Welcome to Gaia! ::

Before I write this next chapter, a mention should be made in regards to the poem I’ve included in it, which became inspiration for the chapter in a way. The poem is titled “The Hands of an Ancient Clock” by Brian Humpres, and the first stanza of which is included here.

CHAPTER 14: The Hands of an Ancient Clock

"Slowly they move, the hands of the ancient clock,
Given the time that perspires from the heart of ebony.
Slowly it sways, the pendulum of death,
Moving the hands of our destiny, our past"

A small, wooden framed analogue clock was placed neatly on the bedside table. Its minute hand shifted slightly, coming to rest on the small number twelve that was engraved into the clock face. At that moment, the set alarm sounded and the in built radio automatically tuned into a set frequency and began to play.

The girl still sleeping shifted groggily, groaning at first and grumpily complaining about the fact that it was still the holidays, and that the alarm should have been switched off. Sitting upright, Evy rubbed at her eyes, before glaring coldly toward the inanimate object that now played a traditional song she had heard many times before. Sighing, she blinked away the last webs of sleepiness, and considered for a moment simply collapsing and returning to a peaceful slumber, but reluctantly decided against it.

Switching off the alarm, Evy increased the volume of the radio as she left it on. Letting her brain wake up, she began to dress, thanking the warm weather that she had now come to appreciate whole heartedly. Running a brush through her hair, Evy absently realised that she would indeed need to buy food if she planned on surviving the rest of the holidays with Will running things in the way that was uniquely his.
With her brain a whole lot more alert now, Evy began jotting down things she needed to buy as she thought of them, packing her shoulder bag with a few things as she went. She needed to buy another exercise book for school, after Cai had had the brilliant idea of creating a bonfire with the class’ history books, to see if anyone would be able to extinguish it fast enough to save their notes. However the majority of the class were too bewildered by this spontaneous action to actually do anything to save their things. Most likely though, the students had decided that history notes weren’t all that worth being burnt alive for, so kept their distance from the blaze and the teacher who remained amused by the flames in the middle of the room.

Basically, she needed a new book, and that was it.
Now sitting on her bed, Evy stared at the list. Amongst the food items, junk food and supplies such as toothpaste, she had made note of the need to find ingredients for a birthday cake for Will. Chocolate would probably be more to his liking rather than anything particularly fancy such as a pavlova or layered cake, so Evy would settle for a sponge cake, with plenty of thick icing. Finally there was her exercise book note at the bottom of the list, as well as a note in the corner that reminded her to check the market for any antiques that her parents would be interested in. Evy had added this note shortly after her mother had phoned from the shop two days ago to inform Will and Evy that she would be visiting an archaeological dig site two villages away for the week.

Evy hardly minded though, as she personally found her parents’ business fascinating and regretted not being able to spend as much time there as she wanted to. She had watched the shop for her mother only twice since the holidays began, despite Will’s complaining that she could hardly keep her room clean, let alone watch a store. Evy planned on visiting the shop as soon as she could, and had promised to help out when her parents needed it, though she knew her parents wouldn’t ask for it. ‘We’d rather you go out and have some fun…’ Both parents would answer, sounding exactly alike. ‘But I like watching the shop…’ Evy had tried to plead in her defence, though her parents didn’t but it for a second.

Descending down the staircase and entering into the kitchen, Evy called out, “Will?”, her voice filling the silence of the empty kitchen. “Are you….awake?”, Evy called out again as she casually walked into the lounge room, finding that empty too. ‘Now considerably messier than the kitchen, but what can you expect?’ Evy realised with a fond smile. Now walking through to the spare room where Will usually slept, finding it also empty. For a moment Evy found herself wondering a little worriedly where he could have gone, before scolding herself for being so silly. “Of course, Will has his own home, own family and bedroom to go back to. He’s just here so often that I guess...” She’d mistakenly started to think of him as a brother who really did live in the house with her.

Evy noted before leaving that Will’s room was perhaps the cleanest room in the entire house, including the newly cleaned out kitchen. Now, if he could keep his room that clean, then why was the rest of the house such a mess? ‘Another mystery for another day’ Evy decided upon locking the house with her set of keys.
.
It was still early, and the streets were quiet, allowing Evy to continue to wallow in her many thoughts. Thoughts of the many things that had begun since the start of this year, the small changes she was noticing. But she couldn’t help feeling that she was missing something rather different going on behind the scenes around her, something she was only partially aware of. She now knew one thing for sure, Cai Erik was not who he presented himself to be. She had seen it a few times now, but just enough times to recognise it. Cai was holding in his emotions, a sort of mask that slipped only in certain circumstances. One moment that same fake happy expression would be present and the next, a serious one would appear as the mask slipped, but only for a moment. Not only that, but her suspicions had only grown with the dreams she had been having. So far, the only thing that made sense in these dreams, was a short message that she couldn’t remember at all. Despite not being able to remember it, she knew one thing; Cai was hiding something and it wasn’t just his full name. Why would a person hide their name like that? Evy felt that it wasn’t because he preferred to be known simply as ‘Cai’.

Al these dreams were sending her head in a fuzzy sort of spin as she tried to organize them. However, because this was Evy, she couldn’t help but wonder about them time and again. The dreams had started since she got back from the camping trip four days ago, but it felt longer. Evy wouldn’t call them nightmares, they were just strange dreams. The dreams didn’t tell her much, but Evy felt like there was something there between the lines that she was supposed to look for.


Huffing, Evy decided that that was definitely enough thought in that area for today as the busy local market was now in view. Seeing this, Evy cheered up right away.
Each side of the street was lined with stalls, each selling wares from all over the empire. Vendors shouted out deals and prices, advertising their local produce, freshly baked breads, medicines, exotic silks from the east, the latest trends in clothing from the west, finely crafted jewellery from the north, the alchemist guild’s famous potions from the south….Everything and anything a person could ever need to buy could be found here. This is what brought people from all over the empire to their village.
Evy inhaled deeply as she passed a stand of aromatic candles, feeling quite content and happy to spend all morning simply browsing along the markets stores.

No less than an hour and a half later, Evy had bought two loaves of bread, some fruit, a bottle of chocolate milk and of course, a brand new, unmarked exercise book. She also now munched on a delicious warm bun filled with crab meat.
She now found herself looking over the wares of a store aptly named “Antiques of antiquity”. “50% off everything! There is too much stock! We can’t carry all these back to Skatva, so they simply must be sold!” A middle aged man proclaimed loudly, waving a second banner above his head enthusiastically. However, looking over each item carefully, Evy could tell that many of these ‘antiques’ were no where near as old as they claimed them to be. Though Evy was no expert, she did admit to having experience, though she didn’t help out often, she had spent enough time in her parents antique store to at least notice the small differences that proved that an antique was indeed an antique, that was as old as it claimed to be.
It wasn’t only their outward appearance that gave this away, but also each object’s aura. Evy had been in her parents’ shop not two days ago, and had spent all the spare time she was left with while minding the shop by flipping through some of the books that were lying about on the messy shelves. Evy had read about auras, and how it was possible to sense an aura in every single thing. Humans, animals, plants and even unnanimate objects, they all had a unique aura of their own. The book had explained about the first people to discover and properly utilise the ability, and listed a brief history where instances of the magic popping up in society had become known. The book had also explained that the ability could take many years to master properly, but Evy had been practising whenever she had the chance.

Evy really enjoyed this kind of magic. “But what kind is it exactly?” She questioned, annoyed but fascinated all at the same time.

The objects for sale were laid out on a deep blue velvet cloth, with various price tags attached to them. Focusing her magic, Evy could see that most of the objects had a dull, bland aura that was similar to the colour of bleached wood. These obviously held no magic, and Evy could use this magic to sense the objects age and what sort of feeling had been in the maker when it was made. She could tell that these were all part of a large production line, without much care put into making them. However, one of the objects that had been laid off to the side at the edge of the cloth had a completely different aura about it. It was a sort of flickering gold, dim like a fire about to go out, but still quite visible. Whilst she had practised this aura sensing thing on a number of things these past couple days, she hadn’t seen anything like this before. So maybe this was what was meant by a dying aura? She hadn’t continued on far enough in the book she had read to know if that was even possible, but it would make logical sense. A dead person probably wouldn’t still hold an aura either, she supposed.

