ADAD Chapter 10: First rune delivery

 Darius placed his batch of runes in a bottomless folder, and then in the teleportation box. With the runes, he had placed photos, and a quick note. He hoped that Rey would give it to Andy and Alek as quickly as possible, even though to them, the time that had passed must have felt like just an hour, or less. 

Rey was sitting on the couch, when the box flashed green, and the folder appeared in it. The young Fey rushed to the box, and opened it. Taking out the folder, he checked to see if there were photos inside. His eyes went wide, when he saw the photo of Darius, Anastasios and Prisila before a huge castle made of white granite. 

The Fey boy looked over the photos with more than a little wonder. This place, Orestria Academy, was magical. They even had pixies in there, and they were notoriously picky about where they lived. Rey looked at the box for a couple of more minutes, and then rushed to the office.  

"Dari sent the runes and the photos. And there is a letter," Rey said, as he stepped inside. Alek was helping Andiel to crush herbs for medicine making, and they both turned around to see the boy they had adopted just a couple of minutes prior. 

"Well, let us see," Alek said, and placed the pestle on the table. Rey handed him the photos and the letter, and then lingered in the doorway. "Come closer. I can see your name on the paper." 

Rey came closer to the two, and sat on the floor. The folder clutched in his hands. 

Dear family,

The letter began, and Rey felt warmth spread through his body. Darius thought of him as a family member, for the demon boy had added Rey's name in the letter. Alek would never lie about such things. 

 I got sorted in the Rune house, and made some new friends. Although Tim is weird. He wants to become the third member in Noah and Prisi's relationship. They are soulmates, by the way. I bunk with Harvey; he is a Fey. He is nice, but he has never seen a vampire before Nastia and Prisi. Can you believe that?

Anyway, I didn't do all that well during my first dictation, but we met up in the library for practice. Meditation lessons are kind of boring, but Charisma lessons are very fun. I managed to make a hamster happy, by projecting my happiness. It wagged its butt at me, and I wagged my tail!

 Alek stopped reading, to chuckle. 

"Oh, come now, you know he won't stop with the tail wagging until he is a grown up," Andiel said, and Alek chuckled again. 

"Can you imagine the hamster wagging its butt at him, while he wags his tail? Is there a photo of that?" Alek asked, as he reached out for the photos. He was disappointed when he didn't find any ones with hamsters in them.  

The instructor said that we are to project other emotions by the end of the year. Like fear, or anxiety. I don't want to do that, but I don't want to repeat the year, either. I just hope that we won't project them on hamsters. They are so cute.

"Uhm, can I get a hamster?" Rey asked, hopeful. 

"You will feed it, clean after it, and tell it goodnight stories that you come up with yourself," Alek said sternly, as Andiel gave him a sideways glance. 

"So, he is getting a hamster now, is he?" The elf asked, and the Fey nodded. 

"Come now, Andy. We can't separate the kids. If Dari gets to play with hamsters, then so should Rey," Alek insisted, and Andiel sighed. 

"I suppose that Rey can get a hamster, if he promises to keep it in the cage," Andiel stated his compromise, and Rey bounced on his feet.

"I will! No hamster out of the cage, I promise," Rey said, and then looked at Alek. "What else does it say?"

 Sword wielding is great fun. My instructor said I have an affinity for the short sword, and that I can learn dual wielding, and how to have a net in one hand, and a short sword in the other. Archery is great, it helps me clear my mind. I wonder if that is the reason behind it being right before the meditation club activity?

Nastia and Prisi are fine. They said that they will send their parents letters as well. How is Rey? Has he moved in the house yet? Tell him that, if he feels lonely, he can go to my room. It should still smell of me. 

Lots of hugs,

Dari. 

"That was a short letter. How much time do you think passed for him over there?" Alek asked, and then handed the letter to Andiel. The elf poured mana into the paper, and then sighed. 

"Two weeks. He held out for two weeks before sending us something. Rey, I take it you have to go to the rune shop and bring the runes there now?" Andiel asked, and then looked to Alek. "Or, can't you take them with you tomorrow morning?"

"I can take them," Alek said, and then became thoughtful. "Wait, what about the runes that need to go to the tavern?"

"Dari separated those with a sheet of blue paper," Rey said, and then took out a stack of fifty runes, and handed the folder to Alek. "I will be going now." 

"Out of the question," Andiel told him sternly. "You won't be going to a tavern in the dark!"

"But I have a job to do," Rey protested. Andiel's eyes softened, and he went and petted the little Fey boy on the head. 

"Your brother won't be mad at you, if you postpone it for the daylight hours," Andiel said, and Rey smiled. 

"It is weird that my brother is my employer," the Fey boy murmured, and Andiel chuckled. 

"Well, one day, when we send you off to Westermire, you will be the one who employs people," Andiel said, and Rey looked at him with wide eyes. 

"I get to go to Westermire?" Rey asked, and Andiel nodded. 

"Dari's fees were already paid, when Octavian suggested Orestria. I was going to get my money back this month, but then you came into our life, and the two of us, Alek and I, figured that you deserved the best education there is," Andiel said, and then patted the boy on the head. "It is no Orestria, but Westermire is still a great place. I graduated there myself. Seeing as you are still five years old, you will need to wait for a year. Plenty of time to figure out how to go to Westermire and keep your job, right?"

"Right," Rey said, nodding along with a blinding smile on his face.