Sidereal Odyssey, Book 1: Zavijah

Departure

The boy and his guardian were panicking, confused as to how the witch wasn’t freaking out.  “What are we going to do?” The boy cried.  The heze followed the trail of glitter that led to the border of the forest. “I’ll kill it! I’ll kill it!”

The Gloriosa had been stolen, the only thing left was a trail of floating glitter that led into the forest.  The witch instantly knew what was going on, but the adolescent boys had no clue.  “Come boys, let’s talk about it over breakfast.”  

“But we have to do something about this now!”

“Yeah!  That glitterer couldn’t have gone far!”  Heze barked, proud of the clever name he came up with.  The witch sighed and decided to get breakfast ready as the boys panicked themselves to the point of hunger.  Zavijah was inspecting the forest with determination, eyes squinted.  

“I’m going in!”  Heze cried, charging into the brush without a second thought.  “Wait for me!”  Zavijah followed close behind.  They were confident that they weren’t going to run into any trouble, it was early daylight, and daylings were peaceful creatures.  Heze followed the glitter with zero patience, hardly letting his friend behind him catch up.  

The witch was cooking some fresh bino that was found in her plant traps, but her mind was absent.  This was the sign that fate had given her, letting her know that it was time for the boys to follow the stars, letting them lead the way to change the world, and learn more of its past.  Her tears fell on the stove, instantly evaporating from the heat.

Heze smelled the sweet scent of cooked bino and stopped in his tracks, mouth watering.  He turned to Zavijah, “We must go back. Now.”  Zavijah laughed at his friends sudden change in priority, but his stomach rumble had him in agreement.

They burst through the door, Heze bounding up and down in excitement.  The witch lay their breakfasts on the table, trying to come up with something to say.  Zavijah sat at the table and began to eat, Heze on the floor next to him smacked his face into the food, getting more of it on his face than in his mouth.

Rana watched them silently, waiting for them to finish.  Heze finished first, falling to the ground on his side and breathing heavily.  Zavijah finished shortly after, letting out a satisfied burp, a hand scratching his stomach.  They were both instantly fatigued.

“Boys,” The witch said from across the table, Heze opening one eye to look at her, “There has been a day that I have been dreading, but always knew it would come.  The day when you both must go and see what this world has to offer, seeing places unimaginable that I would never get the chance to see.”  She walked over, picked up a fat Heze, then sat next to Zavijah at the table, craddling the kitten in her hands.  “Both of you have become very strong and smart boys, trained in magics other species would kill to have, but you must learn that not everything is a game.  The world outside of this cabin is vast and unknown, but I know you two have what it takes to conquer it.”  She plopped Heze on the ground and walked to her room, the two boys looking at each other nervously.  She reappeared with two backpacks, one made for Zav, the other customized to fit under Hezes belly.  The boys were instantly overcome with an exciting yet unnerving feeling.  “The day I have been dreading is today.  You must follow the glitterer, he is not everything that he seems, but that is all I can tell you. “  The boys were taken aback, Zav opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.  He was filled with excitement, his dream of exploring the unknown world and fighting monsters would be realized, but at the same time he didn’t want to leave Rana alone.  

“But-” Heze was cut off by a flick of the witches wrist.  “You boys will be able to visit anytime, and I have been learning a lot about these fireflies,”  She held her hand out to one that had been circling her and it softly landed, “They are able to carry messages to each other, and I think I will soon be able to have them carry messages to anywhere that fireflies are found, and I will be able to keep in touch with both of you when I do.”  Zav was very surprised about her discovery, but it didn’t help with the shock that came with the fact that he would be leaving his entire life behind in a matter of minutes.  Rana walked over to each of them, handing Zav his bag and helping Heze get fitted into his.  

The packs were made of the strong leather from a common moonling found in the jungle, the backpacks were blue with some fur still on them.  Zav thought it was very stylish and hero-like.  Heze was uncomfortable with it at first, but found the leather to warm up his belly quite nicely.

“There is fruit that is nonperishable in there, along with nuts, berries, and dried meats.  It should be enough to last you both awhile if you eat it wisely.  The forest is filled with edible plant life, as you know, but I have no knowledge of what is beyond the wood, nor what you will be able to eat, but I trust you will both fare well.”  Zav was already starting to feel better, he felt he had adventurer blood in his veins.  Heze was happy as long as he was with his best friend.

“We’ll do it.  When do we leave?”  The witch hadn’t expected an answer like that, she had visioned them showing somewhat resistance.  She waved them both over, giving Zav a bone breaking hug and held Heze in her hands for the last time, rubbing his ears right next to his horns.

 “Now.”

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