A deep sigh echoed through the great hall of the library, startling the few occupants. Throwing his head back, the sigher stared up at the ceiling moldings, an expression of intense emptiness on his face. Nothing. He could find nothing. Niris had flipped through every volume he suspected of containing any record of slave sales and purchases on Ornikarn, or at least in Yerpena, but he hadn't found even the slightest hint of anything suspicious on the ideograph-covered pages.
He had even gone back to the Horatian period, but he had found absolutely nothing. Absolute emptiness. It was hopeless. The sight of his friend's muzzle through the window woke him from his torpor and he picked up his things. Heading for the exit, he passed the imperial library guard who coldly examined him from head to toe as he passed by, as he was wont to do whenever the angel visited. Uneasy, Niris nodded a little stiffly and left. The weather owl said nothing and watched him leave the majestic room filled with ancient books without saying anything.
Making himself very small, Niris trotted to the large door that protected the precious books. He huffed once outside. He understood the librarian's behaviour even if he did not appreciate his attitude towards him. Seeing the angel enter and leave the sacred place as he pleased thanks to a mysterious fingerprint (there was no way that his own would allow him to enter such a place!). But anyway, he was used to being ogled wherever he went!
A whinny from Azure drew him out of his reflection. His face lit up with a smile and he jumped on his friend's neck.
"So Az, you've come to comfort me, have you? Are you bored without me? Don't act like it, I know very well that you can't live without me!"
He rubbed the withers of the horse nibbling his wrist in response to his joke. The angel laughed heartily. He was delighted to see his friend. He was feeling lighter now that he was teasing Azure with gusto.
"Hey Azure, shall we go for a walk outside? I heard there's a nice place to go swimming near the castle, do you want to? It's so hot these days!"
The pegasus answered with an enthusiastic neigh. Seeing that his friend was up for it, Niris grabbed a clump of crains and threw himself onto the gnarled back of the feisty quadruped. Not even waiting for his friend to get comfortable, the latter trotted off in the direction of the entrance porch, and galloped off once he was out of the castle.
With the wind in his hair, Niris let himself be intoxicated by the welcome breath of fresh air that ruffled his hair and made his eyes crinkle. He leaned over the neck of the pegasus, who accelerated a little more until he leaped into the air. Opening his wings wide, he rose powerfully into the sky, the sensation of losing his grip graying the angel who had remained on his back. Once high above the earth, the pegasus stabilized and began to turn in large arcs. Niris looked around, searching for the water in question. After a few minutes, he finally found a blue circle that stood out in the landscape.
"Azure! There, to the east!" He said mentally to his friend, using their mental communication channel. Spotting the body of water, the pegasus dived in its direction. In a few beats of his wings, he was on the spot.
This short aerial escapade had done the angel a world of good and he had forgotten all his frustration of the morning. His fruitless search for the last three days was now far behind him. All he had in mind for the moment was to dive into the turquoise-blue water of the cool bower he had stumbled upon around Yerpena.
Putting his four hooves on the ground, the pegasus folded his wings on his powerful body covered with black scales. No sooner had he landed than the angel jumped to his feet and began to remove his clothes. He jumped into the water once he was free of his clothing, shortly followed by the pegasus who caused a great stir in the small natural pool carved out of the stone.
The angel laughed and splashed his friend, who ruffled in the water, his wings half-opened to let the water pass between his feathers. Giving in to the euphoria of the moment, Niris threw himself backward and dived into the water. Then what happened to every angel who dived underwater: his body transformed and a beautiful mermaid tail replaced his legs. Shiny black scales dotted his back and transparent membranes formed along his forearms and ears.
Remaining from their kinship with dragons, the transformation into a mermaid in water was one of the main reasons why angels were still victims of slavery. An extremely rare gift that not even the maritime species themselves possess, sirenification was a process that all angels possessed from birth and was highly coveted, giving them a beautiful appearance of half-human, half-fish creatures. Most importantly, it was a process that could be reversed each time they emerged from the water. Like all beautiful and precious things in this world, covetousness did not exonerate them from the danger it entailed for its possessors, and the young angels were accustomed from an early age to being extremely secretive about their mermaid form.
With a few strokes of his fins, Niris reached the bottom of the pool. The warm temperatures of the planet coloured the fish and the aquatic grasses in bright shimmering colours. Playing with the fish, which fled when they saw him approach, Niris resumed his run to the surface.
