The Dark Elf stifled a yawn as he opened the door. "You know, you could have just called and let me know you were coming."
"I didn't have time for that." Besides, if I knew he was coming he might have jacked the price up even more. Never a trust Dark Elf who's got you over a barrel. "I've got the cash if you still have the uru—and believe me; you had better still have the uru."
"Oh I got it. The price—"
"Flames of the Faltine." The fire danced over my fingers.
"—is exactly what I told you earlier." The Dark Elf sighed. "You've lost your blood innocence."
"Yes. Believe me, it wasn't my first choice." I took a breath and closed my hand. When I opened it, the fire was gone. "I've had a long week. Just wrap it up and I'll take it to go."
"That's the problem with you mortals. Always so impatient."
"If I had a lifespan measured in thousands of years, maybe I'd have the time for the social niceties. As it is, I'm on a tight schedule, so dazzle me with your Dark Elf package wrapping skills."
He grumbled, but he did the job I asked of him. He even tossed in an enchantment on the box that would cause it to always return to my pocket. And he even didn't charge me an arm and a leg for that.
Only the equivalent of a little finger.
"It was nice doing business with you," the Dark Elf said as he counted the cash. I couldn't repress a sigh. That was the most money I had ever had in my entire life—and now almost all of it was gone.
But I had the uru, and I had the promise of the Lady.
That'd have to be enough.
I nodded to the Dark Elf, pocketed the box (it was about the size of a ring box) and packed up what was left of my money. "It's time for me to fly."
"I wouldn't. Fly, that is. Not with uru."
"Why not?"
"Because Thor is currently on Midgard. And the sky will tell him that you have uru. Do you really think the Thunderer would want you to have it?"
"No, not particularly. It's rather nice of you to warn me."
"Nice has nothing to do with it. What do you think the Prince of Asgard would do if he found a Dark Elf on Midgard? One swing of that hammer and there wouldn't be enough of me left over to fill a bucket."
"Fine. Whatever. Okay, you're saying the sky talks to him?"
"He is the Prince of Thunder. The Lightning answers his call. The sky will taste the uru in the air the moment you take it from the ground."
"Well, that sort of sucks. You could have told me this before."
"And potentially cost myself a sale? Get serious."
"It'll know if I go by air … but not by ground?"
"No. There may be a Troll or Dwarf slumming on Midgard who would sense its passing, but the Thunderer himself will know nothing unless the air tells him."
I could possibly use the Eye to travel, but I wasn't really all that good with it. And quite frankly, the idea of trusting my life to the Lady's trinket after having nearly pissed her off the last time I used it was more of a risk than I wanted to take. No, the Eye would be a last resort—I wanted all the power it could muster for the Spell.
Power.
It always came back to power for me.
It was the only thing I had wanted—or at least the only thing I had told myself that I wanted—for so long that I could barely think of anything else.
And yet … power … my power … for all that I had done to earn it … all that I had lost, bartered or given away … it was never enough.
At least, not yet.
Fine. If I couldn't travel by air and I couldn't risk magical transportation, I'd go by land. I'd take the damn bus if that's what it took me to where I had to go.
"Thanks for your help," I told the Dark Elf. "I'll remember it."
"Remember it with cash," he said hopefully, but I felt he'd been well compensated for what he'd done for me.
"Next time," I promised him instead.
He muttered something in Dark Elvish that didn't exactly sound like a compliment, but I let it pass.
I had bigger fish to fry.
In the end, I decided that I would take the bus … at least part of the way. I had enough cash left over that I could have rented or bought a car …but on the off chance that Thor or someone else who didn't approve of my plans, DID find me, I wanted to make sure there were plenty of innocent bystanders around to give them pause before they tried to pound me into a bloody smear.
Of course, the flip side of that was that if the "someone else" happened to be someone a lot less noble than Thor, I would be putting dozens of innocent people at risk. Not exactly my most shining moment, but I still felt it was the right thing to do.
At least for me and my safety.
And that little voice in the back of my head that kept nagging me about it … that voice that sometimes had a honeyed Southern accent and sometimes had a Cajun one … that little voice could just shut the hell up because I wasn't going to listen to it.
Not this time.
I sat alone on the bus and looked out the window. I didn't want to think about what I was leaving behind. I didn't want to think about what I was heading towards. One was impossible to hold onto; the other was impossible to escape.
I would do what I had set out to do. I had the uru. Now it was time for me to go home. Now it was time for me to finally keep my promise to the Lady.
I was surprised that she was being so quiet. Perhaps it was because she knew that I was going to do what she wanted. Maybe it was because she was gathering her strength for the Spell. Whatever the reason, I was grateful that I had the (rare) chance to be alone with my thoughts.
Predictably, that didn't last.
"Excuse me, do you mind if I sit down here?"
I turned from the window and found myself staring at a brown haired young woman who looked somehow familiar to me even though I'd never seen her before in my entire life. "Knock yourself out."
She was pretty. Perky, even. Slender. In her late teens or early twenties. "Thanks. I appreciate it. I'm on my way back to visit my folks in Chicago."
I nodded my head. What, was she about to share her life story with me? That could make for a very long trip …
"What's your name?" She asked me suddenly.
"Kyle."
"Kyle-?"
"Just Kyle."
"Well, you're not the first guy I've ever met with just one name." She leaned back into her seat and closed her eyes. "Just don't be a creep, okay? Don't try to touch anything you shouldn't and don't hit on me more than once and we'll be great."
The ghost of a smile touched my lips. "It'll be hard, but I'll try to control myself."
"Appreciate it. Kitty."
"What?"
"That's my name. Kitty." She grinned at me. "I'm Kitty Pryde. Pleased to meet you, Kyle …"