Brightly coloured rays of sunlight shine through between the curtains and welcome me. With my eyes still closed, I stretch my arms and legs and yawn loudly.

The end of the mattress swells in. I open my eyelids and stand in two sparkling light blue eyes. "Get up, sleepyhead, breakfast is almost over and the arela leaves in two hours."

"Yeah, yeah," I mutter still groggy with fatigue as I knock the blanket off me and set my legs on the cold wooden floor.

A shiver goes from my toes down my back. I rub my eyes with the back of my hand.I quickly grab my pre-made clothes from my nightstand and walk to the bathroom. With my free thumb and pinky finger, I lock the door and place my clothes next to the small, but practical sink.

I stare at the ice blue eyes staring at me. They look tired, surrounded by dark circles almost as dark as my raven black hair.

Is this me? I touch my right cheek and see the girl in the mirror image doing the same thing at the same time. What has happened? Where am I? Is this real? All the questions that haunt me. What is this whole elven dimension and then why have I still not seen a real elf – with wings?

Always I read in fairy tales or fantasy books that elves had pointed ears, were elegant and supernaturally handsome, and they had wings. Big, beautiful wings that could take them above the clouds with just a few strokes. The fairy tales and books generally got it right, but besides myself, I haven't seen any elves' wings. Not even Cian's. But why not?

I sigh deeply and turn on the faucet, then wash my face and try to banish all questions from my mind.

After a few minutes, I have completed my entire morning routine and walk out with a refreshed face. Cian is already waiting at the door with our backpacks. I look around the room and see that he has cleaned up and packed everything in the meantime.

"Are you hungry?" he asks me. My stomach makes a grunting sound in response. I feel my cheeks turn a light pink and am looking down at my socks when I hear Cian laugh out loud. "Okay, then let's go-to breakfast."

The stairs make a creaking sound as my shoes make contact. A small, round window as big as my head is halfway up the stairs and I take the time to look outside for a moment. The dew and water vapour on the windows make me realize that autumn has truly begun. I sigh at the thought. Autumn is never my favourite season, as it is also called the 'rainy season' and it is always cold, but it never snows.

"Aire, are you coming?" Cian beckons to me, standing at the bottom of the stairs. I walk quickly down the stairs and immediately catch the delectable smells from the breakfast room, the same place we had dinner last night.

We sit down at a little table in the corner of the cosy dining room and immediately a friendly-looking clerk comes up to us with two menus under her arm. "If you please, do you know what you would like to drink?"

"Still water please," I answer, not opening the menu. Personally, I'm not a fan of drinks with bubbles; my tongue and mouth weirdly can't handle them.

"Also for me please," Cian complements me. The clerk scribbles obscure things on her sheet, then smiles at us – mainly at Cian and says, "Just hint to me when you've decided what you want to eat."

I end up deciding to go for something similar to American pancakes and Cian for an omelette. After a few minutes, Cian had consumed his food and stands up. Surprised, I look up from my plate when I hear the scraping sound of a chair. "Are you done already?" I ask him incredulously, simultaneously popping a piece of pancake with maple syrup into my mouth.

Cian nods and wipes his mouth with his napkin. "I'm going to the front desk to check out, okay?" I nod instead of saying anything because my mouth is full of pancakes.

I chew quickly and swallow the remains of the food. I raise my hand to Cian, gesturing for him to wait. "How long do we have before the arela leaves?" I have to cough halfway through my sentence: I've swallowed the food too fast and in too large chunks."Another forty-five minutes." He slings his backpack over his back and walks away. I quickly eat my breakfast, then join Cian.

Together, after we check out, we walk outside. The eagle I also saw yesterday is now looking at me piercingly again, in such a way that a shiver goes down my spine.

Once I arrive at the arela, I recognize one of the passengers already present. The boy who had also caught my eye yesterday. Standing next to Cian, I try to study him as inconspicuously as possible.

He is tall, not too tall, but stands out above the rest of the passengers. His light brown hair falls just above his eyes.

I don't know how long I've been watching him when he turns around – as if he knows – and we make eye contact. I quickly look away, hoping I was in time and he didn't see me looking at him, but in the corner of my eye, I see him looking at me with self-satisfaction. He runs a hand through his already messy hair and gives me a wink. I roll my eyes. Narcissist.

He's very much one of those guys who thinks he's everything just because his looks aren't his flaw. He reminds me of Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray or Narcissus. He is Narcissus' double.

I see him walking towards us, or rather towards me, but fortunately, at that moment the rider of the arela calls out that from now on the doors are open for boarding and he also requests all the passengers to do so.

Quickly I make my way out, grab Cian by the hand and quickly walk towards the arela. "Hey, hey, not so fast," Cian comments after he almost trips over his legs and still manages to find his balance at the last moment. I grin at him. Now he also knows how it feels to always be pulled along from hop to hop.

The arela looks the same from the inside as the one we had taken yesterday. I, therefore, don't dare say for sure that this is a different one or the same one as yesterday. What I am more aware of now is that this is all because of magic. The arela, that it floats. This world. Everything.

That's the big difference between the human world, the world I was so familiar with, and this world.

