(Picture- and old title sketch- including tail)
Isildilia suddenly woke
She had no idea why; her dreams were not of an ill nature, and there were no disturbing sounds which would have woken her. She sat up and looked around. If there was anything threatening around, Valin and Froyza would have woken first. Then she could hear something, something in the distance. It sounded like children singing and laughing; pure, innocent voices. She decided to get up and creep through the bushes, following the sounds, even though it was against her better judgement. As she got closer to the sounds, it also was getting lighter. It couldn’t be daylight, it was too white. She crouched down at the edge of the tiny clearing and saw them.
She wasn’t sure what they were. She could only simply describe them as floating globes of light, each in different shades of light pink, yellows and whites. They were floating around the clearing in a circle, following each other; leaving shining trails of gold that were absorbed by its follower. Their voices and movement reminded her of children playing. They were not in any of Valin’s lessons. She has never seen them before.
She watched them as their path lead them over the river, before looping back into the clearing. They were truly mesmerising.
Keeping at a crouch, she left the safety of the bushes to creep even further forwards. The entire group froze and looked at her. She assumed so, as they had no visible facial features. As each one moved it produce a high pitch chiming noise, like the ringing of small bells. She remained motionless as each one came closer.
One of them broke formation and came to hover in front of her face. It was slightly larger than her enclosed fist and was tulip yellow. It was so painfully bright; she struggled to keep her eyes open, as she tried to avoid blinking. She couldn’t afford to blink, in case it did something when she broke contact. They both remained silent; the only sound was that of the orb’ faint chime.
Isildilia swallowed and accidently produced a high pitched squeak in her throat. Out of the blue, the orb responded, by producing the same pitched music note. Isildilia hesitated, and then whistle a small tune. The orb repeated it. Each time she kept trying more complex tunes, to which it repeated perfectly. Then she stopped. It bounced up and down, almost like it was impatient. She assumed it was waiting for her to continue. She suddenly stood up, causing it to fly backwards in alarm.
It didn’t take long for it to return towards her, along with the others. They were just as curious of her as she was of them. They started to dance round her in a circle, with their childlike laughter and singing. They trailed off from her and started to nudge her to follow, returning for her if she fell behind. She hesitated, not wanting to trail so far from the others, but the orbs would nudge her to continue if she stopped.
It wasn’t long before they stopped, right on the river bank. The hovered close to the ground, lighting up the entire floor. She squinted in the light; trying to see what is was they were showing her. Right in the midst of the circle was a flower, but it wasn’t any ordinary flower. It was a single, white lily flower. Isildilia felt a cold chill creeping down her spine and she stepped back.
They know, she told herself, backing away, they can sense her, me, whatever they are.
One of the orbs drifted behind her, singing its own tune. Then, without warning, it slammed into her back. The force caused her to fall to her knees; it was like being hit by a rock. There was a sudden jolt in her stomach as the same orb suddenly passed right through her! She leant over and gave shuddering cough, splattering droplets of blood on the white flower underneath her. She suddenly heaved again, and again. Something was lurching in her stomach, but didn’t threaten to come out. Despite being a cloudy night, her wings burst out of her back with so much force that she screamed. She hadn’t felt this much pain from them since the first night she received them. What were they doing to her? Where was Valin?
“Stop it, stop it!” she cried. “No more, it hurts!” She blinked and her vision blurred from the tears pouring out, both from pain and fear.
Her eyes widened as there was a succession of popping and cracking sounds, as it felt like her spin was shifting. Each sound made her bite harder down on her lip, puncturing the skin. She gouged the floor with her fingers, leaving deep claw-like tracks, try as she may she was in too much pain to move.
Before long, there was a greater rupture of numbing pain, but this time from the base of her spine, along with a sickening crunch. This time she screamed until her vision blackened and her throat went sore. She fell onto her side, crumpling her right wing painfully under her, her whole body shuddering violently. The orbs were still singing hypnotically, like nothing was even happening underneath them. She could hear sets of approaching feet on the floor. The light from the orbs vanished as they suddenly departed.
“ISI!” yelled Dakelo. “In the name of Broias, what’s happened? Do something!” he demanded in a revolted tone. But the sounds were dimming, as her vision drifted. Her last view was of a white lily looking downwards on her, soaked with blood. A single red bead slid down the white petal before dripping off the end, and a voice echoed.
I'm right here.
