He was surprised when Esylle pulled away from him for a moment and told him she may wake soon. She normally had to sleep through the night when she was injured. When he asked how she knew, she explained to him how Oris had taught her. She said she still needed to learn from the other two princes and had not had time to explore her other gifts because she didn’t want to leave the girl.
Leodos kissed her neck and told her she should leave and explore the gifts she was given. Maybe it would help her understand the girl better. He assured her he would be there for her when Lisana woke up and try to get her talking to him.
Esylle
Esylle left the bedroom, even though she wanted to be there when Lisana awoke. Leodos was right, though. Even if she didn’t know why, she had changed her for a reason, even if the only reason she was given was to have more children like Lisana. She walked back to the corridor and was surprised to see Sono in the air as a colorful bird and Oris was pacing around as a large black cat she had seen Lisana change into. Neptis had not gone back out into the sea and was staring off into space looking angry. Esylle was sure it was Sono’s kiss that had him upset.
When Sono saw her, he flew down and transformed. He immediately asked about Lisana. She told him she was sleeping and would wake when she was ready. She said they were all changed for a reason and now they needed to teach her how to use her new gifts. Despite being upset with him earlier, Oris joined the two of them and asked her if the smells were still overwhelming her. She admitted it was getting easier and she could pick out the smell he told her about when Lisana needed to sleep. When she noticed Sono was confused, she told him Oris helped her through her first change as Theran while they were waiting for Lisana to wake up. Oris cut Sono off to tell her she hadn’t fully experienced being Theran yet as she was just a house cat before. She should try turning into something bigger and running freely as her daughter did.
Sono started speaking almost immediately, talking over him, that she should experience flying first. It was better than running on any day. Oris exploded on him that if flying was better than running, then why did Lisana run to calm herself rather than fly? Esylle tried to stop the argument that they all had their gifts for a reason and she wanted to experience everything while Lisana was sleeping. She still didn’t know why Lisana changed her to be this way, but not the princes. She tried to tell herself that Lisana knew something she wasn’t talking about and she needed to trust her.
She told Oris she would run with him shortly, but she wanted Sono to show her what it was like to fly. Sono told her the same thing Oris did. Set her mind on a bird and let the animal take over. He warned her that she would become smaller and would need to start beating her wings before she hit the ground after she changed. She did what she had done before she changed into a cat. She always enjoyed the hummingbirds by the pond and focused on that bird. She could feel her body vibrating like it had done when she changed into the house cat, but unlike before, she didn’t end up on the floor. She could feel herself falling towards the ground and began to furiously beat her wings. She thought she was going to crash to the ground and Lisana would have to heal her again when she realized she was going up now instead of down. She came up to eye level with Sono and could see him beaming at her. She tried to go higher and realized Sono was next to her as a hummingbird as well.
Before she knew it, she was easily soaring above in the rafters and looking down at Oris and Neptis. Since she knew it was up there, she flew up to the carving in the ceiling that the light came from today that flowed through Lisana. She knew she shouldn’t get too close, but she was able to get close enough. She was surprised to see that the carving was of the Myalis flower in the center of a circle. The symbols on 4 sides of the circle were the same symbols on the floor that Lisana said were the tribe’s before.
She didn’t get closer because she didn’t know if the light would come back and she would fall from this height. Instead, she just made note of it in her head and enjoyed what it was like to soar above Neptis and Oris in the rafters. It was very freeing and different than when she made the heart flower. The heart flower felt like nothing else, but it was contained. In the air, no one could touch her unless they had arrows and no one here would shoot at her. For a moment, she wondered why Lisana ran instead of flying when she was angry. Running seemed so tiring after the endless walking they had done, but now that she had gotten used to it, flying was almost effortless.
As much as she didn’t want to, she started to fly back down to the stone floor. Sono beat her and managed to transform standing, but she was still figuring out how to use these gifts and made an awkward landing on the ground before she was able to change back. Both Sono and Oris looked at her proudly and no longer seemed angry with each other. They told her it would get easier for her to make the change back to human. Oris was excited and wanted to take her running, but Sono had stopped talking and was looking over Esylle’s shoulder. She followed his gaze and Lisana was walked towards them, followed by Leodos, who didn’t seem upset anymore.
Lisana was relaxed and swinging her arms by her side and looked a more like the girl she met at the pond, though a little less unsure of herself. When she approached, she smiled and told Esylle she was glad she came out here to learn instead of waiting for her to wake up again. She was glad to see her smiling again. She gestured for Neptis to come over and Esylle was surprised when she suggested they both take her for her first swim. She thought Lisana meant for these three boys to teach her everything while she continued to do whatever the chair was telling her. She was excited that the girl wanted to come with them for her first swim and agreed to go with them, even though she was unsure about the weather outside and the cold water.
