"And that… is pretty much it" Klyran said with a sigh.
Aldryn, so far, never said a word and was listening carefully to the whole story. Some moments made him smile, while other made him sad for his friend. Yet he could not help but be glad, that it was Klyran who came to this world and not another creature.
"You are a good man and your heart is pure" the oracle then said, smiling at his friend.
By the time Klyran finished his story, the two of them have reached the fifth circle of the Silver City. Upon hearing this, the raven haired man quickly looked around. He noticed the stall for the first time and made a sad face. He became so concentrated on his story, that he did not even noticed the two of them passing the first market. Klyran even wanted to go back to the fourth circle, wishing to see it, only to be denied by Aldryn.
"I want to speak with you more about that skill of yours. I'm curious about it, but there are too many people in the city. We will have to leave it aside for now", the blonde said.
Klyran could not help but nod. A part of him understood what great harm such a skill could cause.
"Also Ildurin must be waiting for us. And we have made the King wait for long enough" he laughed thinking of his old friend.
"Ildurin is the King?" Klyran then nearly shouted.
"Have I not told you this?" the apostle then asked, scratching his head.
"No. You never mentioned it" was the sharp reply.
"Well… it doesn't matter much. And we will go see the city again a bit later. Maybe Ildurin will even let us use his family's boat to see the Silver City from the rivers", Aldryn quickly tried to amend the situation.
"I am not sure I fancy the idea", Klyran quietly said.
He glanced at the water and the mere sight of the cold liquid made a shiver run through him. Aldryn did not miss the small motion. It made him remember that his new friend was not only unused to the colder weather, but also that there was not much water to be found in his own world.
"Can you swim?" He suddenly asked the black haired young man.
"Swim?" the question was parroted back, while a confused look took over the handsome face.
"Well....uhm" Aldryn was once again unsure how to explain something.
Before meeting Klyran, Aldryn never in his life had difficulties offering explanations to others. Not even saying the word in the old language sometimes helped him get his point across his new friend. It made the oracle realize just how many notions there were, that, while rather common in this world, were a completely foreign concept for Klyran.
"If someone were to ask you to cross this river without using the bridge how would you do it?" the priest then asked, pointing behind them.
Klyran then turned around and looked at it, he saw the river that separated the street that they were in into two. He then glanced at the stone bridge that was not far from where they were standing. Then, the young man turned back around and gave Aldryn a disbelieved look.
"Finally. Someone who truly sees just how many braincells you have in that head of yours" the priest suddenly heard a laugh inside his head.
While it at first confused Aldryn, not understanding why the fox was laughing at him, he quickly noticed his friend heading toward the river. Once at the edge, Klyran bent his knees a bit and easily jumped to the other side. He then turned around and shouted.
"I thought this was called jumping?" he asked the blonde, looking at him, still confused.
Aldryn quickly followed him, jumping to the other side.
"It is", he gave a small sigh, "What if this was a lake and not a river? How would you cross it?" he tried again, only to hear the fox laughing once more in his head.
The same look took over Klyran's face, as if he could not believe that Aldryn was asking that of him. He looked around and noticing the many humans surrounding him and tapped his own shoulders gently with his fingers. While the priest did not fully understood the motion, the Thrae decided to help.
"Did you really asked someone with wings how they would cross a lake?" the mocking question made Aldryn remember the wings that he has seen Klyran possess during their fight.
The two have spend so much time together and the mistakable human appearance made the oracle forget for a moment what sort of creature hid beneath the pale skin.
"Why are you so mean to me? What have I ever done to you, spare for saving your life?" the oracle asked his other half.
"Let's see. A lot of things. The latest one was that you mocked my appearance and thought that I could speak with animals for one" was the calm reply.
"Are we back to that?" Aldryn nearly groaned, "You cats really do keep a grudge for a few generations" he mumbled then.
"First. Foxes are not even felines you idiot, they are canids."
"Then why do you look more like a cat and less like a dog, or whatever you called it?" the oracle resorted back, only to be ignored.
"Second. Despite having this appearance, I am a Thrae not a fox. Take our new friend for example. Klyran looked like a human when we met, but could he speak the human language? No."
