It started to rain. It rained as they fetched horses from the stables. It rained as they left Greenhaven Castle. It rained while they loaded supplies onto the boat to Amaya. It rained as the ship shoved off from the pier and into the storm-gray weather.
It rained on everyone, but it especially rained on Gale. He didn't get along with boats, especially during a storm, so he stood at the railing and tried not to focus on his churning insides. Shuriken found a spot under some crates, looking a little unsettled himself. Stuffing his head under his wing, he shivered.
It was strangely quiet; he could hear the rain falling on the ocean. Although the ship had sails, they were tied tightly away on the masts. He couldn't quite work out what propelled the ship. Far up ahead, though, he saw two odd waves breaking again and again. 'Water pushed by the ships hull, maybe? It didn't seem very likely.' Gale thought.
"Whales, and they look to be Rockback Whales to be exact." Marko said walking up next to him. The rain dripped from his hair like it did in Gale's. Apocalypse walked behind him, tail lazily dragging behind, orange reptilian eyes seeming to enjoy the rain.
Gale began to focus on the odd waves, he began to see their outline and saw they were indeed whales,not water. The beasts were as gray and black as the stormy sea, and their spines were studded with stones and boulders. Like moving cliffs just beneath the water. They must have been longer than the ship itself. Gale was impressed, but would never admit it out loud.
He asked, "How did you know?"
"They migrate to Oceanus and swim around our Island. I also saw some merchant ships use them."
Gale nodded and they watched the rise and fall of the whales and the waves. Cinder and Fell shivered past them and Gale noticed "Hey wolf girl, why don't you join us?" Cinder looked at them then at Fell and walked over to join them.
For the next few minutes, the three watched the rocky backs rise and fall like they did earlier. In the eerie hush, one of the whales called to the other. It was a sad, echoey, hollow sound that seemed both close and far.
"Whoa," Cinder and Marko breathed.
"Scary," Gale exclaimed "Speaking of scary, are those Conquerers scary?"
It wasn't the most subtle way to ask about Stetriol or the Conquerers, but it would have to do for now.
Cinder looked at him and raised an eyebrow, as if she didn't want to talk about it. Gale had to admit she wasn't the easiest person so read it was almost like a mystery book instead a wide open book.
"Well, you lived there and all," Gale said. "I figured you might have knwn everything about them."
Cinder sighed, "I know a lot but not everything."
"Please, do tell," Gale said with a goofy smile.
She shook her head "She will tell when she's ready Gale."
Gale put his hands up in defense "Ok, ok I will stop."
Cinder sighed realizing Gale only said for her to join them to ask about the Conquerers. She left to head to the ships cabin with Fell creeping behind. Marko watched the waves for a little while until he decided to leave to go explore the ship some more. Gale watched as they left then looked up at the crows nest where Shuriken now took off and glided down to in front of him.
"Hey buddy," he said as he stroked underneath his chin. "What do you think of everyone so far?"
Shuriken let out a shriek and then began to preen his feathers.
"That," Gale said, "is the exact same way that I feel."
It kept pouring. Once they made landfall, they transferred the supplies to the horses and set foot through the rainy evening. You could say the horses were supposed the be a privilege. A way to make the long journey faster and more agreeable.
But Gale wished they were walking. Neither him or Shuriken got along with with his horse. For starters, Gale had never ridden a horse. Living life as a street rat hadn't exactly prepared him for long hours of being in a saddle. Back in Concorba, wherever he wanted to go he had to walk or run there on his own two feet. He felt as though he were getting blisters already in all kinds of places where they shouldn't be.
His horse was a terrible animal to him also. Terrible to look at, with its flecked brown and white coat, and terrible to be around, with its habit of trying to bite or buck him. If he let his guard down or relaxed his hold on the reins at all, the beast would buck and bend it's neck to do a half nip at his legs. It hated Shuriken as well. If the hawk got anywhere near, the horse would rear up and snap at the bird.
"Maybe it's hungry?" Leo said as they rode side by side through the drizzle.
"Hungry for human and hawk flesh, maybe," Gale replied.
"If you treat him with respect, he'll treat you with respect," Firnen explained from ahead.
Gale crossed his arms without loosening his grip on the reins, 'Easy for him to say,' he thought as Firnen and Angel began to talk about the joys of horseback riding all around town.
After a few hours, everyone was wet to the skin. Gale's scruffy hair was stuck to his forehead. The dense, lush, forest was soaked green and black. If they wanted to stop they could, but they never did.
"Oh yea," he said, "this reminds me of home." He'd spent countless evenings on the streets with Rollan, pressed against a wall, barely out of the rain. Stomach growling, always hungry.
Well, at least his stomach was full now. Gale looked at everyone else and had to hold in his laughter seeing everyone look like wet rats.
"The trees up here hang over the path so it will get better. But we will need to be on guard." Firnen said gesturing ahead at a part of the forest that seemed thicker than the rest.
