“You’re kind,” Finley whispered.
“Am I?” Rhalyf lifted his free hand and raked it through his hair. “I feel quite different. Rather useless and… weak.”
“No! That’s not true! I met Vex, you know?” Finley blinked through happy tears.
“Yes, yes, I know,” Rhalyf said quietly.
“He’s wonderful, too. So–so–so everything! You’re like him and not like him. A softer version, I think. Maybe the version he could have been if so many bad things hadn’t happened to him,” Finley struggled to get out. His head felt so light. It was pleasant, but not good for thinking. “But you’ve been through hard things, too. You didn’t let it darken you as much, I think.”
“I’ve run away from them,” Rhalyf continued in that quiet way. But then he shook himself. “Let’s walk, shall we? We need to find the others, yes? I’m sure they’re very worried about you and… and me,” Rhalyf said and his mouth flattened.
Suddenly, there was a ripple of light and Rhalyf the Night Elf, became Rhalyf the Sun Elf in an instant. Still beautiful. Of course, he was! But it was not him. And Finley felt the wrongness of it. He made another sound of displeasure. But then Rhalyf was putting an arm around his shoulders, drawing him near and holding both of his hands in one of his own as he walked Finley away from the glowy flowers.
“Where are the others? Did you tell Aquilan you’re a Night Elf? But you put your glamour back on so… so no.”
Finley struggled to think. What he really wanted to do was crawl into Rhalyf’s tunic and press his body against the elf’s. To feel the silk of that hair spill over his own shoulders and the heat of Rhalyf’s breath against his lips. Rhalyf held his hands firmly though so he couldn’t do that and the arm around his shoulders was very strong. Rhalyf was strong and that was good. He liked that. He was surprised he liked it. But it made him feel safe.
But I have a skeleton army! I can take care of myself! He giggled.
“I haven’t. We were separated the moment we went through the rift after you. I believe that… that my uncle sent each of us to different parts of the city,” Rhalyf said, “to face some challenge he thought up.”
“That sounds like Vex!” Finley grinned happily. “But you mustn’t worry if that’s the case! Because he wouldn’t send them anywhere bad.”
“Oh? You seem very sure of that after meeting with my uncle for a short time, but then again… maybe you do know better than me,” Rhalyf replied dryly. But then with a guilty glance down at Finley, he added, “But the pollen is definitely not helping your judgment.”
“Pollen is pretty!” Finley insisted. “Smells sweet and glitters.”
“I’m sure that everything is glittering right now,” Rhalyf sighed, but there was a small smile on his lips.
“You are glittering. But you always glitter. Like sunlight on water. Beckoning me to dive in. But there are monsters underneath the surface,” Finley nodded sagely. This all made some kind of sense, didn’t it?
“Monsters? I assure you that there are no monsters underneath my surface!” But Rhalyf was then frowning as if he wasn’t sure that was true. “Not for you in any case, Finley. I was desperately worried about you. I even shook Darcassan a little too hard… But you’re all right.”
“More than all right! I have…” Here Finley dropped his voice down to a whisper, even as he expected to hear the professor chastising him in his ear, “magic!”
Rhalyf lifted an eyebrow. “Magic? My uncle did say that you… that humans could wield a different kind of magic.”
“Oh, it’s different all right!” Finley chortled. “Beautiful and terrible and… I shouldn’t say more. I have to study it. I have to understand it first. Then I’ll tell you about it.”
“Why not tell me about it now? What little you do know?” Rhalyf suggested. He looked interested, but he also seemed concerned as he kept dusting the golden pollen off of Finley’s clothes and skin, grimacing at each puff of yellow dust.
“Because you might…”
“I might? I wouldn’t try to steal the magic from you, Finley. I know what I said before, but–”
“No!” Finley’s voice was sharper than he intended. “You can’t wield it. No immortal being can. It’s not for you!”
“Oh, well, I see.”
“You don’t. But that’s all right. I don’t either. I just know what Vex said and I know the very basics of what’s involved,” Finley explained. “It’s not touching my life force–”
“Finley! Your throat! What’s happened to it?” Rhalyf noticed the cut he’d made along the side of his throat.
“Oh, that–”
“That? Finley, what happened? Did something attack you?”
“No, I–I just cut myself,” Finley got out, not wanting to get into exactly how and why he had cut himself. The cold burning was still bothering him.
