into the lake! We can't let this outsider do that!"

Kain stood up from the freezing water, although oddly enough, he wasn't shivering. "He attacked me with that knife!"

Fay's mother looked at Fay with a disappointed face. "And now Kathres is lost?! Your father won't like this."

"But we should do something about him!" Fay said.

"Your father brought him in, so you shouldn't attack our guest."

"But…!"

Kain looked back at the lake, trying to find the dagger. Because of its blue sheen among the black rocks, it wasn't hard to locate. With a swift pull from his powers, he had it back in his hands.

He'd rather not make Mos mad.

"There it is!" The woman said, looking at the dagger. But she looked a bit tense.

"Give it back!" Fay said.

"I'm gonna give it to Mos. Where is he?"

"He's at the tent. That one," she pointed at the farthest tent. "But I'll go with you."

"Sure…"

They walked to the tent. Fay was shivering from the wet clothes, but Kain wasn't. In fact, while he felt the coldness of the water, it didn't seem to bother him, nothing like a few hours ago at the cave's entrance. Maybe his body was adapting to the freezing temperatures of this place? Was that a part of being a God Tier? He couldn't tell. But he was glad it happened at all. He couldn't imagine how Fay was feeling, as much as he disliked the little elf.

When they got to the tent, Mos gave them the deepest frown Kain had ever seen in someone. He didn't say anything about it, only snapping the dagger away from Kain and checking that it was alright.

"You two, go away," Mos growled. "Fay, you stay here."

Kain left with the woman. They were now alone outside the tent.

"I'm sorry for Fay," she said. "He can be a little intense sometimes."

"Will Mos be ok? He looked really mad."

"He'll be fine. This isn't the first time Fay played with his weapon."

Kain wouldn't call that "play", but it didn't matter.

"But how are you?" the woman added. "You must be freezing!"

Kain took out the cape he was wearing and rolled it into his hands. "I'm fine."

"Don't you need more clothes? We have some spares."

"I'll be fine. These are, huh, magical clothes."

"Really? Can they keep you warm in spite of being wet?"

"It seems so."

The woman adjusted her dress. It was the same purple color as Fay's clothes. "Anyway, I'm Daleth. Again, sorry for the trouble Fay gave you."

"It's fine. I'm getting used to this… treatment by now."

"Don't blame Fay. Everyone here is wary of outsiders. Mos told me you weren't from Inverxe? We fight humans all the time."

"I see. But I'm not interested in taking your magic orb or attacking anyone. I just want to… "

"Why are you here?"

Kain looked away. "I don't know, to be honest. I just came here a few hours ago, and I'm not sure where I should go or do, really."

"Maybe you will get to know that, eventually. For now, you can stay with our group, as long as you don't attack anyone."

"Your group will be safe from me, don't worry."

"Alright, I'll check on Fay."

"Bye."

Again, Kain was left alone with nothing to do.

 

[Kain Owen]

Kain didn't get to see Mos nor Fay at all until it was time for the departing. He didn't want to imagine what Fay's punishment was, but Mos never seemed to direct any of his anger towards Kain, so at least he himself was safe. As much as these people were cautious and distant towards Kain, it didn't feel like they did that out of malice, unlike the expeditioneers. They seemed to trust Mos' and Daleth's judgment, and those two have been kind enough to him to almost let the knife in the throat situation pass.

The next leg of their mission was to bring the orb back to the city, so, more awkward walks inside the caves with people he couldn't talk to and didn't want him to be with in the first place. He was getting tired of it. Why was he doing that, though? It didn't seem like it'll get better at all, and if these people were wary of him, he couldn't imagine how the city folk would react to him being there. Kain's original plan was to get to the space station, where he was promised a bed, and that may be what he'll get at this elf city regardless, but was that what he really wanted? To be surrounded by jerks who couldn't look at his face directly? Who attacked him with knives?

He had to find a way out. Maybe there were other, less hostile places he could stay in.

Mos was leading the caravan. The elves were carrying all the tents and other items, so their steps were slower than Kain would've liked it. The caves returned to being a bit narrower than the lake's chamber, but they were still quite spacious, with many branching paths, unlike the tunnel they first walked in near the surface. The walls switched between patches of black rocks and illuminated ice caves.

