Burying his face into Akana’s neck, Sidastir grunted when Akana pinched his arm. “Are you listening?”
Sidastir looked up into two dark eyes on a serious face. He could see Akana’s thoughts rushing around behind his eyelids like a storm, not ready to settle down yet. “I heard, I’m not sure I understand the problem.”
“I’m descendant of demons.”
“And I apparently am descendent of a shapeshifter or did you forget that the elves are descendants of the vans,” Sidastir frowned,” which make me wonder what the vans real shape looks like. Is it hideous?”
Akana rolled his eyes and with a smirk, Sidastir leaned in and nibbled his earlobe. “Maybe I just don’t care.”
“How can you not care? People in Noterra fear demons,” Akana sighed.
“Maybe I always knew,” Akana’s eyes turned to Sidastir’s smirking face. “I knew from the moment you invaded my room, the moment you walked down the aisle on our wedding, that you must be a demon. Only a demon would go through with marrying me, any other creature would run away. Even the trolls have more sense than that.”
That earned him a hit on the arm, which made Sidastir roll onto his back, laughing. He put his hands underneath his head while Akana turned to him, laying his head on his naked chest while pulling up their blanket. The candles sighed in the wind as the shadows flickered on the walls in their bedroom. Only a small stream of light came from the window as the half-moon lit up the night.
“Remember that time when I wore a white shirt to practice?” Sidastir asked.
“Yeah, you came back covered in blood. I tried to get the blood out but it was impossible. I ordered you to carry dark colors after that so that the blood won’t ruin another shirt,” Akana muttered.
Sidastir kissed Akana’s forehead, muttering against it. “And I know that you kept that shirt, you used every trick you could think of for at least three weeks trying to save that shirt.”
Akana stiffened, and Sidastir held back a laugh. Akana hadn’t known that he was fully aware of his warfare against that shirt.
“I.. might have been a bit overeager.”
“I would say, using acid wasn’t your brightest idea.”
“How did you even-“
“I found the shirt after you tried to throw it away to remove the evidence.”
Akana groaned, burying his face into Sidastir’s chest. “What was even the point of that story?”
“That what you did to that poor shirt was truly demonic.”
Another hit landed on Sidastir arm, now shaking with laughter.
“This is serious!”
Looking down at Akana’s grim face, Sidastir sighed in surrender. “I know, and I’m not sure we should spread this around. At least not until we have secured a safe passage through Donfell. With that, we can create an alliance between Auone and Eitir. We can support them if a conflict will arise.”
“Yes, but to master the Gashir mountains I will need to have the aid of the dwarves, but I fear if they find out about my ancestors-“
“They won’t care. The dwarven clans aren’t afraid of magical creatures. They hardly see a difference between elves, dragons, and demons.”
“That can’t be true.”
“It pretty much is, in fact, you people most likely will get far more respect from the dwarves for forsaking your magic and focusing on science instead which according to the dwarves is far more natural than magic.”
“One thing the Auons could agree with,” Akana muttered.
“See, you aren’t alone,” Sidastir said, ensuring that his voice was filled with confidence to soothe his consort. “Everything will be okay.”
Looking up at Sidastir, Akana gave him one of those rare smiles that made Sidastir’s heart takes a leap. “You are still cleaning out the dwarven city when you go home. It doesn’t matter how much you try to smooth talk me.”
“And that is why you are my little demon.”
*****
Year 783 Octavus, day 27 of the seventh month of Domorus
Entering a small workshop filled with fascinating trinkets, Akana had to step over some strange mechanics on the floor. The Mayin lead him into the room without looking back, while Sidastir frowned at the objects like they were litter instead of ingenious inventions.
“Helder Oe, bring your head out of the clouds and greet your guests,” the Mayin said, frowning at his coat, pulling it out of the way from some sparks coming from the black smith in the corner. A short, stubby older man with a giant beard, a large nose, and unruly hair walked out into view. The short man, barely going up to Akana’s chest, removed the dark protective glasses and peered at them with two dark eyes.
“Vasin, what are you doing here?”
“I told you that I would be visiting with some important guests today, remember?” the Mayin asked and moved out of the way from a small flying airship floating around in the workshop.
The Curare, Helder Oe, stroked his beard, his eyes narrowing in concentration but no recollection crossed his face. It did burst into a grin though when his eyes fell onto Akana. “An Auon? I would have greeted you myself if I knew one of your people were visiting.”
Completely ignoring the Mayin he walked over and shook Akana’s hand. The hand was twice as large as his, and filled with calluses. “I would have greeted you myself but I wasn’t sure if it was proper to just walk into the Curare’s workshop.”
“Nonsense, I’m a mechanist, not a snotty noble,” his eyes fell onto Sidastir. A frown forming, showcasing his dislike for elves before recognition crossed his face. “Ah, then you must be the Rial Caraid of Eitir. If I remember correctly, I heard the Rial married an Auonian commoner. A smart choice, but a surprising one.”
“Come in,” he continued, waving his hand toward the table. “Let me get you some drinks.”
“Preferably something that won’t erode our stomachs,” the Mayin muttered.
