Chapter 8

The waves were calm, gently lapping at the beach. The sky was a brilliant blue with only a few lazy clouds floating in its embrace. The fishing boats were bobbing on top of the ocean, coming in and out view with calm regularity. (We were underground. The eastern coast near Cunabula was under attack. The sky is never this shade of blue.)

Pelna ran his fingers over the net carefully, stopping every so often to mend a spot with precise movements. He hadn't been a fisherman in years, close to a decade. His boat beaconed him as did the bright morning sun, calling for him to start his day on the sea. (Wrong spot to fish. Sail isn't properly hung. No one else on the beach.)

Voices called to him from the far away ships, some he recognized but others that he didn't. (Sound doesn't echo on the cliffs. Crowe's speech pattern is diffe)rent. Libertus hates sailing; he gets seasick easily. Pelna sighed, dropping the net unto the warm sandy beach. "Really? If you're going to go through all of that trouble to make this kind of elaborate illusion, at least try to get the details right." He said out loud, ignoring the calls from the sea.

Well, at least that answered the importance of that riddle on the way into the Temple.

Pelna took a few moments to look around him, simply taking in the vast illusion of his favourite beach before he turned his back to it. A small path wound its way through the rocks and up into the thick jungle. Somewhere beyond it was the Tower and its lightning.

"It's not a perfect illusion, but I thank you for allowing me to see such a sight once more." Pelna smiled as he closed his eyes to enjoy the warmth of the sun before he plunged into the jungle with casual ease. The path was easy to follow even amidst the thick foliage. Trees were often just out of the way enough to create a somewhat straight path and the vines merely brushed against his shoulders as he moved.

It was a pleasant walk. The air was humid but not suffocating. The birds wove a delightful melody that Pelna half recognized as an old Galahdian war song. He found himself humming along with them, learning the unrecognized parts quickly enough. There was magic in the melody, something Pelna had tasted as a child then had forgotten.

He wondered if some of the other songs his aunts used to sing held magic as well. A growl interrupted his thoughts and brought Pelna to a halt. A coeurl, golden eyes narrowed on him, pounced from a tree.

Pelna didn't move or flinch.

The coeurl landed behind him without leaving a mark on Pelna. The coeurl growled again, the sound pitching up and down like laughter. Pelna tilted his head back just enough to shoot the coeurl a smile before he continued on his way.

He'd only taken two steps before another growl joined the first. Pelna sighed, his shoulders dropping but he stopped in his tracks and waited. A coeurl, bigger than the first but with the same unusual golden eyes, appeared from behind a tree and stalked towards Pelna. Its whiskers crackled with power.

The coeurl stopped right in front of Pelna, its growl growing more menacing until it whipped its whiskers straight at his face. Lightning struck an inch from his face, blinding and deafening him for several minutes.

But he still didn't move or flinch, merely blinking his eyes rapidly until his sight returned.

Pelna was greeted by a rough tongue licking him from lip to forehead before the coeurl joined the other behind him. He sighed, wiping his face off with his sleeve. He turned to watch the duo with a raised brow. "Am I going to get tested every step of the way?" He might have rethought his candidature had he known it would involve being licked by giant cats.

The coeurls gave a series of barking growls before they both approached him and started pushing him forward. Pelna raised his hands in surrender, twirling on his heels to continue on his way. "Ok, ok. No need to be pushy. I'm going, see?"

Again and again, coeurls appeared in his way. Each attacked him or tested him in some way. Some simply shot lightning in his face. Others pushed trees or branches down on his head. Others still pounced on him from all directions. By the time he'd reached the Tower, Pelna had a few dozen coeurls pushing him around, talking to each other, and most annoyingly for Pelna; laughing at him.

Still, it wasn't as bad as trying to corral a drunken Crowe and Nyx after a rough battle. At least these coeurls had enough sense not to get lost or expect Pelna to shower with them. A coeurl butted his lower back, making him stumble forward and into a large clearing.

The Tower towered over him, its tip lost among the lightning web that emerged from it. A staircase wound itself around it in an endless spiral. "I am not climbing that!" Pelna put his hands on his hips, glaring at the Tower in outrage.

Coeurls streamed around him, all jumping onto the stairs, running up until they stopped one by one in different spots. Pelna frowned as he followed them with his eyes. The smallest of the coeurls sat at the bottom of the stairs while the bigger ones were higher up. He tilted his head to one side then to the other before he buried his head in his hands.

"Another test? How many are there?" Pelna whined and walked up to the smooth surface of the Tower. There were marks there, cracks that criss-crossed over each other in a complexe system with no apparent beginning or end. Taking one last look at the coeurls, bearing the gaze of dozens of them all at once; Pelna hummed the song under his breath as he brushed his fingers in a branching pattern.

