Rionan waited for the doctor to leave and moved towards the cabinet, marking the presence of the woman still waiting in the room.
“Are you accustomed to staying in the company of strangers while they change?” he asked, an amused look in his eyes.
“No. Sorry. I’ll go. Would you like me to get you anything? A hot drink?” she asked, a look of embarrassment coming over her as her cheeks flushed.
“No, thank you. I’m quite well. Thank you, again, for your help,” Rionan nodded. “Perhaps I will see you again.”
He knew full well he had no plans to see this stranger again and that he wanted to spend as little time here as possible.
“Okay. I’ll leave you to it. Goodbye, Max.”
“Goodbye, Alianna,” he said, with warmth to his tone.
Rionan waited until the young woman had gone before pulling his clothes out of his cupboard.
His clothes were wrapped in a bag, sandy and damp with seawater. He held them in his hand and sent a pulse through them. The clothes heated rapidly, the water coming off them in rippling steam. Seconds later, they were dry. He spent a moment brushing sand off them before dressing himself. Rionan brushed his hair away from his forehead and began to leave the hospital. Most certainly the human realm, then,judging by the physical form he’d taken when he arrived here, and everyone that now surrounded him.
As he reached the street outside, the sunlight began warming his skin. Vehicles whizzed past and people bustled by, nobody stopping to take any real notice of him. He’d seen these automobiles in the human realm before, on his last visit, but they looked quite different now.
He glanced around the busy street, wondering where exactly he would go next, or where he even was. He supposed he could have asked the doctor or the woman, but that would have raised more questions than it was worth.
Rionan began walking down the street, heading in the direction of where he had first arrived. Following the scent of the sea, he should eventually find his way, and then he could plan from there. He didn’t really have a destination in mind when he left Xanthia, but he had been guided to this location. It was possible that his power had sent him here for a specific reason.
He weaved through the crowds, the shoppers, people staring down at devices he had never seen before, that had illuminated screens. He stopped when he saw a vehicle parked at the side of the road with large writing on the side.
Porthan District Council.
So, he was in Porthan. He vaguely recalled his brief time in the human realm in the past, the places that he’d visited. Porthan rang a bell, but he couldn’t place why.
Rionan didn’t believe in coincidences. His power had brought him to the human realm, and to a place he recognised the name of. The next step would be determining what relevance Porthan had to him, or to the rest of Xanthia.
3
Porthan
“So, Mr Tall and Handsome was fine, then?”
“Yes, Tasha, he was fine,” replied Alianna, shooting her friend a look as Shadow jumped up at her in greeting. Natasha, Alianna’s lifelong friend, had collected him from her at the beach when Alianna called to explain what was going on.
“I see. Did you wanting to accompany the strange man you found on the beach to the hospital, have anything to do with the fact he was a clear ten out of ten?” Natasha mused as she beckoned Alianna into her apartment.
“No, Tash, you heartless moron,” retorted Alianna, “sometimes, other people just want to make sure people are alright. I hope if you’re ever unconscious on the sand, somebody will do the same for you.”
“If I ever wash up on the sand, I hope the person who finds me looks likethat,” Natasha continued teasing, “but seriously. Looks aside. What if he were a creep? Why did he say he was there?”
“He said that he had been swimming...fully clothed.” Alianna flopped on Natasha’s sofa. The sunlight shone through the windows that overlooked central Porthan. The sun was beginning to set, and the streets below were alive with revellers ready for a night on the town.
“And you believe that?”
“Of course not,” Alianna replied, “he’d probably been out the night before and fell asleep on the beach instead of going home.”
“Don’t you judge him for that,” retorted Natasha, “how many times have we done that exact same thing?”
“We were about eighteen years old then, Tash, and we didn’t end up soaking wet, face down in the sand.”
Shadow charged around the apartment with a sock in his mouth, which neither of them tried to retrieve while they sipped on their coffee.
Natasha stretched out on the sofa next to Alianna, kicking her legs back and putting her feet up on the table in front of them. “So, now that the excitement is over with, what are your plans for the day?”
