Luke Swan and the Laistrynians: The Flood

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

~My Evil Twin Introduces~

~Himself~

Giant eagles do make great taxis.

But what really made the situation funnier was when Zyra actually hailed one down.

A group of them were circling around our area anyway, but when they flew past us, Zyra stuck out one hand and taxi whistled twice with the other. Two gold eagles swerved out of formation and landed gently beside us.

"Ok, I've never ridden one of these before," I said. "Is it like horse riding? Because I don't like horse riding." I wasn't lying. I had a bad experience when the horse I was riding suddenly bucked and I fell off, not to mention I broke my arm. That kind-of put me off riding again for the rest of my life.

Zyra didn't seem sure. "I've never ridden a wild one before. Wild Malmoria can be much more unpredictable."

"That didn't answer my question."

"I wasn't answering your question. I was talking to myself."

"You could talk to me, too. I'm right here."

"There isn't a finer person to talk to," she said, mounting her eagle.

"Me? Gee, thanks!"

"I meant me."

"Oh."

"Well, I suppose I'm conversing with you now anyway. You should really hurry up so we can get going."

I tried using the eagle's golden feathers to haul myself up. It screeched indignantly and almost snapped up my hand.

"Sorry," I told it.

After many embarrassing techniques of getting up for both me and the eagle, I had mounted my steed and was ready to start flying... again.

"Hold on," Zyra said, and both eagles took off.

The first thing the eagles did was dive, and I really enjoyed that. Almost falling off was a blast. And when they pulled up so sharply that my stomach was left somewhere below us, I'm pretty sure I screamed... in delight. Of course, Zyra was whooping in joy all the while. Why wouldn't she be? Let's just put an end to the sarcasm and say that I was ready to cry with relief when I felt the steady beat of the Malmoria's wings slowly reducing speed.

We landed in a meadow beside one of the cities.

"You will reside here for the night," Zyra said. "But before you get settled in, you must meet your likeness."

"My likeness?"

"Come this way." Zyra walked to a spring full to the brim with the clearest water I had ever seen. I could see right to the bottom, which must have been a good twenty feet down. At the bottom, two young girls were sitting cross-legged and having a bubbly conversation, definitely bubbly because every word they said brought dozens of bubbles to the surface.

"Begone!" Zyra said, and the girls quickly swam to the opposite shore and ran away.

"That was a bit mean," I said.

"Pelliyiades are always up to no good," Zyra said. "You can count on them to bring you trouble any day. Anyway, just concentrate on looking at the bottom of the spring. Whatever happens, do not look away."

I kept my eyes fixed on the bottom, which wasn't easy when the surrounding area had so much going on. But a few minutes later the water turned reflective and I was staring at my reflection.

"This is my likeness?" I said. "I'm pretty sure I've met him before."

"Not this one. You see, this one has characteristic traits that you might not have." Zyra touched the lake surface, which rippled but didn't mess up my reflection. In fact, it stepped out of the spring and stood beside me.

"Hello," it said coldly.

"Your likeness might be a bit... hostile at first," Zyra explained, "but it will eventually learn to act the same as you, just like a reflection should."

"So he's like the opposite of me, now."

"Exactly."

"But why do I need him?"

"The people of Swaniquet are eager to see you again. They know now that your name isn't in the book, so they'll be looking for you everywhere. If they see your reflection, which isn't the friendliest of people, they might lose interest in you and ignore you after a while." She clicked her fingers and the reflection disappeared, off to Swanicaa's city with my reputation to destroy.

"Zyra," I said, "you never explained to me anyway why you Laistrynians are so interested in me. What's with this "The One with Music" business? I mean, I'm just me. It's not like I have any special powers or anything."

She pursed her lips. "When we arrive at our next destination, I might have a few answers for you."