97 | wanderer; marked in silver

The target Reed assigned to him was a dragon named Noah Bellamy. Kaden had stood with his hands hanging at his sides, dully nodding his head as his orders were announced.

To capture Noah Bellamy, not to kill.

Noah Bellamy.

Kaden licked his dry lips, peeling at the edges, standing on the streets with his hair dyed a regal raven. He adjusted his collar, dressed as a travelling merchant in the busy city of Corpus. His cloak's hood remained down—hiding would make him more apparent.

His first note: The magnificent beast lived a rather mundane life for somebody who could destroy a city if he sought to. But he already knew that.

From private investigation and notes sourced by Reed.

Further ahead, Noah Bellamy paused among the busy crowd and glanced back, but noticed nothing strange. His discerning black eyes skimmed over those walking, but nobody behaved abnormally.

He turned again, continuing with his day. He was being followed, he knew, but he wouldn't seek out the stalker. Instead, he decided to go shopping.

The first store was a jewellery store, its hanging sign outside creaking. An old store, but the quality was undeniable. A family chain that was once popular and now existed as a hidden shop for the most prestigious.

Noah stopped by a display, a pair of delicately hanging earrings. At the bottom, a sharply cut obsidian jewel with swirls of white intertwined with the black.

He nodded at the shopkeeper—they didn't interfere unless asked first, that was the way of business in that store. Those who recognized the value of the jewels would not leave in a huff, complaining of the old displays.

Then, the dragon left for his next store.

A man entered the jewellery store, stopping by the same hanging earrings.

Kaden's second note: Was this the dragon's taste?

He purchased it regardless, placing a fat pouch of gleaming gold on the counter. The storekeeper smiled and said curiously, "That pair seems to be popular today."

The next store was a bakery. The dragon purchased a variety of different sweet and savoury goods and left. He seemed to be a frequent customer, considering his smooth and quick decision making.

A minute later, a man walked inside the bakery, looking around at the cozy atmosphere.

The baker eagerly greeted him, "Hello! Are you new? Would you like any recommendations, or has anything caught your eye?"

Kaden flinched, blinking several times as he shook his head. Outside of acting like a menace and taunting others before he killed them, his social skills were beyond helpless.

"I'll... purchase whatever the last customer had."

"Our last customer? Oh! He's a regular, did you see his collection and feel hungry? He does have good taste. Always chooses my favourites!" exclaimed the baker, gathering the different goods and packing them in a brown paper bag.

Kaden nodded awkwardly, skimming around the display case. His eyes landed on a macaron tower, different colours of smooth shells staring back at him.

"Can I buy some of these?"

The baker nodded enthusiastically. "Of course, of course. How many? Which ones? If you don't know, I can recommend some?"

"Please."

A certain pink-haired man left with a big bag of baked goods held in his hands. He picked one out, a fresh piece of sweet bread and took a tentative bite. It was delicious and fluffy, an underlying note of honey and warmth seeping into his mouth.

Kaden hardly felt hungry these days, but his stomach rumbled greedily, demanding more. And he obliged.

Kaden bit into a macaron, easily consuming the three he purchased as sweetness enveloped his mouth. A familiar taste, but it wasn't the same. His finger rubbed the crumbs on the corner of his mouth quietly before he followed his target again.

A sneaky fox followed a quiet dragon, making purchase after purchase.

His stomach ached from the food he had stuffed into it, unused to eating such large amounts. The excessive walking made him dizzy too—a result of a lack of sleep and food.

Kaden only performed well in his killings because they were swift. Endurance wasn't his speciality.

They ventured down an alleyway, turning into another and another, and Kaden wondered if the dragon was lost. Was he caught—were these disorganised turns a purposeful ploy?

His gloved hand reached for the daggers on his belt, ghosting over them as he quietly crept behind.

He waited several beats, pivoting around a corner—but where a large man should've stood was an empty street.

Kaden frowned, looking left and right when the open entrance covered in swaying vines that prickled with tender and small white flowers caught his eye.

He scurried to the side upon hearing voices and footsteps, and the dragon's quiet voice bidding someone farewell.

When he left, Kaden walked inside, hesitating at the doorway.

"Tch, why are you blocking my entrance? Come on boy, you have a good pair of feet. Use them." came a grumpy and youthful voice.

Kaden's gaze softened slightly and he entered, gaze skimming the old but comfortable bookstore. Little wooden trinkets decorated the shelves in front of worn and well read books.