Emerging from the water in one swoop, he brushed his hair back to clear his vision. Azure was still half-submerged, meticulously cleaning his wings. Niris approached a large, flat rock and climbed onto it, his deep black fishtail still immersed in the pure blue water.
They stayed there for a while, enjoying the intense feeling of relaxation that this impromptu swim gave them. Plunging his wings into the water one last time, the pegasus lay down on a submerged rock, his limbs, and lower belly in the water. Stretching out his long neck, he grunted in satisfaction as he rested his head on the cool stone of the ledge nearby.
Half-sleeping on his rock, Niris enjoyed the gentle rays of the sun licking his skin. He hadn't felt this good in a long time. He was savoring the moment.
"How are things going with the demon? What's his name again... A-ran? The one you met in the palace's secret garden?"
The pegasus' deep voice echoed in the angel's head, pulling him out of his torpor with difficulty.
"Mmmh well... he stood me up yesterday," the prince replied sulkily. "We were supposed to meet in the garden but he didn't show up."
Pegasus opened one eye. Eyes still closed, the angel showed a disappointed pout that his friend could easily guess. Shaking his ears to clear away the flies that were swirling around him, he continued in a reassuring tone.
"He seems quite busy, you know, maybe he just had an unexpected event. He probably wanted to see you but couldn't..."
The angel turned his head and did not answer. Azure did not insist. He knew the young angel was struggling to deal with this situation, which was new to him, and potentially dangerous. He had to let him make his own choices, and there was no need for him to add to his anxieties.
"We talked the last time we saw each other, and he told me he was anti-slavery," he finally said.
The pegasus raised his head sharply.
"He told you in those words? He told you he was against slavery?"
The angel opened his eyes and raised his head, looking into the pegasus' beautiful blue eyes.
"He told me that he dreamed of angels and demons getting along and that he was looking for a way to abolish slavery in Ornikarn because he didn't approve of those methods at all."
The pegasus gave him a puzzled look. He could not help but be suspicious. His friend noticed the hesitation in his eyes and smiled.
"Don't worry, I know he's sincere. If you'd seen him talk about angels, our culture, and how he treats me, you'd know he means his words in his heart."
The angel could not help but blush as he said these words. He immediately thought back to his last encounter with the mysterious demon in the flower garden. The soft touch of his skin and slender fingers when he had taken his hand, the bouncing flesh of his lips when he spoke, and his intense golden gaze that made his heart skip a beat every time he looked into it... it all came back to him and he felt his heart rate quicken. He hid in his arms crossed on the grey stone in front of him so as not to let his friend see the silly smile that he could not prevent from appearing on his face at the evocation of these memories.
No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, he knew it was already too late and that his feelings for A-ran were growing stronger with each passing day.
Too overcome with emotion to return to his beach relaxation, he indicated to the pegasus that he was going to take a walk in the water and dived without delay to the bottom of the pool. He wandered for a moment, watching the fish bask in the underwater algae with an absent-minded look when he noticed a hole through which the water seemed to be rushing into the rock.
He approached and looked. A stone conduit that was just big enough to let him through opened up before him. He hesitated, then piqued by curiosity and the need for a dose of adrenaline, he gave in to temptation and plunged into the passage. Letting himself be carried by the current, which was rapidly dragging him down, he finally came to a larger and darker cavity.
Giving himself time to regain his sense of direction, he floated for a few moments in the current, then with a flick of his tail headed for the surface. Cautiously, he risked both eyes above the water. A huge rocky vault overhung the pool. He was in a cave. He swam in circles, observing the surroundings but not noticing anything in particular. It was a cave like any other. Stalactites, stalagmites, water, and rock. That was all there was to this cave.
He was about to retrace his steps to find a way back to the surface when he heard voices echoing off the rock face. Intrigued, he turned his head in the direction of where they were coming from, then seeing two demons appear from an artery of the cave, he reflexively hid behind a rock.
"...of what we agreed upon."
Niris could hear their conversation more and more clearly as they approached the center of the cave. He could make out a man's voice and a woman's voice that seemed to be discussing business.
"I've checked the goods and I have no complaints about the lot you showed me," the demoness replied. "I'll take them at the usual price, there's nothing atypical in the bunch."
