Born To Be Free | a trolls story

10. The brace

Spirit stared off into the horizon. She watched the sun climb up into the sky, filling it with colors of red and orange. She woke up hours before any other creature in the cove, all she could think about was Askar. The painful shrieking from him last night stabbed her ears, it was all she could hear.
She would give anything to go back to the stadium and see him again, but if she showed her face at that place again, who knows what will happen to her.
'You can't change the things you've done,' she heard a voice in her head say. 'Doesn't matter how far away you get from this island, the guilt will cut you like a knife.'
Spirit thought for a moment. What would happen to her after the trolls set her free? She had to find her pod, her family. Clay agreed to help her find her pod if she proved she wasn't dangerous, but how long would it take to find them? The ocean isn't exactly tiny. What was she to do?
When Spirit was in the stadium, hours after it was closed, she would sing. Usually at midnight so no one else could hear her. Lykars that came to the stadium were forced not to talk, only communicating to their fellow lykars by using clicks and squeaks. The trainers at the stadium knew that lykars were smart creatures and if they were allowed to speak, they would communicate with the visitors of the stadium. Years ago, during one of the shows, one lykar slid out on the edge of the pool and yelled 'help us, you don't know what they're doing to us'. The snatchers that ran the stadium only cared about the money the lykars made for them, so they sent the lykar away on a grey truck...but he never came back...

But Spirit wasn't in the stadium anymore, surely it wouldn't hurt for her to sing. It was still early in the morning so no one would be awake, she'll stay quiet.

***

Branch couldn't stop thinking about last night, the things he and Poppy found out shocked him. All he wanted to do was set Spirit free before the snatchers find her. Them problem was, they wouldn't be able to release her for another week and Tekai was still working on the brace for Spirit's tail.

A voice struck one of Branch's sensitive ears. It sounded like a singing voice.

"Tell me where did I go wrong? Everyone I loved, they're all gone..." The voice sang. Branch was curious to find out where it was coming from. He used his big, sensitive ears to find the source.

"I do everything so differently, but I can't turn back the time. There's no shelter from the storm inside of me..." It was coming from the lagoon.

"Hello?" Branch called out, the song continued.

"There's no way out of this dark place, no hope, no future..."

Branch called out to it again. "Hello?" Even louder than the first time.

The voice stopped. Branch ran to the shore, trying to find anyone who could have been singing. He only saw Spirit. She was on the edge of the lagoon looking at Branch.

Spirit drew her ears back and gulped, she didn't realize how loud she was singing. There was a part inside of her that didn't want Branch to find out that Spirit could talk, but she also wanted to tell him everything that has happened to her over the last decade and answer his questions about her. Branch approached Spirit slowly and placed his hand on her snout.

"I don't suppose you heard someone singing did you?" Branch asked her. Spirit shook her head. He looked around and saw that there was nobody else at the shore. He looked back at Spirit, confused. "Who could have been singing? There's no one else here...unless..." He hesitated, "...Spirit?...was it you?" Spirit froze, she didn't make any gestures, any sounds, she just stared back into Branch's eyes.

"So how's the training going?" A loud, stern voice called. It was Clay. Branch ran across the edge of the lagoon and jumped down onto the shore in front of him.