The Tower glowed under his touch until a door took shape. Pelna took a deep breath.

And walked in.

Selena skipped ahead of Nyx and her mom, her hands full with a basket of fruits. It was a pretty nice morning, even better by the fact that her mom had arrived quite late -perhap it would be better to say very early- after a date with Selena's new teacher. The King of Lucis and his retinue had arrived a week earlier, bringing with their arrival an air of festivity.

Selena turned the corner unto their street, half listening to the bickering of Nyx and her mom. She started jogging towards home, her mind whirling with ideas for pies, jams, and delicious snacks. She pushed open the door and turned to shout at her family to hurry up.

The road exploded in flames, her mother's laughter cut abruptly short as the explosion threw her deeper into her home. Her ears rang with a shrill sound. Her vision swam, doubling and blurring as she pushed herself back to her feet. "Mom! Nyx!" She stumbled back towards the doorway frantically.

The road was covered in fire and great lumbering soldiers. Human-shaped figures screaming in agony writhed on the ground or stumbled helplessly around even as the Niflheim soldiers fired at them. (Wrong. The attack hadn't been as sudden. It hadn't started with a bombing.)

Selena stifled a cry as she saw Nyx, blood pouring out of a gut wound, (He's fine and alive. I saw him not long ago.) as he crawled towards her, a hand outstretched in a silent plea for help. Selena stayed within the shadows of the entrance of what had once been her home, tears silently running down her face.

She did not go to him. (Nyx… I'm sorry! I'm sorry!)

She watched as Nyx was executed by a soldier, another death among dozens.

Hiding among what had once been her home, Selena waited until the soldiers had moved on (charred bodies on the muddy ground) before she started running. She couldn't save any of her family, friends or neighbours but she might still be able to warn other villages.

She had to be able to save them! (She would save them. There was no if. Only the knowledge that her warning might make the difference between life and death for her people.)

And so she ran, leaving the relentless fires be the only funeral pyre for the lives lost at Niflheim's hands. Leaving everything she knew behind for the chance of warning others before it was too late.

The jungle welcomed her into its embrace, its green foliage cutting off the terrible sight of the fire. Selena didn't hesitate as she left the well-worn path that most travellers used. It was too exposed, too well known for her to use. Not to mention that it was not the fastest nor the most direct path to where she had to go.

No, to warn the others before Niflheim moved on she would need to get to the Tower. (Tower? Was it the signal tower in Monitum?) It was the only way to do so in time.

Selena pushed aside the thick vines, eyes and ears straining to keep her safe. The daylight streamed through the jungle in green-tinged ribbons that deepened shadows and highlighted the colourful flowers that co-existed within the jungle. She saw a shadow shift in the corner of her eye and stilled.

A coeurl stalked out, whiskers waving with every step. It stopped for several moments, its nose rising to smell the air, as it turned its head side to side as though searching for something. (Something was off with the coeurl. Its eyes…)

Selena watched and waited, staying as still as she could, for the coeurl to move away. She knew she was downwind of it, knew the shadows cast by the vines and trees would make her invisible to the beast. All she had to do was wait.

She lost track of time as she waited motionless for the coeurl to leave and then for it to have moved far enough that it would not hear her. She didn't know if it had been an hour or mere minutes, only that Selena had to hurry if she wanted to save the people of Galahd.

Taking a quick inventory of what she had available, Selena decided that she had to move quickly but quietly as though hunting a fleeing seadevil back to its nest. She could do it. (She had to do it.) Mind set and holding a hunter's knife, (When had she gotten the knife? No matter it would only help.) Selena started running.

Over fallen trees and rustling brooks. Dodging the giant bees buzzing about the flowers in a clearing. Ignoring the steady thump thump thump of her heart and the paws chasing after her. There were a dozen or so, running in graceful lunges that travelled greater distances than her own.

Coeurls in the midst of a hunt with her as their prey. (Don't look back. Keep running. Warning the others was too important to fail.) Selena used every trick she knew, every shortcut and practiced moves taught to her by her brother and father, by the hunters that now feed the ground.

She wove through the fallen branches and logs. Threw herself forward to roll back to her feet without losing momentum over obstacles. Every step she took was a step closer to saving a life. (Why weren't the coeurls attacking? Were they...escorting her?)

The Tower appeared, beckoning her with an open door and the promise of safety.

Selena threw herself in, panting as the door closed behind her with a decisive slam. The coeurls howled from outside the Tower, announcing her escape to all who understood them.

A/N: I loved writing Pelna's part. I have an image of him being very clear minded in any situation. It comes in handy in odd situations. I haven't been able to write much between the Pandemic lockdown and health issues flaring up so I may need to take another break between the first arc and starting to post the second arc. Please leave a review :)