I still really don't know whether to trust Kase or not. I know what I said, but still, we can't really work with him, unless we can trust him.
"Sabrina!" Christi calls, waving me over, to where she and Kaidri are talking.
"What? What happened?" I ask frantically. Christi smiles slightly.
"The Soul Animals have figured out a way to fully trust Ka-Cody!" she quickly corrects herself. That got my attention.
"How? It's not like we can always know what he is thinking or something," I point out.
"Not necessarily fully trust him, but trust him more than we do right now. If we can't trust him, how do we work with him?" Kaidri chirps, voicing my earlier thoughts. I nod, and pull my thoughts away from being able to read thoughts.
"Whatever," Christi dismisses it. "Just tell her!" I turn to the hummingbird, eager to know. Maybe it's some sort of cool Soul Animal technology or something! I mean, to build this, they must have some cool gadgets.
"Well, we were thinking, that Cody could go through this old, ancient ritual that we have. It hasn't been used in centuries, but we have a few animals here who know how to perform it," she explains.
"Wait, what will it do exactly?" I question. Kaidri's wings hum, like a very quiet fan. It's kind of soothing actually.
"Well, to put it simply, it will bind him to our trust, and to Sateen Klenot. If he loses a certain amount of trust from us, it backfires on him, and does something," Kaidri looks uneasy at the last part. Christi's eyes widen.
"So it's either something good, or something bad, like a curse?" Kaidri nods, and her iridescent colors shine in the light.
"But so what will exactly happen to him if it backfires?" I settle down on Christi's rug, and finger some of the tassles.
"No one truly knows," Kaidri says, in a hushed voice, "it's only ever happened once, and since no one dared to speak about it, so no one here knows. It might be hidden in the library, but I doubt it,"
The story is, foreboding, no doubt, but we should still do it. After all, if it works, and if he is just telling the truth, then he shouldn't be worried.
"When is this going to happen?" Christi inquires, also sitting down.
"In a few hours. We still need to get prepared, and get more information," Kaidri informs us.
"Should we come?" I really don't know if I want to actually. But I probably should if I can. I mean, it might be interesting after all.
"If you want to, it's completely up to you. Now, I must leave." Kaidri flies out of the room, leaving me with Christi, and my thoughts. And the few remaining chocolates.
Hold it.
There's cupcakes here?
I shuffle over, trying not to get caught by Christi.
"Sabrina! You're really going to eat cupcakes right now? We have way more important things to do right now," Christi admonishes. I hang my head, but then stuff another one in my mouth, trying to hide behind my hair.
Then, I almost die.
Okay, so that might be an exaggeration. I just choked. But hey, people have died from choking!
I cough up some bits of very moist cupcake onto her floor. Christi wrinkles her nose, and pats me on the back, clearly avoiding the mess.
"You better clean that up," she says, disgusted. I flop dramatically onto the bed.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking," I say pointedly. She rolls her eyes, and moves to the other side of the room.
And now I remember why I almost died.
My phone.
I brought it here.
My parents can see where I am.
"Christi!" I practically scream into her face. She winces.
"Do I wanna know?"
"My phone is on. My parents can check to see where I am," I say, trying to keep my panic down. I see the panic register on her face.
I quickly take out my phone, and disable the weird tracker app.
Crisis averted.
🎔
"Lupo, Skifter!" I shout, seeing their backs a few yards away. Christi and I, have realized another thing, that could make, or break us.
The run/fly over to us, and look at us questionably.
"We just had a thought—" I begin.
"An alarming thought," Christi cuts in. I roll my eyes.
"The folks at camp will notice that we aren't there. They will call our parents!" I finish, looking at this one spot of fur on Lupo, that just will not stay down!
"And you want us to do something about it," Skifter concludes.
"Well, only if you can, and if you want to of course," Christi says, looking a tad bit nervous. Wow, she and Skifter really need to bond more.
"Of course!" Lupo automatically agrees, bouncing slightly. The little tuft wiggles, and I fight the urge to push it down.
"Uh, Lupo, we do have quite a few things to do still," Skifter objects. Christi's face falls slightly, but she quickly hides it.
"Like what? I know I don't have anything else to do yet, so I'm gonna take advantage of that," Lupo argues. Skifter sighs.
"Well I have other things to do, so you can do it without me," he starts to fly away, an is soon out of sight. Christi looks hurt. I can't imagine how that might feel, having that kind of relationship with your Soul Animal. I'm just thankful that Lupo and I are this close.
Lupo whines.
