Omar stood watching the crowd. The refugees around had been standing around the litter. Samuel was talking with the man standing in front. Omar made his way forward. Samuel started to examine the litter and the person that was on it. Omar looked into the jungle. There was movement in the trees. Omar only had a small knife at his side. It wouldn’t be effective for fighting. He worked his way away from the crowd and into the jungle. He had left his javelins in the house so the knife would have to do. Being fourteen again was going to make things harder. He didn’t think he was spotted as he hopped the wall. If anyone was watching the outskirts of the city the large group of people should naturally draw the eye. There was still a chance that he would be spotted, but Omar would need to risk it.
From what Omar picked up in the crowd, he was expecting elves. They tended to have an uncanny magic sense and humans apparently just polluted their surroundings with the stuff. There were a few things he had picked up that helped suppress the excess mana, but Omar’s body was untrained. He had only started trying to modify his own magic system using a hybrid of the tower methods he had learned. The mana had helped with his strength and reflexes, but he was nowhere near where an elf and their own magic physiques. He had managed to engrave another spell to his soul for quick casting.
When he entered the tree line he focused on where he had spotted the movement. There was something there, but it was too high to see. Omar needed to get a closer look. He could climb the tree, but he wasn’t confident in his ability to remain silent. Omar weighed his options. He pushed internal mana into a specific formation. A ball of water, the size of a pebble, formed in his palm then jetted through the leaves. A crack sounded from a branch above and two figures jumped in oposite directions. The branch must have been old as the orbs could only bruise at best. There was a string of elvish hissed from one of the elves. Omar wouldn’t have caught it if he hadn’t started enhancing his body. Omar started to summon a few ready made orbs of water. They spun lazily around his body in seemingly random directions, some nearly colliding.
Omar heard a snap and turned. An orb stopped orbiting his body and flew in the direction of the sound. Omar charged behind it. The elf stood before him as the water struck. The elf held two knives. He was familiar, but Omar couldn’t quite place it. At this point he might have met everyone in the world and he tended to ignore the sensation.
“Happy,” the elf growled followed by elvish.
Omar dove to the side, sensing the attack from behind him. He pelted the second attacker with a few of the water orbs. The second elf took the punishment without a sound. The first elf leapt at him striking at the second. The two elves fought, dodging each other’s knife strikes. Omar stepped back, watching the elves fight. The orbs that he had summoned that weren’t shot at either elf had been greedily sucked into the earth when he avoided the attack. He pelted the two elves trying to make one of them trip up. He might be able to take one by himself, especially if the elf was injured.
“Stop,” the second elf said, parying a wide swing and dodging a quick thrust.
Omar recognized the voice of the leader before recognizing the elf himself. It could be a trick. Omar stopped pelting them with the orbs of water and focused on building up orbs that orbited him. The leader knocked a knife free from the second elf and then was tripped. The second elf lunged with his non-dominant hand trying to take advantage of his position. Omar shot the second elf’s arm, changing the tragectory of the blade. The leader grabbed the second elf’s arm and managed to spin himself off the ground and forcing the second elf into the ground. The header hissed in elvish at the second elf and kicked the daggers away.
“Why are you here?” asked Omar.
The leader hissed at the second elf some more while pointing at the ground.
“You were the last person I expected to see,” the first elf said.
“Why are you here?” Omar asked again.
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“Failed raid,” The elf said.
“I see.” Omar said, “You’re from the floating island, correct?”
The elf nodded.
“Give me your name,” Omar demanded.
“Qinran,” the elf pointed at the second elf that now sat scowling, ”Aimon.”
“I’m Omar.”
Omar sheathed his knife and gestured to the ground, watching Qinran. The elf sheathed his own weapons and sat. Omar followed suit.
“I’ve had visions,” said Omar, to test Qinran.
Qinran nodded slowly in silence. Omar could see the elf fidget slightly.
“Visions,” the elf said, narrowing his eyes with a slight tilt of his head.