The object was a small, wooden case that was comprised of mahogany wood, with small golden hinges on the lid. As she picked it up and felt its weight in her hand, she found it to be surprisingly heavy. Neatly fitting into her palm, the box didn’t hold anything at all, comprised of just an empty compartment lined with soft silky black material. As the shop owner noticed Evy and began his usual greeting to customers, Evy felt compelled to buy the strange case. Her parent’s had wanted her to look out for this kind of thing, after all. “I’d like this.” Evy held up the case for the shop attendant to see, as she took her wallet out of her bag, and began to search for the correct money to pay for it.

“Oh really?” The store clerk asked disbelievingly. “Such a plain old object? It’s rather dull if you ask me.” He snorted. “Wouldn’t you rather one of these mysterious antiques over here? What about these, they look much more exciting, don’t they?” He pointed out various other objects which held much more detail, shine and, Evy noted, significantly higher price tags attached. “If only you could see how dull all those are”, Evy bluntly told the man as he sighed and began wrapping up the case in soft tissue paper.


It was now midday, and Evy concluded that it was time for a well deserved break. She wondered if Will had come back to the house yet; he did have his own set of keys, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t lost them already. As Evy came to an intersection, she found a bench near a large fountain that was one of the village’s most popular landmarks. It featured a carved statue of a wizard, holding open an enormous spell book, where the water sprouted from and flowed down from the stone pages, into the pool below.
The fountain was supposed to be a symbol that carried the message of magic being ever flowing within nature and within people, and was probably as ancient as the town itself.
Evy simply took another bite out of her bun, enjoying the cool air that flowed about due to the splashing water. That was however, until she spotted someone awfully familiar walking through the crowded street towards her.
Someone wearing an orange and white baseball cap.
Someone with that silly grin plastered on their face.
That someone was none other than Cai.
“Eves! Long time no see huh?” He chirped.
“Are you trying to be funny?” Evy simply asked.
“Not at all!” He laughed crazily.

Cai was currently dressed in a bright canary yellow hoodie and brown kaki pants. His baseball cap tilted off his messy hair at an odd angle, ready to be whisked away by a strong enough breeze.
Evy continued to eat her crab bun, trying to ignore his presence when she realised that Cai was staring at her, or more precisely, her food. She sighed, “You want some?”
“What is that?” Cai asked, like a child seeing chocolate for the first time.
“You haven’t tried it? It’s a bread bun filled with crab meat, it tastes even better than it smells, if you can believe it.” Evy tried to explain, tearing off a piece and handing it to him.
“Woah this is great!” Cai shouted with his mouth full. He chewed rapidly and was finished before Evy could even pull her hand back from handing it to him.

“So what ‘cha doing?” Cai asked as he did a twirl on the spot, and finally took a seat beside her. Once seated, he wasted no time in rummaging through her shopping bags like a starving animal. “Ah..I bought that at Bread Top… and uhh.. those I got over at the Central Grocery Store…” Evy attempted to explain, but gave up as she found that Cai would pick up one thing, shake it a few times, then go right back to rummaging again.
“Ooh..” Cai cooed as he spotted a sliver of blue material, branded with the Antiques of Antiquity shop crest.

Cai eyed the seal on the material suspiciously and quirked an eyebrow in Evy’s direction. “This?” He asked curiously as Evy motioned for him to hand her the wrapped case. She delicately unravelled the material and the tissue paper after that to reveal the mahogany wood case. “It’s the real deal… at least a couple hundred years.” Evy defended and opened the case to show Cai the inside.

As Cai reached over to take the box, Evy noticed that there was a small engraving in it’s lid that she was quite sure had most definitely not been there when she had bought it. Slowly retracting the box back, Cai’s hand touched the lid, and immediately, at the very moment that both were touching the case, it’s aura peaked enormously, rippling outward in a golden flair. It was sparking in and out, beating like a pulse, like it had been waiting to be set back into motion.
“How did you…” They both asked, and immediately cut off their questioning.
Cai’s mask had slipped again, and Evy could see a look of surprise etched across his features as he asked, “So you can see that much already?” Even his voice was lined with surprise, and he made no attempt to hide it.

Evy only nodded her head, unconsciously knowing what he was referring to. Her gaze shifted back to the case, as she studied the marking. She’d seen it before…

And then it hit her, keeping her left hand on the case, and using her right to retrieve another object from her bag. ‘This..’ Evy produced the egg she had received from Sarika, bearing an engraved modified heart shape in its smooth surface. Not looking for Cai’s reaction to this, Evy opened the case slowly, and lowered the egg inside, as Cai cautiously snapped the lid shut.

And once again, the aura spiked, larger this time. It flared outward, reaching further each time, as the aura seemed to gain more and more power. It no longer appeared dim and dying, but alive and roaring like a blazing fire, the final piece returned to the puzzle.

Evy watched for Cai’s reaction, but he was completely motionless and she finally looked back to the case he was inspecting with eyes wide. Underneath their hands which held the lid shut, Evy could see black markings spreading across the lid, drawing themselves into the beautiful mahogany wood like burn marks. Evy tried to move her hand away but found that she could not, and gasped when she saw more markings lift from the lid and creep onto the top of her hand, drawing their way across her skin and staying there. It wasn’t the burning sensation she had expected, but it was a strange, tingly feeling instead. On both Cai’s right hand and Evy’s left there was now two symmetrical halves to a diagram, drawn out across them like a tattoo.

All of a sudden, the hold on their hands was released, and the box clattered to the ground, as the markings on the lid began to move and spin, resembling a large, complexly drawn out clock……

“Slowly they move, the hands of the ancient clock,
Given the time that perspires from the heart of ebony.
Slowly it sways, the pendulum of death,
Moving the hands of our destiny, our past"

Evy’s heart pounded. It was a familiar voice, one she had heard in her dreams; it spoke clearer than before as the marketplace, the people and the world around the two began to fade away.

“Time starts” She heard a feminine voice speak out, and her eyes widened as she realised that she had been the one saying it. “…time stops.” She could hear the neutral reply from Cai. She looked toward him and saw a look of bitterness before the emotionless state returned as he covered it up.

They were suddenly jolted back into the reality of the marketplace as screaming was heard, followed by more shouts as Evy realised that the ground was shaking violently beneath her feet.

Immediately, Evy became aware that the case was back in her hands, as if urging her to get moving, and to waste as little time as possible. Holding it tightly in her hands, she stood shakily, not used to the tremors that were occurring.


As the box in her hands hadn’t stopped glowing, she looked over to Cai, who seemed tense, sweat was running down his face, and he definitely didn’t look well. Suddenly the aura of the case seemed to be struck by an invisible lightning, splitting and separating and spiking all around. The case seemed to be calling out to the world, finally awakened and alert to the danger around them.


The tremors were becoming more frequent still and Evy felt as if something was coming closer. Sirens had been triggered, calling in the security squads. Many of the townspeople would be headed towards safe areas right now, and Evy could imagine people from her class doing the same thing. For once in her life, she was glad her parents were not here, but then her thoughts crossed directly back to Will. ‘Of course, he’ll be fine. He’s a trained fighter.’ Evy assured herself, knowing it to be true.

And then, Evy felt it! Like a terrible ice cold shiver running down her spine, setting her senses on high alert. This wasn’t an earthquake, something was approaching, and fast. Evy couldn’t see it, but could feel a deep aura and see the flash of light being emitted from whatever was approaching. An intense silver blue aura was emanating from it, now hardly a hundred metres away. Evy swallowed hard and firmly faced the direction she was pretty certain it was coming from. If there was danger, she was sure she’d rather see it right in front of her. The better prepared she felt, the less she would want to run away. Whatever it was was drawing closer, and Evy felt helpless, waiting for it like bait.

