Gods of Malcea ✔️

E I G H T

"Even between the best of friends, mistakes and misunderstandings can happen."

-Xamdú

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Ake gazed at the setting sun taking in its last bit of warmth and light before it faded into the horizon. The fading colors of the sky filled him with some longing sense of home. Here, everything was so foreign. Nothing felt the same.

He did not like the smell of all of those humans so near him. It was something he never grow used to. Karos was enough, he thought. Even though he was more of a nuisance than anything.

As his hair fell into his face from the gust of wind, he pushed them back and continued to Karos' room at the inn. Time and time again, he brushed him off for his play at women and drinks. It angered him the way he has been acting, nothing less than a drunken fool.

Trust him, he thought before scoffing. Trust was not this leisurely thing Ake gave away so freely. No, it was something his kind swore by their lives, dying if given away to someone so undeserving of it. With Fariel roaming the halls, Ake knew he had to be quick about it.

He gave a sharp knock with no answer. Soon, he knocked again this time with more strength behind it until he lost patience. Ake pressed open the door breaking the lock and found Karos with a dagger pointed on a human man's neck. He wore no shirt and there were some small cuts littering his upper torso that he paid no mind to.

The human man's golden hair fell covering his fear-stricken face. Ake could smell the gush of blood already coming out from parts of his neck Karos had already sliced open. There was coldness found in his eyes then and it caused Ake to take a wary step forward. The floorboards creaked under his weight which made him stop midway.

Karos' eyes went wide as he noticed Ake's presence. He was about to stand until he caught himself. Ake saw it in his eyes, the realization that dawned on him. Ake could not care any less than he already felt. His delicate, human body served no more interest to him than fire to heat.

Tired of seeing his flushed face, Ake went on and grabbed his clothes from off the floor with a patience he did not think he could possibly ever possess. As he neared them, he grabbed the human man's arm and pushed him towards the door.

"Ka!" Go.

With nothing but gratitude in his eyes, the man bowed and silently thanked him before dashing out of his room.

"Naq dulis." Get dressed.

"Ake—" Ake cut him off brimming with anger.

"Naq dulis," he admonished. 

Ake left out of his room then, slamming the door behind him. He walked down the narrow hallway, down the wooden stairs, and back out the door waiting not too far from his room.

The lingering smells and faces of the humans he passed faded from his memory in an instance. There was that smell of blood, but also scents of women and past love affairs lingering in there as well. They were such wretched beings. Always craving for the touch of another, drunk upon each other, it made Ake sicken with disappointment and disgust. Karos had looked favorable in his eyes. Now, he was nothing more than just another human full of lies and uncertainty.

Before he could raise his head he felt another's presence looming over him. His eyes met with a pair of brown ones staring at him with a glint in his eyes that spoke of malice.

"Ake, what a pleasure it is to be in your presence," he spoke in Eunarian. It sounded rustic and unused for many years, but he understood him, nonetheless.