Just after a few moments of darkness, color and light burst into Nego's vision. The world was sprawled beneath him, Amaya. As he zoomed in, there was a river running through the land. It had been a long time since Amaya had such a river like that one. There were swampy marshlands and a few pitiful creeks - there wasn't a shortage of water; food had been the problem, but still, it was beautiful.
There was something white underneath the water, swimming with the current. Grey fish were following it, sometimes playfully leaping up into the air. Nego followed it and he saw a clearing, surrounded by trees on a wetland. The white thing leaped up on to the muddy ground, it was a white buffalo, bigger than an elephant, bigger than a Great Beast. Is that, Tagu? Nego wondered.
His hooves created round footprints as he walked. The grey fish waited patiently. The land was drier further up. There was a strange company within the circle of trees: A green gecko with red and orange spots with extraordinary big-silver eyes, a large, black bear sitting down on its rump, golden eyes relaxed, a woodpecker with eyes that seemed to change color and a beautiful reindeer with glassy eyes the color of the sky. They were all just as large.
'You're last again, Tagu,' the bear said in a gruff tone. 'That does not matter, Finnwick, we shall begin council,' said the reindeer in a soft,velvety tone. Tagu nodded his head. The woodpecker began first.
'The Evertree was born when time started. We were born before that, Tagu emerged from the sea, I came from the skies, Finnwick came from the Mountains, Lia came from the forests and Iika came from the land which would become a sanctuary for her reindeer to roam wild and free. Millions of years later did time only start, and the Evertree gave birth to the Great Beasts. They gained recognition, humans don't know us, even when we have seen much more. Time brought life and death, we've known immortality, we should be known.'
The gecko, Lia spoke too. 'Akai (A-Kai) is right, the Great Beasts only know the dawn of time, we know before time began. We know deep magic, how the world was created and much more. Yet, recognition can be dangerous.' Finnwick gave a throaty growl. 'There have been some white buffalos around Erdas, yet you refuse to let your kind be summoned as spirit animals. We've all let some of our kind be summoned, why not you?'
Tagu let out a low rumble. Everybody looked at him, Nego realized Tagu rarely spoke at council. 'I will never let my kind into the world, not white buffalos. They can never be summoned, when I die, I will accept fate and see if I will be summoned or live in tranquility, if I am summoned, I will be the only white buffalo. My species should be wild and free, not that I think spirit animals are servants, but the future can be tricky. If white buffalos were summoned, I'm afraid they will loose their free will, and worse, taken away and loosing their will, the future has many surprises. And I've seen more than enough visions and glimpses to know more than Briggan, Mulop or any of them about seeing visions of the future.'
This must have been the longest speech Tagu must have made, because even after he finished, they were all staring at him. Iika than spoke, 'We keep our distance for a good reason, if humans find us, imagine what they will do. We're Watchers, older than time and are more powerful than the Great Beasts. We are different from the Great Beast, not only because we have different powers but because of our origins and nature. Council is raised because we are brought together as one, not for meetings like them. We have them after every new, old and full moon has ended, not only when matters are urgent.'
'Iika is right,' Lia said softly. 'Council brings us together, to remind us we're not alone, that we have each other.' 'We are so much different from the Great Beast. Recognition like Lia said before is dangerous. We are guardians of Erdas, we watch over the Great Bests even when they argue and their disputes are unreasonable,' Iika said, her voice gentle. 'There is a reason why we are not known.'
'We're wild, if humans knew about us...' Finnwick grunted. 'They might want to capture us,' Lia continued. Finnwick took hold of his conversation again, 'They could hang tapestries and banners of us, but like that Dinesh, they might dress you up in silk, worship you and throw feasts in your honor, .' 'Domestication,' Tagu said in a dark voice. Akai hung his head in defeat, he knew the majority of the council was against him.
'I wish you good grazing and plenty of crickets, Lia,' Akai said, before taking off. 'And good hunting,' he directed this to Finnwick. 'Good foraging,' Tagu wished. The giant woodpecker nodded before spreading his wings and disappearing into the sky.
Tagu was making his way back to the river, Nego sensed he was troubled by the hurried meeting. A trap sprung and another one launched a volley of arrows. Another trap caught his other leg, bringing the buffalo down. His head was partially buried. It happened so fast.
The fish panicked, but they were too far to help. 'My brave subjects,' Tagu rumbled. 'Tell them the Great Protector is dead.' The fish made a glugging sound. 'I promise to return, don't worry. I will find you all again, but the message must be passed.' Tagu was immune to poison, but his flank felt like it was on fire. The wire traps cut into his flesh, and Tagu wondered who would set a trap in a place like this. Whoever it was, they had taken their job seriously.
Another trap was sprung, more than enough arrows were buried in his back. Another sort of pain hit the back of his neck, but Tagu was no longer there. Darkness surrounded him, but the pain in his flank was muted, like it was just a little prick. Dying isn't so bad, Tagu thought, Nego could hear the buffalos thoughts. At last, with a mighty rumble, Tagu closed his eyes.
The tranquility was broken in a flash of light. Tagu had been shrouded in darkness, and he had made no effort to rouse his mind, but the peace was good. There was a boy, sleeping rather soundly on a pile of leaves in an Amayan forest. Is that me? Nego wondered, that seemed like such a long time ago. The sound of the rivers weren't there, but much had changed since he was gone. Tagu walked towards him, he might as well wake the boy up.
Nego woke up on the floor, his back feeling like it was on fire, neck stiff and arms sore.