And then Cai was standing in front of her, between Evy and whatever it was that was now directly ahead. “Stop!” He yelled out, shouting the command into the afternoon breeze.
“Cai—Maybe we should just-
“Evylen, with all respect, stay back.” He said quietly. “Don’t let go of it, that’s what’s called it here.” He spoke calmly and only shifted his feet into a balanced stance.
“This case?” Evy dumbly questioned --- though she had the feeling she had already known that-- as she stumbled backwards as another wave of tremors shook the earth. Evy had never been so scared before. How could she be afraid of something she couldn’t see? That wasn’t even entirely correct, she could in a sense though, but it certainly didn’t assist her greatly. She winced as an acute howl erupted from the creature. Evy’s head was telling her to run in the opposite direction, run and never come back. Why did she have to pick this one occasion to listen to her rapidly beating heart?


“Summoning spell: great lion shield!” Cai called as all around them, a great light flashed and a lion formed from the quaking earth. It was so much bigger, and so much more intimidating than Evy could have imagined. A great large body, with a tangled mane and awfully large looking teeth, the lion placed itself in front of Cai and roared vociferously. “Come.” Cai beckoned, not to the lion, but to Evy. “Climb on, he’ll protect us.” Cai instructed without turning away from the source of the aura. Evy decided it was most definitely better not to argue, as she carefully climbed onto the lions back after it obediently lowered itself to the ground for her. Evy realised that no matter how scared she was by this creature she could not see, she was much more anxious of who this Cai could be. Cai was being serious, was this the real him?
“And now”, Cai began once Evy was securely seated, leaping backwards and mounting the lion in front of her. “We need to get moving, somewhere safer!”

Cai placed his hand on the lion’s head as if silently giving it instructions. The lion stood to its full height, and launched itself at a bounding pace, leaping over smaller trees and buildings. Though Evy kept telling herself that she should be first and foremost preoccupied with the task of hanging on to the lion’s thick mane with her right hand and clasping all her belongings tightly to her side with her left, she couldn’t help but let her worries dance frantically about. The creature would follow them now, so the town and its occupants would be safe soon enough.

It took Evy a moment to realise that they had stopped moving, and as she slowly opened her eyes—not knowing quite when they had shut---she realised they were now on the outskirts of town, in a flat, levelled out grassy piece of land. A wide dirt path marked the route where tradesmen arrived and departed each day, travelling along trade routes that had been in existence for many, many years. “And now, we stop. Leo” She briefly caught Cai mumbling, picking up the magic laced in his even voice.
As the seconds passed, Evy’s head was clearing and she decided that if she was going to be forced to observe, she would make good use of it. She was sure this was that other part of Cai that he usually covered up, and she was going to do her best to pick up whatever clues she could muster amongst the chaos.

Evy was suddenly forced into becoming painfully aware that the creature was now here. Screeching and howling horrifically, another tremor rippled across the levelled ground. The pitch increased to an unbearable level, and it took Evy a good few minutes before she could focus her brain enough against the sound. “CAI!!” She yelled as loudly as she could muster, her voice a deep sound against the creatures pitched cries. “PLEASE!” She called desperately, trying to convey an unspoken message, as her voice was overpowered and swallowed up by the overwhelming sound. Her hands were instinctively placed over her ears, though they hardly helped to block out the noise. Slowly, she found herself feeling paralysed, crouched into a tight shape against Cai’s summoned lion, as it became increasingly difficult to hold a consistent thought pattern.

“ALRIGHT” Cai’s voice appeared above the noise, though it was a mystery as to how he managed it. Evy forced her eyes open to see Cai stumbling awkwardly off the lion, clearly affected as much as Evy was. “HOLD ON…” Cai shouted, clenching his teeth together and seeming to concentrate his strength. “Summoning spell: Spirit Whistle!” Cai’s movements were becoming more balanced, and Evy was impressed he could do all that and still use magic, watching as he performed a sweeping gesture with one arm.

Abruptly though, Cai’s strong appearance faltered, and he came crashing to his knees, also holding tightly to his ears, unable to hold up his defences any longer. ‘No!’ Evy would have screamed if it were at all possible. ‘Get up! You can do it!’ She wanted to call, oh how desperately she wanted to do something—anything. Despite not being able to hear her thoughts, Cai had pried one hand away from his head, and was reaching desperately toward the object he had just summoned; his last hope.



Evy was putting all thought into calming her mind, this screeching seemed to be affecting her mind more than anything else, allowing little thought apart from her natural instincts of curling up into a protective little ball. ‘It’s almost as if…’ Evy finally realised as a small invisible part of her brain returned to its working form and she realised that there was still hope. It was obvious what had to be done, she nearly smacked herself for not realising sooner, though she would probably do so once this was all over. Overcoming the still rampant thoughts in her mind, Evy tried to clear all but one; which was the one thought that reminded her of the now carefully forming plan. As each stray thought drifted away, Evy became considerably calmer, less affected by everything around her, until finally, the creature may as well have not even been here for the effect it was having on her. Evy hardly heard the screeching cries of the creature, as she stood effortlessly, only stumbling to get down from the large lion.

It wasn’t a physical pain that had kept her paralysed before, it was her own thoughts. Not really knowing how she’d figured it out amongst the chaos, Evy reasoned that whilst the creature could probably beat many people by scrambling the thoughts and memories around in their mind recklessly, it had also dislodged the thought in Evy’s mind that had answered the problem presented to her. ‘You’ll be your own downfall’ Evy wanted to speak to the creature.

Dropping all the things that weighed her down, Evy quickly scoped the even ground, allowing the next tremor to pass before lunging for the flute. It was an easy grab now that she was in control. However, it wasn’t long before Evy realised that she had no idea what to do with the flute now that she had it. Retreating towards Cai was the plan, that was until she heard him cry out against the creature that still had its hold on him. Her confidence was shattered. Cai wouldn’t be able to hear her over the creatures voice that affected him so badly, so what was going to happen now? Already thinking of the worst, Evy was interrupted as Cai’s shouts rang out “Play it!”

Evy supposed that playing the flute wasn’t really going to be effective, as the creatures cries had risen higher and higher in volume, but decided that she really didn’t have much other choice. Taking a deep breathe, Evy kept her mind as clear as possible, and she could tell immediately that the creatures rapidly increasing volume was definitely due to its lack of control over her. ‘Luckily, no one will be able to hear the way I play…’ Evy commented to herself offhandedly before putting her mouth near the mouthpiece, and carefully placing her fingers in what she hoped to be the right positions.
She began to play; an unfamiliar tune that she couldn’t decide if she had heard somewhere before or not. Mostly it was whatever notes she could play loud enough, adapting her fingers’ positions as she went. It must have been some form of miracle, because the screeching completely stopped, similar to an infants being soothed by a parent. All alarm systems in the town had also halted, along with the sounds of the townspeople and even the rumble of the earth’s tremors.

All was silent now.


And yet, Evy didn’t stop her playing, pausing only to breathe where needed. She hadn’t taken her eyes off the brisk outline of the creature yet, and it appeared that it didn’t wish to get any closer either. Feeling reassured of this, Evy glanced sideways toward Cai, who nodded at her and smiled as he pulled himself up from the ground.




Evy could see the creature faintly now, like what she would imagine a ghost to look like. Its aura was slowing, calming to a sky blue colour, till it was o more menacing than the tide hitting the sand on a beach as it washed up remnant of shells and seaweed from the sea.

Evy no longer needed to focus her mind, and felt the peace overwhelm her as she closed her eyes and just let her fingers played the notes she was becoming familiar with.
Without her vision, and with only the delicate melody playing, Evy could feel a strange sensation. Like a second way of hearing and seeing and feeling—she could feel the rhythm of the ancient clock, deep down, the clock which had been ticking with its many hands since time itself began. All knowing and wise, chiming for every year, month, week, day, hour, minute and every precious second. It measured peoples lives; recorded the age of the world and its tales. Oh, what tales this clock would tell, if only it would offer…
Moving the hands of destiny…

…...Our past


Though the feeling was strange, and when she opened her eyes the creature was gone, Evy felt the tidal wave of joy wash over her.

