Waking up was a struggle
My thoughts were a tangled mess as I drifted in and out of sleep.
Memories of the night before flashed through my mind. The instant the boulder hit us replayed multiple times.
Each attempt to rouse myself was accompanied by a deep sense of dread, I didnt want to go back a reality where my mother was gone.
Sometimes I was half awake, hearing and seeing things that made no sense until I fell asleep again.
During one such episode, I was dimly aware of being spoon-fed some kind of porridge, only it tasted much better than anything I had ever had before in my life.
The persom feeding me was a girl. Even half asleep I could tell that she was very pretty.
She was accompanied by a familiar dark skinned man.
They both looked down at me worriedly, and
the girl said, 'He's mind is in turmoil. He is grieving, but he will be fine.'
'Thank you, dear Esme,' the man said. 'Now let's leave him be.'
He needs his rest.'
The next time I woke, neither of them were with me.
Rather a wierd blue skinned dude, stood at my bedside keeping watch over me. What was strange about him, was that he had three eyes. Two normal deep gray eyes, and then a third glowing silver, right in the middle of his forehead.
It took a while, but I finally woke up for good.
This time, there was nothing strange about my surroundings, except that they were looked really fancy.
I was sitting on a queen sized porch on huge room gilded with silver, gazing through a crystal window at what seemed to be floating island!?
I rubbed my eyes and took a deep breath. I couldn't describe it, but the air here was somehow purer than what I was used to.
There was a thick blanket over my legs, and a soft pillow supporting my head.
Perhaps I would have enjoyed all of this if my body didnt feel like it had been dragged through the garbage disposal.
Everything hurt like I had torn every single muscle fiber in my body.
The pain in my head was the worst.
Also, my mouth was dry, but at least that I could fix.
I noticed that a wine glass had been set on the table next to me, half filled with a sparkling gold liquid, with a cherry stuck onto its edge.
My arm was trembling so much that the glass almost fell immediately after I lifted it.
'Need any help?,' a familiar voice asked.
Vere was leaning by the window, his face was gaunt. I could tell that he had not slept in a while.
He was gingerly holding a small chest under his right arm. He was wearing cargos, timberland sandals and a sweat shirt that said SPRITE OF GODFALL PEAK.
He still had a pair of antlers jutting out of his head.
So I couldnt pretend what happened was a nightmare. Vere was a sprite. My mother was gone.
'I'm only alive thanks to you,' Vere said. 'I… well, the least I could do… They wouldn't let me near the corpse, but I got them to pull out all the quills for you.'
Carefully, he placed the chest onto my lap.
Inside was a cluster of golden quills, a few of them were splattered with dried blood, my dried blood.
'The Burrunjor,' said. I was normally terrible at names, but this time I remebered the creature's name with absolute clarity.
'Um, Abel, it's best you dont –'
'That's its name right, in Mr Kamau's stories?' I continued. 'The Burrunjor. It means great killer right?'
Vere didn't meet my gaze. 'You've been out for a while. It's been a month since...you remember everyrhing?'
'She's gone, isnt she…'
'Oh Abel..' Vere started, but he couldn't find the words.
I stared into the crystal window. I had it wrong before, I hadnt seen just one floating island, but a total of ten passing by the window. Each was impossible large —about fifty miles in radiaus.
Each was covered an in impenetrable forest. Crystal clear rivers became cascading waterfalls that spilled of the edges of the island and descened into the nothingness below, but somehow they never ran out.
I would later came to know that I was currently in a placa called 'the Samsara' on the tallest moutain island. The one known as Godfall peak.
It was in the center of the ten islands, connected to them by massive redstone arch bridges.
There was no sun, bit this world was brightly lit.
It was breathtaking.
But this fantastical scene only irked me. Sasha Hayes was gone. My mother, a kind beautiful soul had been taken from me just like that.
The world should have gone dark. Nothing had the right to be beautiful while she was gone.
'I'm so sorry Abel,' Vere begged. 'This is my fault. If I had acted quicker maybe..maybe...'
He cried, tears spilling out of his eyes.
He looked really ptitful.
But I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to care.
Too sad to appreciate how crazy it was that the creatires from the legends Mr Kamau told were actually real.
But that was good too, for accepting this vizzare truth also meant that I would have to accept that the Burronjor and my mothers death were also real.
I hadnt even been with her when she passed.
I was alone. A useless orphan with nothing to his name.
Would I have to go back and live in Uncle Luis's apartment. No, I'd rather go to the Burronjor and ask him to finish the job.
By my bedside Vere was still crying. Now I felt bad. The truth was, I wasn't upset at him at all, after all I'd seen him protect her with nothing buy his body poor guy – poor sprite,
whatever – looked as if he deserved detention woth Ms Weber.
I said, 'None of what happened was your fault. You tried your best to protect us.'
'Yes, but my best wasnt enough, and now because of me.'
'Why did you protect me?' I got tired of watching him sniffle, so I decided to ask him a question.
'Its my job. I'm a gaurdian sprite. Or at least… I was.'
'Then who…' I tried to sit up be suddenly felt dizzy, my vision swimming with dark spots.
'You need rest,' Vere said as he pressed me back onto the bed.
He put straw into the wine glasss of the eerie sparkling liquid and held it to my lips.
I shuddered slightly at the flavourful sensation, because I was expecting the taste of sparkling cidar. It wasn't that at all. It didnt just taste good, It tasted warm and homely.
It reminded me of every kind of iced tea my mom used to make for me whenever I was kicked out of school and felt like a loser.
Drinking it, I felt the ache in my body gade somewhat.
The deep pain was still there, but I was reminded of the way my mom would hug me, how good it felt when she ran her hand through my hair.
If she were here now, she'd till me it was okay to be sad, but that in the end I had to get up and move forward.
I couldnt stop slurping the liquid, before long the glass was empty.
'Was it good?' Vere asked.
I nodded.
'What does it taste like?' He asked wistfully.
I gave hime a simple answer. 'Home.'
His eyes dimmed. He was wearing an emotion I was not used to seeing from him: Shame.
He sighed. 'And how do you feel?'
'Like Im ready to pulverize Sansa Ellis.'
'Nice,' he grinned, trying to hide his sorrow 'That's good. I didnt think you would heal this fast. Looks like the healing has already kicked in.'
'What do you mean?'
He took the empty glass from me reverently, and placed it back on the table. 'Come. There's someone who's been waiting to meet you for a while.'
I left the chest of quills in the strange room.
The stairway at the door of the house curved very far up into the heights of the moubtain.
My legs stumbled with difficulty every twelve steps.
Vere offered to help, but I refused each time. If I was going to make it, I would make it on my own.
As we came around the opposite end of the mountain, I froze, unable to process what I was seeing.
The thick canopy of trees had blocked the view before but not anymore, because on this side of the mountain, I could perfectly see un uninhibited view of the world, which continued with no end in site.
And what I saw made it difficult to believe I wasnt dreaming anymore. The floated island were dotted with strange futuristic buildings advanced beyond our time – it was like I was on an alien planet – except I could clearly see human figures flitting about.
Everything seemed to be made of either gold, silver, or both, sparkling in the sun.
In a nearby concrete court, I could see a few high teen and sprites play basketball. On the lakes that collected at the base of the islands I could see several female figures splashing water on themselves. They were obscured by a mist, but it was easy tell, that for some reason they weren't wearing any clothes.
Teens in what looked like golden armour were sparring in what seemed to be an amphitheatre, whiles other shot targets at an anchery range.