The Other Side of Life (Book #1, Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy) Read Online Free PDF

directions.
    Tavia and Dresan wore similar pendants as
the one Nin had around his neck. The pendants lit up the otherwise
pitch-black passageway. Anya and Leticia were in awe of the white
glow emanating from the crystals, and silently grateful for it.
Without this guiding light, they would never be able to keep up
with their newfound, intriguing Elven associates.
    “ Hey.” Anya turned back
slightly, to face Nin. He was behind her, the last in line. “How
come the orb’s not shining?” She pointed to the globe in her right
pocket, which Nin had earlier prevented from shattering into a
million pieces.
    “ It isn’t Elven,” Nin
replied with a smile, so radiant that it lit up his beautiful face
better than any crystal ever could.
    “ You mean, yours isn’t…”
Anya nearly tripped on one of the stairs. Nin caught her elbow from
the back, to steady her. “Yours isn’t from Saudi Arabia,” she said
meekly, almost in a whisper. She didn’t want him to think she was a
klutz. She wondered if he knew how much she liked it when he held
her elbow—with a light, firm touch.
    “ No, it’s not,” Nin
laughed, but not in a cruel way. “I’m not an art student either.
And Tavia’s my cousin.”
    Nin couldn’t precisely recall what other
facts he had twisted. He thought those were the most important ones
that could do with some clarification. Tavia gave a little wave,
when Nin called out her name.
    Anya paused for a moment, frowning slightly.
“Is Nin even your real name?” Her tone revealed a hint of
impatience.
    Nin nodded. “It’s short for
Ithilnin.” Prince of Helli’sandur, he conveniently left out. He’d leave his past
behind him, for the moment.
    “ What’s that
mean?”
    Nin was a little surprised to be asked the
question, but he satisfied Anya’s inquisitiveness. “It means, ‘the
moon’s reflection upon the water’s surface.’ I was born during a
full moon.”
    “ That’s so cool,” said
Anya, a little wistfully. “I wish I had an equally lyrical
name.”
    Nin took a couple of steps down, before
turning back to her. “So…who’s the other person in your life?”
    “ What other person?” Anya
felt a strange, instinctive pull towards Nin. He was just so nice,
though she couldn’t really say she knew him all that well as a
person. Maybe Leticia’s right—maybe he’s
put a charm on me.
    “‘ Anya’ means
‘inexhaustibleness’ or ‘other person’ in Sanskrit, the classical
literary language of India,” Nin recited, sounding like a
linguistics professor. “The Russian meaning of the name is
‘gracious’.” He looked her straight in the face before asking,
“So…are you all three?”
    Anya couldn’t lie to him. She was trying
hard not to lose herself in his lovely violet eyes. “I don’t have
‘another’ person…in my life.” She wasn’t entirely sure if she was
gracious, in the context of social situations—fine manners and
social graces weren’t exactly her forte.
    Do you…have an ‘other’
person? she almost asked Nin.
    But the group had just reached the bottom of
the staircase.
    Tavia placed her palm on a gold leaf imprint
on the wall. Anya and Leticia found themselves standing in a large,
open space adorned with intricately carved wooden furniture, lit by
a warm orange glow. The charming and cozy feel to it was a stark
difference from the clashing styles of present-day contemporary
minimalism and anti-establishment grunge, which made up Anya and
Leticia’s cramped apartment unit.
    The first thing Anya noticed was the elves’
collection of weapons, which was displayed in a glass cabinet
beside one of the walls. There was a classic AK-47 assault rifle,
double edged daggers, razor sharp throwing spikes, a curved knuckle
knife with a polished burgundy-and-green wood grip, and a medieval
crossbow shaped in the form of a dragon’s head.
    “ So, what do you think?”
Dresan asked, putting an open hand out to their surroundings, with
undeniable pride in his