Chapter 464 - 464

"I am going! Be careful. I heard yesterday from a few people in the village that slave traders from the demonic capital have been lurking in this area." Naila said as she grabbed her stuff from the table and threw them into her medical bag. Alex shook his head. 

"You should be careful, I am not going out." he reminded her as he munched on a cookie. "It's my day off." he said happily and Naila waved goodbye before she left him alone in the small cottage. 

Alex didn't feel that tired today. He had been able to get some sleep last night, since his dream hadn't been that horrible. Troubling? Yes but a nightmare, definitely not. He could remember clearly the beautiful castle and the handsome Theseus. He looked so good with black long hair and the elf couldn't help but wonder why he changed like that. Elves rarely showed signs of extreme aging early on, especially if they looked as young as Theseus. 

He laid on his bed, stretching his tall body and let out a groan when his eyes spotted a list that naila had left on the table. He eyed it carefully, able to read a few of the words from far away. It was a herb list that she had, those one could be only harvested in the forest. As bored as he was he stood up and grabbed it, reading it with much more care, thinking if he could find some of these. He remembered a few herbs and realized that he wanted to help. So he grabbed his small cutting knife from the kitchen and a small fabric bag and left the little cottage. 

Theseus had not appeared yet and without wanting to admit it he was kind of expecting him. That's why he was weary of every little sound, his head snapping towards every direction hoping that it would be him. He had walked for about ten minutes deep into the forest but he still hadn't shown up. Alex was getting a bit disappointed. 

"Yes, play hot and cold." he whispered as he grabbed a root from the ground. He pulled it a bit too hard though, making the dirt land on his face and he groaned, wiping it away disgusted. 

"What are you mumbling to yourself?" he heard a voice say and he jumped up. 

It wasn't Theseus. It was that other guy, the one with the red hair who was approaching him, a smile on his face. "Need some help?" he offered. 

"Thanks but no." Alex said, kind of displeased that it wasn't Theseus the one who appeared. "Are you two taking shifts or what?" he whispered to himself.

"You can think of it as that" Mark answered him, having heard him and Alex coughed, embarrassed. "It's good to see you." he told him and the elf stared at him. 

The feeling was exactly the same as the first time he saw him. He felt at peace and he felt safe. It was weird, even though he didn't want to seem welcoming, he wanted to be suspicious and be on edge just in case he simply couldn't. This person right in front of him, the way he looked at him and the kindness in his smile were too much. 

"Were we…friends?" Alex asked, not knowing how to define this feeling inside him. 

"Best friends!" Mark exclaimed happily. "We met at college. Then we went through this crazy adventure until we found ourselves here." told him, scratching the back of his head.

"College?" the elf asked confused. 

"Oh, yeah. Something like a magic academy." he told him, not wanting to get into further detail about how Alex used to be a human. He was sure all that would simply make things more difficult for him.

"I am sorry." He said, meeting with Mark's questioning look. 

"About what?" 

"I am sorry that I don't remember you. You're supposed to be my best friend and I…"

"Don't be sad about that." Mark interrupted him. "Maybe if I had been a more responsible friend none of this would have happened." he spoke to himself, regret in his eyes. "But it's good. I have been searching for three years with that idiot for you. I am relieved, I don't care if you don't remember me, I am just glad you're alive." he told him and Alex gave him a small smile. 

It was that feeling, the one he couldn't explain. This person, Mark, felt so comforting. 

"Thank you. I will try. I mean, I am trying to remember. It's just a bit hard, I thought I was going to let my past behind and then you and…" he said but a loud sound interrupted him. Both of them had similar reactions. Their heads turning, eyes cautious as they scanned opposite sides of the forest. 

Alex noticed the bushes move, and moved towards Mark, grabbing his tattooed wrist. 

"Be careful." he whispered at him and Mark looked at him for a second with furrowed eyebrows.

"Looks like we got a good catch." A hoarse voice was heard and slowly from the deepest parts of the forest demons began to appear, more than ten. They were slowly surrounding them. 

"What the heck?" Mark asked out loud. 

"They're slave traders." Alex whined, remembering Naila's words this morning. 

"They will catch a good price" One of them said, looking at his slimy friends and they all started laughing. 

"Ignis! Kage!" Mark shouted and two spirits suddenly appeared, startling Alex. "Deal with this. Come on." he told Alex and this time he was the one to grab him. Ignis made way for them, grabbing one of the demons and breaking the circle. 

The two young men started running, Mark holding Alex's hand tightly. He turned back for a bit, locking eyes with him. 

"Don't worry, my spirits will handle this. Let's go back to the cott…" he said but his sentence was cut short. He bumped into something and both of them were forced to stop. 

"I don't think your spirits got this." Alex said, seeing the enormous demon that stood before them. "We're doomed."

"Out of everything, a slave too?" Mark whined before the man grabbed him from his collar, raising him from the ground. "Hey! hey , let me down!" He screamed and started kicking the air. His fight didn't last for long, the huge demon moved his head back and crushed his forehead on Mark knocking him out. 

"Can we talk about this?" Alex said, his heads raised. "I give up. Please don't hit me.." he cried.