They were in an icy corridor. Kain approached Mos. "Hey, Mos?"

Mos didn't even look at Kain, his gaze focusing on the path ahead. "What?"

"Is the moon like this everywhere else?"

"You mean Inverxe?"

"Yes."

"It is. It's mostly water and ice, with certain plumes of rock. Deeper into the caverns, there's lava and moonquakes."

"But aren't there, like, places with grass and animals? Maybe near the equator."

Mos laughed. "If you want grass, you're in the absolutely wrong place, my dear. You should move to another planet."

"Are there other planets with different climates?"

"There are eight worlds, counting where we're here. They all have different climates and weather. But will you leave us so soon?"

That took Kain a bit of time to process.

"What do you mean leaving so soon?" Kain finally said.

"You could stay here."

"You… Want me to stay?"

"Yes."

Kain didn't believe that. Mos must have a reason to want Kain to stay, beside politeness or some other bullshit reason.

"Why?" Kain asked.

"I want to see what you can do."

"I don't do much, I just used to play videogames all day."

Did these people know what videogames are?

Fay came forward, although still hiding behind Mos. "Videogames? You don't study?"

… What? Why did Fey care about that?

"I mean, I went to school, but that ended when, huh… The world ended."

"Did they teach you there how to levitate things?" Fay still had a perpetual frown in his face.

"Ah, you're talking magic. No, I got my powers elsewhere. In fact, by playing a videogame."

Fay came forward again, this time staying between Kain and Mos. "You have videogames that give you magic?"

"Apparently, we do!"

"Do you have that videogame with you?" Mos asked, looking at Kain for the first time.

"I don't. But it was called Sburb."

"Never heard of it." Mos' gaze went back to the path ahead.

"How did your world end?" Fay asked. "Giant moonquakes?"

"Meteor bombardment."

"Oh…"

It was nice to finally have a real conversation with someone. Fay seemed really curious now, whatever hostility and shyness was out of sight at the moment.

"Yes! A meteor was headed for my house, so me and my friend had to set up a convoluted alchemic process to transport the house to another planet, which we successfully did."

"How?!" Fay didn't have a frown anymore.

"I don't know the exact machinations, but it came with the videogame we played."

"Wait, so you did a lot of magic and never knew how it worked at any time?"

"Pretty much. It's not like I needed to. Probably a bunch of computer code that I have no idea how it works. I'm bad with computers."

Fay grabbed his frizzy hair. "No! That's awful! You have to understand how things work, otherwise, you can't use them correctly!"

Kain raised an eyebrow. "Do you know how a computer works?"

"..."

Mos laughed and patted Fay in the head.

"But this…" Fay finally said. "I don't like this. I study really hard to do my magic, and you can just… Levitate things? By playing games? That's so unfair!"

"What kind of magic can you do?"

"Illusions."

Oh, like Mos.

"Can I see it?"

A shimmer appeared around Fay's silhouette, shining in all sorts of colors. In a moment, his shape turned to look like Kain's, clothes and all.

Fay (disguised as Kain) rested his hands behind his head. "Like this, you mean?" His voice was identical to Kain's.

It was uncanny to see and hear himself like that. Is that how people see me? Kain cringed.

"That's actually really cool!" Kain said.

Fay smiled proudly. "Of course! And it took me a long time to get it to this level."

Mos cleared his throat. "Fay would sometimes try to imitate my wife to get stuff. I could detect it every time, for a while. Not anymore."

"Yes!"

"That's great!" Kain said.

Fay returned to look like himself. "But still, levitating things sounds so useful. I can't believe I never thought of practicing that."

"You can do it now," Mos added.

"Maybe."

"I think," Kain said. "That Illusions are really useful too."

"They are! Dad uses them to infiltrate the other factions all the time."

"And you want to do that too?"

Fay took a moment to respond. "I guess? It would be really cool to go on dangerous missions."

"Hold on," Mos said. "We're approaching unstable territory. Both of you should pay attention where you step from now on."

"Right," Fay added. "But isn't that like, way ahead?"

"We don't know exactly where they start. Start paying attention."

The cave's ground descended abruptly for several meters. The elves helped each other to descend, but Kain had another idea.

He jumped. Using his telekinesis, he held his body in the air, softening the gravity's pull. It was easy enough, which meant he should be able to fly with no problem. Maybe not as fast as he could back in the Medium, but at least faster than running.