Hey to all, just watched the rest of the anime series Mushi-shi. I was so sad that the anime only covered the first 5 volumes of the manga! Fantastic series none the less, but i want more.... xp Anyway, if you haven't watched it, do give it a go! Dfferent from other series, but in a good way. Definitely.


CHAPTER 15: The Kore

The melody eased out into the calling breeze, and Evy let her arms fall loosely to her sides as she gazed toward Cai. His expression had changed completely since she had last looked only a few minutes ago—or was it longer? She couldn’t tell—and he was now staring off into the distance, a pained expression on his face. “C-cai?” She tried to catch his attention, failing as her voice came out in a raspy whisper. Instead she slowly forced her tired legs to numbly approach him, closing the short distance between them, and finally placing a cautious hand on his shoulder.

As soon as she had done so, a voice—or rather, a prescense made itself known to her. Evy would have spun around to search for it if she had had the energy, though right now she felt completely resigned to the spot.

A voice filled the air, completely foreign to Evy, and laced with a tone that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. It wasn’t just a voice… no, it was more like a collection of voices, or thoughts perhaps, combining together. The voices whispered together as one, as if coming form deep inside her, yet speaking softly into her right ear.

“A heart,
a soul as cold as ice
a growl makes you forget your voice..” The voices chanted, the presence around Evy flickering.


“The eyes of a wolf,
blue as the sky,
shine with malice
the urge to defy.”

And now Evy was seeing what the voices must have wanted her to see, images of a boy, just a child, with hair of two colours. Was he crying? No…it was also raining..
These images were so much blurrier compared to those she had had before, like old memories becoming hazy around the edges, at particular details…


“But defy you must….destined ones, Youngtrappers prophecy has been awakened…”

The boy stopped, clothing soaked and fists clenched, was this the same boy from earlier? Then, like a camera zooming in, Evy found herself staring directly into his eyes, a cold, piercing blue just as the voices described, with every dark emotion filling their depths.

Evy could feel something else, the beat of a heart.. awakening and beating strongly, in a slow but constant rhythm.

“Let us tell you…” The voices rang out, rapidly fading and drifting away.
“Please tell me! Let me hear…” She cried out, curiousity overwhelming her now.
A single voice responded now, clearly and confidently ringing out, “You will soon.”

“I’ve awakened.”

~

And then, the images were replaced with the level clearing and trees in the distance and the sound of her own breathing. “Cairon, it’s okay.” Evy placed her hand on his shoulder again, watching as his own eyes seemed to focus.

“…Thankyou.” Cai managed to breathe out in just a whisper.
Evy inhaled and exhaled briefly, before collapsing to her knees, exhausted but relieved never the less, managing a incoherent “ ts kay…” before letting the world go dark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Evy next opened her eyes, it was to the unfamiliar surroundings of a room with an empty powder blue painted wall, and another wall taken up by a large bay window that had the curtains drawn three quarters of the way closed. Sitting up ever so slowly, in order to prevent herself triggering a sudden dizzy spell. She was sitting in a small bed in what she reasoned must be a spare room of a house, since there were no major decorations beside the wall paint and curtains. A small analogue clock was present on the nightstand, and despite the warm weather, she found that she was covered in a thick winter quilt.

Which brought Evy back to the all-important question, what was she doing here?
As if in answer to her mental question, the rooms only door open and shut briefly to reveal none other than Cai, who was carrying a tray with a glass and food in his hands.

“Evening” Cai greeted with a smile as he set the tray down on the nightstand. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine…” Evy replied, the relief still setting after seeing him. “Wait…Evening?” She twisted back to the clock she had noticed before, “This says 3 o’clock!” She motioned, waving the clock around in her hand.
“Well…yes, but it also says..” Cai carefully took the device from her hands, and unhinged a flap in the bottom as if to demonstrate a point, “that it requires 2 AA batteries, which are currently not present. Really oughta remember to buy some batteries. Then again, I didn’t plan on ever using this clock, or this room for that matter, but what can you do?” He shrugged and turned back to the tray he brought in, pouring liquid from a jug into a short glass.

“You didn’t? What time is it then?” Evy questioned as she turned to the window, pushing the curtains aside. “oh my god!” She gasped as she was greeted with a deep red sunset. “How LATE is it? This is bad…” She could already imagine Will becoming frustrated at her unexplained disappearance….

“Chillax Eves.” Cai smiled that silly grin for a moment, before handing her a glass. “Drink this.” Taking Evy’s blank look as an issue of trust, he assured her, “It’s water. With some vitamins.”

“Cairon…the time, please. You haven’t yet experienced the wrath that is my cousin when he gets angry. You also don’t want to.” She explained slowly in between sips of the drink.
“No worries, it’s taken care of. I just got off a phone call with him. Nice guy, bit slow though.” Another grin was present. “I explained you were helping me out with the plans and recovery work, after today’s events. He said it was fine.”

“Today’s…” Evy suddenly remembered the whole question she had formulated earlier. “Why am I here?”

“Well, it’s not so complicated. You kinda collapsed… I tried waking you up but you were just so exhausted. So, I brought you here!”
“And where is here?”
“My house, like it?”
“It’s pretty empty…”
“Well, I don’t use this room, it’s a spare… one person doesn’t need more than one room, so I mainly use just the one room. That’s what I meant by ‘didn’t expect to use this room’ and of course, who would? Though some people.—“ He rambled on.

Taking a large gulp of the drink, Evy halted him before he could start talking about soap and mints, “Right. But why didn’t you just take me home? It would have been unlocked, my cousin was home. Plus, I know for a fact that my house is closer than the principal’s building.”
“Also simple. We need to talk.” From rambling, to tight lipped. Yup, this was Cai alright.

“Talk about…” She tried to keep him talking now; information was what she wanted right now.
“Well, what happened today before…you know, you collapsed.”
“Oh. Yeah, right. Guess we do. ”

“So...” Evy collected her thoughts, “Tell me what it was that came today… into our village.” She felt unsure as to how to word the question, since she still had not the faintest clue as to what that thing had been.
“Hmm.” Cai moved his hand to his face, as if to show that he was thinking of an appropriate answer. ‘Or an appropriate way to answer…’
“In a way, this will be hard to explain, but feel free to ask questions if I lose you.” Cai replied, to which Evy just nodded in response. “The thing that was here today is generally known as a ‘Kore’. It’s a precise science in itself trying to understand how the Kore come into being, as no two are really the same. Rather…the phrase ‘Kore’ is used as a general term, just like we refer to cats, dogs, deer, horses…as animals and caterpillars, butterflies and ants as insects. Not the same, but a branch of the same family, I suppose. Kore’s are like spirits in a way, though ever coming into contact with one is a completely infrequent occurance for most people in a lifetime, those who have been near one and survived describe the experience as phenomenal.” Cai paused for a moment, as if deciding on his next words.

“So that thing today was a Kore… and it’s like a spirit of sorts?” Evy mused as Cai nodded. “And if it’s such a rare thing… why was it here at all?”

“Usually… usually—“ Cai cut off, shaking his head and staring at the ceiling for a moment before continuing, “You must keep this in mind, the Kore are a rare sight for a reason. There are just as many Kore—if not more--- as there are humans in the magical and non magical worlds combined. So it would be logical for a person to wonder where these mysterious creatures lurk without being discovered, does it not? It didn’t take long for researchers to complete their theories, each unique but all confirming the same thing; the Kore are not of our world. More or less, the Kore exist within a separate dimension of their own, combined with ours, like a mirror. This is why we never see them, co existing with each other subconsciously, without a care in the world. However, mirrors are fragile and can break same as any other material can. In cases like this, Kore might wander through this mirror… into our side. Though the research isn’t very extensive, we now know that Kore are all fully aware of this ‘mirror’—unlike the people on this side.”

Evy could see now what Cai had meant when he had said this would be hard to explain, but she found herself following his words all the same, stopping him only now and then when he started to talk nonsense that left her really lost.

