Five - Vanadine

Sickened by his loss of control in the hospital cellar, Vanadine swept through the night towards one of the thins, an area where his world met the human world. There were a few such places he knew of but the closest was in a park a mile or so away. Few people were out at this hour so he risked taking the streets, running along at an inhuman pace and pausing as soon as he saw someone. He hopped over the fence and headed into the darkness again, taking comfort and solace in the shadows.

Tearing himself away from Carine had been the hardest thing he had been forced to do in years and Vanadine was surprised at the hollow that grew in his chest when he thought of her face.

So small and helpless. He thought. Maybe I should go and see if she is all right.

No! another part of his snapped. You know what you are and that is a threat to her. Stay away, stick to the shadows and remain alone for her sake.

Vanadine knew his conscience was correct. Carine would be at risk if he was near her and staying away, no matter how hard, was best for her survival.

He stepped closer to the thin, feeling the subtle vibrations it put out. Humans could sense these and avoid them, getting a sense of impending doom if they strayed too close. Parents would snatch up children and drag them away without knowing why, putting it down to some sixth sense. It kept them safe. It kept them out of Elaris.

The buzzing hum grew in his ears as he approached and Vanadine started to feel the effects of the thin just before it snatched him, pulling him in. It was like falling but falling so far and fast while knowing there was no bottom to stop your plummet. The first time he had ventured into a thin, he had screamed the entire trip, only stopping when he had been spewed out onto the wet grass of Earth.

The trip seemed endless but Vanadine knew from past experience it was only a matter of seconds. When his feet took his weight again he was in a completely different world.

Elaris. He thought with a calmness he felt deeply in his being. This ought to be my home. He thought then, with sadness and something like grief hollowed a cavern in his chest.

Sun shone brightly down on fields of wild grasses, knee heigh and nodding in the gentle breeze. Vanadine sucked in clean, pure air, swilling the stench and pollution of the human city from his lungs. A few miles to his right began a vast forest, green and untouched, the boles never tasting the bite of axe or saw. Interspersed with the greens, Vanadine saw the occasional coppery-red and even rarer blue of different trees. Hills, green gems in the sunlight, stretched away from him and something like serenity washed over him before he recalled he had been exiled from here by his heritage.

A flock of pink birds flew towards the forest, wings whistling in the air while their cries echoed his feelings of loneliness and despair.

Vanadine closed his eyes and gathered himself, turning towards the vast city which was his destination. When he opened them again, the world around him became a blur for two seconds, the greens blending together as he snapped through the air. A building appeared before him, squat and brown, wooden slats over a stone base with a thatched roof to keep the elements out. Separated from the main city of Denant by quite some distance, Vanadine looked at the lowly structure and felt a pang of pity for its lone inhabitant.

The door opened when he knocked, revealing a squat creature that had once been his friend.

“Vanadine,” she growled, her voice cracked and low. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“Hello, Horann,” Vanadine said, stepping inside without invitation.

He looked at the changes her choices had made; the wizened skin and humped back, the legs that threatened to give way at any moment. Yet it was Horann’s face that had suffered the worst of the damage. Her skin sagged as if she was ancient, pulling her lower eyelids down to reveal the moist flesh within. Her eyes held his with hate and longing at the same time and the hair had almost vanished from her head, just a few wisps remaining.

“What has happened, Horann?” He asked her. “You were beautiful once.”

“I remain so, Vanadine,” Horann growled. “Spare me your unwelcome pity and state your business.”

“Merely to see you, my old friend,” Vanadine said as he lowered himself into a chair.

“Friend?” Horann hissed a laugh. “Were we ever friends? I cannot recall that being the case.”

“I can,” Vanadine told her. “Before you succumbed to your darker half and your humanity fled.”

“I embraced the darkness,” Horann insisted. “And cast my humanity aside for a better future.”

“This is better?” Vanadine asked in disbelief, looking around at the meagre possessions and basic furniture she had. “Living in this, shunned by the people you sought to impress, exiled from the city whose streets we once walked. Ignored and scorned by everyone here. That is your better future?” He asked.

A sneer curled her lip as she looked at him.

“You are in exile too, Vanadine, did you forget that?” She asked. “For refusing to accept the dark Elf within you, for embracing your human side.”

“I am glad I made that choice,” Vanadine said without spite. “If this is the result of succumbing to my dark Elf side,” he gestured towards her.

“Ah, Vanadine, always so superior, always so Holy and pure. Yet when it comes down to it you are a bastard hybrid of Elf and human, as I am. Able to exist in either world but welcomed in neither. Come back to us,” she said. “I can be yours, to do with as you wish. There is nothing I would deny you, no depraved or deviant act if you would just embrace your dark half.”

“You have become depraved and deviant,” Vanadine observed quietly. “A sick and twisted parody of your former self and I would be insane to ever want to be anywhere near you.”

Vanadine stood and headed the few paces to the door but before he could reach for the handle he felt his muscles stiffen and found himself bound in place.

“Release me!” He commanded.

“I do not think that I will,” Horann said. “Either you will succumb to my will or I will inform the Council of your whereabouts and let them have you.”

Fear threatened to grip Vanadine at the thought of the three ancient, dark Elves and what they might do to him if he were caught.