The cave was significantly more cramped in this section. On the ice ceiling, there was water dripping in some places, forming puddles in the ground. They had to dodge the stalactites that were now in their faces. Every now and then, they could hear cracks in the ice.

 

[Kain Owen]

The smaller tunnels with all the stalactites and stalagmites blocking their pass, as well as the many cracks they could hear with each step made Kain uneasy to go through this section. He could hold the ceiling or the floor if it collapsed, but could he do that while keeping the whole caravan safe? His powers were still weakened – he wasn’t sure he could. But these people knew the terrain better than him, so he would give them the benefit of the doubt. For now.

Another sharp descent, this time it was several meters tall. The cave turned spacious again at the end, but this entire section was quite cramped, enough to only allow careful crawling. Grabbing the stalagmites they should be able to slowly descend, but Kain wasn’t sure he could do it. The thought of getting stuck there sent a shiver through his spine.

Kain stood still, while the elves went through the narrow cave one by one. Mos went first, followed by Daleth, and then the other adults. Fay stood behind too.

“Ah, Fey?” Kain asked.

“What?”

“What if we don’t go through there?”

“You’ll be wasting time. This is the fastest way to the citadel.”

“So there are other ways around it?”

Fay scratched the back of his head. “I guess they are?”

“And what if I take out all the stalactites to clear up the space?”

“You mean with your magic? The tunnel will collapse! Don’t do that.”

“Alright then.” Kain said. “I guess this is goodbye. I am not going through that narrow cave.”

“What? You’re scared? It’s just a narrow cave! Why would you be scared?”

“I don’t know, of getting stuck in there? Of the tunnel collapsing while I’m crossing it?”

“You’re not used to the caves, aren’t you?”

“Actually, I am! But I always avoided the narrow ones. Or I would just make them bigger on purpose.“

“Again, do not even think of doing that here!”

The whole caravan had already passed through the crevice. Only Fay and Kain remained.

“What’s taking you so long?” They could hear Mos saying from the other side of the tunnel.

“Kain is a coward!” Fay yelled back.

Kain crossed his arms and frowned.

There were some murmurs from the other side.

Slowly, Mos climbed the crevice back to the entrance. When he was almost at the surface, he said, “You’re not coming?”

Kain looked away, still frowning. “No.”

“But you’re still coming to the city?”

“I guess? Only if I don’t get to go through places like… these.”

“Have fun freezing alone in a cave,” Fay added. “I’m coming.”

“No, you’re not,” Mos said. “Fay, I got a mission for you. Escort Kain through the other path. We’ll meet at the citadel.”

“Wait, what?” Fay said, cringing. “I’m not doing that!”

“You can take Kathres.” Mos took his dagger and showed it to Fay.

“Oh… Ok”

Kain snorted. Fay was so easy to manipulate.

“Ok,” Fay added, as he pulled the dagger for himself. “But there are monsters ahead!” He looked at Kain. “You better be prepared.”

Mos smirked. “I think it should be him saying that. Anyway, I’ll be back with the rest. Have fun.”

Mos descended once again. Even with all the stalactites blocking his way and the narrowness of the cave, he was still so graceful in his movements.

“But the branching path is far behind us,” Fay said. “So we’ll have to backtrack quite a bunch.”

Kain shrugged. “I’m fine with that.”

He was glad he didn’t have to go through the narrow path.

“But let me try something first,” Kain added.

He concentrated his power around himself. The space around him shifted, uplifting his body off the ground, as a red aura surrounded his silhouette. Kain felt so light, he missed the joy of flight!

“Wait, you can fly too!?” Fay said, as he took a step back.

Kain didn’t respond. Instead, he grabbed Fay with both arms around his torso, and lifted both of them. In no time, they were dashing through the cave at high speeds, but not as fast as Kain would’ve wanted. He knew he could go at incredible speeds, but his weakened powers were making themselves known. Fay wasn’t complaining nor struggling to get free though, which took Kain by surprise.

“You tell me where we should stop.” Kain shouted through the wind of the cave.

“I guess!” Fay said.

They went backwards through a good stretch of the cave. Kain wanted to go faster, but the many stalactites at their way prevented him from reaching his maximum speed. It was still miles faster than walking.