The young teenager sprawled on one of the shorter shelves peered at him through gold-rimmed glasses. "Now, boy, what're you looking for? The customer before you was looking at that."

A short finger pointed at a book displayed on a stand, standing in front of several others.

'The Difference Between Curtsying and Bowing' it read.

"..." Kaden stared at it solemnly for several seconds and looked away. "That's not what I'm looking for."

"Then? Out with it. If you already knew, you should've answered me right away."

The bossy teenager continued to mutter complaints, rolling off the shelf and leaping onto the ground. He fiddled with one of the wooden toys, spinning it round and round on the table.

Kaden stared at it in a daze, as if the spinning motion took with it his sunken memories, unravelling all the threads that knotted it.

The teenager's rich eyes flickered sideways. "Now? What is it, boy?"

He looked around the unorganized shelves, very much doubting that the teenager could produce what he sought from a mere title. Upon inquiring, the teenager gave him a look of disbelief.

"What? You considered that I'd be able to find a single book among this mess? My eyes are no longer good enough for that." To empathize his point, he tapped his glasses.

Kaden felt a little helpless and wondered, "Then why ask?"

"Why are you asking me why?"

"I'm curious."

"Ah, then I was curious as well."

"......"

"Fine, fine. Look at that disgruntled expression. Here, I'll recommend some as well." The teenager seemed to grab books at random, reflected off his gold-rimmed glasses.

He tucked his hair behind his ear—abnormally pointed, Kaden realized.

As the young boy skimmed through books, Kaden's feet wandered slowly, gaze trailing against the endless rows and stacks of old paper, worn leather. He stopped, gently pulling out a book wedged in a heavy stack.

A thin book. A picture book.

On the cover, a majestic lion greeted him. Hanging over the lion's head was a lethargic cat with bright, watching eyes. He opened the crinkling page, the crisp sound of paper cutting through the silence.

It was a simple story. The journey of a lion and a cat, two creatures both similar and different. They traversed their lands, exploring new sights and discoveries.

The type of story that would appeal to a child that hadn't seen much of the world. Enough to become a treasure. Kaden swallowed, softly trailing his fingers across the pages.

"Can I take this?"

The teenager popped his head from behind a shelf, grinning. His teeth were sharp. "Feel free, boy. But remember to return them eventually—or I'll have to come fetch them myself."

Kaden felt a cold shiver run up his arm and nodded.

"Now, here we are." A thick stack was heavily dropped on a table beside Kaden. As if the stories beckoned him, Kaden trailed his hand over the spines, over dramatic titles. "Interesting, aren't they? I must admit that my grandson has decent taste."

Kaden flipped through the summaries, all telling such different tales. That was the magnificent thing about stories, he supposed.

They were all millions of thoughts expressed through black ink on a sheet of paper. They were tales of adventures and dreams that came from a single, or multiple people's intricate minds. They all carried a similar soul expressed in different tales.

Once, Kaden wouldn't have been able to understand that. Because back then, books were simply a means of expanding his knowledge; they were torturous and boring, and he had no choice but to endure them.

Who taught him otherwise?

Kaden's green gaze flickered wildly. His eyes landed on the picture book again. The lion and the cat. Precious enough to be a treasure.

"Books," the teenager murmured, stepping around him. "Carry much more than the stories within them. They're reflective of those who have read them before. They carry memories."

Kaden swallowed. "Can I take these all?"

"I suppose you may.."

Kaden nodded, accepting a large bag conjured out of nowhere—but he felt that some things should not be questioned—and hurried out of the store.

Inside the old bookstore, sunlight filtering inside the room, the teenager rubbed his nose. A frown appeared on the young lips. "There have been many blessings I've seen in my life—and his has a lifespan."

The breeze blew, and a book fell to the ground. Within the spread pages, a man with closed eyes appeared. Sleeping in a bed of morning glories.

The ancient dragon crouched down. "This is a love story," he muttered, carefully closing the book. "This is nothing more than the story of a man who was loved."

Outside on the streets, Kaden hurried to find his target once again. Noah Bellamy, the name that rolled of his tongue so naturally. He clutched his bag of purchases, seeing a ghost of white-black hair flutter around an alley.

Kaden turned down the alley, shadowed and located further away from the main streets as his body was slammed into the wall violently.

His feet skidded on the wet ground, still damp from the previous evening's rain.

Pain flared up in his chest, an irritated hand curled around his wrists. It squeezed, and Kaden thought his bones might break.