“How about some dwarven ale?” Helder said cheerily, slamming some tankards.
“I said something that wouldn’t erode our stomachs.”
Akana carefully a sip, feeling the burning sensation as the vile drink went down his throat. He refused to show any emotions, though his eyes were watering and were twitching like mad. He could see Sidastir’s amused grin from the side, but ignored him while he discreetly refused to drink more.
“So why give me the honor of a visit?” asked Helder, clearly enjoying the vile drink. “Coming to take my title?”
“No, though I expect that it will belong to my people one day.”
Letting out a loud chuckle, Helder nodded,” I’ve heard as much. I always planned on visiting your cities. I heard they can compare to the old dwarven ones, not that I believe it, but something else always seems to come up.”
“I’m sure my people would be more than willing to brag and you won’t be disappointed.”
“No, he won’t,” the Mayin muttered, staring down into his tankard. Apparently, dwarven ale was too much for a 10 000-year-old magical creature.
“So the Auonian cities can even impress the magical Mayin.”
“Let’s just say that if the Auons had any interest in taking over Noterra, we would have a hard time stopping them even with magic, “ pushing away the tankard, the Mayin had apparently decided not to test his fate.
Helder’s eyes went wide, “Now I have to see them.”
He turned his eyes to Akana once more, “Though I don’t think that is why you are here.”
“No, do you know of the dwarven city in Eitir? laying underneath the Gashir mountains?” Akana asked.
“Gashir mountains?”
“The Donfell,” Sidastir clarified when the dwarf looked confused. Helder’s eyes lit up in recognition.
“Ah, yes. The ancient city of Cida Ambrar, the city of Amber. What of it?” Helder’s eyes narrowed. “Are you planning on entering it?”
“Yes, I plan to send out my husband to clean it out to make it safe when he gets back,” Akana said, noticing the tenseness entering the air.
“Are you going to steal the secrets of the dwarves because I don’t plan on-“
“I want to ask the dwarves if they want it back, but no matter how much I searched the archives in Eighpalas, I cannot find who ruled the city,” Akana said briskly before it turned into an argument. The room fell into silence.
“Excuse me?”
“I want to give the city back to the dwarves but I’m not sure who it belongs to so I would like your help to find out which dwarven family I should contact.”
Staring at Akana, Helder looked dumbstruck for a second before his eyes narrowed into mere slits. “And what do you want in return?”
“I want you to lit your forges.”
“… And?”
“That’s it. Well, if you want to trade with us we won’t deny you the right but I just want the forges lit.”
Helder didn’t look convinced and Akana hadn’t expected him to be. Pulling out the schematics for what most likely will be the crowning achievement, Akana laid the large schematics on the table. Eyes searched the paper filled with lines and descriptions.
“A globe?” Sidastir said with a frown, showcasing his ignorance of mechanics.
“A city,” the Mayin said with more certainty. “Though I’m not sure-“
“Ingenious! Who made this?” Helder gasped pulling the schematics closer to him, perusing every line and calculation.
“I did, I plan to build a city in Eitir.”
“The city will be covered in ice in mere days,” Sidastir said. “We don’t have enough fairies to-“
“That is what is so ingenious! This city won’t need magic to keep the snow away, in fact, it will be warm enough to melt the snow inside, making it livable for things and creatures from more temperate weathers,” Helder said, his beard almost pointed straight out in excitement like he had been electrocuted.
“Exactly, I needed a heat source but there were none in Eitir. No hot springs or the like. Then I encountered descriptions of the dwarven city, and most of all, a description of the forges. If they were to be lit they will give heat that can be harnessed to warm up the city, the elven glass will keep the cold away along with keeping the warmth in. Air will be filtered and warmed up before it enters the city. It will be large enough to be able to grow plants and crops. People other than ice elves would be able to settle down in Eitir, and we can grow once more.”
Akana could feel Sidastir staring at him, astonishment was written all over his face. Akana couldn’t blame him. The ice elves have never even tried to make a city that would allow other races to settle in Eitir, they just felt like it wasn’t necessary but with the elves mostly gone it was necessary to open up the country to other species. The outcasts, such as dwarves and ice mages who have no real home was a good opportunity to rebuild Eitir.
The thought of the lost ice elves in Balkrav once more came into Akana’s mind. He needed to speak with his husband about it. They might not respond to Akana who was a stranger but Sidastir’s calls would not be ignored.
“This is why you want to give back the city to the dwarves,” Helder said, leaning back with something akin to hope in his eyes. The dwarves have been shuffle around from city to city. All want their expertise but none want the dwarves themselves. The thought of a home must be alluring.
“I don’t have the manpower to man the forges myself. Giving it back to the dwarves who need to keep the forges lit all around the clock to keep the cold away was the best option. Not to mention if they would be willing to trade ore, which I would need in order to build other mechanical wonders needed to strengthen Eitir’s borders,” Akana said.
“What mechanical wonders?” Helder asked and Akana decided to show him his plans. Wanting the dwarves to be fully on Eitir side if it were to ever come to choosing a side.
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