Eventually, Fay called him out, and Kain stopped, gently dropping Fay to the ground. Kain remained in the air. There was a branching tunnel to their left.

“Damn, you should ask first before doing that!” Fay complained. There it is!

“It was faster this way.”

“Yes! But I’m the one in charge here! I should be informed of anything that happens.”

Kain covered a laugh with his hand. “Sure, sure!”

“Anyway, we should go through that other path. It leads directly to a nest of giant bats, but they should be asleep now. But not for long.”

“Should we fly there? This path is more spacious, I can go even faster.”

“... Sure.”

Depending on how spacious and long this other path was, maybe they would be able to reach the citadel before the rest of the caravan.

Picking Fay again, Kain went back to flying both of them, this time faster than before.

 

[Kain Owen]

These were, indeed, giant bats. They were hanging upside down from the ceiling of this spacious ice chamber within the caves. They seemed to be asleep, although soft chirps could be heard from time to time. Their round shapes piled up one beside another were kind of cute, with those giant ears and soft, fluffy black fur.

“I’m assuming we have to keep quiet here, right?” Kain whispered.

“Yes, Look where you step,” Fay murmured back. “Or, you can take us flying again. I bet that would work better.”

“I’m kind of tired of carrying you.”

“Are your arms that weak?”

“Are you that fat?”

Fay looked away with a frown, but kept quiet after that.

The ice that made up the floor seemed a bit flimsy at certain places, their steps leading to soft cracks. But none of those affected the bats.

Until they were halfway through the den. Kain stepped over thin ice, which broke apart at his weight. Instinctively he lifted himself in the air, but Fay wasn’t so lucky. Kain picked him up before he fell into the freezing water below them.

“And I am the fat one, right?!” Fey said, now at his normal volume, struggling to keep himself from falling.

But Kain didn’t have time to think of a witty comeback. The bats started flying around in a massive crowd of chirps and flapping wings. Some came towards Kain and Fay, but Kain kept both of them safe by flying towards the other end of the chamber. The ice below them was cracking uncontrollably, bringing down rocks and stalagmites and even some walls.

A bat came dangerously close, but Fay, with his dagger, sliced its feet in a swift swing, driving it off. But there were many more blocking Kain’s view of their exit. In between the bats flying, he could see that the walls around their destination were falling apart. Damn if he could fly faster!

The exit collapsed before Kain could get there. Lots of ice rocks blocking the way.

“There’s another exit,” Fay shouted among the chirping bats, pointing to their left, “There!”

The ceiling was now falling apart, stalactites dropping in their way, attempting to cut them down even more. It was too much noise between the bats flying, the cave collapsing, and his need to let go of Fay. But he couldn’t do that, he had to get to the exit.

He let go of Fay, to then circle back to pick him up again. The pose they were in was killing Kain’s arms and making flying too sloppy – now he was carrying Fey in a bridal style, so he could better concentrate on his surroundings.

“Don’t do that!” Fay yelled, hugging Kain tightly.

Kain didn’t answer. He flew towards the new exit, which now was visible with the less bats flying around, but the cave was still collapsing. He dodged one stalactite falling, another bat, another stalactite, an avalanche from the wall.

They reached the exit. As soon as they did, Kain crashed into the ice ground from the momentum. The exit fell apart behind them. Ice rocks and other debris came rolling around the kids as they heard loud cracks and similar noises, but they seemed to be safe now.

Both of them slowly stood up. Fay was rubbing himself all around his body, while Kain was kneeling, a bit shocked by what just happened to properly stand.

“Are all… the caves this flimsy?” Kain asked.

Fey stretched his arms and back. “Most of them. But…! Don’t drop me like that!”

“Sorry, I couldn’t fly with how I was holding you.”

“You better be!”

Kain rolled his eyes. Fay was such a brat.

“Ok, but are we on track?” Kain finally said. ”Aren’t we at the incorrect exit?”

Fay murmured something behind his breath, then said louder, “We are, and I’ve never been through this cave.”

“What do we do?”

Fay took a compass from a hidden pocket near his waist, below some hanging fabric. “The citadel should be northeast from here. Let’s see if this tunnel leads us there.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“I don’t know!”