"Agreed," said the demon. "They're all healthy and there are no behavioral abnormalities, it's a good quality batch."
The demoness giggled.
"Angels are so docile because of this stupid mentality they have of advocating non-violence above all! Young people are so easy to train! It's almost confusing that there's so little challenge, frankly!"
Niris opened his ears wide. They were talking about slaves, he was sure. He looked slightly over the rock he was hiding behind to identify the two demons, but they were too far away. He could only make out the long blue dress of the demoness. Concentrating, he stared at them and listened carefully so as not to miss a word of their conversation.
"What an excellent idea to keep them here! They're harmless in their mermaid form," the demoness said.
"And it allows us to bypass the imperial administration, which is very rigid on the registration of slaves," added the demon. "The ban on owning a slave who is not registered is simply untenable!"
"All so they can get the best specimens before the sale! These imperial family bastards don't stop at anything!" the demoness sneered with hatred."
"If you'll follow me, the latest arrivals are this way," the demon pointed in a new direction, and they made their way into the rocky cavity.
Niris was about to start chasing after them when an arm held him back against the rock he'd been hiding behind. He came face to face with A-ran, who was holding him firmly against the grey boulder with water up to his chest. The angel was so engrossed in the conversation of the two demons that he had not heard him approach at all.
"Let go of me! I want to follow them, let me go!" Niris struggled, entirely out of his mind at what he had just heard.
"Don't be impatient! You'll only get spotted for nothing!"
The angel heard nothing and continued to struggle against the demon's grip that held him firmly in place.
"Why are you holding me back? You don't want me to find out what they're up to, do you? You lied to me when you said you were anti-slavery, right?"
Putting his hand over Niris' mouth to cut off the sound of his voice and prevent it from reverberating against the walls of the cave, the demon held the exasperation the angel's words caused inside of him, bitting his lips not to let anything slip out. Unable to control the flood of emotions that invaded him, Niris was stuck between the rage that rose within him to get information at all costs and the disappointment mixed with feelings that he felt towards the demon. He remembered his words a few minutes earlier when he was speaking with Azure and realized that they were addressed to him as much as to the Pegasus. Niris wanted to believe in the demon's benevolence, but deep down he knew he couldn't help but doubt. And this realization broke his heart.
"What do you intend to do in this form? And once you've followed them, do you think you'll be able to fight them to free the slaves? Do you think you can do anything like that?"
Aran tried to reason with him without raising his voice too much, but he too was running out of patience.
"And no, I never lied to you about my political positions," he continued with a pained look. "I'm here because I've been following them because I want to expose their activity and dismantle their trade just as much as you do! But I assure you that following them in there will solve absolutely nothing! It will only make things worse when we are so close to the goal!"
Still inwardly tortured, Niris had stopped struggling as fiercely as before and was inwardly weighing the demon's words, still unable to trust him completely.
"And I remind you that you're not in the best shape for a tail..." A-ran remarked more calmly, with a glance for the angel's fishtail.
Glaring at him, Niris pulled his hand away from his mouth in a violent gesture. He didn't want to hear anymore, and he hated the idea of admitting that the demon was right because it sent him back to his uncertainties. And he knew he was wrong, but his desire to put a definitive end to all this made unbearable the idea of having to wait when he had decisive elements in front of him to have the crime recognized.
With a sulky look on his face, he turned his head in displeasure.
"How am I supposed to believe you? How do I know that you're not one of the traffickers too? After all, I don't know anything about you... "
"Ah, seriously, how can anyone be so..." the demon muttered, lowering his head at the angel's defiance.
He raised his eyes and looked into the angel's with a burning gaze. Moving closer to him until their torsos touched, he placed his hand on his cheek, then brought it down to his chin, which he grasped firmly between his thumb and forefinger, forcing the angel to look him straight in the eye.
Paralyzed by the intensity of the demon's gaze, Niris was unable to move. He wanted to move but his body would not respond. The drops of water falling from the demon's wet hair ran down his cheeks, creating a cold streak along his still-wet skin. The demon's face was so close to his that he could feel his breath on his warm skin. The angel held his breath, captivated by the intensity of the heartbeat in his chest. He had forgotten all about the slaves and traffickers who had long since disappeared into the stone tunnel.
