I watched the door close behind Sogha and Elphyete, the click of the lock sounding like a sweet invitation to take a very long nap. My back hit the plush surface of the armchair, and I let out a sigh that felt like it had been building up for a century. Being the strongest person in the room was exhausting, mostly because people expected you to actually do things. Sogha and Elphyete had gone off to continue their search for the King and that Building of Entertainment, leaving me with the little one.
I opened one eye to see Salphy standing by the edge of the bed. She was wearing those new pajamas with the stars on them, her silver eyes looking at me with a mixture of curiosity and a little bit of fear. She looked so small in this huge, dark stone room. The golden light from the lamps flickered, casting long shadows across the floor. To her, I was probably just a strange, sleepy man who happened to be her teacher's teacher.
"Sir Vael?" she whispered, her voice barely audible over the hum of the magical lamps.
"Mm?" I grunted, not really wanting to move my jaw more than necessary.
"Are you going to sleep all day?"
"That was the plan," I admitted, closing my eye again. "But I suppose I should at least make sure you don't burn the hotel down. That would involve a lot of paperwork, and I hate paperwork."
I needed to get a glass of water from the table on the other side of the room. The thought of standing up, walking five steps, and then walking back felt like a mountain I wasn't prepared to climb. So, I didn't. I simply shifted the space around me. In a blink, I wasn't in the armchair anymore. I was standing by the table, the glass already in my hand.
Salphy's gasp was so loud it actually made me jump a little. I looked over to see her staring at the empty armchair and then at me, her mouth hanging open. Her silver eyes were wider than I'd ever seen them.
"You... you just moved! Without moving!" she shouted, pointing a small finger at me.
"It's called teleporting, Salphy," I said, taking a slow sip of the water. "Walking is for people who have too much energy. I prefer to take the short route."
"That's so cool!" she squealed, running across the room toward me. "Can you do it again? Can you go over there? Or up there?"
I sighed. My attempt at being lazy was already backfiring. To keep her entertained, I spent the next few minutes teleporting around the room. I'd blink to the top of the wardrobe, then to the window sill, then right behind her. Every time I reappeared, Salphy would let out a delighted laugh, spinning around to try and find me. She thought it was the coolest thing in the world. To her, it was magic; to me, it was just a way to avoid using my legs.
"Okay, okay, enough," I said, reappearing back in the armchair. I was actually starting to feel a bit lightheaded from all the jumping. "We're supposed to be looking for the King today. Or at least, that's what the others are doing. I guess we should probably at least pretend to help."
Salphy's face lit up even more. "We're going outside? To the dark city?"
"Yeah, but we're not walking," I said. I stood up, feeling the familiar weight of my own power settling around me. "The streets are a mess, and I don't feel like navigating that maze on foot. How do you feel about heights?"
Before she could answer, I picked her up. She was light, almost like a feather compared to the heavy energy I usually dealt with. We walked out onto the small stone balcony attached to the room. The air of the underground city hit us—cool, damp, and smelling of ancient earth. It really did feel like being inside a giant, blacked-out room where the only lights were the flickering sparks of the district below.
I stepped off the ledge.
Salphy let out a tiny scream and squeezed her eyes shut, her small hands clutching my shirt. But we didn't fall. I felt the air catch us, the invisible pressure of my will holding us steady in the dark void. We began to rise, moving slowly at first and then picking up speed. I started to fly her to see the city for the day.
"You can open your eyes now, kid," I said.
Salphy peeked through one eye, and then the other. When she realized we were floating hundreds of feet above the jagged rooftops, she let out a breath of pure amazement. From up here, the city looked like a carpet of fallen stars. The magical lamps and glowing shop signs created rivers of light that wound through the dark stone buildings. The "Deep Rest" hotel looked like a tiny yellow dollhouse below us.
"We're flying! Sir Vael, we're really flying!" she yelled, her voice echoing off the distant cavern ceiling. "You're like a bird! No, you're cooler than a bird!"