“The Kore… can see through the mirror, can’t they?” Evy wondered aloud. “That’s why they are all aware…right?”
“yeah, got it in one. Took our researchers years to figure that out, where were you?” Cai teased. “And what causes the mirror to weaken at particular times is unknown… however, after today…” Cai paused, evidently only coming to terms with what had happened right now.
“You’ve figured something out?”

“Evylen, tell me—Why is it you bought that box from the Antiquity stall today? Apart from being able to tell that it was an antique—was there anything abnormal about it?”
“No, though I’m not sure what you mean. I’m sure you saw all that I would have noticed, it’s aura was dimmed out, like a dying light. I’m not altogether why I even bought it to be honest… I was just overwhelmed with the feeling that I needed to. Why is this rele—“
Cai cut her off as he jumped to his feet, “It’s entirely relevant, though we can’t be quite sure to what degree this is! That box—when we were both touching it, surely our magic activated a seal or something inside the antique wood that it is made out of… this is completely possible, in fact, I’ve seen that happen before… Right after this happened, everything else began. Watever history that antique has, our magic sparked some sort of spell that must have called the Kore across the line between our worlds. Yes, this doesn’t sound quite as insane as I had first thought…”


“So it’s possible to call… a Kore…” Evy felt like she had to reassure his line of thought. “And, presuming that the first theory you spoke of… of the Kore living in another world.. is true, than this new theory would be completely acceptable.” She reasoned.

“So, today…” Evy began, her curiosity peaking.
“I’m very sorry.” Cai suddenly replied solemnly.
“Wait, what?” Evy asked, confused.
“It’s disgraceful. When that Kore broke through today, I had no idea at all what it was, by the time I had realised, it was too late. Rendered helpless, trapped by your own thoughts. That’s how this particular Kore used magic. But… once you’re that deep into the trap, knowing the truth won’t do you any good. That is why I’m deeply sorry. Everyone in this town has you to thank, thank the heavens you figured it out!” Cai smiled. “But I promise that next time, I’ll do the saving” He huffed, though it was easy to see through the joke.
“Sure Cairon.” Evy agreed. Just how often did he think her life would be threatened? In her whole life, never had she been so endangered since Cai had arrived. Though she decided not to mention this, surely it would make his guilt worse. ‘However, I may use it later’ She decided.

“Want to sleep? I was gonna leave to check on the staff members..” Cai motioned to the door.
“No, can I just ask one small question?” Evy begged.
Pretending to think it over, Cai shrugged “What’s the harm? Shoot.”
“Tell me how we defeated the Kore. Did it just leave? There wasn’t any major damage caused was there?”
“Technically that’s three.”
“Cairon.”
“Cai. I didn’t really do anything, like I said—it was you who did all the work. That flute I summoned, it sort of pulls magic from things and redirects it. Not to be used by the wrong sorts of people, mind you.” He tapped his temple briefly. “I honestly had no idea how to battle something like that, since—well, never been confronted by one before. So, I took a guess—best thing you can do in a situation like that by the way—with the new assumption that a Kore can be summoned. If our magic triggered the summoning, it must have been fed by that magic. Hence, removing that magic caused the Kore to simply… fade away I guess.”
“Fade?”
“Well, to our eyes. Even people who can see aura can’t see what’s on the other side of the mirror.” Cai finished. “ No major damage, though the earth tremors may have broken some expensive plates up the road from George’s store..”
“That’s good to know.” Evy relaxed considerably. Through all her ordeals, she was amazed everyone had come out unscathed. How long could she keep up with this luck though?

Cai must have been able to sense the wave of oncoming questions, as he now stood by the door. “You said one question; I answer four and a half. Now, you have to rest. That kind of magic use is pretty draining. All other questions will wait until tomorrow, and we’ll tackle those then. Sleep well.”

And with that, the door clicked shut, the only light now filtering in from the small gap under the door. Evy stared up at the ceiling with wide, alert eyes. How could she sleep after all that? With the quilt still firmly wrapped around her, she slid toward the large window, leaning both arms against the ledge. A beautiful, pale full moon was present in the sky. A calm sight to see, and as Evy gazed up at the moon that gazed down, she continued to let her mind fill with more questions, hoping she would remember to ask them.

And that is how she fell asleep, with the moonlight streaming in through the window, reflecting off the glass and onto the far wall. Slowly letting herself be swept away in dreams of prophecies and lost memories, and souls that had wandered aimlessly for centuries.

CHAPTER 17: Questions

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been awake, nor when exactly she had realised that she was. Emerald eyes blinked slowly, their vision focusing on the landscape laid out in front of the glass she rested on; she realised slowly that she’d fallen asleep in front of the bay window in Cai’s guestroom. As she acknowledged this, the previous day’s events and all the new information settled back on her mind like a weight.
And as she watched a few sparrows peck around in the grass outside, a small smile graced her lips, a sense of overwhelming calm surrounding her. Hints of morning dew still graced the leaves of the flowers at the edge of the window sill, though she could clearly see the sun indicating it to be almost noon. “Almost noon….” She whispered gently, her breathe fogging up the window pane. At this, Evy slowly raised her arms from under her chin to unclasp the latch on the window and spread it open, letting the cool air fill the room.
“OOOOOOOOOOhaiyou! Genki desuka?” She heard Cai’s voice sing from the doorway. Without turning around, she replied “Ohaiyou. Genki.” Crisply, before continuing, “When did you start learning Japanese?”
“Last week” Cai replied, and as she turned around, Evy could see him looking proud of himself. “Ja, omedetou. Ganbare, Cairon.”
“……Are you SURE you feel okay this morning?” Cai questioned as he came to sit beside her on the bed. Rolling her eyes, Evy remembered who she was talking to, and not to expect too much considering his attention span. She considered translating, but instead gave a short, “absolutely”.
As she turned from the window to instead lean her back up against it, she realised Cai must have been up for some time, the sleeves of the long shirt he wore were scrunched and rolled up to his shoulders and she could see spots of dirt in places, standing out against the original white colour. “Been somewhere?”She questioned, briefly gesturing to his attire.
“School.”Cai spoke offhandedly, “Part of the roof caved in due to the quakes yesterday, so one of the classrooms will need to be repaired.” Evy hesitated to ask, already knowing the answer, “Which uhh, which…….” She really, REALLY didn’t want to finish that sentence. However, as luck would have it, Cai caught on, “Well, ours……funny coincidence right?.”He ran his fingers through his hair and chuckled. “There is no such thing as coincidence….”Evy muttered, it was impossible for disaster to avoid her these days.
“Just a pain to clean up. Although….we’ve shifted most of the ceiling rafters out of the way, it’s mostly all dust and materials, but the room was sort of dusty before anyway, right? There’ll hardly be a difference! Lucky we didn’t do anything stupid like clean beforehand! Aha!” Hands on his hips, laughing at his own “cleverness”, Evy couldn’t believe this guy was technically the one who held the highest position of power in her town, let alone her principal and teacher.
Actually, Cai had decided the week before camp to have the whole class battle it out in a competition where the loser would have the immense pleasure of cleaning the room with 2 ‘friends’ of their choice. What would this grand competition of skill and character be? A glorious, traditional game of paper, scissors, rock. When Cai lost against the entire class three times in a row, everyone gave up and merely called it a draw. And hence, their homeroom remained in a state of complete mess and horror that compared to none. “Sure.”Evy merely agreed.
----------------------------------

“So…”Evy began, pausing to chew on her last piece of pancake. “I can ask as many questions as I like today right?” She glanced toward Cai, who was washing a pile of dishes that may have been mounting for a few weeks. “Sure.” He replied, raising a brow. “But you gotta tag with me today!” He grinned. Well, everything came at a price. “I think I can bear that “she nodded. “Where to?”

