Chapter 2

Auras' Tale

Bobby barely managed to keep up with Aura as she ran along the road, she would kill in track. Bobby laughed at his own thoughts and ran along side her. "So this is Jssola right?" Aura nodded and started to walk, Bobby needed more info. "So what was that back there? You called it 'speedball'?" Aura once again nodded and continued to stare forward, her hair shimmered in the fading sunlight. Bobby sighed; she was so silent, how could she be warm and fuzzy a moment earlier and icy the next? "Yes,' Aura replied, Bobby glanced at her, "The game is called speedball. It is a favorite of my world and is loved by all. Two teams, both in different colors, play it as you saw. The colors represent different villages and towns, which are scattered all about. I play for the team of Scalzi, as does rowan.' She saw his face go grim 'Don't let Rowan's attitude fool you, he just doesn't like competition. Rowan is a friend of mine, he … holds on to my journals for me." She blushed lightly, but Bobby saw it, he knew there was something more between those two.

They spoke no more till they reached a jungle like forest; thick trees threatened to push the stars out of the sky. Vines threw shadows across the grounds, roots jutted out everywhere. Aura began to walk towards the tallest tree of them all; Bobby followed at her heels, a tremor of fear racing down his spine. Aura threw her hand out, ceasing Bobby's stride; slowly she crotched down and slide something out of her pocket. A flash of silver glinted in the moonlight as she threw the object, a howl from the bushes made Bobby leap back and look for a way to get off the ground. The rustle of leaves and twigs snapping proclaimed that it was too late to run; a creature loped out of the bushes. The silver object imbedded in its side sparkled with crimson drops, Aura had wounded it. It was bigger around than a wolf, but had more no fur; two fierce green eyes stared impassively at the travelers. The beast gave a snarl and fell to the ground, its lifeblood turned black by the night.

Aura stepped forward and pulled the object out of the creatures' side, she wiped it off on her pants and placed it back in her pocket. Bobby came forward and risked a look at the dead creature, much to his surprise, instead of fur green and brown scales gleamed. "They are thorks' Aura managed to lift the bloody mess, 'they hunt as packs normally, but this one was hurt, see his leg?' Bobby noticed that the thork was missing half a foot on his right hind leg. Aura walked over to a small pile of bushes, with her foot she swept them aside and revealed a small wooden lift. She threw the thork onto the lift and waved Bobby over. Bobby made sure to stand closer to Aura, she pulled a thick rope twice and the lift began to ascend. It was a slow ride, but the view was awe-inspiring. From above Bobby saw that several other trees had lifts, and houses, huge houses erupted from the branches of these mighty trees. Bobby craned his neck and saw that Auras' was no exception, her house had to be twice the size of any normal mansion. Bobby smiled and enjoyed the rest of the ride.

Dinner was thork, roasted over an open flame pit, steamed vegetables and fruits were passed about the circle in which they ate. Bobby was surprised to see several other people race to greet them as they had entered. Children raced about the branches like monkeys in the wild, and teens gathered about Bobby, introducing themselves. Bobby came to recognize them as the members of Auras' speedball team. All of which seemed interested in the boy who had bumped into their star player. All except Rowan, who stood in the shadows watching as the others greeted the foreigner. He eyed Bobby with supreme distaste and dragged aura off, Bobby watched them speak under the stars, their hands moving rapidly and tempers rising. Rowan finally stalked off to his room, Aura hide in the kitchen and made dinner.

Bobby drank some sweet juice that was called fife; it tasted a lot like cream soda with a hint of raspberry. Rolls were passed in front of him and he grabbed one, these things were as big as his hand. Pitchers of fife circled him, refilling his drink and finally a small, dark square was handed to him. He watched as some of the kids threw theirs in the air and spoke a command, at that the square exploded and a large brownie like object fell into their hands. Others lay theirs down on their plates and spoke another strange word; a cup of foaming pudding filled their plates. Aura held hers in her hand and spoke to Bobby,

"Which do you want? Octa? Roda? Or Gandar?" At each of these she pointed them out, the brownie was octa, the pudding roda, and Gandar turned out to be something that looked like ice cream. Bobby tried Octa, which tasted a lot like hundreds of brownies all smashed into one the size of your hand.

After dinner the scraps were burned and Aura took Bobby to his bedroom; a king size bed was just what he needed. He stared at the fully furnished room and felt like he was in a hotel, the adjacent room held a sort of shower device that spouted water at you when you pushed a button and the toilet was a polished bowl that turned your droppings into mulch. Bobby fell asleep quickly, his dreams filled with thoughts of basketball and of marely. After several hours a loud slamming awoke him. He crept to his closet area and pushed some clothes out of the way, a small hole let off light and Aura's angry voice. "Rowan! You're acting like he means to kill us all as we sleep! I know he is not of our race but he is the Leader!' Bobby could just barely make out Rowan's backside as he paced the room. "Yes Lone Wolf, but he is not one of us! What happens if he invites that demon here! What will become of our great home if more of them come! It is too much for me to bare, so please for all our sake and yours send him away!' Aura's face was a mixture of pain and anger, 'you know I can do no such thing. I will not send him away, if he is here then we are in danger yes, but he is here to help us. I know I can't except them to understand but you, Rowan I know you should." With that she turned and Bobby heard a door slam. Rowan stared at the spot where she had been standing for a moment, 'For all our sakes Lone Wolf I hope you're right." The light faded and Rowan left the room. Bobby sat up and ran the events through his mind. He returned to his bed and spent the rest of the night thinking of ways to make this all work or for everyone.