Leora - hidden light

Chapter sixteen

"Leora..." He whispers. I am intently trying to listen but then,

"This is not permitted Adonis." I had never heard her strict tone and now I have. I drop his hand and turn around to find Tellia standing with her arms folded and having thrown on a blanket over her. Her short hair is very messy, probably was woken up by us. 

I get up and and face her. A silent 'sorry' passes my face as I walk past her, towards my tent. Inside the tent, Laylea is awake and has sat up, clucthing the thick blanket over her and is eagerly looking at my face for an explanation. I can imagine my face being flushed with colour as I feel my cheeks getting warmer, I avoid any eye contact, get into the made up bed and drift off to sleep almost immediately.

The fire from last night has gone out. The cold somehow worse at this early hour, the sky grey and mostly white, the air moslty filled with fog and mist. Dew clings to the leaves of small shrubs and tall trees. I hold a glass of warm milk, sitting on the large rock that faces the huge lake.

"Lake Cabona," 

I turn around to see who this might be. A slender, tall girl with long balck hair emerges from behind me. 

"Huh?" I say. I don't know what I'm more confused about. Her looks or her announcement.

"This is Lake Cabona. The Seyturgs will soon arrive I'm assuming." she says, taking a sip of her warm beverage.

"How can you know?" I ask her still puzzled about who she is.

"They usually migrate to the seas close to this time of the year. The lake is closer to the mountains so during winter, it will be impossible to live here. Now that the cold is slowly going away, even though its still freezing, they come back here. Sometimes they are early, sometimes late."

She takes yet another sip whilst blowing out air, producing white swirls of air out of her mouth. She has a sleeveless top on and baggy pants.

"Aren't you cold?" I blurt out the question to a stranger.

"Not really." She replies. "You must have noticed my eyes."

I did. Her fox shaped eyes only have a monolid.

"You're from the mountains." I tell her the fact that I discovered.

She does a slow nod and smiles. "We have that distinct feature, don't we?", she says and I have no idea what to answer. I have never seen someone like her. Her unique featurs make her stand out from most of us. While I am fixated on her, and she is staring out at the lake, her expression changes, she smiles and her eyes go wide.

I take a look at what she's looking at and see huge white creatures with flat back and wing like structures, similar to a sting ray. But they are so much larger than them. They swim through the bluish grey waters of Lake Cabona, from the edge of where we can see to the shore.

"Hey! They're here!!" The girl yells as the Seyturgs near the shore.

Gervic and Tellia have fishes that they fished this morning and go up to the Seyturgs without fear. The three Seyturgs give a noise of approval as they munch through a dozen fish each. All the young soldiers and the gifted stare at it with awe.

"It's so cuteee! Oh my Lords! I want to pet it." Laylea squeaks beside me. Most of them have already put on their armours and combat attires. I still haven't gotten ready to leave.

"I'm Mayi, by the way." The girl from the mountains say to me as I turn to leave.

"Nice to meet you, Mayi. Leora here." I say, almost in a hurry.

"I know." She says and gives me a genuine smile that evokes a dimple on her left cheek.