Read Online The Other Side of Life (Book #1, Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy) by Jess C Scott - Free Book Online Page A

whole new
worlds.”
    Anya kept quiet. She knew she’d trip over
her own tongue if she made any mention about Nin and company.
    A distant smile seemed to light up Chloe’s
face. “Those who don’t believe in magic are the ones who never find
it. Great things happen to those who Believe.”
     
    * * *
     
    Back in her apartment, Anya spent a couple
of hours researching everything she could find on elves and
medieval parchments. Several empty Recovery energy drink cans were
strewn about the surface of her desktop, and her upbeat Korean-Pop
playlist was blasting in the background. She made a short list of
the important points she had gathered so far:
     
    . Elven Types .
    Half-elf = Elandili | High elf =
Cala’quessir | Moon elf = Ithil’quessir
    Sea elf = Ear’quessir | Light elves =
Ljosal’feir | Dark elves = Dokkal’feir
     
    . The Elven Race .
    Elves are a semi-divine species in between
heaven and earth (humankind), similar to the Biblical notion of the
angels. Light elves restore balance and beauty in the human world.
Dark elves, in contrast, are responsible for maladies befalling
humanity (bad dreams, illnesses, etc.). High elves are the Rulers
of Elves—they have power, skill, and knowledge.
    Physique  Youthful, lean, light
and strong body. Do not be fooled by their lean frames. Elves are
also identifiable by their leaf-shaped ears.
    Beauty  More beautiful and wiser than
humans, as seen by the phrase/insult: “Lle holma ve’ edan”—“You
smell like a human.”
    Weaknesses  Pure iron is the elfin
version of kryptonite. Pure iron to elves is what kryptonite is to
Superman. Prolonged exposure is lethal.
     
    The information was only making Anya more
confused. Were the online sources to be believed? Which type of elf
was Nin—did his name have anything to do with it? What did it mean
to be a moon elf anyway?
    She took a short
break, looking around the room, at the cardboard egg cartons that
sound-proofed the room. She and Leticia had covered the whole
apartment when they’d moved in, just as a precaution—nobody really
knew who could hear and see what, at any time. Prisons were tightly
regulated. Anya wondered when that prison policy would become
mainstream.
    She gazed down at a scrap
piece of paper, where she had scrawled: I’m a tough cookie / But what is he like, really / NIN = Mr.
Perfect.
    It felt so weird, feeling drawn to Nin, when
she hardly even knew him. He didn’t even seem real, in the sense
that he didn’t seem to be a part of the world that Anya and Leticia
were familiar with. Or maybe that just made him more real than
anything else.
    Anya brought down the volume of the
speakers, when she heard the door open. There were two low
voices—Leticia’s familiar, warm, friendly voice, and a lower, more
subdued voice. It belonged to Julius Lycata, Leticia’s on-again,
off-again boyfriend. Anya thought they made an odd couple. They
complemented each other because each was what the other lacked.
    Anya was just about to save the document
when the computer froze.
    “ Whatcha doing?” Leticia
sailed into the room with Julius. Anya guessed they were on-again.
Anya had always been a little envious of Leticia’s constant stream
of suitors and admirers, though she hid her feelings
well.
    “ Research,” Anya replied,
not looking up from the screen. She clicked the mouse several
times—the CPU whirred in response.
    “ Elves! Ah…” Julius was
standing behind Anya too. He seemed slightly more muscular than the
last time she had seen him. He had changed his glasses too, to a
rimless frame. He looked less studious—as a result of Leticia, no
doubt.
    “ Uh…” Leticia wanted Julius
out of the room, fast. “Anya’s got a project.”
    “ So right.” Anya tried to
stay calm. She switched the computer off anyway. “I’ve got to
reboot.” The last thing Anya wanted to do was shoot herself in the
foot, with any more explaining. “Damn computer hung on
me.”
    “ It happens,”