As the opened the doors, Esylle was nearly blown back by the cold wind. It never got this cold by the palace and when Lisana saw her hesitate, she was surprised to see that impish look come back. The girl teased her that she was forgetting who she was and that she could easily make the cold not bother her. She was so relieved to see that look on her face, she ignored the cold for a moment to embrace her. The girl returned the embrace like she had this morning and warned her she may need to change like Neptis so the cold water didn’t bother her. Neptis reminded her he could swim how he wanted now and told her she may not be able to swim with them as she had been swimming with him because of the cold. As they walked out to the water, she told him she was used to the cold and if she couldn’t deal with it, she’d change like him. She gave her usual musical laugh when Neptis teased her that she had been saying she would change like him if she couldn’t do something every time they had swum together and she still always swam like the creatures in her stories.
Esylle had overheard them when she was asking him about the stories she was told and she knew she would see things she had never seen before, in addition to the creature Lisana would become. When they got to the shore, Lisana told her to warm herself while they got into deeper water because the water was very cold. She was shocked when the water lapped at her feet at how much the cold bit at her toes. Her breath was coming out in a fog. She concentrating on warming herself and soon, the water didn’t bother her. When they got to where the water was lapping at their necks, she realized she had never been on this coast before and didn’t know what sea animals swam here.
Neptis told her to look under the water and try to become as he was. When his head dipped under the water, she submerged under the water and was surprised to see a large, fierce looking fish with rows of teeth. She was worried how she would breathe under the water and something would happen and she would drown. She came back up, unsure of herself. Lisana’s head popped back up when hers did and she asked her why she hesitated. When Esylle explained her fears, Lisana backed up in the water and a red and orange tail appeared where her legs would be. She wasn’t angry and cold now and was being playful again. She tried to assure her that if she could breathe underwater as half human, Esylle wouldn’t drown using her new Tark gifts.
Esylle dipped underwater again and held her breath. She concentrated on becoming like Neptis and felt herself growing larger. Even though she knew she was like him now, she held her breath until she couldn’t stand it anymore. She briefly panicked as the cold water began to flow through her snout. She realized Lisana had swum in front of her and had her hands placed on her. She relaxed a little and was surprised as she didn’t drown when the water got into her lungs. It flowed in and out of the slits on the side of her face and she never choked. Neptis was in front of her off to the distance and Lisana left her hands on her until she was calm and breathing underwater no longer seemed strange to her.
It was easier to see underwater and she could sense the currents now. She had never seen anything like Lisana was now and had to take a moment just to study her now that they were all underwater. Where her legs were was a tail that rivaled the color of her hair. It seemed to merge at her waist, where the scales seemed to disappear over where her belly button normally was. She wished she had something covering her top and was not naked from the waist up in front of Neptis. Her long hair floated lazily around her face and shielded some of her nudity, but Esylle knew when she started swimming, it would flow behind her and Neptis would have full view of her breasts. She didn’t like it, but it didn’t seem to bother Lisana at all.
She motioned for her to followed and swam over to Neptis. She grabbed ahold of his fin while Neptis lead them into deeper waters to show her things she had never seen.
Neptis
Neptis didn’t want to show how excited he was that the girl chose to come swimming with them when Esylle needed to learn. He taught Esylle what he could, but it was Soryn who was able to calm her since she had a human face underwater. They could both tell she held her breath at first and was panicking when she first started to breathe underwater. Neptis took her to most of the places he had already shown Soryn when they swam together.
The tide would be changing soon, so he guided them back to shore. Esylle seemed surprised when the water started steaming off Soryn and she was dry again. He had already let her do this to him and was used to it. The girl was still smiling and told Esylle she could either dry herself or Soryn could dry her if she trusted her. Esylle wanted her to teach her and they sat on the beach as she learned. She picked up quickly like Soryn did. When she was dry, the girl stood and mentioned they should get back. Esylle embraced Neptis first and then Soryn and thanked them for showing her the sea. She kept trying to thank Soryn for gifting her this and she could understand now a little some of the things she could do.
Soryn didn’t seem to want to talk about it and wasn’t smiling and joking with her now. She kept telling her this was supposed to happen and they should get back. When she tried to walk off, Esylle caught her arm and Neptis didn’t want to be caught in the middle of an argument.
“Why are you acting this way again?” Esylle demanded. “You were acting like yourself again after you woke up. You helped me when I was first underwater. I thought you came with us because you wanted to be close to me.”
Neptis watched as the cold look left her face and she looked both sad and frustrated. “I did want to be close to you! I’m trying to get to know you so I can tell you the things you want that I can only tell Frog. You keep ruining it trying to tell me how to act. I’m doing what I need to do. If you want me to tell you why, then stop threatening to take my fire and dictating how I’m supposed to act!” she snapped, stomping off.
He thought Esylle would follow her, but she turned to Neptis. “I never do anything right with her. Every time I think I’m on the right track, I do or say something and she gets upset. I don’t know what to say to make it right.”