Everyone nodded and tensed up, Marko gripped his sword nervously and looked down at Apocalypse's passive state tattoo on his arm. Firnen's horse spooked a little ways in. It's hooves stomping ands scraping on the ground. Then he glimpsed a small, furry animal climbing up the horses side. Firnen swiped at it and tried to get it off "Its a rat!" he called out.
The rat lunged for Firnen's eyes. Frost came out of passive state and batted the rat away. His horse reared again.
Gale felt a sudden surge of intuition holt through him, certain and overpowering and ferocious. His eyes found Shuriken in the sky without having to search for him. The hawks gaze was fixed on him as well. He felt light headed and closed his eyes.
His eyes snapped open and he knew the truth as bright as day, it was as if someone slapped him in the face with it.
"It's an ambush!" he screamed.
Marko tensed up and Cinder looked around at the forest when she spotted movement. "Bandits!" she shouted.
Two men plunged out of the brush, a Ocelot on their heels and Northern White-Faced Owl gliding through the treetops. One seized the bridle of Firnen's horse and the other attacked him. A third charged from the trees right at Cinder, a wolverine at his feet.
"Come on, Gale!" Leo yelled as he rode by to attack.
Gale realized he had been frozen by the chaos. Up ahead, Firnen kicked one of his attackers off of him, leapt off his horse, and drew his saber against his attackers, even as the rat attacked his shin. Frost attacked the rat to get it off Firnen, while he began to attack the two bandits. Everything was a mess of people and spirit animals.
Gale tried to get his horse to move but that only made it rear up and make him slide off the saddle. He looked up to try and find Shuriken but he was in mid battle with the owl, feathers going everywhere. Haven galloped past him, Angel close behind her, whip in hand. Cinder was behind her, except she was in the middle of avoiding attacks while Fell attacked the wolverine. Marko, on the other hand was fighting his own battle.
Four other bandits emerged, two of them closed in on Firnen while the other two closed in on Marko and Cinder. One of the ones near Firnen had a snake loosely around his arm, it looked to be a Cottonmouth. The other had a Border Collie that was creeping up on the mess of fur and claws that was Frost and the rat. Firnen took the opportunity to deliver a kick to one if the foes midsection then a blow to the head, he then fell to the ground unconscious and his rat fled. Cinder and Fell managed to hold off the three bandits that surrounded them. Fell was in a fight with a Bearded Dragon, which didn't stand a chance, and a fox. Cinder had a sword in one hand with an arrow in her other, she was barely missing getting punched and stabbed but she managed to take at least one down.
Marko was nearby blocking attacks from his attacker, you could clearly see he was nervous and scared. Apocalypse was trying to death roll and unfortunate Komodo Dragon that had its arm stuck in its jaws.
"Marko, man up!" Leo yelled as he punched the bandit before him.
Marko nodded and kicked his attacker in the stomach then slashed him across the chest. The foe cried out in pain fell to the ground, Apocalypse let go of the Komodo Dragon and it limped off to the forest.
Gale saw Firnen struggling against his attackers so he rushed over to him. He stopped when he heard Shuriken cry out and he looked up at the sky to see the flurry of feathers that was above. He dug into the little bag on his belt and took out one of his small shurikens then looked back up at the onslaught of fury.
"Shuriken!" he called up to the hawk.
The hawk let out a cry then dove down to the trees and the owl followed, 'Please down let this miss,' he thought. The owl got close and he threw the weapon and used the wind around it to direct it right into its wing. The bird struggled and flapped as the shuriken got stuck in a tree with its wing. The owls partner went away from the fight to help his owl and he retreated.
Gale turned to see the man with the snake throw the snake at Firnen and it sunk its teeth into his arm. Gale panicked and rushed over with his spear and wacked the snakes partner in the back of his head, he fell to the ground unconscious. Firnen pried the snake off his arm and tossed it to Gale who in turn cut it in half.
Gale felt rain suddenly stop and looked around to see the droplets suspended in mid air. He looked at Marko who had his arm out, he then let out a sort of war cry and quickly slashed at the air infront of him. The water droplets turned sharp looking and slashed at the bandits, who in turn fell to the ground in pain.
Marko breathed heavily and felt a little light headed, he looked around at the bandits and their animals groaning in pain. Everyone then went over to Firnen who was clenching his arm in pain.
"It's worse than it looks." he said looking at the bloodstained kids.
"What bit you?" Angel asked.
"Cotton mouth, they are venomous. I won't be able to walk." Firnen said struggling to get up. "There is a Greencloak in the town ahead, she can help us and give me an antidote," he said.
"Our horses are gone, they got spooked during the fighting," Angel chipped in while trying to rebraid her now messy hair.
Leo looked at Renegade, "Maybe Renegade can carry Firnen."
