Spirit Animals: Saving The Evertree

The Wyrm

Meilin had woken early so she could sneak away without Rollan or Conner noticing. They would find out eventually but at least this way they couldn't stop her. Luckily none of them woke up as early so she was safe for now. She made it above deck and was surprised to see a couple redclocks were working already. They woke up early. Meilin thought. But they're not the ones sneaking away from Rollan and Conner.

"Where you going?" A voice asked. Uh oh. Meilin turned around expecting to find Conner or something but it was a red cloak with a fox mask.

"Oh, I was going after my friends. Since my friends here seem like they're in good hands." She said hoping that was enough to persuade her to let her leave. Luckily it was. The Redcloak nodded. "Ok. Let me help you pack." The Redcloak sprinted down the stairs disappearing below decks. After a few minutes, Meilin wondered if she was supposed to follow her. But the Redcloak reappeared a minute later carrying 2 bags. "Here." She said handing them to her. "This will be your food and water. You might need it." The Redcloak grinned.

"Thanks." Meilin said accepting them gratefully. "Your a big help..."

"Lucy." The Redcloak said. "Call me Lucy. They call me Clever."
"Thanks Lucy."

Clever nodded. "No problem. Do you want me to tell your friends your leaving."

Meilin shook her head. "No, don't wake them, but I guess you can tell them if they ask."

Clever nodded.

"Thanks again!" Meilin said heading off the ship. Essix screeched from above. "Don't give me away!" Meilin hissed. Essix quieted but still followed her. She ran full sprint to the hole in the ground hoping Essix wouldn't follow. Underground was no place for a falcon and it was no use having Rollan worry even more about his gyrfalcon. She took a deep breath and rethought it over in her head. Should I do this? She asked herself. Definitely. You can't just sit and wait for the fate of Erdas to be decided for you. Meilin nodded to herself with new determination. She was going to do it. She jumped in. Essix luckily didn't follow. It was darker than she remembered. It's just because it's early. She told herself. She walked through what used to be the wall of dirt that trapped them in. She remembered they had dug trough it while she was bandaging Rollan's leg earlier. She wasn't doing that anymore and now she needed to do something productive and helpful. Sitting around is defiantly not helping anyone. The tunnel grew darker as she walked. The thick wall of dirt blocking the sunlight. How was she ever going to find anyone down here? Her only clue was the Evertree's roots. They got bigger as she went. That's a good sign. She told herself. The bigger the roots the closer she was getting to the middle. And the sooner she would find her friends and the Wyrm. Well if she counted Shane and Tasha as friends.
She continued following the roots relying mostly on her hands to follow the groves. Sooner or later she found the glowing ground if the Evertree's roots. It was almost as beautiful as she remembered. If only Rollan could see it. The glowing roots resembled the Evertree upside down but bigger. Especially since the Evertree was mostly decay now. But something was different. Something made it look darker and it reminded her why she was here. She scanned the area of roots and noticed the little egg  prison supposed to hold the Wyrm. The black darkness poured out slowly from its shell. They had to sea it. A figure moved within the roots. As Meilin's eyes focused, she realized it was a Niolian girl with braided hair and a bow and quiver strapped on her back.

"Abeke!" Meilin shouted. Abeke was far within the roots so she might not have heard. Abeke didn't turn around. Either because of concentration or she was just too far.

"Meilin!" A different voice called to her from the edge of the roots. It was Tasha. She, Shane, Tokoda, and Kovo (the only spirit animal not in dormant) were standing at the brim of the roots all watching Abeke intently. All except Tasha who was waving to Meilin.

As Meilin drew closer Tasha spoke up. "What are you doing here Meilin? Weren't you taking care of Rollan?" A sadness clouded her face as she mentioned Rollan's name. Meilin winced remembering that she had just left them behind. She hoped they weren't too mad at her. They should have know by now though. She couldn't sit still.

"I was. But now he's being cared for by the caretakers and nurses on Shane's ship." Meilin replied. She was right next to them when Tokoda, Shane and Kovo finally noticed her despite Tasha and herself yelling to each other.

"Meilin!" Tokoda said surprised. "Your here?"

Meilin nodded. "Here to help." She said.

"Good. We need all the help we can get." Shane said still watching Abeke.

"What's Abeke doing anyway?" Meilin asked.

"To see how bad the damage is." Shane said. "She volunteered. We all said we'd go after her but she refused and said we would get in her way."

"Well let's go anyway." Meilin said hopping into a root. "She might need our help." They all hesitated but followed.

Suddenly a sharp pain seared through Meilin's body. She heard Tasha scream from behind her and Kovo beat his chest. The bonds. Meilin thought. They were stretching again.

Meilin held on as long as she could to the fat root but the pain over took we and she fell. Meilin looked around from the tangle of Evertree roots she got caught in. Tasha and Tokoda had fallen too. Not that far from her either. Shane and Abeke were the only ones who remained climbing. Abeke didn't even seem to notice them climbing after her.

"Are you guys okay?" Shane asked pausing. Shane's spirit animal, his crocodile, had left him after the Bile was cured. Abeke however...had a spirit animal. How come she wasn't effected?
Meilin climbed out of her cage of roots and went over to help Tasha who was closest to her. She had released Ninani on purpose or by accident, the swan looked like a light in the darkened surroundings.

"How come Abeke want effected by the bond straining?" Meilin asked as she pulled Tasha up.

A mixture of fear and pain crossed Tasha's face. She look around to make sure no one was listening before answering. "Uraza was taken by Zerif. So now she has no bond." Trash said quietly.

Meilin gasped. "That's horrible!"

Tasha nodded. "Now she's determined to do everything he can to defeat the Wrym. With or without us."

No wonder Rollan was so reluctant to tell me what happened to Uraza. Meilin thought. She had gotten mad at him but he had probably done the right thing. It wasn't his tale to tell, her father would say. Thinking about her father put tears in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away knowing crying wouldn't help anyone. She had already lost her father and she didn't want to lose her spirit animal too. Meilin looked longingly at the tattoo of Jhi on her forearm. She really wanted to release her. She needed Jhi's calming presence. But Jhi would only slow them down. That lazy panda. Tasha had already went over and got Tokoda out and it looked like he put Kovo back in passive.

"Let's go." Meilin said. "Abeke needs us."

They all nodded an continued climbing across roots.

That's when the egg cracked.