This is a new world, it smells different, tastes different, looks different, yet it also has so much in common that it is almost frightening.

I set my backpack down by the table where Cian has sat down and decide to go to the panoramic window. The glass is so clean, free of fingerprints or dust, it's like there's no glass at all. I press my index finger against the hard glass, then take it off again, but to my amazement, no fingerprint remains. This is magic glass, it goes through me.

A shadow appears next to me. I look up and immediately want to look away. It's the same boy, Narcissus.

"Hi," he greets me. His voice sounds deep, low, but calm at the same time. I sigh to myself, now I have to look at him and respond, otherwise, it's rude and weird.

I turn around a quarter turn. Our shoulders are facing each other. "Hi," I greet him back. Unintentionally, my 'hi' sounded very different from his. It possessed irritation, annoyance, but also dissatisfaction. Quickly I want to apologize for it, I didn't mean it that way, but he's ahead of me.

His hands, which were first in his pants pockets, he now raises defensively. "Okay, I got the hint, you're not interested, I'll leave you alone now," he begins to apologize. I wave my hand, aiming for him to stop apologizing, but apparently, he interprets this completely differently again, because he continues apologizing, "I'm sorry if I got the wrong impression, that's my fault."

I wave my hand again, but then stop myself, thinking that he didn't understand that hint. I bite the inside of my lip, unable to hear his apology anymore. This is one big misunderstanding.

"No," I say a little too loudly then. Both of us are startled by my steadfastly loud voice and I even see people a few feet away pause their conversation and look up at us. How could you make a bigger fool of yourself, Aire?

I breathe in and out audibly deep. Then I look up at him and drown for a few seconds in two emerald eyes. My actions tingle after when I break eye contact. "No," I say more calmly now. "You didn't get the wrong impression. It was...I...I didn't mean it that way. It came out wrong," I stammer out my explanation for my previous behaviour.

He smiles at me. His green eyes twinkle and automatically I smile back. He holds out his hand and it takes me a moment to realize that the intention is to shake it. I smile uncomfortably.

"I'm Faelano. What name goes with this handsome young lady?"

My fingers tingle at his compliment and my cheeks can't help but change colour slightly. Man up, Aire, it's not like no boy has ever paid you a compliment before. Why do all these elves have to be so extremely attractive? Why?

"Aire."

"And lovely name indeed," his pearly white teeth almost seem to glisten from the reflection of the sunlight. I smile.

The landscape changes at lightning speed due to the high speed of the arela. Currently, my eyes reach so far that I can see some snowy mountain peaks in the distance, which is surrounded by a turquoise blue sky.

Due to the minimal amount of sleep I got last night, I quickly notice that constantly standing takes its toll on my legs. I quickly grab the railing with both hands when I feel my legs shaking, an indication that they could collapse at any moment.

"Sorry, I'm going to sit down for a minute. It was nice talking to you," I say quickly. Faelano's response is only a 'hmm' sound. I roll my eyes and walk quickly on my shaky legs towards Cian, who looks at me with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

"Fun conversation?" Cian asks and I raise my hand to him, gesturing for him not to say another word. Cian smiles. His voice echoes through the arela. I slide a chair back and sit down with a soft 'thud'.

"Shut up." I hide my head behind my hands as I feel my head become a lighthouse again."He's just talking about himself. I stood there, for I think fifteen minutes and I think I now know more about his life than I do about mine!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air. This makes Cian laugh even harder and I see Faelano looking up at us. I avoid eye contact.

Although he is as handsome as an angel, his inner self is...well...one of a narcissist. Although I barely know him yet, all he can do is talk about himself and compliment himself.

"Don't judge a book by its cover," are Cian's wise words after he laughs.

I nod, wearily. The conversation falls silent and I focus on the constantly changing landscape of Ailluin. It's magnificent, passes through me. I didn't know that a landscape could amaze me like this, and amaze me over and over again.

After several hours, which seem to have flown by, the sky has changed to a sapphire blue, illuminated by the bright full moon.

"Next stop, Negaron." My ears prickle and suddenly I am wide awake. I shake Cian awake beside me and together we walk quickly toward the side of the arela.

A huge imposing building looms before us in the distance, surrounded by the woods. It is larger than a castle. There is no doubt in my mind that this is not Negaron. It must be.

"We have arrived at Negaron, Aire. We made it," Cian whispers next to me as if he can barely believe it himself. He also seems mesmerized by the chateau in the distance.

"Saved?" I ask, not taking my eyes off Negaron. My voice sounds surprised and I frown at his distinct choice of words. He acts like the journey was life-threatening, but I didn't feel that way at all, the opposite rather, that this was all a very special and enjoyable adventure.

"Yes, from now on we are safer, in Negaron we are safe," it feels like Cian is trying to reassure himself. "He can't hurt you now. We are safe here, Aire. You are safe here."

"Safe? From who?" My voice begins to sound worried and I turn to Cian to see if he's joking or serious. But when I make eye contact with him, I see the seriousness in his countenance. I swallow deeply, afraid of his response.

Cian sighs deeply and gingerly places a hand on my shoulder as if to ease the pain I'm about to feel.

"Vulmon."