“Ta da!” Cai slammed a list of place names in front of Evy. “List of things to do.” He once again grinned, as if proud of this ingenious idea. Picking up the list, Evy started to regret her decision, seeing the list unfold and double in length. “H-how often do you…errr…do the things on this list?”
“Oh, never! That’s why they’re there!”Cai chuckled.
“Oh boy….”
And so Evy found herself carrying shopping bags, delivering notes to various figures she did and did not recognise, watering all kinds of plants, filing orders and visiting acquaintances of Cai, all of which he introduced Evy to as ‘his esteemed assistant’. It was by this midday point that Evy decided to launch into question time. “Cairon… Why am I the esteemed assistant?”
“Cai.” He corrected “Its better that these people aren’t able to obtain your name too easily.” They were back at Cai’s house now, sorting through stacks of mail. This made Evy stop. “They seemed pretty normal to me, I mean, even the old lady at the flower arranging school….?” Perhaps Cai was a little… paranoid?
“Guess you’ll have to take my word for it. Do some aura searching next time.” Evy banged her head gently against the wall for effect.
“You’re irritating.”
Cai looked touched. “Awwwww thanks! Group huggggg~~” Receiving a shower of letters in reply. When she didn’t hear a reply for a good 5 minutes following, Evy looked up to see Cai holding some of the letters she had thrown at him, a strange expression crossing his features. Jumping up to see the letter, Cai started and stood also. “How do you feel about a day trip?”
“Day…trip?” And before she could prepare herself, another flood of questions had settled themselves in her mind. “An explanation?” She settled in asking.
“In full.” Cai replied as he locked the door behind them.
As they walked, Cai took one glance at Evy and held up a hand. “Better hurry before the questions come, right?”
“I have an acquaintance in Westview who sent this letter to me…” He gestured to the yellowing envelope. “…Four months ago.” At this he chuckled uncomfortably, his smile not reaching his eyes.
“I take it this is bad?” Evy questioned, “Have you even read the letter yet?” She motioned to the sealed envelope.
“No need….take a look.” He handed Evy the envelope and continued. “Besides, she’s never been a patient sort……. And when she’s mad it’s not much fun.” He actually looked scared. The Cai who thought it’d be fun to test the class’s quick reaction skills by throwing lit candles at them and later taking everyone to the roof for ‘superman lessons’….. this same Cai was intimidated by this person? Evy was scared just by these observations alone. Opening the envelope, she pulled out a piece of card with twisted colour dyed through it, nothing more. Flipping to the other side, she found the reverse pattern. “Your acquaintance….didn’t write anything to you?” Evy wondered as she read the front of the envelope “This….Constance?” The front of the envelope was merely addressed to Cai, with a short line; “Be seeing you soon- Constance “Written in neat script.
“Never been her way to do things conventionally “Cai chuckled, and Evy couldn't help but note the irony of Mr conventional himself saying this.
“Well then, do you know what she wants?”
“Oh, I have a fair idea.” Cai held his hand to his chin in thought. Evy merely tilted her head to prove his vagueness. “She found me.” Cai stated, stopping where he stood.
At first Evy thought something was wrong, but realised they had come to the edge of town, the same clearing they had been in the day before. Oh why did she have a feeling of De ja vu?
“Summoning spell! Great Lion!”Yup……she did. The great lion stood before them once more, and in the calm of the situation, she was able to more closely examine it. Evy realised the lion was not entirely opaque as she’d first thought. The lion was slightly transparent in places, some more than others—its fur flecked with particles that reflected the light. Most of all, its large eyes were not lion-like at all. In fact, its eyes were kind, and reminded her of a doe’s. Evy found herself patting its head as if it were a dog quite contentedly, now rid of fear.
“Ja, iku? “ Cai mounted the animal swiftly, almost gracefully and looked down at Evy.
“Mm.”Evy merely mumbled. “Ittekimasu.”
“Say what now?”Cai puzzled.
“I win” Evy whispered., as Cai gave a short command and the lion began at a comfortable pace.

“Cai, tell me about this Constance. How do you know her? What’d you mean when you said she found you? What does she want you for?” Evy decided to make up for her lack of questions today.
“Saw this one coming….” Cai spoke from in front of her, his hands still buried in the lion’s mane as they rode at a comfortable pace. “Don’t know what to answer first though. You realise when you ask multiple questions it confuses people right? “
“You’re changing the subject.” Evy merely prodded.
“Right. Constance. Erm….I guess we have time for a story, so we might as well. Constance and I used to be pretty close, actually. I met her when I first came to Westview myself. You could say that I had come into a few problems….anyway, I needed a place to stay. The moment I arrived in West, Constance was waiting for me; she’d seen me coming before I’d even decided my destination. She’s got this neat villa in West, one of the biggest ones in the town. Ever been to West Eves?”
At first Evy was surprised at how Cai used the local term for Westview, realising he must have lived there for quite a while and knew the town well. “Yeah…It’s really lush and green, sort of on the way to the beach, located in a valley. Overlooking the town are the most expensive houses, five or six really big v---“ Evy stopped. “She lives in one of THOSE?” She asked incredulously. On the hill overlooking the entire lush town were a row of villas, some of the most expensive property around at the moment. Each villa could have been worth….. Evy couldn’t imagine it really, she’d only been in one of these villas once when she was young, and considered herself lucky. Not many ever saw past the exterior of the Westview villas, all very private estates.

“Sure thing, Constance lives in a neat little villa…can’t really remember which, but it’s one of them.” Evy could see Cai shrug. “Anyway, I lived there for a while before coming here……Sorta didn’t tell her where I was goin’, though of course I knew she’d find me eventually.”
“She sent the letter four months ago, that's pretty much when you first came here, Cairon.” Evy observed.
“Right, well…couldn’t expect any less. Even got the address right.” Cai flatly agreed.
A silence settled over them as the lion picked up its pace ever so slightly, now jogging through a thin forest of oaks and tall, skinny trees that reached high over head. Evy could tell Cai was worrying, and this made her also worry, though for different reasons. Cai was obviously worried about meeting this person again. Evy was worried for Cai, worrying about why he must be worried, unable to make any sense so far. Then a small block fell into place.

“What did you do to her?” Evy nearly whispered. She didn’t quite feel right asking. Evy had fully contemplated taking her question back and asking another, much easier one when Cai spoke up, “I betrayed her. And I don’t understand.” There was unmasked bitterness. “Don't…understand?” Evy spoke calmly.
“She didn’t see it coming. And--- she saw everything, never missed a beat. She was the best at what she did, Constance. Her predictions were nearly always correct, she’s regarded so highly in West, many people come to her all the time for help. But, she didn’t see me…. Or if she did, why didn’t she stop me, warn me?” Cai turned to face Evy, a slither of a smile present, one that he was trying hard to maintain. “Guess that's a question I can finally ask, if I’m ever forgiven.”

“What did you—“ Evy was cut off when Cai asked, “Can you tell me….why, that you visited Westview Evylen?”
This caught Evy a little off guard, as did everything Cai usually said and did—though she realised she had little hope of ever adjusting to it.

Her thoughts wandered to Westview, she could still remember very clearly the lush green landscape that surrounded the town, graced with fields of various flowers and canola plants—the main farming export being oil and plant related medicinal herbs. However, the reason she had been in Westview originally was blurred in her mind; torn away at the edges and forgotten over time, though she must have known at one point or another. Faces and scraps of memory flashed past her, trying to piece themselves together, unsuccessfully as each piece didn’t quite match up. Finally, realising she’d been completely spaced out, Evy coughed and tried to elaborate, “I…I lived there also, very a much shorter time. More like passing through, actually. I have no idea why, though I remember the landscape and village very clearly, the people and things I interacted with are all a blur.”
“What do you mean?” Cai simply asked curiously
“I’m not actually sure….my memories just don't…reach back that far.” Evy found herself confessing. “Most things in my memory began from when I came to live here in Central, shortly after leaving Westview. That’s all there is to it.” Evy shrugged. There was a time when she used to get frustrated over not being able to remember, racking her brain but only ending up in a whirl of questions. These days she hardly thought of this. At least, not since Cai had come into her life.