This day was such a bummer. First he was freezing, then he had to walk with some jerks, then he was threatened into following another jerk, then he was attacked by said jerk’s kid, and now they were trapped in a cave without a way back. Kain just wanted to blow up this tunnel’s walls to find his way back, but that would be too dangerous. Unless…

“Can’t we just… make a hole in the ice? Slowly.” Kain said.

“Can we? You just saw the chamber collapse.”

“But I can hold up the ceiling while making the hole.”

Fay rested his head over his closed hand in thought. “I think,” he finally said. “We should go further here, and if the tunnel leads us too off track, we can try your idea.”

“Actually, I’m tired of walking–” Before Fay could interrupt him, Kain added, “–Or flying.”

“So we just… Lay down here?”

“Maybe.”

Kain looked for a sufficiently flat rock to sit on. Fay did the same, and they ended up sitting at opposite sides of the tunnel. The cave was spacious, but the path was quite narrow, with ample room in the ceiling. Kain and Fay were less than three meters away from each other. Neither of them said anything for a while.

“Kain was your name, right?” Fay asked, breaking the silence.

“Yes?” Kain wasn’t even looking at Fay.

“How do I know you’re not a spy or something?”

“What, you’re scared I would do the same as your dad?”

“Thats…!”

Kain shrugged. “I don’t think I can find a way to prove I am not.”

“So what should I do? Just trust you? Like my dad is doing?”

“Look, all I want is a nice bed, ok? After that I’ll decide what I do, but it’s been a while, I’m tired, I don’t want to have to fight you or anything like that.”

Fey fell into silence.

“Also,” Kain added. “Didn’t your dad send you on a mission? To escort me to the citadel? Even if you don’t like me, what will you say to your dad if I’m not there with you?”

“I don’t know why my dad likes you so much. But I find it hard to trust you when you come from the group of humans we betrayed.”

“I wasn't with them, they just… Also promised me a place to sleep.”

“And what will you do after that?”

“I don't know. I don’t even know where I am, in the grand scheme of things. I was doing my own thing, and then puff! I’m here, freezing. I have no idea what politics your people have with the humans of this place, but none of those concern me.”

“The humans are not from here. They have a space station orbiting the moon, but in reality they’re the outsiders.”

“Well, I didn’t know that. I can’t even say for sure that being human is what makes me like them. They were a bunch of jerks that thought the same as you.”

Fay frowned. “Hey, you’re calling me a jerk?!”

Kain raised his arms up in the air. “Yes! You, and your dad, and your entire caravan of people! Did you know that your dad threatened me with his knife so I would come with him? He didn’t say that in his story, but look–” Kain lowered his choker and showed Fay the red coagulated wound he had there. “And then you came around and tried to pull off the same stunt! The only one who hasn't done anything is your mom.”

Fay wanted to say something, but Kain talked over him. ”The other miners were also jerks, talking about letting me die in the tundra rather than let me come with them. Everyone here sucks! And I’m tired of this!”

Kain’s voice went higher with each word, until he was practically yelling. As he did that, a tremor went through the cave, crack noises returning, some debris falling from the ceiling.

He did feel his power flare up in anger, but he had to keep it down. He took a deep breath, his hands covering his face.

Fay didn’t say anything. His gaze was locked to the floor, his hands tipping each other rapidly.

After a while, Fay broke the silence again. “So? Aren’t you gonna take revenge on us?”

Kain looked at Fay, a grimace of confusion clear on his face. “Wait, what? Why would I do that?”

“Well, that’s what I would do.”

“Why?”

Fay stood up from his rock. “Because you can’t let people just, push you around like that! With your powers, you could take out our entire caravan in one hit!”

“I don’t think I can, but that’s beside the point. And I’m not being pushed around, I’m just following whoever has the better chance at giving me what I want. Which is somewhere to sleep. That’s it. But,” Kain also stood up. “Now you gave me everything I need to not trust you. I can’t trust someone who would point a knife at anyone over petty things.”

“Then what are you going to do? Just keep following me?”

“As I said, I don’t have many choices here. Come on, let’s keep going. I’m fine now.”

Kain walked towards the only direction he could, not looking if Fay was following him or not.

 

[Kain Owen]

The rest of the trip was mostly quiet. Both Fay and Kain refused to talk with each other, preferring the awkward silence than bringing up the drama they just went through.

