Skyrise

He Can't Die On Me!

Spectre

Yes, that's how my name is spelled. The author thought it would be funny to give the ONE BRITISH character a name with an odd spelling.

I walked toward Songbird's house, dagger gleaming in the starlight, barely used. I call it Ricky. I couldn't tell you why. I walked through the woods, attacking anything that moved. I didn't always specialize in a dagger. I used to use a magic staff, but those days are far behind me. I was fifteen the last time I used it. I'll never forget the day I couldn't bear to look at it anymore and chucked it into a closet. I remember locking the door, as if a lock could keep its dark, twisted, looming shadow out of my mind. My mind showed me a fiery orange ball. I heard my own screams. Then I was back in the woods, somehow on my knees. The trees all around me were somehow knocked back in a huge circle around me. Yeah, yeah, Brain. I messed up. I get it. Stop decimating forests, and stop reminding me. I got up and continued on my way. Maybe Dawn's right...Oh God, maybe I really am going crazy...

     This island is full of opposites, and Oak and Dawn are the king and queen of it all. Dawn is the perfect doctor. She cares enough to help if you have a problem, but not enough to hold you back. She's detached. Plus, her soul is a royal purple--the color of integrity. She's honest, and that's definitely a plus, if nothing else. Oak is a good guy, with a heart of gold. However, he has rather...violent tendencies. His dark red soul resembles passion, and it really shows. There was a time when he actually threatened to kill me because I... Actually, I had that coming. Never mind.

     Songbird owned a yellow soul, the color of kindness, and lived on a mountain pair, the two separated by a winding tributary of the ShadowFall River. By the way, DON'T fall in the ShadowFall River. If you sink too far without proper armor, you get incinerated in the river of lava on the underside. The tributary, however, is fine to swim in. I did it all the time to calm my mind. I jumped into the chilly water and surfaced, wiping the excess water out of my eyes. I could've played in the water all morning, but I had a job to do. I reluctantly swam to the other side and continued the trek.

     The moon had come up just far enough to light up the sky when I finally reached Songbird's place. She was singing and working in her garden, even that late at night. "Hey, Songbird!" She stopped and turned her brown face toward the sound of my voice. I could see her soul through her bright yellow shirt and dark blue overalls.

     "Hi, Spectre!" She hastily tiptoed around the plants and shut the gate behind her. She ran up, but quickly backed off when she nearly rammed her face into my neck. "Sorry, I'm not used to how tall you've gotten! You've got to stop growing, by the way." Her Southern-accented voice drawled.

     "And you need to come with me. A new arrival surfaced in my pond! He can't talk, so--"

     "Say no more! One bucket of hot potato soup, coming right up! Do you want a bowl?"

     How could I say no? "As long as it doesn't interfere with the new guy."

     "It shouldn't, not since Fox created this nifty zip line that can carry goods to the market, any of your houses, even the port! It definitely beats having to carry it everywhere!" She filled up a tin bucket with soup and attached a note, no doubt notifying our friends of my whereabouts and sending all of them well wishes. I watched as she clipped it to a rope and sent it off. "Err... They are at your house, right? I kinda just assumed."

     "Yeah, they went there."

     "Okay. Good. Now, you wanted a bowl, didn't you?" She winked and beckoned me inside. She grabbed a wooden bowl from the cabinet.

     "You're the best, Songbird. Thanks." I smiled. Somewhere within me, a voice begged whoever would listen.

Please, if anybody's controlling fate up there, please protect him. I'm through losing people! He can't die on me!
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Hey, sorry it's so late! I'm gonna start posting two chapters a week now. Read on, kid!