Its ok, I'm right here. She could tell that she was with White Lily once more. The scent of the flowers filled her nose, as well as the lulling sound of her voice. She slowly regained the feeling in her body and felt that she was limp in White Lily’s arms. Can you open your eyes? White Lily asked. Isildilia twitched her eyes open; slowly, White Lily’s face came into focus. Her large violet eyes stared into hers with deepening concern. She couldn’t help but look at those eyes, two compelling orbs. Just looking at them made her want to do whatever they asked. Are mine really like that? She thought. She twitched her fingers and toes, as the feeling came back like painful needles.
“What...what hap-?” White Lily pressed her fingers against her lips.
Don't talk. That experience has made your body very frail.You have been out for the last four days, where even I couldn’t reach you.
“Four…? FOUR DAYS?” She suddenly sat up, making her vision turn black again. She fell back into White Lily’s hold. Once she recovered from the bout, she reached up and felt White Lily’s face. The transparent edge she had before was gone now. “You’re solid. Completely, this time.”
White Lily smiled. Like I said before; it’s because with each passing moment, the barrier holding us apart grows weaker and our bond grows stronger. Since I left there I won’t be in the pool anymore, I'm free to move within this field. She still spoke without moving her lips, Isildilia noted.
“What were those...things?”
White Lily thought about it for a moment. I have heard about those before, but never seen them. They are, basically, spirits. In this case, I’d say they were forest and river spirits.
“Why are they different from the flower spirits?”
These, you could say, are the essence. Pure spiritual energy, but they are completely mysterious. Even I cannot say much about them. They may call themselves spirits, but the flower spirits are more like guardians.
“What did they do to me? There was so much pain. It felt like something awful happened.” White Lily bit her lip, she didn’t like the silence. “Lily, what did they do?” she asked more sternly. White Lily helped her to stand upright.
You must understand that this was going to happen anyway. Those spirits, they thought that they were helping, they didn’t quite understand. She grabbed Isildilia hand and placed it on her own back, then slowly worked her way down her spine. When she reached the base of her spine-where the pain she experienced emitted came from-there was something there. She pulled her hand away abruptly from White Lily’s grasp before feeling again. She traced it as it jutted away from her body, but it was too long for her hand to follow completely. Shakily, taking a deep breath, she turned her head. She was so shocked by what she saw, that she almost forgot to breath.
She had a large tail protruding, about six feet in length. Just like her wings, it had scales of pure white. The tip had five elongated parts at the end, hard like scales, but flexed and moved as easily as the fingers on her hand, but they were deep orchid in colour, not white.
Her breathing quickened so fast that she started to hyperventilate, tears streaking down her face. Her mouth opened, but she too shocked to even utter a scream. White Lily reached forwards and held her close, stroking gently through her hair. Isildilia crying turned to shaky sobs, as White Lily calmed her down.
There, there. Everything will be alright. Isildilia shook her head.
“No Lily. I feel like, each time this happens to us, this part of me…us is dying. I'm scared,” she admitted.
White Lily’s grip tightened and she said in a stern voice, as long as we both are alive, I will not let you die, I promise you this. Now wake up.
Isildilia suddenly realised she was conscious. She wasn’t in the clearing where she collapsed, for she couldn’t hear the river and she was also propped upright against something soft. She opened her eyes to see that it was white fur, Froyza’s fur. Instantly, she took her hand and reached behind her. She traced it down her spine, fearing the worst. And the worst had happened.
Unlike the effects of her wings, her tail was still there, curled around her. She grimaced as she could feel the touch of her tail, like she was feeling her own arms. Concentrating faintly, she tried to lift it. It shifted marginally, lifted a few inches off the floor, before dropping limply. She sighed deeply and placed her head against Froyza again. His ear twitched at the sound. Turning his head to see her, he opened one eye.
Isildilia kept forgetting how big and how fast Froyza has grown. His head was the size of her torso, each eye as big as her fist. He seemed to have gone through another growth spurt since her being unconscious. His tail thumped on the ground as he nuzzled his wet nose under her arm.
“How are you feeling?” he whined.
Isildilia grimaced as she pushed herself off him. It felt like she tore everything in her back. “Where are...”
“Down at the river banks, packing the boats to continue up stream.”
“You have still been travelling?”
“We’ve had to. We are so far behind in time. We have been travelling with you strapped to my back. But now you have regained conscious, it will be much easier.”
“Have I really been out for four days?” Froyza thought for a bit, seeming confused that she knew such detail.
