Species (according to Ursa):
20) Lepori (Rabbit People)
- Humanoid creatures with animal ears and senses
- Highly shy and submissive personalities
- Homes are built into small hills
o Think hobbit homes 😊
- Live in large, close communities for protection
- Very strict community rules
o All about conforming
o Individualism is not promoted
o Discourage curiosity
o Most don't know how to live outside of the community
§ ? – What about Velveteen then?
- Absolutely abhor violence
o Ursa says their rejection of violence is so extreme they actually train children not to fight back against outsider attacks
§ Sounds sad…
o Huge flight or fight culture
- Vegetarians
By nightfall, Chenoa and Ursa still had not repaired their tense relationship. Both thought the other was being unreasonable. Yet despite Chenoa's brooding, she couldn't help but admire the beauty of Taikaa. Pixies appeared as the sun disappeared. They danced and warbled in the sky, making the ground glow in their light. Each pixie was a different color, no two alike. Chris and Chenoa watched them together, their mouths open in awe.
"Can you believe we are seeing this?" Chris murmured as they sat next to each other on the soft earth.
"Never in a million years. It truly is magical," Chenoa whispered, her eyes following a particularly beautiful pixie who glowed bright fuchsia.
"You know as kids we are convinced this world exists, but as adults we think we are the only world. Yet here we are. You are so lucky, Chenoa, that you are a Spellbinder. This is your world. You get to come here whenever you want."
"This isn't my world, Chris. This is Cor's and Ursa's world. I am from Earth like you. I just happen to have Spellbinder powers. And you saw how hard it was to get here from Earth. It's not like I can come here whenever."
"You never know. You may find a way. I mean who wouldn't want to. It's so beautiful here. It's like something from dreams."
"It is beautiful here. I always think I am dreaming…"
"It is one wild dream."
"Yah…it is…I've been wanting to say this for a while, Chris, but I am sorry about Nick being taken because of me."
"Hey, it wasn't your fault. You didn't take them. And you can't control someone else…well, technically you can, but you know what I mean."
"I still feel bad. I mean you got dragged here. Ursa and Cor are stuck babysitting us. And Lieben left his family and friends to try and protect me."
"Chenoa, that isn't a bad thing. It shows how much we all care about you."
Blinking Chenoa looked at Chris startled. He flushed red and turned away from her. He hadn't meant to say that. It had just popped out of his mouth. Jesus, he was such an idiot. Chenoa didn't know what to say so she blushed too and turned to look at Lieben, who was having some kind of historical debate with Ursa. Both seemed to be enjoying the conversation.
"You should sleep, Chenoa," Cor said, padding over to her, bumping his head against her shoulder.
"Already?" Chenoa asked off put.
"We must get up early and you went through a lot."
"Okay…"
"Come, lie with me."
"Sure, Cor. I'll be there in a moment."
Cor padded away and lied down at the base of a beautiful rainbow eucalyptus tree. The forest was made of rainbow eucalyptuses. Chenoa had heard of them in her world but had never seen them. They were more amazing than she had ever imagined.
"He just cares about you," Chris said kindly as Chenoa waited to go and rest with Cor.
"I know," Chenoa smiled softly.
"You are lucky to have them both. I mean they are very impressive and powerful creatures."
"I guess so. I mean a dragon and a wind spirit."
"Wind spirit?"
"Cor. He's one of the creatures of the wind. Apparently there is a whole pack of them."
"Huh…I thought he was something more…."
"What do you mean?"
"Not important. Go get some sleep. I will too."
Giving him a small shove, Chenoa stood and walked over to Cor. Plopping down, Chenoa stretched then curled up on Cor's plush side. He licked her forehead then laid his head down on his front paws. Curling into his warmth, Chenoa closed her eyes and easily fell asleep.
