The Prime Of The Outcasts

Part 7

I exited Sir Lark Umbra's palace of gold with an abstract thought tossing and turning in the centre of my brain.

How on earth did I just perform what I did?

My hands were experiencing mordent pain like never before. I felt euphoric, but I didn't want to feel this way. I guess you could say I was trying to hoard off a severe case of "total confusion". As Red guided me out of the shiny threshold, he fractiously pushed at my back to make me walk faster. I gulped weakly and tottered on quickly ahead until I had reduced to a little run. He saw my face of puzzlement drawn across my face and tried not to look tempted to ask why. He eventually walked so that we moved in sync.

'What are you doing here?' I asked him curiously. He started to wave about several why-shouldn't-I-be-here? gestures with his huge hands as I held together my clenched teeth.

'Well I am head element. I couldn't just leave you wondering about aimlessly could I? I have to to take you to your room,' stated Red with irritation. Unfortunately he had a good point. I didn't know where I was going. Taking a wild guess could only lead me to immediate danger. I started to think about this room I was going to approach soon. Did I live by myself? Were the houses big? Was it like a hotel? Did I have to pay a couple of a hundred bucks a night? This was all far too weird to try and make sense of. As this was no ordinary land anything could be deemed as possible.

Just as we turned from a corner of houses did I then get my first glimpse of a typical day on Overcast Island. The winding lanes and streets were full to the brim with rather interesting looking people. I tried to avoid collision between any of us. Red looked perfectly comfortable fixing his red bow tie that stabilised his outfit. Some people made my stomach churn with fright, others didn't look like people at all. The real people were about average height like you and me. Except they looked as if their demons had peculated their bodies from head to toe, and any human confirmation thrust upon them would be cue for them to attack. The others that I didn't think could categories themselves as being "human" we're tiny. Some had werewolf looks about them, others appeared as little gnome figures with pointed hats, and some had glowing wings fluttering behind them. I assumed them to be Faeries. But for the first time in my life, I didn't feel irregular anymore.

'Are you starting to like it here?' Asked Red seeing my conveyed feeling of confusion before, change to infinite satisfaction. I couldn't stay mad at the guy any longer.

'Yes,' I smiled contently. 'Where are we going Red? Will I bunk with some of the faeries?' I glanced up at him hopefully. He looked away from my "Puppy Dog Gaze" and laughed suddenly.

'You are no faerie, Serena,' he replied. 'You are technically still human. Therefore you will only be put with someone of the same species and element of you.' My face fell. 'Come on now, have you ever heard of such a thing? A faerie sharing a room with a member of the fire element? Imagine if an argument broke out! Last time that happened, we had to cut down the whole tree trunk so it could be emptied of all the glitter and flames. What a job that was.'

I peered at him curiously.

'Tree trunks?' I said. 'Why on earth did you have to clean out a tree trunk?' I knew the answer straight after my question once he gave me a straight look of disappointment.

It was at that moment that we stepped onto another path. In the pink midst around me I could seek out a bridge. A large canopy one that looked worn and rickety. The breeze blew at it fiercely, and I watched the damaged structure before me swing to a big height somewhere in the sky, and land back down again after five minutes. That wasn't the worst part though. The bridge I was to safely stumble across was suspended over a deep translucent river. It twinkled among several rocks as it passed through the main stream with a rush. Red took my hand delicately and gave me a foot up so I could get a head start on the bridge before it swung again. From what I could see, the canopy centre could lead you off in all different directions. Four colourful arrows pointed in optional directions to the rest of the bridge. One of them was bound to lead me to my room of a sort.

'Serena, I'm going to have to leave you here,' said Red in a hesitant tone. 'Unfortunately due to the water vampires' strong dislike to Umbra attendants, such as myself, I can't go on.' My eyes widened and my red lips gaped at the very mention of vampire's.

'What do you mean? Are you meaning to say there are vampires' here?!' I asked startled. 'All I see are boulders and rocks.'

'These aren't boulders and rocks', Serena. They're water vampires'. They were brought here to protect all of the house occupants, but all they did was feed off of their flesh from the unlucky ones' that fell into the water. They're too dangerous to remove, even for us. Don't spend too much time over here, okay?' I nodded firmly. 'Follow the red arrows through the bridge. You'll find your room name on a plaque at the second archway on the right. Have you got all of that?'

To stop Red from stalling me on this bridge, I nodded again. Even though I had no idea what he meant. I think he was mentally unaware of the fact that I was new to the magic way. As an auditory learner, I would need a good thick manual, and a listening device that would give me step by step instructions on how to master Overcast Island. He shook my hand and made a quick remark before departing.

'By the way, never try and go down a different coloured route asides from the Red. You don't want to end up in the Water, Air, or Earth element. You don't possess the power to tackle what magic may be lurking there. You're fire, remember?'

'Okay!' I yelled back. When he eventually left, I started along the bridge, taking each death defying step with great caution. I could hear noises, quite light and bouncy with infectious giggles. I looked above me where the huge jade trees' ascend over my body. In those trees sat sphere shaped baskets with little people flittering in and out. For a split second they looked like tiny stars that talked. But when I narrowed my eyes, I discovered that they were faeries. Their little woven basket houses were hoisted so high up it looked like a huge play set. I could see what Red meant now, I don't think I could qualify as a faerie.

Sneers and revolting sounds erupted from beneath me, it was time I pressed on. I obeyed every red sign that led me in different directions. I had caught sight of the door I was to find. All of the tree trunks I passed had rounded doors carved into the oak. A burst of yellow light shone from whoever or whatever was on the other side. Little semi-circle windows with shutters peeped out every so often when you gazed further up the tree. The golden plaque I was now facing read the words,

"House: 312
Occupants: Serena Pavock and
Astrid Clare".

I read over the sign twice. According to plaque, I was sharing this room with some person called Astrid Clare. I was excited to find out who my mystery roommate was behind the door. I pulled at the wooden doorknob... but it wouldn't let me in. I pulled again, nothing. This door was clearly playing jokes on me. Magic sure does come at too high a cost. I even knocked on the door several times to see if this Astrid person would answer... nothing. I looked up into the navy sky with hopelessness. The evening stars were settling into their position in the sky, greeting me with a bright gaze. The air was getting chilly, I felt a huge wave on exhaustion plunder my eyes and remove the ability to keep them awake. How I was going to get in?

Just then I heard laughing. And a pokey finger prised my spine.