She kept him warm as they walked back. He tried to explain to her that Soryn didn’t want any of this that was expected of her. She was only doing it because everyone told her she was supposed to. She didn’t like things being expected of her and he had a feeling what Esylle was saying that upset her was because she expecting things from her instead of just letting them happen on her time. He told her how Soryn had told him she didn’t want to rule and she was upset Esylle kept bringing it up. He thought even though the chair told her she was supposed to, she still didn’t want to and was doing yet another thing she didn’t want because everyone expected it. He tried to explain to Esylle both she and everyone else was maybe expecting too much from her, no matter who she was supposed to be.
“Maybe I am. It’s not just that I expect it, I want it. I wanted her to stay when this was over. Even if she didn’t rule, I wanted her to stay. I never asked what changed her mind and if it was something she really wanted because I was just so happy she agreed to stay.”
“She doesn’t like to be talked to like she is the Spirus, nor the future heir to the throne. She considers herself just a normal girl. She wants to be talked to that way. I know nothing of what is happening to her in the chair, I just have a feeling whatever it’s telling her she needs to do, she doesn’t want to do it and feels forced. That may be part of the reason she has been acting the way she has. She’s unhappy and she’s trying not to show it because she’s doing what she is supposed to.”
“I just want the years back that I lost. He took her and told me nothing. If he had told me who she was and why she needed to be taken, it would have been easier than spending nineteen years wondering if she was with someone who loved her. If he had been honest with me, maybe he could have sent me ravens as she grew so I wasn’t always wondering.”
“You would have let him take her?” he asked her, surprised. He had seen the way Esylle had been acting towards her since he joined them and how sometimes, it made Soryn uncomfortable. She seemed to be relaxing around her just a little.
“If he and Rivannus could have explained to me who she was supposed to be and why she was in danger, I wouldn’t have endangered her just to keep her with me. I lost Rivannus because he just took her in the middle of the night. I still don’t know how.”
“And now she’s back with you and you have Leodos. I see the way you two look at each other now. You were panicking when you first changed and she helped you in a way that I could not. I haven’t tried to see if I can make myself like her underwater because I don’t feel safe like that. She’s safe underwater with me, but she wouldn’t be able to fight any predator off like that. It can be dangerous under the sea.”
“I don’t want you staring at her when she’s half naked under water like that. I don’t see why she has to change like that, nor why being naked in front of you doesn’t bother her.”
Neptis blushed and admitted something to Esylle that Soryn didn’t know. “The Tarks don’t mate before their ceremony. I know the Farkhi and the Theran allow the men to learn from the women going through their Senso if they don’t find a mate in time. The Tarks don’t. We learn to mate together with our new partner. I know she already mated with Volaris and I suspect Oris talked her into doing something she wasn’t supposed to. If she chooses me, she can teach me. I will admit, I look at her when she’s underwater because she’s beautiful in that form, but I’m not going to try to mate with her because it’s not done.”
Esylle didn’t reply and it was always a struggle to get those large stone doors open. When they finally entered Inanos, everyone was there and sitting in the corridor. It was dark and none of the torches were lit. Esylle looked at him, confused as they walked further in. Soryn was standing at the front, by the raised throne and appeared to be waiting for them. Everyone cleared a path for them as they made their way to the front. Neptis went to join his father and the other Tarks and Esylle went to lean against Leodos.
He looked up at the throne and the only light in the room was the flame flickering in her hand. There were so many people sitting in the corridor, but they had left a wide space up at the front. He had no idea if she had told them to before he got there. She finally addressed everyone.
“You all seem confused that I came this way. Some of you are angry and some of you don’t understand.
My mother doesn’t understand why I cannot just be her child. You don’t understand because you weren’t taught about what came before. You only know what Essos taught you and what was passed down. Essos was wrong to teach you to stay separate and that mixing among tribes was forbidden. I came now and not before both you and the humans did things that had never been done before. My grandfather mixed with a Tark and Leodos made the decision that killing the tribes was wrong. This is what allowed me to return. If you had continued to remain separate and not even one human decided that killing was wrong, I would not be here when war came again. I’m here to bring peace and set you on the path you should have always been on.
“You do not know the full story of your gifts; only what Essos chose to tell you. Before Essos, before the tribes, and before the humans, there was nothing. A light fell from the sky and struck a tree. A flame erupted and from that flame, the Spirus was born,” she called to them. She was using the deeper voice she used before. A flame shot out of one hand and the other called a white light from above. She showed them the story of how the Spirus was created with flame and light. “She was not as you know her and as I am. She was not as you know her for many years. She looked around and was lonely. She first created the animals that are not of any tribe. Some were wild and some would play with her. She would talk to them, but they could not talk back.
Next, she tried to create creatures similar to her that could talk. She created what you know as humans next. She was proud of her creation and tried to teach them to be gentle, but as the years passed, they grew into angry creatures and not what she intended. A war broke out among the humans. Not being able to bear to see the humans she had created and watched for so long fight, she fled here, with several humans that did not want to fight. They created Inanos, away from the fighting.
The Spirus Page 29