Soon everyone was asleep. It was a warm night and with the glow from the pixies, they didn't need a fire. Her eyes fluttering Chenoa dreamed. She was standing in a large field of beautiful cinnamon smelling grass. The fiery red grass felt warm under her fingers. Her left hand ran through the grass as her right hand held tight to a statue of a bird. The bird looked similar to a crow, although its feathers were white and black and it had bright blue eyes. It appeared to be hand carved and painted with true skill and care. Chenoa lifted it and looked at it affectionately. She hoped he would like it.
Up ahead someone waited for her, standing near a cliff. Running, Chenoa waved her free hand at him. He turned slowly and Chenoa smiled at his familiar face. It was the man with steel gray eyes, dull silver hair, and thick lips. The edges of his mouth turned up ever so slightly at the sight of her. Unlike her previous dream, Chenoa was not scared. She was happy.
She opened her mouth and shouted a name that her ears could not hear. Jumping, she leapt into his arms and he caught her, swinging her around.
"Yes, my little mariposa!" he laughter, his laughter sounding as light as the air, and rich as expensive chocolate.
"I was looking for you. Where did you disappear to?" she laughed as he cradled her small body in his large arms.
She was a child again.
"I had some work to do."
"Work? What work? Why couldn't I come?"
"Oh," he said a name that again Chenoa could not hear, "I know we are partners in everything but I didn't want to bother you for a small task like what I had to do. What have you been up to since I left?"
"Nothing really. Playing with the new animals. Some of our creations have started to change. It's amazing to watch. They are getting so smart."
"Well, how could they not be with you and me as their creators."
"I love everything we have made so much. It makes me so happy to see them growing and living and being happy and healthy."
"I know. It makes sense. They are our children."
He leaned down and kissed Chenoa fondly. Chenoa wiggled in his arms with joy.
"I missed you so much, I made this for you," Chenoa blushed and held out the carved crow.
Looking down and taking it carefully, the man studied it.
"It is a bird?" he asked as if he wasn't sure.
"Yes…I know I can't make real creatures on my own, but I wanted to make you something special."
"Why is it two colors?"
"Because it's something that is both of us. Light and dark. White and black. I did my best to pour both of us into it."
"Why a bird?"
"So it can follow us anywhere. I mean when we travel and stuff…."
Chenoa's face fell. The man studied the bird seriously and she could tell he didn't like it. His expression was too serious, without even the hint of a smile. Disappointment filled Chenoa. She had spent days working on the bird and she had wanted him to like it so badly. Noticing her face, the man forced a smile.
"It is wonderful. Shall I bring it to life?" he asked kindly, putting Chenoa on the ground.
Grinning broadly, Chenoa nodded her head fervently. The man covered the bird with both hands. Blowing air into his cupped hands, the man glowed momentarily. Straightening, he smiled down at the small Chenoa. There was the soft fluttering of wings and then he opened his hands. The bird soared out and circled in the air. Chenoa laughed and reached up to the bird, who circled a few more time before landing on her hand. Cuddling the bird close, Chenoa continued to laugh as it pecked gently at her cheeks.
"What shall you name it?" the man asked, watching her affectionately.
"Gioco," she said almost immediately.
"Gioco? Are you sure?"
"Yes…he will be our little Gioco."
"As you wish, my little mariposa."
The man grabbed her and lifted her up again. Passionately kissing her this time, the man locked his arms around her. Despite appearing to be only a child, Chenoa felt the familiar urge to be with this man, just as she had felt with Tristan.
"You need to let your body grow up, so I may hold you as my woman again," he murmured, his voice thick with desire.
"Soon…my new body will grow to adulthood soon…"
"Then I shall wait…you know I would wait forever for you…"
Cor lay with his eyes open, surveying the darkness. His body hurt as he fought down the darkness that writhed in him. It had been so long since the darkness had awoken, let alone stirred in him. He could feel it reaching out to Chenoa, who slept soundly on his chest.
"Cor, are you alright?" Ursa's voice asked from somewhere in the dark.
The pixies had long gone to sleep and total night surrounded them.
"I am fine, Ursa."
"I smell your pain. Are you sure I can't do something to help you?"
"No…it is my burden to bear."
"Is it worth it?"
"You know as well as I am, it is…it is worth it and so much more."
