"I had no idea," Izuku watched him with a fascinated gaze. "I guess it makes sense since the similarities between the three races are pretty obvious. They're all long lived, and magical in some way, and of course they all have the pointed ears. But there are some pretty obvious differences too."
He said, "The Fae races came out of that original Elven diaspora. I believe their differences evolved because of their differences in environment."
"Then there are the Elves," Izuku interjected. "And they feel like no other creatures in the world. At least no other creatures that I've met."
It was Katsuki's turn to raise his eyebrows. For someone of his relative youth and inexperience, Izuku had a remarkably refined sensitivity to creatures of Power.
"Interesting. You sense a difference in how they feel?"
Izuku nodded.
He told him, "You are correct. Their Power is different from any others. It's elemental, literally."
"What do you mean?"
"Their Power comes from the five elements- air, fire, water, wood and earth. Like the Nyr and many of the other Archaic Races, the Elves grow in Power as they age. The ancient Elves can control weather, shift tides, cause landscapes to shift. In many ways the Earth was a different place before they warred with themselves."
"That sounds terrifying," Izuku muttered.
"It was," he said. "And I still have not forgiven them for it."
A shudder ran through him, and he looked up at Katsuki. "Adlivun Wood. Is it something they created?"
"I believe it is at least something they started," he said. "It was born out of their Power and is combined with the magic of one of the strongest crossover passageways in Japan. The Wood appears to have achieved a certain intelligence that is entirely wild and not necessarily safe."
"I think it's beautiful."
"And I suppose it is that too," he laced his fingers with Izuku's.
Izuku made a sudden moue. "That's probably my segue into telling you that Nemuri invited me to their home in the Wood so that I can speak with Sekijiro."
In an instant, his uneasy sense of peace and balance vaporized, and the dragon roared to the surface. He snapped, "Absolutely not."
Izuku froze, his mouth open, and stared at him. "Excuse me?"
"I said no," he growled. "You do not go deeper into the Elves' territory. I have allowed you to go this far, but I will not allow that."
Izuku blinked several times. He said slowly, "So when Nemuri invited me, and since it is the only way I can speak to Sekijiro on this trip, I said yes. We leave first thing in the morning."
"Izuku, I said no, dammit!"
His mate's expression grew cold. "I heard what you DICTATED the first time," he told him, shaping each word deliberately. "I chose not to respond right away so that you could have a moment to think about what you just said, and HOW you said it to me."
Katsuki went nose to nose with him and hissed, "You will not disobey me on this. I forbid it. They are my enemy."
Izuku flinched but did not back away. "Yes, Katsuki," he said. "They are YOUR enemy. They are not mine."
He said between his teeth, "That is a foolish attitude. My enemies are yours. You are my mate- if you die, I die."
"Just because our lives are linked together, I do not believe that makes the Elves my enemy too. When Nemuri made the invitation, she was clearly trying to help."
Izuku pushed to his feet, and Katsuki rose too. He lifted his gaze, and the hurt, anger and disappointment in his viridescent eyes speared the dragon.
Izuku said with a quiet bite, "Now I am going to figure out how to wake myself up, and I'm going to turn off my phone. That should give you more time to think, because we also had this conversation before. I am NOT your employee, nor am I your SERVANT, and I NEVER promised to obey you. And what's more, Katsuki, you should not speak to your employees or your servants like that anyway. If what happened with Tenya taught you anything, it should have taught you that."
Katsuki sucked in a breath.
Maybe to roar, or maybe to apologize. Not even he knew what himself intended. Perhaps both.
Whichever it was, he was too late, for Izuku turned away from him.
His mate turned away from him.
And as he did so, Izuku faded from the dream.
The dragon woke up with a growl.
He lunged to his feet, then glared at the bed.
It was so appallingly empty he took hold of one end and threw it against the wall.
YOU ARE READING
Crossing Fates : Book 3 - Detain (BakuDeku)
Fanfiction- This is the THIRD book in Crossing Fates Series... kindly read in order : Book 1 - Escape Book 2 - Capture Book 3 - Detain* ***** Half-human, Half-nyr, Izuku was now pregnant and mated. He had been alone and on the run his whole life and now that...