Hearing her name, Renegade bounded over to them and laid down so they could but him on her. Marko and Leo then each grabbed one of his arms and hauled him up and helped him limp over to the cat. Leo maybe the earth below them rise up since Renegade was too big to get him on even from the ground. Angel found a vine and wrapped it around Firnen's arm above the bite so it would slow the poisons passage through his body.
By the time night had fallen, Firnen was quivering and clammy. A small ball of fire floated in in front of them, it was from Cinder, she struggled to keep the fire lit while they walked since the rain never stopped. You could see it on her face as she breathed heavily and looked tired. Everyone was still shivering and wet to the skin.
"Does this rain ever stop? It keeps making my hair all frizzy." Angel grumbled as she looked up at the sky.
Everyone else rolled their eyes, they really weren't in the mood for complaining.
Finally, Firnen breathed, "There. There that's it."
Gale squinted at a single tower, gray and ghostly in the rainy dark. There was only one very large door and no discernible window openings.
"That things huge!" Leo exclaimed.
"If it's a castle, where's the rest of it?" Gale said sarcastically.
They helped Firnen off the big cat and helped him limp down the single, cobblestoned path to the front door. Once there, he did a sort of secret knock. They waited a few moments then the door opened. A women that looked to be in her fifties stood on the other side.
"Tarik," she smiled happily. "There seems to be less of you than I saw last time," she said reaching out and touching his arms, chest, and face.
"A snake and rat ate the rest." Gale said "Apparently it was a Cottonmouth and some type of weird rat."
The woman looked past Gale and Leo "Leading some new Greencloaks I see." she said reaching out and feeling the two boys faces. Fell shared his power with Cinder, she could now see why she keeps having to touch things, she was blind.
"Lady Sara," Firnen said faintly. "These are the summoners of the 5 Lost Souls. The ones you heard about."
"Hm, I see but let's get you inside and out of the rain."
Inside the tower was a sort of opposite of Greenhaven castle. Bits of straw covered the floor. Torn and tattered tapestries hung over the narrow window slits to keep the wind out. Some soup boiled in a pot hanging over the fire. A spiral staircase lead up to an unknown room. Shuriken was already soaring up there and exploring the place.
Sara then felt her away around the room to the table. She stopped at a big oak table and shoved everything off it. "You can put him here," she said motioning towards it. "Then you can go dry off by the fire, you can also help yourselves to the soup."
Everyone hesitantly stripped off their cloaks to dry by the fireplace and peered into the bubbling cauldron. Every now and then carrots and mushrooms would bubble to the top only to descend back into the gray soup. Angel poked at it with the ladle before she began to serve it to everyone.
"May I ask what your spirit animal is?" Marko asked looking around the place for a sign of the creature.
Sara pointed at a dark corner of the room, "He's right there, his name is Echo," she then reached into her sleeve and pulled out a fruit.
Everyone peered at the menacing corner only to see big, reddish-brown eyes peer at them. It spread its bat like wings and took off, gliding around the room. Angel shrieked and hid under a table, Leo spit out some of his soup when it dove over his head and he fell backwards in his chair.
"What is that!?" he asked.
The creature flapped it's wings and glided over to Sara. It then proceeded to hang upside down from her arm and eat the fruit.
"He's a Flying Fox, a bat if you must," she said stroking its fur, "He helps me see things by giving me the ability of his echolocation."
"Echolocate-wah?" Gale asked.
"Echolocation is clicks and sounds that certain animals make that will bounce off objects and come back as a series of images to help them see. Dolphins and whales use the same thing," she explained as the bat squeaked and flew back to its corner.
Sara joined them after a little while, and began to sip at her own bowl of soup. "Firnen will be fine, he just needs some rest."
"Well that's a relief I just started to finally know the man." Gale said.
"I understand you are going after the talismans of a fallen beast, there is something I want you to know. The talisman can conjure up things from the ground and posses it. This is due to the talisman being part of the Great Beasts soul so it's a sort of defense mechanism when the Great Beast is not alive to protect it." Sara said.
Everyone gulped hearing this and they looked down at their empty bowls. Sara sensed their tenseness and fear so she got up and felt her way to the large wooden bookshelf and got a large book from it and felt her way back to her spot.
"Has Firnen told you what happens what happens when you and your powers resonate?" she asked.
"Resonate? What do you mean by that?" Leo questioned.
Sara smiled "Whenever you and your power become one you get a temporary sort of power up. Your power level will increase, as well as your ability to not weaken after using your elements for a while. Your elements will form and evolve and surround you in a burst. Then it will calm and reveal the true power that lives in you," she said as she opened the book, "This book contains legends, tapestries, and all kinds of information on the 5 Lost Souls. It may help you understand your elements and help you unlock this power."
The kids exchanged glances then looked at the crazy sounding lady infront of them. They heard a screech only for Sara's bat to come gliding in and hung itself upside down on her arm.
"Well we really must be going to bed. Come on children you can sleep upstairs."