"Do you have any ideas who this mysterious kidnapper is?"
"Many, but I know for sure who it isn't."
"Could he ever escape?"
"Yes, but let's hope that never happens."
"I never met him. I was born after him."
"You are lucky."
"Was he that horrible?"
"Yes and no. You couldn't help but love him. Yet he never learned to love back. Well, he never learned to love anyone back but Leiht."
"So it isn't him that's causing all of this?"
"No. It is not him. It is someone else."
"I wonder who."
"We shall find out soon enough."
Chenoa rolled over in her sleep. Both stopped talking and watched her sleep. Both looked serious.
"You must not be too hard on her, Ursa. She is still very young in this life."
"I know. I just want her to trust us."
"She does."
"She doesn't truly. She knows we are hiding things from her."
"She is just young."
"I hate this, Cor. I hate all the secrets. It feels wrong. I wish we could just tell her."
"It is only for a little longer. She needs to be ready before she remembers. And I want her to finally have a childhood. Out of all her lives, she has always been denied that."
"I have always found that to be unfair, but perhaps it is her destiny."
"I do not believe that is why she was created."
A few feet away Chris lay with his back to them. His eyes were open, though he kept his breath slow and rhythmic as if he were asleep. Listening intently, he absorbed all they were saying. It seemed it was nothing he didn't already know. Poor Chenoa.
The next day they woke with the sun and Chenoa didn't remember a single dream. Despite sleeping on the ground, she felt well rested and ready to go. Since they finally had a plan of action, Chenoa felt more confident in their efforts. They tidied up their camp area and made their way through the forest. After two days they finally started to see the trees thinning and Chenoa felt some sense of accomplishment. They were finally making some progress.
"We should reach the Kasvi's Fields within the next hour or so," Cor nodded confidently.
"Are we going separate then?" Chenoa asked slowly.
"What do you mean?"
"You said when we got out of the Traveler's Forest, you and Ursa would fly to No Man's Land."
"Yes…yes…I remember. We will stay one more day with you so Ursa and I can explain the way you should head."
"Do we really need another day?"
"Chenoa, there is a lot you need to know about before we leave you three alone."
"Like what?"
"What direction to go. What areas to avoid. What people and creatures to keep an eye out for. What to do if you run into bounty hunters again."
"Okay…okay…I get it…"
"Good. Let's keep going."
Huffing, Chenoa started walking forward again, following her friends. Chris put an arm around her and tried distracting her with casual conversation. Lieben quickly fell into place on Chenoa's other side, making his attempts to steal her attention. Ursa watched with amusement as the boys fought over Chenoa's attention. She was reminded of when she still lived within Lohikäärme, the home of the dragons. Back then, she had been a young and vain dragonlet, with plenty of suitors who wished to woo her. Of course, she thought herself too grand for all of them. She had set her eyes higher.
Cor ended up being right. In less than an hour they entered into a large field of rainbow colored grass. Each blade and branch shone a different color from the rainbow, looking as if hundreds of rainbows had been captured in plants. Chenoa could not help but gasp in awe, something she found herself doing quite often since she had entered Taikaa.
"It is beautiful," Lieben stated, voicing all of their thoughts.
"Yes, it was one of Kasvi's pride accomplishments, or so the legend says," Ursa smiled. "He loved creating beautiful fields and Taito always liked to lend his hand with colors."
"Kasvi? Taito?" Chris asked, slightly confused by the strange names.
"They are two more gods. Kasvi was the god of plants and Taito was the god of art."
"Did these gods really exist? Or is it like Zeus and those other Greek gods," Chris snorted. "I mean we all know that there is only one God."
"They did exist and our definition of gods is different than humans. You are right, Chris, there is one true God. We call him Luoja, but he created the gods to create, handle, and empower the worlds and their creatures."
"Huh?"
"I know it is hard for humans to comprehend, but the existence of minor gods does not conflict with the idea that there is one true god. It just means that he created minor gods to serve him, making them the higher powers of Maa-Vallan and Taikaa, not humans."
