𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐒 {spirit animals}

16. Into the Mountains

"Talona, you've got to tell me what's wrong,"

     Kolin had gotten up early, adrenaline for the day's journey forcing him awake at the crack of dawn. Passing by Talona's room, he could've sworn he heard her muttering nonsense in her sleep, and indeed found her next to Conejo, golden light emitting from the jackalope's antlers.

     He woke her up, and she jerked back into consciousness, face filled with panic. Conejo the jackalope sat next to her munching on a carrot, seemingly completely oblivious as to what was happening.

     "Don't worry about it," Talona repeated for the third time, "I'm fine. What are you doing here this early?"

     Kolin took the note to drop the subject, "Couldn't sleep any longer. Leila said we were leaving first thing in the morning anyway, we have to meet Serik down in the courtyard."

     Talona shook her head, "Not Serik. He's gone."

     "What do you mean?"

     "Hopefully, if all goes well, we won't be seeing him again."

     That's all Talona said as they walked down the stairs together and out the castle doors, where indeed they found Leila waiting for them. A few horses stood next to her, and Ylva Hunter was already there, the winged stallion at her side.

     More people made their way out; Rae and Shen arrived moments later, and Caspian as always was nearly twenty minutes late, Varuna chirping about and nesting in his hair.

     Leila looked around once the seven... No, the six of them had arrived. Kolin had to keep reminding himself that Electro the phoenix was gone, that Sucia was gone, and what was once Seven returning Beasts of Legend had died down to six. Would Erdas prevail without the phoenix? The original story that the Greencloaks told them had been how all seven beasts united would defeat the Kraken, and now, nothing seemed very certain.

    "Where's Serik?" She asked with a frown, "I thought he was going with all of you."

     Surprisingly, it was Rae Rodriguez who answered, "Gone. He won't be joining us today."

     "Yes he is," Leila frowned, "He is leading you on this journey. I cannot join you because of... Other matters to attend to here."

     "I promise you the mind-reading rabbit knows Amaya better than the rest of the room combined," Rae drawled sarcastically, "Serik isn't even on this island anymore, so correct me if I'm wrong, but as of now, it really doesn't seem like he's coming along."

     Kolin turned to Talona questioningly, but she shot him a look that clearly said she would explain later. Leila locked eyes with Rae for a moment and seemed to decide to drop the matter too.

     "Alright," Leila said, "If you think you'll make it without dying, you're heading through the Amayan woods today, a remote place that few have set foot in. The goal is simple: Track down Galactic, and free him from whatever is keeping him imprisoned."

     "You've said this about six times already," Rae yawned, "Can we go? There's six of us and five horses, so not to be that person, but someone is walking."

     "If only someone here had a spirit animal that was a horse of sorts," Shen joked, "Oh wait, there is. We also have a Pegasus. You know, a horse with wings."

     Kolin was surprised when Rae completely ignored the Zhongese prince. Surely he wasn't imagining all the back and forth friendly banter between those two for the past few days?

     He pushed his thoughts out of his mind as Leila continued, "This won't be a walk in the park. Expect danger, and expect fights to break out. If we've figured out we need to hunt down Galactic, there's not a doubt in my mind that the Darkcloaks have too."