“The moon has passed through the sky four times since you have slept,” he confirmed. Isildilia nodded slowly. They both waited for their return, in complete silence. It wasn’t long before her ears detected two sets of approaching feet. She could even detect two different scents, stronger and even more noticeable now than before losing conscious. One of the approaching scents reminded her of crushed wild berries, the other was like a wolf plus the repugnant, strong smell of sweat. That must have been Dakelo, with all the time he spends with Froyza, the scent must have rubbed off. She rubbed her nose on the back of her sleeve, hating that change as well.
When they both reached her, Dakelo stopped many paces away and stared. She couldn’t tell what the emotion was in his eyes, but it looked like he himself was in pain just from looking at her. She wished he would stop staring. It reminded her of the stares the adults of Aleria used to give her.
Valin, on the other hand, approached her. His nose kept twitching faintly as he studied her scent, and seemed bewildered by it. She looked down, refusing to make eye contact. His foot caused a twig to snap, the sound making Isildilia recoil from the over-piercing sound, but at the same time her tail flinched backwards too. Valin stopped for a brief second, and then continued.
When he was directly in front of her, he crouched down. He looked her up and down but didn’t say anything. Then he slowly placed his warm hand on her forehead. He held it for a long time. Isildilia didn’t like it. It made her uneasy.
“How are you?” he finally asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
“Tired, but I'm fine.”
“No, you’re not!” Dakelo shouted. The outburst stunned everyone. Valin’s eyes narrowed treacherously. He turned his head to stare him down.
“That is enough,” he told him. Dakelo shrugged off the order.
“Look at what’s happening to you. They didn’t even ask if you wanted it. You have been in nothing but agonising pain for the last four days. We’ve had to strap you down some nights as you writhed and thrashed out, screaming in your sleep. Twice we almost lost you completely...” He took a few large gulps of air before turning around and stomping off, without finishing his sentence. Isildilia’s body felt like ice from the last thing he said.
“You weren’t planning on telling me?” she asked Valin, although she already knew the answer. He continued to stare after Dakelo, whether he was too ashamed to look at her when he answered, she didn’t know.
“It was better if you didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know!” she exclaimed, “at least he was being honest with me, which is more than I could say about you. If I had the strength to stand I would follow him, to talk with him...”
Valin hushed her. “Don’t get yourself worked up. I will have a word with him,” he told her. As he went to stand up, she grabbed his arm.
“Be nice,” she warned him. He gave her a sly smile before running after Dakelo. Froyza put his head flat on the ground, ears back, and started to whimper. Isildilia scratched at the scruff of fur behind his ears. Even that didn’t cheer him up
“Don't worry; it will all be sorted soon,” she said. Soon was a long time. A least an hour or two went by while they waited for the men to return. When they did, Isildilia was disappointed to see that they both were covered in bruises and splashes of blood, obviously from a fight. Dakelo was gripping his sword so much his knuckles were white, his other hand pinching a bleeding nose. No one said anything as they helped her into the boat and began paddling upstream.
No more than an hour into paddling, her back seized up. She went ridged and dropped the oar, which was quickly picked up by Valin. She huddled over, trying to still the trembles down her back. She forgot about the forceful wing release that came with the ordeal.
“Are you ok?” Valin asked. Dakelo looked over his shoulder from the front of the boat.
“I'm fine,” she lied.
“Stop paddling, you’re not to full strength again.”
“I'm fine, I can still paddle.” She cursed as a violent shudder overcame her, ruining her argument. She looked up at Dakelo who, without a word, quickly turned his head forward and continued to paddle. Dakelo still hadn’t spoken to her.
You know, you should really say something, White Lilly’s voice resounded in her head; in her whisper-like tone. Isildilia flinched at the sound.
Lily is that you? she thought, expecting the field to suddenly appear.
Why do you insist on calling me Lily? she questioned.
It’s easier, and more personal. Like people used to call me Isi or Demi. But besides all that, how are you doing this?
Personally, I'm not sure. But my first and only guess is that when those spirits made the change, and our bonds grew, it also increased our mental link. So now I can tell you what to do when you make some of your foolish decisions. Which, might I add, is happening more and more often. Isildilia scowled, both mentally and out loud.
“Is something wrong?” Valin asked from behind. She shook it off.
“No, it’s nothing.”
Tell him the truth.
Be quiet. It’s already been five minutes and you are driving me mad. Suddenly she felt her own tail shift, and then unexpectedly smack her in the back of the head, causing the whole boat to rock.
“Watch it!” Valin shouted, “what are you doing?” Isildilia clutched the back of her head.
