The Illusion Of Spirit

The Prisoner Of Aleza's

These creatures truly were a beautiful terror.

The predators of the forest sky.

Even the prison cells were strange here, made from the very trunk and root of a great green tree, littered with blue flowers, grey vines and white buds. His captors, who Spirit had learnt are called Aleza, guided him through pathways made by the roots of the trees, spiralling and curling in a suffocating pattern, vigilantly guarded by an Aleza warrior on every turn and twist. Over the paths was a vine cover, casting shadows upon the ground as the red sun rose in the early morning. It provided little light though, as they went deeper and deeper into the dark watchful undergrowth. The cells were made into the roots of the tree, lined with green stone that held Aleza prisoners captive inside. Aleza prisoners whose short hair and rough, scarred skin seemed far more intimidating than the long haired well-kept guards that held Spirit as he walked. Most appeared to be sleeping yet in every shadow eyes watched without hesitation and without trust. Of those prisoners who were awake, most held a very sullen, soured and sorrowed expression, too weak to care about the man in their midst, a few were not though. They glared at Sprit with an expression difficult to read, he was either their next victim, their most fearful enemy or an unknown intruder upon their territory. Maybe he was all three, he couldn't tell, for it was not human eyes that glared at him. No their pupils weren't round, but instead merged and faded into the green iris like a droplet of watercolour soaking up paper, or a bright light exploding into the endless black. It depended whether you were looking at the guard or the prisoner. Those criminals though, with watered and sunk expression, they were far more intimidating than the guards that kept them at bay, for each and every one their glares made Spirit shiver.

Deep within a cell, near the dark hollow centre of the vigilant tree was an isolated Aleza. She sat in the shadows unable to sleep as once again dreams had developed into night terrors. She would just have wait for exhaustion to take her, like she did so many times. Whispers had been heard in the dark, rumours of a human joining them, though she did not believe a word of it. Humans were no more than the stuff of legends, they had left the island of Illusion generations ago and could not return; everyone, of every culture, and species, and beast knew the history. There was no way a human could be on Illusion, and certainly not in the Forest of Maelan .

From outside her cell Usille heard footsteps approaching. Not just the subtle steps of a guard, but rather rough heavy footed footsteps, which landed upon the ground with a solid thud. It was not as rough or as heavy as the foot of an Emalodian, nor as complex and quick as that of a beast, but it still held mass against the ground and crunched the leaves beneath it. She watched curiously at the entrance of her cell, as a shadow appeared. Then came a guard which stood at her door. More heavy footsteps. Pause. Stood in the entrance of her cell, in the thin stream of light stood a creature. A creature which held a basic shape similar to her own, two arms, two legs, a head, two eyes and so on. However she couldn't help but notice how different it was from her, it looked stronger yet frailer, heavier yet weaker, what a strange contradicting thing. Was this? But there was no way? Truly this could not be the fearsome humans she had heard off. The stranger was pushed within the cell, as the cell was shut close and locked once again.

The stranger laid there on the floor for a moment, and Usille refused to move, she was completely still like a statue of pure white marble. The creatures hair reached his upper back, which seemed short in comparison to the Aleza's long locks, which would reach all the way down to their waist. It was messy and knotty, brown like the dirt that he laid upon. His skin was a tan colour, and he appeared to have no mark upon his skin or claws on his fingers. The stranger finally pushed himself up, his white shirt now muddied, black trousers ripped and Usille couldn't help but noticed he wore great boots upon his feet, which laced up tight over his trousers. No wonder his footsteps were so loud. Every small movement he made could be heard so clearly by the Aleza's long thin ears, as various bracelet, necklaces and braids jangled and clattered against each other. Bright eyes looked up at her, they were orange and glowed florescent in the dark like two large firefly's. His eyes looked straight at Usille, and she felt a sense of calm, like any threat she may have perceived from this creature disappeared. She still refused to move though, and just kept watching, as the stranger seemed to try and look at her, but clearly was struggling in this dim light; Aleza are night creatures, seeing in the pitch black provided little problem for them.

"Who's there?" The boy spoke, he did not sound too afraid. He was uncertain and cautious but not fearful.

"My name is Usille, and you?" When she spoke her voice was low and strong, yet on her vowels you could hear a harsh tone, despite this it held a strange melodic tone to it, one that was broken and cracked though. It had been centuries since she last heard common tongue, never mind having to speak the language herself.

"Spirit." Spirit? She had not heard such a name before, but then again she wouldn't have.

"What are you Spirit? I have heard rumour but I cannot think them true." Spirit got a little closer, and Usille felt her body tense ready for an attack, yet when she looked back into those eyes a sense of calm once again invaded, and the internal storm subsided to a cool breeze.

"I'm human." Those words made Usille afraid and defensive, like prey caught in the stare of its predator.

"Human? But such a thing could not be here." Her voice got rougher, and her monolid eyes squinted with great concentration, assessing how dangerous this creature was.

"So I have been told, but please I do not mean you any harm! I do not have any idea myself how I got here!" The poor young male seemed very upset, Usille could only imagine how many times he had said those words.

"What do you mean?" she enquired, moving very slightly from her place so that she stood, the boy still seemed fearless.

"I'm afraid it is a long story."

"Did you mean to travel anywhere today?" She replied. Spirit went silent, a look of contemplation on his face, surly this boy could not be one of these fearsome humans that dominated Illusion all those thousands of years ago.

"Very well, but please sit with me. If we are to share a cell, we cannot spend it on edge." Now it was Usille's turn to go silent, vaguely aware of how long it had been since she last had true interaction with another being. How strange it was, that the first person to enter her world, was a human. Yet despite all the legends and history surrounding such a creature, she could not bring herself to believe that the boy before her was a threat. So, with caution, she made her way to the centre of the room, avoiding the beam of light that came in through the crack in the bars, and sat gracefully crossed leg on the ground. With a charmed smile Spirit joined her.

"I guess I should explain where I came from, though I'm afraid my memory isn't very good, I've lost my early memories but I shall try with what I can recall. My name is Spirit, I lived on the island of Decay. Decay is split into different Sectors that very rarely meet, and we are ruled by a King. I can't remember his name. I am from Sector Three; The City of Cogs it's called. I don't know when I was born, or for how long I have lived there, I do remember Catherine though. I remember sitting by her bedside every night to help fight away the monsters that'd come lurking from shadows at night, and being there to keep her company during the long and dangerous work at the old factory. Catherine was my younger sister, and we lived with her awful parents in a tiny rutty house."

(pronounced A-Leah-Za)

M-Eye-L-A-UG(N)

OU-SEE-Y-EH