"Sorry guys, I keep forgetting. He's on a different level than I am. But I can help!" He brightens up, and his tail wags slowly. For some reason, it's kind of hard for me not to laugh at that slightly. He's more of a dog than a wolf sometimes.
"Great! But you might need a partner," Christi suggests, "and not because you're incapable, but maybe because your a wolf. And most people are terrified of wolves," Christi hastily adds, after seeing the wounded expression on Lupo's face.
"That does make sense. Who should be my partner?" He spins around, looking for a Soul Animal that looks fairly free.
"I know! Kalana can be your partner! No one is scared of a hummingbird," I exclaim, quickly smoothing down that annoying tuft of fur. Christi snaps her fingers, and Lupo jumps slightly.
"That's a great idea Sabrina! I'll go get her," she races off, leaving me and Lupo alone.
"You're like a cat," I tease. He turns to me, eyes sparking.
"A cat!?" he howls indignantly. I laugh, and run my fingers through his neck fur.
Soon, Christi returns, with a humming Kalana a few feet ahead of her.
"Let's do this Lupo!" she smiles, excited, and probably a little nervous at the prospect of being with a wolf on a mission. He grins, and turns to us.
"So, what's the plan?" he asks.
"Oh, I've already told Kalana." Christi smiles mischievously, and then adds,
"Have fun!"
I turn to Christi, and cross my arms.
"Care to tell me what the plan is?" I ask.
She then utters one word.
"Mentelavar."
🎔
"Where do we go?!" Christi paces the room, agitated. I shrug.
"Who knows? Anyway, we can't ask Kalana, since she's off on an adventure. So who do we ask?" I muse, absentmindedly braiding a chunk of my hair.
"I don't want to miss anything though!" Christi wails, referring to the ceremony that is taking place in ten minutes.
"Well neither do I! Maybe we can just roam around, and hope we stumble across it?" I suggest, out of ideas, even though I never really had any in the first place.
"Just saying, but that's a terrible idea. We would just get lost, and then miss it!" She frets. Then, an idea dawns upon me.
"Wow, we're stupid. Won't it probably be at Sateen Klenot?" I say, mentally smacking my forehead. She stops her most annoying pacing.
"Of course! Wow, we are stupid," she concludes. I nod.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" I say, getting up, and heading towards the door.
"But are we absolutely sure?" she pauses, "I mean, what if they're not there? Then where do we go?" I sigh.
"Back here of course! Come on, let's go!" I say, getting impatient. So she too comes to the door, and we begin our, long, and strenuous journey to Sateen Klenot, which really isn't that strenuous or long at all.
We come just in time.
"Fellow Soul Animals; humans," a Jaguar stands in the middle of the room, and even from a distance, I can tell it must be fairly old. I like that it acknowledged us, but still. Humans? That sounds a bit... demeaning if you will.
"We are gathered here tonight, for the ancient ceremony of the Fiducia, for Cody," the Jaguar continues.
"That's Lecidiana," A Soul Animal whispers to us. I nod.
"Are you ready?" Lecidiana turns to Kase. He bravely steps forward and nods.
Lecidiana speaks to the whole group.
"In order to perform this ceremony, he must recite the Poem of Trust," she slides Kase a piece of paper, and steps back.
Kase then speaks to her softly, before quietly reciting it to her instead. Hm, I'll have to ask him about that later.
"He is ready," she speaks to a group of Soul Animals off to the side. There are many different species there, it's hard not to stare.
"Cody Unknown, do you swear that for as long as you are bound by this, you will not lie to us, the Soul Animals," one speaks. Kase stares directly at the crowd.
"I do," he says boldly. Tendrils of white light wrap around his forearms.
Another Soul Animal steps forward.
"And to protect the trust we grant you with your life?" Another says. Wow, that's commitment.
"I do." Tendrils wrap around his torso.
More and more Soul Animals speak from the group that was off to the side, until they have spoken. Kase is well, incased, in the vines of light, even his head.
Then, Lecidiana speaks three words.
"I release you." And the vines disappear in a burst of sparks. Kase stands there, the same Kase he once was, but yet completely different.
And that's when the shaking starts. At first, it might just be Christi stamping her feet, for some weird reason. Then, it sounds like the whole crowd. Then thunder. It gets louder, and stronger, until I look like I'm in a vibrating chair on the highest level. I cover my ears, and try to shout to Christi.
"Christi! What's going on!?" I scream, but my shout is not heard, because everyone's gaze is fixated on the front gates. They too are shaking, with even more violence then everything else.
Then, all chaos breaks loose.