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Endless Book 2 - Chapter 9

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Chapter 9: The Land of Moons

The days passed by slowly for the roughly four day trip. During this time, Alura studied the book from Hiatsu and practiced using her fire magic, under Marenzo’s watchful eye. It would be midday by the time the ship would dock after roughly four days. After disembarking, Alura’s jaw dropped when seeing the stunning landscape that rivaled that of Flora’s. “Oh…wow…” she whispered breathlessly with her slow steps leading her forwards, down the steps of the boarding deck.

The grass was green and lush with trees of varying heights as well as sporting leaves which some were bigger than what she had known from home. In those trees that swayed to and fro in the wind, birds chirped happily as others took flight while chatting away to their buddies. She turned her blue-brown gaze over to see some of the trunks wrapped in an ivy-looking plant with small pink and indigo colored, four petal blooms. As she went with Marenzo, some of the trees even resembled palm trees which just added to her wide-eye fascination with this floating island’s variety.

The wizard nodded while following the walking trail at her side. “It’s commonly beautiful here, almost like a comfortable section of the tropics.”

“What kind of ruler is in charge here?”

“A female leader that can be moody but I chalk that up to uh…” he stopped himself before evoking any wrath from the half-demon. “Let’s just say she’s nothing like mother yet is more active than the man in charge of Meldano.”

Alura eyed him suspiciously. “Ah, that’s interesting and good to know.” They made their way along the pathway as others got into transports sent by the ones they were visiting. “I wonder what those beasts are. I haven’t seen anything like them.” She commented while she watched the wagons and carriages being pulled off by dragon-like beasts that were as tall as horses, and their heads were roughly the same shape as a standard dog yet still retained some dragon style to it.

Marenzo look over and shrugged. “Not sure. I never really came here much but I think that’s a Draya?”

“I think you were looking for the name of draylus.” Both looked over to the owner of the male voice. Walking up to them was a feline beast that also reminded Alura of gargoyle statues that were normally posed, ready to strike any to come and invade their home. “And it’s pronounced as der-A-lus as in lust at the end but no ‘t’ at the end.” He let out an embarrassed, little laugh as they both were giving him curious looks. “Oh, my apologizes,” he bowed his head with one hand on his chest. “I’m Quartz.” He introduced while offering his hand to the pair.

Alura shook his hand then Marenzo. “Pleasure to meet you but, um, what are you?” she questioned curiously. “I never saw a demon like you ever on Flora. Then again, there weren’t too many demons on Flora.”

Quartz chuckled softly in his throat. “I’m a baries type of demon. My mother was a snow leopard and my father was a gargoyle.”

“Aren’t those normally a cat and a bat?” the wizard questioned and Quartz nodded.

“Yes and gargoyles are classified in the bat category due to their wings and their natural nocturnal nature.”

“Oooh,” Alura whispered and neared him as his large ears twitched.

Her expression made him smile amused, starting to walk down the path before the young woman could touch his ears. “If you would both like I can show you around the farm land, and then to the main city for the night.”

“That sounds nice!” she exclaimed with joy with a small jump before following after him. Marenzo didn’t follow as quickly but did once Alura had called to him with a wave over with her arm. Her attention focused on Quartz during the walk under the shade of the trees. “I’m Alura and,” she motioned to the young man, “he’s Marenzo.”

Quartz nodded to them at his side with his tail swaying as they walked. “It’s nice to meet you both. So, I take it you both are new to the island?”

“What was your first hint?” she asked with a small laugh.

“New visitors are always astonished when they see us or our draylus.” The walk was quiet with soft chatter, mainly from Alura to Quartz as Marenzo observed around them while keeping an eye on their newly met friend. Quartz wasn’t oblivious to Marenzo’s distrust and eyed his rings that the wizard was subconsciously messing with one. This gave the baries an idea.

Down the pathway a ways, and after some time of Alura quietly taking in the scenery, Quartz eyed the duo carefully before swishing his tail low and moving aside when Alura fell with Marenzo on top of her. Quartz moved his tail quickly as the wizard fell to knock off and claim five rings. He also grabbed a bag that had fallen from the wizards pocket using his tail to lift the items to his face to examine them. “Aren’t these interesting trinkets?”