Kain didn’t like what Fay had said to him. Taking revenge on everyone? Was he stupid? They would just use that as an excuse to kill him! Mos had no problem doing that to an innocent (if also a jerk) person, and Fay had admitted nonchalantly that they betrayed the humans, as if it meant nothing.

And yet, Mos still had something for Kain that he couldn’t explain. Fay was right on that – why did Mos like him so much? It made no sense. During their previous chats, Mos talked about Kain being special or something. Did he have an ulterior motive for him? Would he do something to harm him in the name of “specialness”? Kain didn’t want to think too much about that. Mos wasn’t a good person, far from it, even if he pretended to be somewhat close with him.

Fay’s steps were slow yet methodical. He was a few meters behind Kain, never attempting to catch up with him since they left their sitting rocks. His head was low, and his hands were playing with each other as if trying to distract himself.

How would Fay fare in a combat scenario? He looked like a disaster, and yet, his steps were so swift and precise – first the tip of his toe, then the rest of the feet. His feet were perfectly parallel to each other, and his steps had a rhythm to them that was nice to watch, like a really smooth animation on TV.

Except that Kain wasn’t watching Fay at all. He had never given him a glance since they started walking.

Kain realized that he could feel the entire cave. Every ice rock, every crevice, every crack, every drop of water. If he paid attention, his sense of Space gave him all the feedback he needed to know exactly what was around him at any time.

His telekinetic touch sense had returned. His powers were growing! Maybe one day he’ll be back at being able to teleport between planets or to levitate entire armies.

Not that far from where they were, there was another tunnel running in parallel with the one they were walking on. A few meters at his right, less than three perhaps. Was that the other tunnel they couldn’t get to in time?

“Hey!” Fay said, as he broke the silence. “How do we… Keep going forward?”

“What do you mean?”

“The cave takes a sharp turn here towards the opposite way we need to go.”

Kain was so focused on feeling the parallel tunnel that he forgot to pay attention to his actual surroundings. Not far from their position, the cave did indeed take a sharp turn to the left. Walking to that corner, they saw the cave went ahead in its new direction for as far as the eye could see. Meanwhile, the parallel tunnel kept going somewhat straight.

“So?” Kain said. “What do you say we should do?”

“I don’t want to go in the wrong direction and get lost in the caves. Getting lost is the worst that could happen to you here.”

Kain crossed his arms. “So?”

“Well…”

“Mmh?”

“Fine! Do your magic thing and get us back on track!”

There it is. “Alright.”

Kain really wanted to hear Fay ask him directly.

“There’s another tunnel to our right, parallel to this one,” Kain said.

“How do you know that?”

“More magic.”

“Ugh…”

“Ok, stay back.”

Kain concentrated his power on the ice wall to their right in a circular area – not too big, since that would take too much energy that he needed to keep the cave from collapsing should it happen, but around one meter in diameter. That should be enough for them to crawl to the other side. Once his telekinesis was set in place, slowly, he tried shifting the plate of ice. The entire cave rattled at that. Kain stopped. Then, he resumed even more slowly.

Eventually, he took away a flat circle of ice from the wall. He lifted it with his telekinesis and left it somewhere around them. Then, he did the same thing in the next layer. And then the next. And the next. And the next…

He was halfway through their new tunnel that he started feeling exhausted. But at least the cave was still standing. All this walking… Kain really needed a bed to stay. How many hours had he been lost in these caves? He couldn’t tell.

Kain sat over one of the piles of ice disks, his head looking to the ceiling with his hands holding his weight behind his back. Fay was squating nearby, looking at Kain’s feat with curiosity.

“That’s all?” Fay said.

“You try keeping the entire cave standing while digging a hole for a solid hour or so.”

“Hey! I wasn’t trying to be a jerk there.”

“Oh… Sorry.”

Kain closed his eyes. He really wanted to keep them that way forever.

“We could… Take a rest here,” Fay added.

“What, sleeping over the ice? That sounds like a terrible idea.”

“You could lie over that thick cape of yours.”

“Oh… Right.”

Finally, Fay had a good idea. Maybe he wasn’t that dumb.