And then the little cogs in her mind turned and the light bulb at the end of the circuit flashed a bright yellow. “Cai..” Evy began hesitantly, “If you don’t mind, if you really did something so terrible….why is it you seem so neutral about going back?”
As if both Cai and the lion were one, both came to an abrupt halt in the centre of a wide expanse of willow-like trees that were covered with small pink flowers that smelt similarly like jasmine and magnolia blossoms. No answered had arrived so far, and a tense silenced gripped the air, leaving Evy with a burning curiosity. Instead, she bit her tongue for once, settling for a nervous action of fiddling with her hands. What happened in the next second confirmed that the more time Evy spent around Cai, the weirder everything was becoming. It wasn’t the fact that Cai answered her question, rather the answer itself that was truly most shocking.

“You know what? The thought never occurred to me until you told me just now.” Evy hadn’t realised until she looked up that Cai had been looking at her when he said this. It wasn’t the scent of magnolia or jasmine that Evy would remember when looking back on this day, nor the exhilaration of riding on the spirit of a lion, fed by Cairon’s mysterious powers. No, all this faded into the background when Evy realised that Cai spoke these words with wide, glistening eyes.

CHAPTER 19: Moments. A whole lot of them.

There are those moments. The thought circled my mind without my willing it. That you know will change everything, your perspective, your values…. and determine the rest of your life.
It was the only real thought that could process….. Evy was still too shocked for words; mind momentarily paralysed…though that wasn’t the exact way she would put it. It was more like her brain was trying to process more than it could take and had finally internally fainted. No backup power supply to keep it functioning now that she really needed it to ease her confusion.
Then maybe, she would have some hope of figuring out what had just happened. Figuring out how her life had taken an even more frantic turn in another direction.

Princess. The eye withdrew as Evy realised the creature was bringing its head back, getting a better look at her while she examined it in the same way. “Wait. Prin…?“ “Reboot! Reboooot!!!” Her brain whirled and she focused on the words that had appeared out of nowhere. “Sorry, what?” She delicately voiced.
The creature repositioned itself in response, its tail gracefully untwining itself from around her body as it had been to steady her fall. As it crouched lower to the level of the ground, like a horse—the metallic of its scales reflected the sun tenfold and Evy shielded her eyes….even as they widened in final realisation.

“Dragon” The thought played through her mind, echoing as it fought to be processed.
Yes, princess. Evy spun for a second, a human voice with no apparent location. The next second, however, all her anxieties were calmed. Like she had pulled a fresh book off the shelf and opened it to chapter 5. “Dragons most often communicate internally.” A psychic ability.

There was something calming about the creature, like Evy could entrust everything to it. Was this what they meant by a bond between a spirit and a wielder? “Uhh….princess?” She questioned. Yes. Was the simple reply that followed, and somehow Evy felt like this was the only explanation she would get. She let her hand stroke along the dragons shimmering scales and realised that she had completely forgotten the reason for summoning the spirit.
“Cai…..”
As if her memories had been playing on a filmstrip, plain for all to see, the dragon spoke to her in its mellow tone. Nothing can hold you back, let us find Cairon Erik
A silent nod was exchanged before Evy found herself mounted on the back shoulder blades of the dragon. She realised the dragon wasn’t quite as large as she first thought. Then again, how big were dragons, exactly? It seemed….young and yet, not a child.
Another thing she realised immediately was that she felt so very comfortable from where she sat. The metallic scales weren’t quite as steel-like as she had imagined, and if she closed her eyes she couldn’t even tell that she was sitting atop a mysterious spirit dragon, or riding with Cai on his lion summon. The metallic scales reminded her of a textured, delicate gauze material, folded in places where one scale ended and another began. Up close the scales looked like small individual shells, finely engraved with a swirling pattern, similar to a persons fingerprint that covered the dragons whole body.

Evy stroked the point between the dragons head and shoulder blades, along its scaled neck and focused on the locations she could remember in Westview. Though she knew few places, Evy was certain of only one place Cai could possibly be. “The villa, atop the hill that overlooks the town…”
She imagined the villa within her mind, a silent explanation to the dragon of where she wanted to go and in response, the creature stretched out two large metallic wings that she had somehow not noticed previously—“How could I NOT have??”—. Giving them a silent heave twice before leaping gracefully into the air, weightless as a bird and agile as if it had last practised its flying only yesterday.

Evy wanted so very badly to simply marvel at the fantasticness of such a creature, but one other desire was currently much more intensely important.

The trip was short, as what would probably have taken a good twenty minutes by foot, (or maybe a ten minute run, she estimated) took mere minutes. “Amazing…” Evy allowed herself to become distracted for just a second as she was still taken aback by the feeling of flying …Even at only a low height…was still amazing. As the dragon glided to the ground, Evy jumped and stood directly in front of the villa that seemed even bigger close up. Now that she was right in front of the house, she realised it looked a whole lot more run down than she had first thought, now that she could observe the features more closely. The villa had once been a snowy white weatherboard construction, surrounded by beds of violets and freesias. Now the paint had faded to a dull, sun bleached white that peeled in many places, exposing the old wood underneath. And even as she moved around to the side of the villa, she could find no flowers in site; there didn’t even seem to be room for any weeds of any sort around the building.

Evy ventured further around the back, headed toward the door she had always known to be unlocked. Walking up the scoria stone pathway, her gaze examined the small stones closely; as if trying to count each one. The dragon followed behind rather gracefully for such a large being. Evy’s deep concentration had prevented her from noticing her surroundings until the dragon made an alert sound. Princess…

“Good evening.” A female voice called. Startled, Evy automatically jumped back a couple inches. Her eyes shot up as she searched for the voice. There, seated in a swinging chair between two large trees was a young woman. She dressed in a deep blue dress, a white cardigan hung over her shoulders loosely. Two points of hair on either side of her head had been tied at the back, like a braided crown, only emphasising the elven traits present. Large, ochre eyes glimmered and Evy felt a sense of nostalgia in this meeting.

“Umm, I’m looking for a boy, my age, has he come past here?” Evy asked. She could feel the spirit dragon’s curiosity toward the woman also.

The woman did not speak, as soon as the question had been poised, the sound of thudding, uneven footsteps came to a halt before them.

Evy let out both a sigh of relief and gasped as she saw the state he was in. Cai stood, his breathing heavy and uneven. He looked like he had run the whole way here.

“Cai! You…” Evy began. Though her question was abruptly disrupted as Cai looked up to face her, with his intention quickly switching to something behind her instead. Immediately his expression changed to one of shock…or horror? It was an expression of pain, Evy realised as Cai slowly raised one of his arms to his forehead, running his fingers through his hair for a moment.

This was another of those moments, Evy realised.

Cai released a shaky breathe, before swaying unsteadily.

Time slowed, the seconds all merging together into a sole frame of time.

Cai gave a final stagger as he fell….. One single three syllable word was uttered so quietly that Evy didn’t catch it.

The moment stretched itself out, playing as a slow motion tape. Each small detail changing ever so minutely as he fell.


“CAI!!”

A/N:The first poem in chapter 21 was written by Sri Chinmoy, titled You Have a Passion, and I altered it slightly.

CHAPTER 21:The Ribbon

“Young master, it’s a package from the Lord”
“Thankyou Samuel, when is he going to be coming back?”
“The Lord has sent no word”
“I see. Well then, I’m going out soon.”

As soon as my father’s servant bowed and exited, I opened box that he had placed on the table. A brown, simply packaged box, this was from him alright. It would always be an exotic gift hidden inside the plain box exterior. Today, as I peeled back the packaging tape and foam coverings, inside lay a much smaller jewlery box, decorated with an orange ribbon. Pulling one end, the bow came undone slowly and the velvet box opened.
What I didn’t see first wasn’t whatever jewellery the box had been meant to hold, instead I stared at something of much higher value to me. It was a small piece of paper, cut to fit inside the lid, and across the paper, in my father’s unmistakable handwriting, was a message intended for me:

You have a passion for Truth
Therefore, truth is within you.
You have a passion for Light
Therefore, light enlightens you.
You have a passion for Life
Life is within you
And in your eyes of wonder
Eternity exists in you

My Son.



Such an odd message for my father to be sending me, I decided. My father, the lord of this region and a highly respected man, travelled between his estates and other properties. Often very busy, he would send packages from his travels as a reminder to me that he still cared.
I honestly didn’t mind though. I had my own freedom with no adults apart from servants around, so I was content.
Or at least, I was now.