Marenzo frowned as he grunted getting up and managed to get one ring to teleport back into his hand. “Hand those over, now.” He demanded as he wasn’t amused.

Quartz looked from the rings to Marenzo with a curious expression. “You look too old to be a novice.”

“Quartz, return those rings and that bag now.”

Alura started to stand while dusting herself off. “Why are you so irritated? Can’t you just get more rings later?”

The beast raised an eyebrow at hearing her questions then looked to Marenzo before a sly smirk crossed his face. So, she doesn’t know about what these rings can do? His loud thoughts were met with a sharp glare from the wizard, a confirmation to his question.

“Marenzo, answer me.” Alura ordered as she took hold of his shoulder only to be shrugged roughly off with no answer.

“You know it’s dangerous to pose as something you’re not with another who may or may not hold a lot of strength just yet.”

“Why aren’t you just teleporting them back to you instead of getting mad?” she questioned softly with both confusion and concern.

She got no answer as the beast spun the bag on a finger, eyeing the wizard humored. “Yes, why don’t you teleport your belongings back to you through my demon aura? You were able to get one ring back after all.” He purred as he was noticing a small tired glint in Marenzo’s eyes after he had managed to get one ring back.

“Because I don’t want to show off,” he snipped sharply with the one ring gripped tightly in his fist.

Alura stepped forwards after a few tense moments passed between the two men. “Maybe you could just return to him his rings?” she held a hand out, “then we could continue and you can tell us about Lunar as well as about the cities here.”

Quartz thought it over as he spun the bag on his finger once more before catching it into his palm. “Hmm, nope,” this blunt answer caused Alura’s jaw to drop some and her own irritation to spark. “I’ll return them once he can explain why they are so important to him. I mean…a wizard with special jewelry that’s such a grand treasure yet looks so simplistic, makes me very curious as to why it’s so treasured.”

“Fine,” she turned to face Marenzo with her arms folding. “Tell him why they are special to you.”

Marenzo bit the inside of his cheek with irritation at being put on the spot. He took a deep breath and proceeded to walk past him while grabbing and pulling Alura with him. “I don’t like showing off and I’ll get those back later.” He growled with a bit of a dark tone to his voice.

Quartz watched the wizard closely. You can find me later after the festival has concluded. I’ll wait at the Sweet Nightly Moon for you the day after. He thought loudly enough to ensure Marenzo heard him as he took his leave so not to invoke any rage from either one, until at least they had time to cool down.

After Quartz had left, taking off into the sky, Marenzo put the one ring he got back onto his ring finger with the release of a breath. Not the one I was aiming for but it’s better than nothing. It was one that had a light engraving of a snowflake on its band with small evenly spaced wavy lines along both sides of its edges.

“Marenzo,” Alura began as he continued to lead the way without giving her a glance. She frowned with her cheeks puffing out a little as she quickened her step to get in front of him so they were face to face. “Hey! I’m trying to talk to you.”

“Huh?” he looked up to meet her sight.

“What’s going on with you?” she folded her arms. “Why didn’t you just tell him why you wanted the rings back?” she was curious on this as well as to the reason why herself.

He shook it off with a shake of his head. “Nothing I need to put out there. I already told you, I don’t like showing off and I also don’t like getting…into family issues.” He lied as he didn’t feel like telling her the real reason yet. “Now, come on, we need to get to the city so we can locate a place to stay before we start looking around.” He stepped around her and continued on with her gaze locked on him.

“…What’s going on with you?” she muttered softly, starting to follow after him as a question began to creep up and bite at her mind. “…Is it because you couldn’t use your magic to get them back?” this question caused his shoulders to tense a bit. “Demons have an aura that matches their type, both magical and race with other factors. Was his just too strong?”

“Drop it, okay? I’m going to be meeting with him after their festival is over.” He responded in a quiet tone as he didn’t look back to her. She didn’t answer and they continued along the dirt path.

Later they would arrive passing through the busy gates of Viala, a city regarded as Lunar’s capital city. “Wow, this looks different.” She commented softly while taking in the scenery which seemed to be inspired by Egyptian Hindu style from the ancient Greek era. She even took in the fashion that varied depending it seemed if the people were from there or elsewhere. “Wonder what kind of festival it is.”