"Why did I ever helped you? Would have saved me a lot of pain" Aldryn gave a sigh and then looked at Klyran, who by now knew the signs when the priest spoke with the Thrae and was patiently waiting at his side, looking around once in a while.
"Let me just show you" the blonde then suddenly told the Ryan and led them toward the sixth circle of the city.
"Do not think that I enjoy being stuck with you all the time until you die. We should maybe see if there is any way to transfer the seal. I believe little Klyran would be a much more pleasant company than you are"
Then, in a second, Aldryn's appearance changed. The fox took over and quickly looked around, startling the people who were near them. Despite its earlier hesitation to transform, it appeared to have forgotten its previous thoughts. While it has become a common knowledge among people that Aldryn was possessed, seeing actual proof of that still unsettled many humans.
"How childish", the now silver haired oracle said.
"Did you two have a fight?" Klyran then asked, only to receive a nod back.
"Let him sit there and pout all he wants. I know what he wanted to show you so let's go", the Thrae said and then started walking again, with the serpent quickly following behind.
The two of them walked around houses and alleys. All the people that they walked by turned their heads to look at the pair. Even some of the guards could not help themselves and stared. All the eyes following them annoyed Klyran, feeling a burning sensation at the back of his head, warning him that he was being watched. Just when he was on the brink of snapping, his friend changed his appearance again and Aldryn was back in control.
"We're here" he said and quickly grabbed his friend's hand, rushing to the edge of a brick fence that stood in one of the streets.
At first, Klyran wished to demand answers, but then he also noticed the fence and wondered why the oracle wished to show it to him, or what he believed to be a pit in the heart of the city. Only after getting closer did the brunette realized that it was not a pit, but some sort of construction.
"This is Ildurin's jewel of the city. He built this only last year and already, people from all over the South come here just for this" Aldryn said, as both of them peeked down.
Inside, was a big man-made lake, a pool the oracle called it, when Klyran expressed his opinion. It was filled with steaming water and people could be seen soaking in it. Despite it being rather chilly outside, even with the open roof, the hot water made the air warm down there.
There were a million questions racing around Klyran's mind, from how Aldryn knew about his kin, to how such a construction could ever exist. He even had a strong desire to jump down there and join the people, despite not even having the light clothes that they all seemed to be wearing.
"See what the men down there are doing?" the priest then spoke up again, pointing to some elder men the were in the middle of the pool, where the water was visibly deeper.
"That is swimming", the oracle said again and Klyran saw that some men were floating on their backs, while others were using their hands and legs to move around.
"Can we go down there?" the young man asked instead, still looking at the pool.
"Maybe later. We should head to the castle" the blonde said and grabbed his hand, leading him away.
"Ildurin asked the help of the Oracle of Fire to build those waters. But she didn't come down from the North herself, but send her best mage. It was the King's way to bring the common people and the nobles closer the each other. There are some private room there, with smaller pools where only a few people could fit at the same time, but you need the King's permission to use them", Aldryn explained as they passed a certain street that had stairs leading down, which Klyran had no doubt led to the hot waters.
"Ildurin sometimes rents them out to the nobles who wish to soak in the water privately, but more often he offers them to his court physician. The water there has some healing properties you see, so the physician helps injured soldiers exercise there to recover faster. Old people also claimed that the hot water helps them with their joints pain."
Just as the oracle finished his explanation, the two of them reached the gate leading to the final circle of the city and the castle. There were guards standing tall at their posts, they glanced at Aldryn and then took a look at Klyran, but never once moved. The two of them walked by and even greeted the guards, who only nodded and smiled in reply.
"You never told me how you knew about the Ryans" Klyran than spoke up.
"Oh that's right" Aldryn exclaimed and looked apologetic at his friend, "It slipped from my mind. The Ryan is mentioned in my religion as being one of the first seven Gods who created this world."
"Seven Gods? I thought there were six of them in your religion" the brunette asked, showing interest in the story.
And then, Aldryn begun telling him the story of how the world was created. He mentioned again that there were many such stories, but the Ryan was mentioned only in this one.