Elayne's ordinary life takes a drastic turn when she discovers she is part of an ancient prophecy tied to the mythical kingdom of Elyssanar. Guided by Solaris, a unique companion with secrets of his own, Elayne embarks on a journey fraught with chal...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
“Mr. Hatten,” I began.
The horde of people that came by to pet Solaris had exhausted my head. He was quiet but allowed them all to pet him. Even with the kids attempting to pull his ears or grip his fur tightly did not bother him. He endured it while I endured the many adults who had awed over our bond.
I wouldn’t really have called it that, Solaris was more accustomed to me than others. Only because I had given him a less forceful way of adapting to his new home than what could have been.
Most of the audience had moved on to explore the Zoo after having their fill of the leopard which left me, Hatten, and Solaris alone.
My head was killing me at this point. When we arrived, the other petting animals had exhausted their dislike of a big cat in their area.
The goats especially had a very strong opinion on it.
“Who brings a predator to a prey’s area?”
“Ah! A leopard! Run everyone!”
“Don’t let him eat you!”
At this point the protests had died down enough that I could actually hear my own thoughts.
“Yes?” He turned to me after putting away his phone.
A part of me didn’t want to tell him. I could lose my job if he found out I was sneaking around in his office and going through his books. But I mean, it was just a book. How could I really get in trouble if I was just reading a book?
“Oh? Naughty Elayne, snooping through her boss’ office.” Solaris was amused and I quickly turned around and narrowed my eyes at him. “You can hear my thoughts too? Just great.”
It took me a moment to realize I had said that out loud and turned towards Hatten who was staring at me in confusion.
I sighed. “I know it’s unfortunate, but it was just a book. I read it, and I don’t know what happened, but I had a dream. A dream of Gaia, and she knew my parents. She told me that I was destined to save a forgotten home. When I woke up, I thought about the book, and she said there was somebody who knew—because of the book, I thought it was you. There was this stream of light in my dream that went through me, and it felt amazing. When I woke up, I was hearing cats arguing in an alley on my way to the store, and now I hear Solaris, and these goddamn goats have been killing my head with all their talk.” I stopped myself from continuing, my breath coming fast. My head was still pounding, and for some reason, the sun was a little bit brighter than it should have been.
