NightEye

Tilvani

Sam's POV

I walk nearer to the trees, looking into the darkness. Even peering up into the bare branches that soft sunlight filters through. I don’t see the girl from yesterday.

    Mikac crawls up to my shoulder. I scratch the strange creature’s chin, making her purr. Her owl face is decorated with soft, light brown feathers with veins of violet. The scales of her long, snake like body brush against my neck, tickling me. I pat the smooth blue-green scales, making Mikac laugh like a songbird. Her furry gray tail brushes the other side of my neck, tickling me again.

    Suddenly, I see a figure in the branches of the oak tree from yesterday, the one named Oakful. Long red bangs cover her strange eyes, which strangely saddens me. Mikac squeaks when she sees the girl, and pushes off my neck.

    Hidden bat wings unfurl from my pet’s sides, pumping up and down to gain height. The strange animal flies up to perch on the girl’s shoulder, barking her strange songbird laugh all the way.

    The girl smiles slightly at the small creature, then looks at me. Her smile fades, and a guilty look flashes across her face. She looks from Mikac to me, then suddenly leaps from the tree. I stifle a yelp as she falls towards me, but then her body moves as if by its own accord, missing me by mere centimeters.

    I turn to find the girl standing with her arms crossed, Mikac on her shoulder. She scratches the creature under the chin, the same as I did. I see her eyes again, still hidden behind the red bangs. I try to talk, by those eyes freeze me in place.

    Their snake pupils look straight at me, calculating and cold. The pure black sclera-the normally white part of the eye-make the white pupil stand out even more. No iris shows, which makes her eyes even more eerie.

    She cocks her head at me, not speaking. The girl never blinks, and the silence almost deafens me. Finally, my voice returns, and I ask,”Who are you?”

    Mikac crawls to her arm, and leaps towards me. As soon as she is settled on my shoulder, the girl speaks. “I am a Tilvani. The people of the forest.” Her English is broken, but clear, as if she had only hears people talk but has never spoken herself. I nod and say,”My name is Sam Will. What’s yours?”

    The girl pauses again, then says,”Pux. I am called Pux. I like your wilane. She is sweet.” I look at Mikac, and see her clear gray eyes glow with happiness. Looking back at Pux, I nod.

    Pux cocks her head at me, like an owl, and I laugh. Her pale face contorts to a scowl, and I finally see her hands reach for two blades on her hips. I stop laughing, but Pux’s hands remain on the hilts of her weapons, and the scowl remains etched into her face.

    “Sorry,” I apologize. “It was just funny, the way you cocked your head like an owl. Or a wilane.” Mikac laughs, then turns her head around a hundred and eighty degrees. Pux’s face softens, but only slightly.

    She nods to my hip, and I remember the pocket knife clipped to my jeans. “What is that?” Anger and wariness tinges Pux’s voice, and I smile. “A pocket knife. Have you never seen one before?” Pux shakes her head, making her long bangs swing side to side. Smiling, I take the knife into my hand and flip it open.

    Pux leaps back as the silver blade appears, as if shocked by the sudden appearance of the weapon. I stifle another laugh, but only barely. The redhead creeps forward slowly, as if afraid the blade might leap out at her. As she moves, I notice that her feet are bare and a bow and quiver of arrows are slung across her back.

    Pux touches my knife blade, and I think she will cut herself as she runs her finger down the sharp edge of the blade. Her strange eyes meet mine, and I say,”You’ll cut yourself if you do that any longer.” Pux smiles slyly, and draws her own knife.

    It’s long, about a foot and a half. Made of a clear metal I’ve never seen before, the blade is razor sharp. The hilts are made of a red wood, wrapped in a strange silver casing that Pux removes. “To keep the wood from wearing away,” she explains at my confused look.

    Then, the girl does something I have never dreamed. She draws the blade across her forearm, angling it so that the sharpest edge cuts her soft skin. I yelp and leap forward to stop her, but her smile stops me when she raises the blade from her flesh.

    I look at her arm, expecting to see blood, but see nothing. I look from Pux’s still-hidden eyes to her arm, and back again. Pux is still smiling, a triumphant grin that shows how much she enjoys my shock.

    “No blade, Tilvani or human, can cut me. Only Tilvani teeth and claws can,” Pux said, and I finally catch the hint of accent she tries to hide. Suddenly, my mind snaps back to her words. “Wait. What do you mean, Tilvani or human? Aren’t Tilvani humans as well? And they just live in the woods?”

    Pux shakes her head, making her bangs sway once more. Those things are seriously annoying me, because they hide her eyes and are very distracting. “No,” she says slowly, as if thinking of which words to use,”Tilvani are a different species. We can change shape, though we do stay in human form a lot. Unless the Great Hunt takes place, then we must be in our animal forms. Or, at least, all the Tilvani but me must.”

    I’m about to ask her why, but Pux’s eyes dart to the trees, and I’m on the ground before I know what’s happened. Looking into the clear blue spring sky, I can hear strange sounds coming from the trees. Barks, yips, growls, birdsong, and warbles, as if wolves have learned to mimic monkeys and birds.

    I sit up, and immediately regret it. Five huge creatures, the size of horses, have surrounded us. Wolf faces growl, three of them sporting black fur and two sporting brown. Dots create different designs on the creatures’ faces, apparently so you can tell them apart.

    Pux stands over me, holding her knives in both of her hands. I see a strange glow appear around the blades, white-silver like moonlight. One creature steps forward, its graceful brown tiger body fluid, and shifts into a beautiful human girl.

    Brown hair swaying from side to side, the girl says,”My, my, what have we here? The Usea speaking to a human? How unfortunate. This information must be taken to the Great Eye, you know.” Her blue eyes are accented by the curling, horn-like freckles across her brow. I see Pux tense, and a sliver of fear slides down my spine.

    “For your information, Ashia, I was just curious about this boy. He saw me, so I had to know.” Pux’s words ring in my ears, so similar to something my grandmother once said. I look at the pretty girl, Ashia, and see her looking at me. A hungry light fills her eyes, and she leaps.

    I almost close my eyes in fear, but I keep them open to see what will happen next. As soon as Ashia’s feet leave the brown soil of the earth, Pux’s knives flash, and the world dissolves into chaos.