"I'm just lazy, Salphy," I told her, though I couldn't help but smirk a little at her excitement. "Flying is much faster than dealing with crowds."
We soared over the different districts. I saw the market where they had bought the clothes, and the narrow street where that rare food restaurant was tucked away. I was also trying to find the King, or at least the Building of Entertainment that everyone kept talking about. From this height, I figured it would be easy to spot a giant arena or a palace. But the city was deceptive. The buildings were built into the very walls of the dungeon, and the shadows were deep enough to hide entire mountains.
We spent hours drifting through the cool air. I pointed out the different sights to Salphy—the glowing moss gardens, the dark river that ran through the center of the floor, and the strange, spiraling towers of the noble district. She was leaning over my arm, pointing at everything and asking a thousand questions.
"Is that the King's house?" she asked, pointing at a large stone mansion.
"Probably just some rich merchant," I said, banking to the left to avoid a rising plume of smoke from a blacksmith's forge. "The King is supposed to be in the Building of Entertainment. It should be bigger than that."
We flew over the massive cavern, searching every corner. I saw the dark, imposing walls of the dungeon floor stretching up into the gloom, and the flickering lights of the thousands of people living their lives below us. It was a strange world, one built on shadows and secrets. Despite my power, even I felt a bit small in the face of how vast this place was. We haven't even found the building yet, despite looking from the best vantage point possible. It was almost as if the city didn't want us to find it.
"I don't see any big fighting buildings, Sir Vael," Salphy said, her voice sounding a little tired now. The wind and the excitement were starting to wear her out.
"Me neither," I admitted. "It's like looking for a needle in a very dark haystack. And frankly, my arms are starting to get tired of holding you." That was a lie—I could hold her for a week without feeling it—but I was ready to head back. The search felt like a lot of work for a day that was supposed to be about babysitting.
We turned around and headed back toward the "Deep Rest." The flight back was quieter. Salphy rested her head against my shoulder, watching the lights of the city glide by. The sense of wonder was still there in her eyes, but the energy was fading. She looked at me one more time before we reached the hotel.
"You're the strongest teacher ever, aren't you?" she asked.
"I'm just the one who likes to sleep the most," I replied. "Strength is just a tool to make sure you have more time for naps."
We landed softly on the balcony and stepped back into the warm, golden light of the room. The transition from the cold, vast darkness of the sky to the cozy interior was a relief. I set Salphy down on her feet, and she immediately sat on the floor, looking a bit dizzy but very happy.
"Did we find the King?" she asked.
"Not today," I said, stretching my arms over my head. "But we saw the whole city. That's more than Sogha and Elphyete managed to do on foot."
A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Sogha and Elphyete were back, looking exhausted and covered in the dust of the city streets. They looked at us, then at the peaceful state of the room.
"How was she?" Elphyete asked, her ears giving a tired but curious twitch.
"She was fine," I said, walking toward the door to head to my own room. "We did some sightseeing. I think she's ready for dinner."
We all headed down to the dining area together. The hotel was serving a hearty stew tonight, along with fresh bread and some sweet tea. We sat at our usual table, and after a long day of flying and searching, they went home and eat. Salphy was telling Sogha and Elphyete all about the flying and the teleporting, her hands moving wildly as she tried to describe how the city looked from above. Sogha looked at me with a mix of jealousy and respect, while Elphyete just smiled, her ears a soft, happy pink.
Once the meal was finished and our stomachs were full, the exhaustion finally took over completely. We walked back up the stairs, the sound of our footsteps heavy on the stone. Salphy was almost walking in her sleep by the time we reached the room.
I left them at their door and headed to my own. As I lay down on my own bed, finally achieving the goal I had set for myself that morning, I thought about the little girl. She had called me cool. She had looked at the world with so much hope, even in a place this dark. I closed my eyes, the silence of the room finally settling over me. They and sleep, drifting off into the darkness of the dungeon night. We hadn't found the King, and we hadn't found the building, but we had survived another day in the underground. And for a lazy teacher like me, that was more than enough.