As they walked down the street she took notice of snake demons and cat demons putting up lanterns. Some had artwork of flowers, some had artwork of dragons, some had artwork depicting heavenly females, and some had a combination of them with other elements. A few kids ran around giggling behind their different animal masks and a couple even had sparkler sticks that changed color as the flame reached the next burn level.

Their first stop was finding an Inn and they found a two story building called Luna Lily Inn. They entered and Alura was captivated by a clear, multi-shelved stand with hand crafted items for sale inside behind the glass. “Hello there,” Marenzo greeted the orange tabby, only to be ignored so he shot a tiny fragment of ice at a hanging wind chime behind the desk.

The tabby jump with a fit of hissing with his fur spiked up around his black tipped ears and his silvery-yellow short hair standing up as well. Looking around, ready to attack with claws out, he calmed after some moments while smoothing down his hair as he cleared his throat. “Hello there. How can I help you sir?” he flashed a grin that showed off his sharp feline teeth.

“I’d like a room for two and no scamming me by saying something’s good and it really be crap that’s overpriced.”

“Why do you think I’d ever overprice a room that isn’t worth it!?” he questioned with an offended sounding tone.

Marenzo leaned in on the counter, a small smug smirk on his face. “Because, Trim, I know how you operate. I know you got one of the best Inns in the capital city, but I also know you are a good switch man.” He moved his hand with the ring on it and softly rubbed the countertop, causing frost to form over its surface between them. “So, about that room for me and my companion…”

Trim’s lime green eyes widened at this realization. “Oh why didn’t you say so Mr. Roslit.” He ducked under the counter briefly before popping up with a key in hand. “Here we are, room 20A.”

“Thank you,” he took the key and eyed it over before shifting his gaze back to the cat. “And this isn’t gonna be a shoty piece?”

“No!” the feline exclaimed with a quick shaking of his head. “I told you I would give you my best and I have. To make it better, and to stifle the temper I remember your mother and brother having, for the duration of the festival I’ll give you the room free of charge.”

Marenzo smiled, “thank you that sounds good to me.” He turned and looked over to Alura. “Ready? I got us a room for free.”

“Really?” she looked then walked over as he nodded.

“It’s a special deal open to anyone during the festival.”

“Aw that’s so nice of you to do. How long does the festival last?” she asked as Marenzo was starting towards the curved staircase.

“It lasts for three days and as long as the weather is good then in a couple days or so we should have everything set up to start.”

“Oh can you tell us more?” she didn’t see Marenzo slightly roll his eyes at the base of the stairs.

“Well,” the feline began before the clearing of a throat broken in.

“We can get an explanation later. If you want to look around the city then we should drop our stuff off and get going.”

“Oh, right,” she looked to Trim, “could you tell us more later?” he nodded and watched as the pair head up to their room. Once there, Alura was the first one inside and to the bed where she set her bag. “It looks nice.”

Marenzo looked around the room a bit displeased. “I’m going to kill him.” He muttered when seeing there was only one bed as he stepped around the nicely sized room.

“Hmm?” she looked over from her bag she had moved up closer beside the pillow.

“Um nothing, shall we head out to look around during the remainder of the daylight?” she nodded and they headed out with Marenzo following after locking the door. Once downstairs he moved towards the tabby. “Hey, we gotta talk. Why’d you-ack!”

“Oh come on, you wouldn’t let me talk about the festival so you can wait to do your guy talk!” she retorted quickly while dragging him out by his arm. They spent the rest of the day exploring the city before returning once dusk fell, got dinner and went to bed as storm clouds were moving in with the night.
Chapter 9 is finally done and here for any of you who are enjoying Endless! :D Marenzo gets stuck with a choice thanks to a demon that may be more cat than bat/gargoyle lol. Also learn Marenzo's last name, Roslit (rosa-lit). I know not a lot of action happened but I hope it's still enjoyable.

Onward to Next Chapter: Endless Book 2 - Chapter 10

Back to Previous Chapter: Endless Book 2 - Chapter 8

Go Back to Chapter 1: Endless - Book 2 - Chapter 1

Return to where it began: Endless - Book 1 (Rough Cover) in the description are all the links to the chapters and illustrations with Book 1 for your ease

I hope this was enjoyable and that readers are curious to how this will conclude in the coming chapters ^^
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Atnok36's avatar
pure awesomeness