The Spirus

by JB Trepagnier

  Soryn

  Soryn was exhausted and her head hurt. She just wanted to sleep, but she knew they couldn’t stay in the clearing they were in. She didn’t know how close the humans were and their fire message could have been seen for miles away. Transforming into anything she wanted was easy and seemed like second nature, but trying to hold that much fire while concentrating on the hearth in her home took more effort than she was used to.

  Sono was trying to hold her up as they tried to get further away from the clearing. She was leaning into him and trying to move her feet forward. She had no idea how she was supposed to do anything Volaris and Belisarus told her she was supposed to do if just sending a message made her feel this bad.

  Her message with Belisarus was brief and she knew she would not see him again. He apologized for not telling her who he was and how hard it was for him. He told her he knew she probably doubted everything that the tribes told her about who she was and what she was supposed to do, but that everything was true and he knew who she was from the moment she was born. When she asked him how she was supposed to do what they said she was meant to do without hurting anyone, all he would tell her was that things would change now that she was here. She would bring gifts to the tribes and she would give the humans what they wanted. When she tried to ask what that meant, she saw a flash of white light and woke up on the ground with Volaris and Sono looking down on her.

  She didn’t think she had the strength to make another fire message to ask him what he meant and just looking at him through the fire, she didn’t know if he would be able to hold on to tell her once she was able to send another one. She was still confused on how she was supposed to do what she was here to do, but at least Belisarus thought she could do it without hurting anyone.

  It was getting dark and they would have to stop soon. Sono set her down and told her he could find food for her and would go with Frog to get her something to eat. Leodos stayed with Esylle as the rest of the men went hunting. Volaris stayed like he had questions, but after Frog’s outburst, she didn’t think he would ask her. She looked over and Esylle looked just as bad as Soryn felt. When Esylle looked over at her with a concerned look on her face, she looked away.

  The men came back with their hunt and Frog and Sono arrived shortly after. She didn’t think Sono would be very good at gathering food for her, but he brought back some plants she hadn’t even known were edible. Soryn didn’t think she would be able to sit up any longer and curled on her side while Sono and Frog argued over who would cook. Sono won out when he said he would make her Farkhi food she never had before and promised Frog they would both like it.

  She tried to keep her eyes open long enough to eat because she was starving. Esylle was having issues keeping her eyes open as well and she was surprised when she slid over to where she was lying on the ground. Esylle put her hands in her hair again and Soryn didn’t shake her hands away this time. She was too tired. She was surprised again that she liked it and relaxed. Esylle didn’t ask her about the message or why she was crying when she got it. She just sat next to her and played with her hair. She still didn’t know how she was supposed to act around Esylle, but she liked this.

  When Sono brought her a bowl of food, she was able to pull herself into a sitting position. He told her it was Farkhi food and he hoped she enjoyed it. She was very hungry, but very tired. She ate slowly and was surprised how good the stew was. Sono beamed at her when she told him. Sono also confused her. He embraced her and tried to kiss her. He always sat as close as possible to her. She wanted him to kiss her when she realized that was what he was going to do. She just didn’t know how much of him wanting to kiss her was because of who she was to the tribes or who she was as a normal girl.

  “Are both of you going to feel better in the morning that we can move again?” Leodos asked her.

  “I don’t know. He taught me the theory behind sending these messages, but I’ve never done it before. I didn’t know it would make me feel this bad.”

  “Are you going to tell us what his message was for you?”

  “Why is it if you aren’t yelling at me, you are asking me questions?” she asked.

  “I’m not asking you anything you don’t know this time.”

  “He just told me I’m exactly who Volaris told me I am. He said I can bring peace without hurting anyone, but there will be changes. He didn’t tell me how and everything went white. I don’t think he will be able to hold on until Esylle and I get enough strength to send another message and when I left, it was the last time I’ll see him.”

  “Did he tell you what is supposed to happen next?”

  “I don’t know. When I finish eating, I need to play my flute and bring all the tribes here. We need to find a safe place to stay and they need to teach me what they know. I don’t know how long we have until the humans find us and I have to figure out what it is I’m supposed to do.”

  Soryn expected him to ask more questions she didn’t have the answers to when she saw the air before her vibrate and another Farkhi appeared. She expected him to tell Volaris whatever it was he was here to tell him, but as soon as he saw her, he fell to his knees and kissed her hands. He told her he had been watching her for days and had trouble not exposing himself and touching her. It still made her uncomfortable that they all seemed to want to touch her, but she knew she would have to get used to it because it would get worse when the other tribes arrived.

  “Tropos, whatever news you have is more important than touching her. She’s not going anywhere,” Volaris warned. “What is going on back at the camps?”

  “Oris brought the message back to his father and he announced it to his tribe. He was able to get a message to the Tarks. Everyone has fled the camps, but we’re unsure where to go to be safe. Aere has been watching the Lords and they want to use this as an opportunity to completely wipe out the tribes. They are rallying everyone they can to take up arms. They started out with their army yesterday and intend to hit the Farkhi camp first since it’s the closest.”