Blushing, Chris said nothing. Lieben nodded as if this all made sense to him. Chenoa didn't really care about whether it was God or gods. All that mattered was the here and now. Leading the group, she started walking through the field, following a faint, but still visible path that someone or something had made over a long period of time.
Chris and Lieben ran to catch up as Ursa spread her wings and took off. She needed to stretch them after the long walk in the woods. Cor ran through the air, his paws a few inches above the top of the grass, enjoying the feel of the air holding him up. They had all been unaware of how stressed and repressed they had felt in the woods. Catching up with Chenoa, Cor floated in the air above her, teasing her by tickling the back of her neck with his tail until she chased after him. For most of the day they played a strange version of tag as they ran through the fields.
By midafternoon, they had become quite tired and reached a place where roads actually appeared. The roads were made of pressed earth and were stood at least six feet wide. They ran in five directions until the group could no longer see them. Ursa stepped onto one that led to distant figures that were leagues away so Chenoa couldn't tell what they were, but they seemed dark in form and color.
"This is the way to No Man's Land," Ursa explained, her eyes narrowed.
"What is in the distance?" Chris inquired, shading his eyes to see better.
"Hylätä City…roughly translated it means abandoned or forsaken city. It is full of creatures that crave to be like humans and thus have created a human style city and overpopulated it, causing crime, poverty, and misery."
"That sounds pleasant…"
"It's a horrible place, but people chose to live there. At one time it was actually a metropolis, but that was a long time ago."
"But now it's a dangerous city?"
"Think of Detroit."
"Oh okay."
"Vas is Detroit?" Lieben interjected. He severally disliked all the references that the group made to Maa-Vallan. It made him feel left out and almost stupid.
Lieben didn't understand their obsession with Maa-Vallan anyway. It didn't sound like that great of a place. It was full of humans and animals. How boring! Seriously, they didn't seem to have fairies or dwarves or pixies or dragons or anything that could be found interesting or beautiful…with the exception of Chenoa.
"Detroit is one of our big cities," Chenoa explained patiently.
"Oh…and das is a good or bad place?"
"It is both. It used to be very famous but has fallen apart over the last decade or two."
"Oh. I see."
"Back to the subject at hand," Cor cleared his throat. "You three will have to pass through the city. It will take you at least two days to get through the city and that's if all goes well. About half way through is a safe house owned by Roque. His house was there before the city formed and the city has seemed to grow around it. You will need to be honest with him, because he is a hybrid of a dragonrider and an elemental…"
"Wait, a what and a what?" Chris piped up.
"A dragonrider is a person born from a dragon and a human," Chenoa explained quickly, wanting to get back to the instructions. "I don't know what an elemental is though. I know what Nonelements are."
"Elementals are basically the exact opposite. They are creatures made out of an element. Earth, rock, water, etc."
"So he's a mix of a dragon, a human and an element," Chris said slowly.
"Exactly. Anyway, due to his dragon heritage, Roque can smell lies. So you must be honest. He is a friend of Ursa's and mine so he will be happy to help as long as you are honest and respectful. You will be able to find a safe place to sleep in his house."
"Okay. So you will be able to meet up with us after the city?"
"As long as it all goes smoothly, we should all be able to meet up half a day to a day after you get through the city. You will follow the path east. You shouldn't get lost because there is only one road but, to be safe, head towards the setting sun."
"The setting sun?"
Chenoa had to pause for a moment and suddenly realized that she had never noticed how the sun rose and set. In Taikaa, the sun rose from the west and set in the east. The exact opposite of Maa-Vallan. She was stunned for a moment and Chenoa could tell from Chris's expression that he had just come to the same conclusion. "Wow, I am slow," she thought with a shake of her head.
"I never noticed," she admitted sheepishly.
"You have been raised with technology that told you the directions, so you wouldn't notice something like that," Ursa nodded as if this made up for Chenoa's lack of observation.
"I'll just remember to head towards the setting sun once we get out of the city. Does that mean you are leaving now?"
"We will leave first thing in the morning. I want to make sure we get you as close the city as we can."
