It truly was the strangest creature Sofia had ever laid eyes on.
Up in the air, its size had been enormous, its back wide and long enough for the three of them to sit on it, its fur long and sturdy, easy to hold onto. Its wings, more solid than birds' feathers, covered in a light, almost translucent skin, had spanned wide, gathering the air beneath them to bear all of them.
It had carried them away from the mountains, over forests, finally landing on a plain, close to a small river, as if it had been aware of their longing for water, to quench their thirst and wash themselves.
It had put them down, waiting patiently for them to descend on unsteady legs, but then it had hastily withdrawn, scurrying away and putting what it probably felt was a safe distance between them.
Its size fell away from it, and its large beast-like head shrunk to a small furry face with long ears piqued upwards, listening intently. It made a little growling sound and fixed its eyes on them.
"A Bayla," Orì said, still as amazed as she had been in the air.
Ami took a hesitant step towards it, but it curbed its back, and its fur changed into protective scales.
"Don't scare it," Orì said.
Sofia frowned.
"It was huge just a moment ago. How could we do anything to it? And what is a Bayla anyway?"
"I wasn't sure they really existed," Ami said, more to himself. "I hoped that they did, but -." He turned to Orì. "Have you seen one before?"
"No. They are supposed to be almost extinct. There cannot be more than ten left in all of Nihon."
"But how would you know?" Sofia asked, gesturing towards the creature that was going through smooth changes as if it was still making up its mind what the best shape for this moment was. Its nose had lengthened, becoming fine and pointy, and it was alternately sniffing the ground around itself, and the air, before the nose flattened again. A long tongue appeared that flickered into the earth, extracting ants and other little insects, then chewing them carefully. All the while, it didn't let them out of its sight, especially Ami, who had already tried to approach it. A long thin tail with a hand-like appendage was flipping through the air.
"Is this its real shape?" Sofia asked.
"It doesn't have a real shape," Orì explained. "Baylas can transform themselves at will, into whatever creature they want or need to be."
"Can it talk?"
"No. It's an animal. And they are usually really shy. They live alone, in places where there are no people."
"Why have they become so rare?" Sofia asked.
Ami looked sad. He was still edging closer to the Bayla, in minuscule forward-going movements. The Bayla kept its eyes on him and sniffed in his direction.
"They are very valuable, as you can imagine."
"But how can they be caught, if they can transform themselves?"
"Everything can be caught, and the more difficult it is, the more people want to."
Ami was stretching out its hand towards the Bayla.
"Don't be afraid, little one."
The Bayla growled, but didn't move away. Ami had almost reached it. Both Sofia and Orì were holding their breath.
"Won't it bite?" Sofia whispered, afraid to spook the Bayla if she talked too loudly.
"We'll see that very soon," Orì replied in the same low voice.
YOU ARE READING
The Children of Nihon (BOOK TWO)
Fantasy[COMPLETED] Book TWO of the magical Nihon Series follows Sofia and Orì, as the abducted children are being brought to Mother's castle. There, they shall form an elite army of children. Orì frees Sofia, and together they flee deep into the magical la...