  Soryn had finished eating and put her bowl down. As much as she just wanted to lie down and sleep, she pulled her flute out and played the song that Volaris told her all the Farkhi heard. No one stopped her this time and she played it the entire way through. Not knowing which song was which, she played every single song Belisarus ever taught her.

  Terros

  Terros had all of the Theran with him and most of the Farkhi had joined them. Some were still walking because Joron couldn’t fly. Terros knew they needed to find the girl, but was still unsure where to locate her. Should they wait at the coast for them to get back from Idric? They all saw flame shooting up into the air from a long distance. Terros was angry and didn’t know what they thought they were doing out there. They were putting a target on their backs.

  The whole situation with the girl had him angry. He shouldn’t have found out about her the way he did and he still didn’t know what they were supposed to do with a confused girl who knew nothing. Some of the Farkhi were in and out between traveling with the Theran and spying on the humans. When they were traveling with Terros, he tried to find out everything he could about this girl.

  He learned she was rash and had difficulty controlling her emotions. He knew they needed to get there soon because Oris informed him she had an idea in her head that she should go to the humans and let them kill her. After being told about what happened after she fought a bear, he wondered if she could even die. He dismissed that thought as being ridiculous. She was born a child and was here as a young girl. She could be hurt, even if she could heal herself. He worried she would go to the humans and they would do something to her that she couldn’t heal from. Either that, or they would keep her underneath the castle, trying to study her, as they had done the tribes before, while the tribes fought to get her back.

  It was getting late and they would need to find a safe place to sleep. They were all getting settled in a place he thought they could all safely sleep for the night when all
of a sudden, all of the Farkhi around him jumped up, shouting, and some were crying. Some of them flat out flew off and disappeared. Oris appeared by his side and asked him what was going on, but Terros had no idea.

  Then he heard the music. The melody every Theran knew. The girl was playing the flute and summoning them. Terros’ people all began to speak at once and he had to shout to prevent them from changing and running to her. They couldn’t be back from Idric now. Why was she summoning them? Were they surrounded by humans and she needed help?

  He attempted to yell over the din, but everyone was shouting and wanting to go to her that he couldn’t be heard. He felt himself vibrate and changed into a lion. He let out the loudest roar that he could, relieved as he was changing back that everyone had finally quieted down.

  “I don’t know why she’s summoning us now. They wouldn’t have arrived at Idric yet. We need to get to her as soon as possible and may need to travel through the night to make sure they aren’t in trouble.”

  “Esylle knows how to defend herself and I’m sure this girl does too,” Joron said, pushing through the crowd. “I can’t travel like you do and I’ll slow you down.”

  “You are a king and you will not be left behind. You will ride on the back of someone large enough to carry you. Everyone needs to transform and we need to move immediately in case they are in trouble!” Terros shouted, relieved as he watched both tribes began to change. It would be a hard run, but they knew where she was now.

  Volaris

  Volaris awoke before anyone else. He could see Soryn sleeping and Esylle had moved so that she was pressed against her back and had her arm around her. Volaris didn’t know how Soryn would react to that. She responded to him when he was mating with her, even though she didn’t know what was supposed to happen, but that would have been instinct for her. Sono had said she was going to allow him to kiss her before they were interrupted. He had gathered, from listening and watching, the Belisarus avoided contact with the girl while raising her, even though he was her grandfather. He knew she both wanted it and it confused her.

  He could see that Sono would have tried to sleep as close to her as possible if her traveling companion had not placed himself between them. He may have to keep Sono away from the girl.

  She liked the food that Sono had prepared for her, and Volaris thought to go out before everyone woke up and make her a proper Farkhi breakfast. He didn’t know how long Esylle and Soryn would sleep considering how much energy the two of them had expended.

  As soon as he stood up, he could feel many eyes on them in the bushes and he didn’t know if he would have time to wake the five humans to protect the girl and Esylle. He didn’t know if either of them would have the strength to fight if needed. If there were humans in the bushes, why hadn’t they attacked while everyone was sleeping and helpless?

  He walked over to the bushes, slowly. Fluvis and Neptis came out of the brush slowly with their hands up and Volaris blew out a sigh of relief. The Tark camp was closest to where they were.

  “Is everyone with you?” he whispered to Fluvis, trying not to wake everyone.

  Fluvis and Neptis both looked past his shoulder trying to find Soryn. They looked like all of the Tark. They kept their black hair closely cropped and their heavily lidded eyes were searching for her. “Everyone is here. We heard the Vudos flute. We didn’t know if it was safe to come. Terros told us she was going to Idric and we didn’t think she would be back yet. Why is she calling now?”

  “Belisarus is dying and the girl and Esylle got their answers. She summoned everyone with the flute. You are the first to arrive.”

  “Why did he have her? Why did she appear this way?” Neptis asked, rubbing his hand over his hair.

  “We didn’t know this, but he’s her grandfather. She’s really the Princess Lisana and he didn’t think she would be safe in the palace. I don’t know when she will wake up, but come out of the bushes and meet her. I’m going to find breakfast.”

  “We will wait until she is awake and you can let her know we are here. We want to meet her, but we don’t trust the humans you have with you,” Fluvis said, going back into the bushes.