"Ursa, we will be okay."
"I know, but we are your guardians."
"Ursa is right, Chenoa. It will not hurt you or us to stay together for a few more hours. You can't blame us for worrying," Cor said kindly.
Not wanting to argue during their last few hours together, Chenoa dropped it. Taking notes, Chenoa, Chris and Lieben listened to the suggestions from Cor and Ursa. Chenoa understood that the last time they were separated Chenoa ended up in trouble, but she now knew better than to confront her enemies in Taikaa. Now Chenoa would run away and hide before trying to take on an enemy from this world. She just was no match, much as admitting that hurt her ego.
"Chris and Lieben," Cor turned serious as the sun set beautifully in the east. "I am leaving you as Chenoa's temporary guardians. You both know how valuable Spellbinders are in Taikaa and, therefore, Chenoa is in danger everywhere here. You must protect her and do your best to hide her identity."
"If you fail us," Ursa growled. "You will answer directly to me."
Both boys agreed quickly to do their best and made all kinds of pledges. Chenoa felt annoyed at Cor and Ursa's behavior as if she were a helpless child. While now she knew she was not that powerful, Chenoa still had her brains. Grunting she wandered off and practiced levitating again. She managed to hold the leaf up for five minutes, but it shook when it reached five minutes and her body ached horribly.
Yet she kept practicing. Osiris dropped in for a few minutes as she practiced and the rest of the group talked. They had stopped for the night anyway.
"I see you are practicing," Osiris smiled in her mind. He made himself visible in her mind though he was not really there.
"Leave me alone," Chenoa thought. "I'm not in the mood."
"Aww, but that's why I'm here. To cheer you up."
"Whatever."
"Have you found out who the bounty hunters were hired by?"
"Have you?"
"No, but I do know it is not my employer. My employer is very upset about it."
"Who is your employer?"
"That is your job to figure out. Hmmm…concentrate harder. You are giving up to easily your levitation exercises. And remember this is a leaf. It is light. The heavier the object, the harder it is."
"You are so inspiring. Thanks."
"I just want you to be as strong as possible when your seal finally breaks."
"My seal?"
"You know the one holding your powers back."
"I don't know what you are talking about."
"Please. I am in your mind. You have no secrets."
"Seriously, aside from the invasion of my privacy, you keep talking gibberish. It gives me such a headache."
"You are saying you don't see your seal?"
"You mean that bright colored thing you tore the first time you invaded my mind?"
"I didn't invade your mind. I stopped in for a look around and visit."
"Say it however you want, but you were unwelcomed and still are."
"You know you miss me."
"But aside from when you tore that blue thingy, I had never seen it before."
"Really?"
"You're in my mind. If I was lying you would know."
"That is true. Very interesting…your mind has secrets even from yourself. I love how complicated you are. Keep practicing. I'll drop in later after I check some things out."
Suddenly Chenoa was alone. Her mind and body felt exhausted. The whole time he was "visiting" she had been trying to force him out. Nothing had happened but she had to keep trying. Lying down, Chenoa decided to sleep. She didn't have the interest to talk to anyone at the moment. At some time in her sleep, Lieben and Chris took their places, lying on either side of her. Cor and Ursa watched as the boys fell asleep.
"Let's go now," Cor whispered to Ursa.
"Should we not rest?" Ursa inquired kindly.
"No, the sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back."
"Cor, they are smart and resourceful…"
"They are just pups. I don't want to be away for longer than necessary. I have a bad feeling in my bones."
"Couldn't that just be him?"
"It has nothing to do with him. He is settled back in and is under control. I have a bad feeling about the city. So let's go."
Running, Cor climbed up into the air, running as fast as his body could go. Ursa soared after him, flapping her wings furiously in order to catch up. The three teens instinctively edged closer as they slept. Cor kept his eyes focused on the far east, fighting the urge to look back. While he didn't say it out loud, his true concern was that the seal on Chenoa was weakening. The Shadows were starting to appear again and next time he would not be able to block them out for Chenoa.