Omar thought of what to tell the elf. He had a few loops where the elves had managed to enslave most of humanity. There were others where the opposite had happened only to have humanity crushed by some other threat. What could be shared with the elf? Omar hadn’t found the cause for his current path.
“How many visions have you been granted?” asked Qinran, breaking Omar from his thoughts.
Omar leaned back. He thought for a while. He decided to opt for the truth.
“I stopped counting at some point.”
“I see,” said the elf, “I’ve only had 75.”
“I used to count. I stopped at 100”
Omar nodded and relaxed a little, his suspicious had been confirmed. Qinran spoke to Aimon for a while.
“I told him that you’re my contact for the city,” Qinran nodded, “We’re walking along the line of taboo right now.”
Omar looked at Aimon with an appraising look. Aimon smiled and nodded. The sight of elf teeth was disturbing to Omar.
“Should we sacrifice him?” Omar asked Qinran.
He was trying to avoid more common words. He remembered the elf having a poor grasp of the language. Aimon probably only knew a handful of words, but it would probably be best to avoid using them.
Qinran shook his head, “Not yet, but it might have to be something we do in the future.”
“Alright, So what now?” asked Omar.
“I don’t want to fight you.”
“Have you seen anything threatening the world?” asked Omar.
“What do you mean?” asked Qinran.
Omar shrugged helplessly. If Qinran had encountered anything truly world shattering he would have known. Omar didn’t even remember the first loop he had been on. He sighed.
“Nevermind,” he said.
“Do you have an objective in this city?”
“I just wanted to spend time with an expert that I have fond memories of,” Omar replied.
—
Qinran talked with Omar for a while longer. He had warned of a possibility of the floating island sinking, however the immediate future was not set in stone. They discussed their past lives, avoiding certain terms. Qinran had assumed there would be limitations. He had also assumed that Omar had come to many of the same conclusions. They were both hiding something, but there were things that they both had good reason to fear sharing. Omar had a certain weariness that Qinran had picked up at some point. After a bit more talking the elves would stay in the forest. Qinran had warned Omar of the pending elf attack. The loss of a raiding party would have an even greater response. With the warning Omar had left. They would meet again tomorrow to discuss things.
“Lets find a place to stay for the night,” Qinran said.
Aimon agreed, and the two set out. Qinran would have to do something about the other elf. Meeting another person that had lived multiple lives changed things. The human had seemed to care about someone in the city. Could it be the alchemist? It would be unlikely. It was something he would have to ask in the future. They would have to do something about Aimon. Aimon’s loyalty to the floating island was an unknown variable. It could make things difficult if elves came and Aimon joined them. Qinran would probably follow the human, Omar. It just depended on what needed to happen.
They had traveled a small distance from the city and found themselves a cave. It would be far enough away that smoke should be hard to detect. There was a small pack of boars which the elves dealt with handily. Aimon started work with preparing their meat. Qinran disposed of what had been left over from the butchering. He was getting a little hungry. Their supplies would be running low due to the fact that they wouldn’t be able to head back home. If the elves decided to retaliate for the loss of a raiding party. It did look better if they were planning some sort of an attack on the human city. The elves would probably find the navigator’s head first. That might make the retaliation even greater.
When Qinran traveled far enough he stopped. He dropped the bones, skin and a few inedible organs to the rainforest’s floor. The trip back wasn’t a long one. He arrived back at the cave shortly after. Aimon was currently roasting meat. It hadn’t been seasoned, but food was food. The fish cubes would probably be the first to go from Qinran’s own supplies. They sat in silence while Aimon cooked. The meat sizzled and the smoke curled in the air.
“This isn’t how anything was supposed to work out,” Qinran stated.
Aimon nodded in agreement. Qinran knew Aimon had been upset about the fact that Omar hadn’t been killed to provide luck on their trip back. He would have to be careful around his fellow elf in the future, but for now he didn’t seem to be hostile.