  The Tarks were mostly safe underwater and that was where they preferred to be. Volaris watched them disappear while he went into the forest. He knew of things that grew that Soryn was not aware of, watching her eat. By the time he got back to the campsite, all of the humans were awake, Soryn and Esylle were still sleeping.

  Since he seemed to be their leader, Volaris pulled the tall man aside and let him know that the Tarks were hiding in the forest waiting for her to wake up. The tall man wanted to know why they didn’t immediately go to her like the rest of the tribes seemed to do and Volaris told him why. Volaris informed him he gathered enough food for everyone and to not hunt this morning while the Tarks were out and to just let him handle breakfast.

  Esylle woke up as the smell of the herbed potato cakes Volaris was making began to waft in the air, but Soryn still had not stirred. Volaris saw her check on Soryn and he was worried himself that she hadn’t woken. He watched both Sono and the strange man she called Frog check on her.

  He watched, relieved as Soryn finally sat up with more color in her face than she did yesterday. He watched as she stood up, shaking off both Esylle and Sono’s concerned hands. Esylle looked upset, but Volaris knew that it wasn’t because Soryn didn’t want her touching her this time. She could smell all the Tarks in the forest.

  He heard Soryn tell everyone to stay put and she approached him with a confused look on her face. “Why are they hiding?” she asked. “I called for them and no one else from the tribes has hidden from me.”

  He explained to her why they were hiding and watched her go into the brush. He lost sight of her for a moment, but when she came back, Fluvis and Neptis were with her. He sighed as he saw the way Neptis was looking at the girl and the way Sono was looking at Neptis. He hoped there was not fighting among the tribes after the war if she stayed in this form over the girl. Based on how she erupted when they were planning her future without consulting her, she wouldn’t like having a husband chosen for her, as was tradition.

  Volaris had finished cooking and brought food out as Soryn was introducing Fluvis and Neptis to the humans and trying to explain to them that they had never wanted to hurt her and they could trust them. Neptis and Fluvis eyed the humans suspiciously as they sat down with Soryn. They didn’t eat with them, claiming they had already eaten.

  Volaris sat across from Soryn and she looked directly at him. “I don’t know where all the camps are. I was only told that the route I was taking would not take me near them. Do you know how soon it will take for everyone to get here? We can’t stay once they get here.”

  “Soon, if they traveled through the night when they heard you play. I don’t know where we will go that will be safe and can house all of us.”

  “Inanos,” she told him.

  “How do you know that word and that place? We don’t go there anymore and don’t speak of it. I thought he taught you nothing,” he said sharply. Was the girl starting to remember who she was?

  “I thought I heard Belisarus call it to me before the white light. I thought I heard him say to go there. I don’t know what it means. How would I know that word unless I heard it from him?”

  He tried not to show her he was disappointed that she wasn’t remembering. “You can’t go there. It’s not safe for you.”

  “Why would he tell me that if it wasn’t safe for me? If he took me when I was a baby to protect me, why would he send me somewhere I can be hurt?”

  “You died there. You can’t go back there. No one goes there anymore.”

  “If the tribes haven’t been there in so long, maybe the humans don’t know about it and it’s the only place we will be safe. I’m still upset he never told me who he was to me, but he wouldn’t send me somewhere I would be hurt.”

  Volaris was about to argue with her when Esylle spoke. “I don’t understand why he did
n’t tell me who she was and just took her, but if he told Lisana to go there, we should go there.”

  The girl and Esylle were no longer hiding their hair and eyes, but he watched the girl’s eyes flash when Esylle called her by her real name. She looked like she was about to say something, then she stood up, looking around alertly.

  “They’re close. Your father is with them,” she told Esylle. “And I’m not used to that name. I should go meet them.”

  Volaris caught her arm as she took a step away. “Even if they are friends, you can’t keep wandering off and risking yourself. You need to stay with the rest of us where you are safe. When everyone is here, we will discuss Inanos. I still think it’s a bad idea.”

  She didn’t argue with him this time. He was relieved as she sat down and waited with the rest of them.

  Terros

  It seemed like they had been running for ages. They had run through the night and it was light out. He was relieved when he could finally smell that they were getting close enough rather than just feel it. He could smell the salty scent that the Tarks were already there and there were so many of them, along with the humans and the other Farkhi that were there, it was too much for his nose and he was having trouble concentrating on the girl. He couldn’t pick her out of everything he was smelling, but knew she had to be with them.

  When he got close enough to smell food being cooked, he stopped and changed back into a man and commanded everyone else to change. He watched Joron slide off of Terbis’ back and the air got murky as everyone was changing back. He didn’t smell many humans nearby, so she wasn’t in danger.

  “She’s just in that clearing. Approach slowly. I’ve been told she’s just a confused girl and we don’t want to frighten her. Oris and I will go out first and then you can all meet her.”

  He walked out with his hands up trying to ignore Oris buzzing in his ear about wanting to marry the girl. They weren’t in trouble at all and Volaris and Sono sat around a fire with five humans. He saw Esylle and was surprised she no longer hid her hair. Joron still did. The girl spotted both of them as he laid eyes on her and stood up. Volaris stood with her and waited for them to approach. Terros could see why Oris was taken her.