Fɪɢʜᴛ Fᴏʀ Aʟʟ || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Oɴᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ || ᴛʜᴇ sᴛɪɴɢʀᴀʏ

Tazi

Being the cook's son is exhausting. Especially in Greenhaven.

I should know, being one myself. I work all day, even today, which happens to be my birthday. I know, I sound selfish. But who wants to work on their birthday? No one. Ever. So that's why I snuck out of the castle.

Seated on the docks, I let my legs dangle into the freezing ocean. The cold didn't bother me, instead it came a relief. I sighed, swinging my legs slowly back and forth.

"Tazi!"

I yelped and almost fell into the water. "Mother!" I twisted to stare up at her, guilt painted on the word. "What're you doing here?"

She glared at me, lips pressed together in a white line. "Get back to the castle. Now."

I could feel my face flaming with embarrassment as I stood. I kept my head bowed, slipping my feet back into my sandals before following.

She grumbled all the way back to the castle, only glancing back twice to make sure I was following.

Back at the castle, I went to the kitchens. My best friend, Colin, was waiting.

"At the docks again?" He teased.

"Shut up." I muttered, moving in beside him to help prepare lunch.

"You know," Colin said, finishing another sandwich, "there's been word of a new prophecy."

"Really." I bumped his elbow as I reached across him.

"About eight kids, apparently." Colin handed the plate of sandwiches to a maid.

"So?" I smiled at the maid as she past me.

"And one of these kids is supposed to be from here." Colin continued, dusting off his hands.

"Really?" Now I was interested.

"Yup. There was something about he or she having a stingray spirit animal..." he kept talking, but I wasn't listening.

Instead, I was imagining what it would be like to have a spirit animal and to be part of a prophecy like those eight lucky kids.

"Tazi!"

I jolted out of my thoughts. "What?"

"Your mother arranged for you to have a Nectar ceremony today, you know." He nudged me. "Maybe you'll be the lucky stingray kid."

"She did?!" I was too stunned to reply to the second part, although it did not escape my attention.

"Yeah. Down by the docks, I think?" He shrugged. "I thought you said your mom hated Nectar Ceremonies."

"She does. I can't believe she agreed to this! This is fantastic!" I grinned, "when is it?"

"At around noon." Colin replied, shaking his head at me and tossing some flour at my face.

~~~~noon~~~~
I rushed down to the docks and, sure enough, there was my mother. She was waiting. Colin was there too, along with half of the other castle staff.

Relax. I told myself, you probably won't summon anything anyway. You'll just drink the Nectar and nothing will happen. Just like Colin. And Mother. But my excitement couldn't be quenched.

There was only a tiny possibility of summoning an animal.

Tiny, but not none.

I walked up the isle that the crowd had made, trying to quit grinning. It wasn't working. Finally, I got to the dock. There, a large, burly man was waiting.

I recognized him as Olvan. He'd snuck into the kitchen often, taking some coffee and whispering for me not to tell anyone.

"Tazi. We have gathered here today to see if you will summon a spirit animal." Olvan's gruff voice rang out, quieting the watching people and drawing me back to the present.

"Kneel before me to receive the Nectar of Ninani."

I knelt. This was it, I thought, as he lowered the flask, the moment of truth. I took a gulp of the liquid, excitement fuelling my movements.

He drew away the flask.

I stood, feeling strange. Everything was fuzzy. My body felt like it wasn't my own.

Then I was rushing to the edge of the dock and diving off it.

The cold water shocked me, making me want to flounder to the surface. But it didn't shock me enough to regain control of my limbs. I swam deeper, searching for it. What it was, I had no idea.

Soon, I reached the bottom. My lungs were aching, but I continued searching. Squinting through the green tinged water, I saw it.

A beautiful, sleek black stingray. It floated serenely on the rocks, turning to me.

I reached out a hand, seeking to touch it.

It glided toward me, brushing against my outstretched palm. It was not slimy, like I'd expected, more smooth and soft.

Suddenly my lungs burned and I realized I was running out of air.

I kicked off the bottom and swam strongly upward to the surface. I was keenly aware that the- no, my- stingray was beside me. My head burst out of the water and I gasped in air, breathing hard. My stingray floated just beneath the surface of the water, rippling with the waves.

"Look!" A shout sounded above my head.

I looked up, shaking my dripping hair out of my eyes. The sunlight glinting off the water made me squinted. I tread water, trying to find the own of the voice.

"He's okay! Better than okay! He summoned the stingray!"

A hand appeared in my line of vision and I clasped it, allowing the person to haul me out of the water. It was Olvan. He was beaming. "Congratulations, Tazi. You're going to save the world."

I shook his hand, still breathing heavily, but a grin cracked across my face. "Thank you, sir."

"No," the leader of the Greencloaks clapped me on the shoulder. "Thank you."

Hey guys, I'm back. Today I just finished reading Heart of the Land, and it's so good!!!!
You guys should all read it!
⚠️spoiler alert⚠️

Worthy may be what we need for Reilin to happen!

edit: 23/03/21
i hope you enjoyed! this one was just little edits, nothing really big. it is a bit shorter but it's fiiine