“Hey!! Knock Knock! Anyone home?” A familiar call came from outside. “A brought bread!”
Leaning over the window, I saw my only friend in the world. “Ash? Isn’t the front door open? The servants would let you in.”
“Probably. I dunno.” He shrugged and smiled. “Don’t you have any imagination?”
“Ah! Of course I do!! But who ‘knocks’ on windows? You knock on doors…..”
“Your rambling again. You know I’m right.”
“Whatever, its bread time.”

Ash was my best friend. Honestly, I used to miss my father and mope around until I met him at school when I started. His father was away a lot too, a minister at an important temple not far from the city. Guess we both needed a friend.

“Hey, Cai?” Ash stopped suddenly, halfway through dribbling a soccer ball toward a goal I was protecting. I just nodded to show I was listening, but at the same time still concentrating on the game at hand in case he had any smart ideas of beating me today. “Well, my dad is coming home tomorrow.” He stated, and it didn’t seem like he really meant anything by it. “How long’s it been?” I questioned. “4 months, wasn’t it?”
“I think it’s closer to 7.”
“Wow. So…Are you excited?” Ash was always happy to see his father, but today his tone sounded a little reluctant. “Yep.” Was the reply that came.

“That’s great then, can I come? “
THWACK. The soccer ball had hit the net before I had time to react. “HEY! No fair!”
“I think I won today, 10-6. So… You buy me bread!!” Ash danced about. “This is so fun, everyday!”
“You and your bread…” I grizzled.

It was at the bread shop, Ash munching on melon bread and humming an unfamiliar tune, and myself eating something else he had suggested I try, that we met her.

“Heyyyy! Stop! “ A girl, probably the same age as us, though I couldn’t recall ever seeing her in school, was chasing after a cap that had been whisked up by the confident breeze that blew through the street. We were watching the scene unfold before our eyes, until the air current twist and threw the sought after hat straight at us, landing neatly in my lap.
“Umm.” I picked it up as the girl approached, “here.”
“You should be careful, the wind is unpredictable today.” Ash replied in that cryptic way he often carried about him, smiling at me, too.
“What do you—“
“Want some bread?”He ignored me and offered to the girl.
“Thanks.”She finally spoke, thankful for which sentiment, I wondered.

The girl smoothed down her dress as she quickly ate the offered bread. “Yum, this is great. But, my favourite is the kind you’re eating.” She motioned casually at the small half of bread I hadn’t eaten yet. “Oh, really? It is pretty good”, I had to agree, there was some form of meat scattered on top of the pastry like bread, what I was guessing to be crab or lobster meat, and some form of sweet seasoning on top.
The girl tilted her head, as if hearing someone calling for her, and stood suddenly. “I need to go now, thanks a bunch for the melon bread~~”She smiled gratefully, only to gasp again as her newly recovered cap was picked up by the wind today.
“Wah.”She pouted slightly. “The wind hasn’t given up playing today.” She turned to leave, but for some reason, I called for her to stop.
“Umm. If you can’t get your hat back…” My hand reached for the pocket on the inside of my jacket. Sure enough, I’d left the ribbon there, amongst some small change. Seeing me produce the ribbon, she smiled.
She tied it into her caramel locks, a shiny orange bow that swayed with the breeze, but didn’t budge otherwise. “It’s my favourite colour!~~” She grinned. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Cairon.”I tried to give a casual bow and smiled. “And you?”
“Evylen.” She curtsied to be polite, but giggled in a friendly way, titlting her head the other way this time.

“Don’t worry, the wind always gives that hat back at the end of the day, it’s just bored. Thanks for the bread, and everything else. I guess I’ll see you.” She waved and walked in the opposite direction from which she had come before abruptly stopping. “By the way…” She began, “ I like the coloure of your hair, its nice.” And then she continued on her way, humming an uplifting tune.
I was stunned for a moment. “She never asked for your name.” I finally observed, watching Ash. “Why?” I pressed when he didn’t answer straight away.
“Oh, we’ve met before.” He relaxed back into his chair, but his eyes sparkled, like after figuring out a puzzle that everyone else is still working to solve, and finding it funny. “Is that why you look so happy?” I teased.

“Hmm. Not really, but I guess that is kinda the reason.” His face became calm again as he faced me, “It’s awesome being able to have a friend. Thanks.”
“What are you—“ Again, for the second time that day, I was cut off as he rose and looked toward the setting sun. “It’s late, when are the fireworks starting again?”
“Oh, in a few minutes I think”

I regret never trying to investigate his weird behaviour that day, or the secret behind his teasing smile. As we watched the flashes of light and sound, enjoying the fresh night air, this life seemed so eternal. At the same time, the jewellery box containing a gold set watch, with two hands that lay perfectly still, waited for me to turn its hands. A second message which lay unnoticed, and would continue to lie until much later, at a time when the world felt like it was collapsing all around me.

All the regrets and unstoppable circumstances began the next morning, as I waited for Ash where we had planned to meet a week before, in front of a bread shop which opened today. At the time I didn’t know it, as an aching feeling spread across me.

Ash never came, and I was all alone.

CHAPTER 23:Writing on blank pages

“You know…You still wear that ribbon I gave you”, Cai suddenly commented.
“This?” Evy felt for the ribbon that was currently tied in her hair in a ruffled bow. “What do you mean? I’ve had this since…” She trailed off. She’d always had this ribbon, hadn’t she? It was her favourite colour, a bright orange, like the fruit.
“…since I gave it to you”. Cai smiled. “I only remembered just now, conveniently enough.”

Evy just stared blankly as Cai looked lost in his own memories, finally stating, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. You realise that?”
“Yup!” Cai laughed.

“You’re delusional too now.” Evy slumped. “Try and concentrate…Yesterday, you seemed pretty shocked when you saw that woman yesterday. Did you know her? Was that maybe, Constance?” The one question was sprouting into more, so Evy stopped herself when Cai only looked confused. “What…woman?” It seemed that he was confused for another reason. “I never saw anyone. Where is she now??”
“You really didn’t see her? Yesterday, in the back garden, when you reached the house there was a woman. She picked you up when you passed out and brought you here, I wouldn’t have managed that on my own. Had a lot of fun trying to find you after that…”
Cai seemed to be thinking and asked, “What did she look like?” And Evy tried her best to recount the elven woman’s appearance. “But she’s gone.” Evy added. “I feel like even though she was here yesterday, she’s not anymore. Just like everyone else.”

“Ah.” Cai nodded as he seemed to understand.
“What? What?” Evy asked. The information she had given wasn’t entirely helpful, she had thought.
“Hmm.” His smile was a little bit bitter, but for the most part he seemed to be thinking various thoughts steps ahead of the current conversation. “She sent me that mail, knowing already when I would finally find it. Again! I don’t understand many things about her, and this is one of them.” He was musing now, annoyed that he hadn’t come earlier. “Despite the fact that us finding that letter would lead to us getting here when everything was already too late, she wished it so. That, I don’t understand at all. She didn’t think we could do something, anything?”
“Umm,” Evy interrupted the rant, “You keep saying ‘us’, that woman wanted me here too?” The day before, the woman hadn’t at all been surprised that Evy had been there, calmly beckoning for her to follow.
“Everything she did was for a reason. Guess you’re stuck with me.” He grinned.

“We’ve curved away from my original question. So you really didn’t see her yesterday? You were pointing behind me, Cai. Are you sure?”
“Evy, honestly I think I’d remember. Before I blacked out I saw…” And he stopped dead. “I...thought I saw…” He shook his head. “Nevermind what I thought I saw, after I saw what happened here I couldn’t stop myself.”
“Please. Tell me what you saw?” Evy prodded. She couldn’t let this go. She was going to find out whatever she could, bit by bit. Cai took another gulp of the bottled water and chuckled, “Honestly, I thought I saw a dragon! I mean can you believe that?”
“Oh yeah!” Evy jumped. “Guess there was a dragon there, you didn’t recognise it? It was originally your spirit summon too…”
“Mine?”

TBC.....