What are you doing? she shouted at Lily, knowing that was her doing.
Your tail is also my tail, so I can control it at will, just like you. You deserved that hit for your own ignorance. Although I believe I have more control over it than you.
But still that hurt; those scales are rough. White Lily fell silent.
“I was just...experimenting,” she told Valin.
“Well don’t do it here. You almost knocked yourself out.” Then the silence continued. The worst of which came from Dakelo, she desperately wanted to say something to him. But she wanted to do it alone.
But how will I manage to talk to Valin and ask for privacy, without Dakelo hearing.
Do it like you are doing it with me now. White Lily advised.
It’s different considering you are actually inside my head, she pointed out.
It just requires a little more effort in contacting him. You’ve tried it with smaller creatures before, just Valin is a little larger and I doubt he would try to take over you like that eagle did by accident.
It seems a bit rude to try it with him. What if he has a method to stop anyone doing it? Or I see something he doesn’t want me to.
I’m sure he has very refined control. Just try.
Isildilia shut her eyes and tried to focus. She could pick up on thousands of small voices, constantly whispering. Then the lights appeared, the one directly behind her felt much bigger and brighter than all the other lights. She probed at it menacingly. She knew when she was there, when Valin suddenly took a sharp intake of breath behind her.
Valin?
His voice replied and sounded like he was talking out loud behind her. Yes? He didn’t bother to ask how she was able to contact him.
I want to have a talk with Dakelo later. Can you, give us some time? She could feel his emotions suddenly cross over, with a mixture of anger and frustration. Something wrong? she asked.
I think he’s jealous, White Lily said.
Be quite, she told her.
Me? asked Valin.
No, not you. Its White Lily.
Only you can hear me at this moment in time, White lily told her. Isildilia reached forwards and rubbed her forehead. Suddenly having three voices in her head was giving her a headache.
Very well, Valin eventually said and his voice withdrew.
That evening, Valin declared her was going to scout the area and left. Even Froyza followed, leaving them alone like she asked. Dakelo sat against the fallen log placed by the fire, head placed in the palm of his hands. Isildilia bit her lip, not knowing how to start. She picked herself up and crept her way forwards. She placed herself directly next to him, but without saying anything. Only the crackle of the fire passed through the silence, the most uncomfortable silence she had ever experienced. She concluded she’d rather fight the bear again.
“Listen...Dakelo. If there is something you want to say...” It wasn’t starting well. So she stopped talking.
“I'm, sorry,” he finally said, without looking up
“Don't be.”
“I was out of line, I overreacted.”
“You had every right to.” His head sunk further in his grasp. “I'm sorry; it must have been hard for you to watch.”
“It’s ok, you don’t have to apologise,” he muttered.
“You mention that I was screaming out. Did I say anything?” He looked up and shuffled uncomfortably. “Actually you just kept repeating the same words. You just kept going on about ‘Sickness, darkness and spreading.’ Over and over again, like you were being plagued by the same horrible visions. Valin appeared very disturbed about it; he kept trying everything to wake you up. But what should I expect from all of this? I guess there is that part of me that still thinks, wishes, for you to be human. I'm just a fool. And now we are getting closer to this…this court? I'm human. I’ll be torn to pieces within seconds. I’ve seen how many of them react to humans, I’ve certainly got the scars and bite-marks to prove it.”
“I won’t allow that,” she said sternly. “We made that promise, remember?”
“I seriously doubt you could help. Look at me! I can't stay here, yet I can't go back now.”
“Then don’t. Stay with me instead. I promise, I will do everything possible to keep you safe. I know Valin won’t allow it, even Froyza.” Dakelo made a strange sound in his throat, and then rubbed his eyes and flinched when he realised one of them was bruised.
“I'm just being silly now,” he told himself. Isildilia knelt up and shuffled directly in front of him. She placed her hands on either side of his face, staring at him directly in the eyes. His pupils widened as he stared back, almost like he was being hypnotised.
He sucked in his breath and in the colour in his face paled ever so slightly.
“Isi,-he whispered-I can hear you, a voice, inside my head.” She didn’t mean to contact him intentionally, but she smiled. Curling her tail around him gently and placing her forehead against his, she said both out loud and within his head;
“No matter what happens; to me or to you, it will take a powerful driving force to come between us. Even if the stars were to rain from the heavens and the gods release their wrath upon the land. If I end up being stripped of my human form and have to leave myself behind. You always have and always will be, my greatest friend.”