"What are you following me?" said a low, deadly voice that simmered on the verge of anger. It was calm and angry, a steady lake with a storm ready to create rolling waves.

Kaden's gaze flicked up. His hood had kicked up loosely over his head with the movements, hiding his face. Although Noah's voice was calm, the grip around his wrist tightened viciously.

"Answer me."

It was a threat. An impatient once, at that.

The weight of the books seemed much heavier hanging over his shoulder. The dragon noticed, his gaze trailing down to the books peeking out of a large bag. His eyebrows furrowed, scowl deepening.

The atmosphere grew chillier, and every bone in Kaden's body urged him to run. He opened his mouth to respond, but his voice refused to answer.

Don't say a word, his mind warned him.

His eyes darted and in the next second, he swung his legs out, colliding heavily with the other man. A low hiss, and Kaden slipped out of the loosened grip, swinging around and knocking the man to the ground.

Unprepared, the man's knees buckled, colliding into the wet grounds. The wind blew under his hood as Kaden turned, their eyes briefly interlocking. Kaden yanked his hood back over and dashed away.

In that split second, a dull green gaze flashed in Noah's reflective black eyes and the figure disappeared. The dragon, leaning back on the ground, stared after the empty spot blankly.

His gaze dropped to his hands that had been holding the slender pair of wrists earlier, fingers slowly curling in as if to recreate the warmth.

"Kaden Chauvet," he whispered.

He brought his hands to his forehead, cradling them quietly. When he lifted his gaze again, the dragon's eyes were a fathomless and cold black carrying unforgiving resentment.

"I won't forgive you."

Further away, Kaden escaped to the castle, into the darkness of his room where he found both solitude and comfort. He felt breathless, and it wasn't from hurrying out of the town. For the first time in months, Kaden drew towards the light, flicking the lamp on.

A dull glow crept into his room, a faint orange hue designed to create warmth, but to him, only brought clarity to his nightmares.

His skin prickled with anxiety, the hairs in the back of his neck standing. Kaden tried to pretend he didn't see scatters of movement from under the bed or along the walls, that the blinking and eerie eyes that watched him didn't exist.

In reality, they didn't. To him, they always followed—and they were not something one could simply get used to or ignore.

He scattered the books around him, stories falling around his feet. The brave tales of heroes or terribly misunderstood villains. The stories of people who weren't anything more than themselves, regular and normal.

Silver fell out of the bag, and Kaden quietly picked it up between his fingers.

The earrings.

He walked over to his mirror, shattered from years prior and never replaced, crouching down to the small piece that remained. His ears weren't pierced. The man raised the dangling obsidian to his ears, quietly staring.

In a swift movement, he stabbed through with the sharp pin, a prick of blood appearing as the metal forced its way through his tender lobes.

He didn't hesitate to repeat it on the other side, watching the blood trickle down the silver jewellery, dying the white-black obsidian red. His ears throbbed but his mind was numb to the faint pain that pulsed.

Noah Bellamy,

Delicately, his thumb brushed the blood off the obsidian as he stared at himself in the broken mirror fragment, lit by the soft pulse of the light. His mouth moved, forming three words. A quiet, tender whisper.

"I remember you."

———xxx———

Lukiyo says,

As usual, I'll be replying tomorrow since I have an early morning! The questions are: does Kaden really not remember them? Is his memory surpressed by his own inner safety mechanisms, or is it a negative consequence of ill health and the overuse of his blessing?

What does he remember of Noah Bellamy, a ghost of a memory and brief, fleeting moments? Does he remember the extent of their bond, his feelings, his salvation?

As for Noah who abandoned his home to live in a human city, to live a 'normal' life and escape the solitary destiny placed for him, how long can he restrain himself, and how long can he chase a ghost that refuses to be caught?

In reality, if we were Noah's friends, we would tell him to move on with his life and live selfishly, to not devote his every being to a person that refuses to reciprocate. It's of course a little more complicated, a little more dramatic, but that wonderful love interest that is eternally devoted and undoubtedly remain by the main character's side is always lovely and sweet.

Always so lovely, always so fictional. I actually have a very cynical view of love (but let's not get into that!) but I do really, really like romances, believe me. But I wonder, if Noah eventually gives up on Kaden, can I blame him?

Just as, for all Kaden's stubborness that translates into foolishness, can I blame him either?

I feel like these thoughts come to surface more often in the upcoming chapters.

Anyway! I'll see you guys later~ hope everything is swell and magical with you all!