Without waiting for another comment, Kain took out his cape and rolled it into a pillow. The ice was cold below his clothes, but for some reason it didn’t bother him at all. Taking off his glasses, he laid down over his rudimentary bed.

“Wait,” Kain said, as he opened his eyes again. “What are you going to do?”

“I’ll just stay here.”

Fay was now sitting with his back against the wall, his arms and legs crossed. Lowering his head, it looked like he could just sleep there for a bit.

Kain closed his eyes, and time melted in front of him as his mind fell into a slumber.

.
.
.

After their short rest, Kain still felt like shit, but at least he wasn’t fighting exhaustion anymore. He finished the job of connecting the two tunnels without collapsing, and they went back on track. Fay confirmed that the other cave was the right one, although Kein had no idea how he could recognize them – they all looked the same to him.

The rest of the trip wasn’t too interesting. It involved even more walking. Fay never asked Kain to fly them. which he was thankful for. Although he had the impression Fay wanted that.

Eventually, they reached the citadel. It was located into a giant chamber, a mix between the black rocks and ice. There were golden gates with many gears and other circular constructs blocking his vision of the city, but Kain could still feel the following area via his clairvoyance. At the gate, there was another elf, most likely a guard, sitting inside a small cabin. He had thick facial hair and a blocky build.

At the sight of the two kids, the guard barely opened his eyes. “What do we have here?”

“Let us pass Gilt,” Fay said.

“Ah, it’s you Fay. What are you doing… Alone with that human?”

“He’s with me. I’ll keep him out of trouble.”

“Will you? Wasn’t your group on a mission to fight humans? Did you rescue this one?”

“As a matter of fact, I did,” Fay looked away. “Well, my father did. He told me to escort him to the citadel.”

“Ah, if your father says so.”

“Have they come yet?”

“They have.”

Fay smiled. “Alright, let’s go!”

The guard put their hand on a circular plate in the middle of the gate. The many gears and constructs were brought to life, spinning and shining like something out of a fantasy book. In no time, the gates were open, and Kain and Fay could pass forward.

The city had its buildings made out of stone, with circular (and sometimes dome-like) roofs. There were golden pipes coming from some of them and slithering through the city, with some sometimes leaking puffs of steam or other gasses, adding a metallic taste to the air around them. The streets were narrow, also made out of blocks of stone, with the occasional golden embellishment. On the ceiling of the cave’s chamber, there were many giant chimneys piercing it, coming from some grand buildings among the more regular houses. Many elven folk walked through the streets.

It was certainly something Kain had never seen. Movie CGI sets were nothing compared to actually walking around a real fantasy city.

"So, do you like it?" Fey asked with a smirk.

"It is pretty cool. I've never seen something quite like it."

"It is! I bet it's better than the human space station."

Kain raised an eyebrow. "Have you been to the station?"

"No, but maybe one day I'll get to be there."

"Wait, do you want to or not, to go to the space station?"

"I mean, I guess I want to? But I don't know how."

"Didn't your dad do it by disguising himself? Can't you do the same?"

"No! I would get killed on the spot, if I get caught."

"Oh, right."

Kain would sometimes forget that people here killed each other over nothing.

Fay led Kain to his house – a medium sized one near a temple. Or at least Kain thought the grand building across it was a temple. As they came in, Daleth was there to greet them.

"You made it!" She said, as she came to hug Fay.

"It wasn't hard!"

Kain looked away for a bit, halfway through a laugh.

“I’m glad!" Daleth said.

Mos came from upstairs. "I hear voices."

"The kids are back!"

"I see."

Kain took a step forward. "So? I'm sorry, but where do I get to sleep?"

"Not here. Fay will take you to the inn on the other block. He will also stay with you."

"Wait, what?!" Fay finally said.

"Yes, we can't leave our guest alone, can we?"

"But…!"

"But?" Mos raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing."

"Then there's nothing to wait for! Kain here looks exhausted, so go and take him to the inn."

"Ah…"

After greeting each other, Kain and Fay left for the inn. Daleth gave them some money (a few golden coins), while Mos told them that their stay was already paid for, they just had to give the innkeeper a piece of paper with the reservation details there.

The inn had a restaurant on its first floor. Fey wanted to eat something, but Kain insisted on going to bed. Fay didn't complain.

Finally, after all the trouble he went through, Kain could finally rest at a real bed.