After standing there for a moment without saying anything, the demon finally opened his mouth and his lips moved to say in a half-whispered voice:
"If I were one of those smugglers, I would have taken you in immediately. You are in a weak position here, it's like offering yourself to me. If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it long ago. And believe me, you may have been one of the guests, but your disappearance would not have caused any trouble to anyone but that little Selanpis you seem to have fallen in love with, seeing as you follow him everywhere!"
The demon paused for a moment, seeming to be in the grip of complex emotions battling inside him. Niris swallowed.
"I can do what I want with you, right here and now, but I won't, I never will, because I care about you and I want you to believe in the sincerity of my intentions. And I sincerely think that throwing yourself into the lion's den as you were planning to do a few moments ago is simply suicidal, which is why I stopped you."
Returning to his senses after a moment's absence, Niris turned his eyes from side to side, looking for a way out but finding none. He was forced to resign himself to blushing at his temper before the demon.
"And what do you think I should do?" he asked in a small voice, his eyes fixed on the ground.
The demon smiled weakly at the angel's adorable reaction.
"Let's get out of here and go back to the castle to start. Then let's discuss this and let me help you," he replied.
Niris looked up shyly.
"Help me with what?" he asked with the same shyness, his cheeks still pink.
"To put an end to this once and for all," A-ran replied with a smile. "What do you say? Two of us will be more effective."
Leaving again, Niris nodded weakly. Now that he had regained control of his motions, he felt a bit foolish and didn't know how to confront the demon.
Releasing his hold, the demon stepped back. The angel's confused state drew an amused smile on his face.
"Can you swim to shore?"
Without answering, the angel dived into the water, and in two strokes reached the shore of the underground lake. Shaking his head at the angel's stubbornness, the demon quickly followed him and climbed onto the stone ledge. Niris tried not to squint at his naked torso but had to turn his head to avoid being caught staring at the demon's sculpted body.
A-ran, who had taken a few steps away, came back to him with a piece of cloth in his hand.
"Here, put this on. I took it off before I jumped in the water, it's still dry."
Grateful, Niris sat on the edge of the pool and grabbed the cloth. He met the gaze of the demon, who had crouched down to be at his level and was admiring his magnificent tail, which was almost completely out of the water. Unable to resist the temptation, he reached out and stroked the shiny, still-wet scales with a look of admiration. The angel shuddered at the touch of the demon's warm skin against his cold scales.
It was then that he realised that the demon would never hurt him. He was certainly obsessed in some way with the angel, but it was not an interest that was unhealthy. It was more like the interest he felt for the demon. He could feel that the demon was interested in him with benevolence.
Coming to his senses, Niris pushed him back slightly.
"Turn around," he said, in a sulky rather than commanding voice.
The demon laughed at the angel's attitude.
"Okay, but hurry up. We need to get out of here before they come back, and I think they'll be here any minute."
He stood up and faced the wall, arms crossed. Making sure he has turned around, Niris finally emerged from the water, exposing his naked body to the cool cave air. Quickly, he put on the tunic the demon had given him. Too large for him, it barely fit over his shoulders and fell to his thighs. He tugged at the fabric in a desperate attempt to get it down further, but of course, the fabric didn't budge a bit.
"Is it good?" the demon asked, still facing the wall.
"No, not yet," Niris replied quickly.
He didn't want the demon to see him in this outfit, even though he knew he wouldn't have much choice. He wasn't mentally ready for that...
"Are you still mad at me for yesterday?" the demon asked to the great surprise of the angel.
Taken aback by his question, he thought for a moment about his answer when the demon's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"I'm sorry, I got caught up in something," he apologized in a soft voice. "By the time I got to the garden, it was already late and you were gone."
Niris did not answer immediately, his hands still closed on the precious cloth that miraculously refused to stretch.
"I know you're busy," he replied, still a little sulky.
"Does that mean I'm forgiven?" the demon said cheerfully, turning around suddenly.
"Hey, I didn't tell you you could turn around!"
The demon grabbed him by the wrist without responding to his protests and dragged him toward the exit.
"You forgive me then?"
Niris gave him an annoyed look.
"Only if you give me a taste of that imperia ice cream you've been praising so much!"
"As you please, Lord Jangta!" the demon replied, laughing at the angel's comedies.
Now holding him by the hand, he guided him to the exit, which they reached without difficulty and found Azur waiting for his friend with concern.