The Amulet of Kryshar

Chapter 15

The woman was already seated on a purple and orange cushion. "Sit," she ordered. I lowered myself onto a soft, pink pillow and it was only then that I realized how tired my legs were from walking the entire day.

I was just starting to relax a bit when the flap opened again and Nathiel slipped through it. "Don't mind me," he sneered at me. I bristled, expecting the woman to reprimand him for coming in, but she just told him to sit down as well and be quiet. A small mercy, at least.

"I haven't properly introduced myself yet, due to the circumstances just now. I am Irin. As you probably guessed, I am the leader of the surviving wielders. I apologize for the rough treatment during our encounter, but I cannot afford to take any chances regarding the safety of this location and its inhabitants." Irin looked Melanie and me in the eye. "We do not normally let strangers into our camp upon the first meeting, but since you also turned out to be wielders, the circumstances have been altered."

"Were you really going to kill us?" Melanie asked.

"Yes and no. It would have depended on the outcome." When Irin noticed our confused stares, she explained. "The patrol overheard you both talking about wielders. That was alarming because non-wielders don't know about our existence here anymore. However, we had to consider that Thynia told you about us for a reason and also your claim that you are wielders. Making an inexperienced wielder angry is a sure-fire way to make them either shift or exploit their power unintentionally. Since, you," Irin jutted her chin at me, "morphed into your spirit animal, it clearly proved your claim about being wielders. However, if that wouldn't have happened...then you would have known forbidden knowledge and we would have had to ...dispose of you."

Melanie shuddered and I squirmed on my pillow. Shaking my head, I tried to focus more on the information Irin gave us, instead of the fact that she had thought about killing us. "Spirit animal? Is this what it is?"

"Yes, essentially. Well, this is quite a broad topic to talk about. Everyone, even non-wielders have a spirit animal that best represents their personality and mind set. But it is only us wielders that are able to transform into their animals." Suddenly Irin sighed and smiled at me. "We already saw that you can turn into a wolf. May I ask what your spirit animal is?"

Melanie blinked. "I'm a horse."

Irin started at that and Nathiel's glare intensified. Irin continued. "It's good that you asked about spirit animals though, because this is what I called you in here to talk about. This will affect you..."

"Ruby," I helped her. "And she is Melanie," I said while pointing at Melanie.

"Yes, this will affect you, Ruby, Melanie, and Nathiel as well, which is why I wanted him to be here as well to hear this. I hope you three will get along well because if I am not mistaken, you will have quite a long journey ahead of you, although I do not know what you will have to do."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Nathiel was quiet throughout the entire conversation, but as soon as I finished my sentence, he rolled his eyes and pointed at me. "Are you kidding me? These two idiots don't know anything and you expect me to work together with them? Why are you so sure about this? Is it just because these girls' spirit animals are a wolf and a horse? That doesn't mean anything though! It could literally be any other person who has the same spirit animal, maybe we just haven't found them yet. I mean, just look at these two: they are completely incompetent! They aren't even from our world, they know nothing about it. How are they supposed to do anything?"

Irin got up and started pacing around the small space of the tent. "I said," she glared at Nathiel, "I hope that you all will get along." She sighed heavily again. "Nathiel, I understand what you mean, it is rather concerning that these two don't know a thing about their current situation. But this is why it is good that we found them before the King's servants did. They need to learn as much as they can." It seemed like she was muttering to herself, "Amazing. Just discovered their powers and yet Ruby is already able to shift back into her human form without problems. Great potential."