Chapter 1

Joey had a feeling that he was going to die very, very soon. His entire body was practically frozen solid from the ice-cold air and he was slowly losing his sanity. He trudged through the never-ending snow with barely a sliver of hope to push him on. He heard a low, threatening howl in the distance. Well, he thought. If the cold doesn’t kill me whatever that is certainly will.
A numb feeling formed in the back of Joey’s head. It soon took over his entire body so that he was standing stock-still with only his face and racing heart within his senses. As he collapsed face-first into the snow, he thought, where’s my arm? Unconsciousness replaced numbness and Joey fell into a deep sleep.
And while he slept, he dreamed. In his dream he saw an enormous black and silver figure landing on a dark beach. He howled up at the moon, but when Joey looked up, the only part of the moon he could see was a last sliver of silver. A memory was triggered from the deep howling on the sand.
What is it? He stared at the dark form with his eyebrows scrunched together in concentration. That’s it! he thought. He had heard that same sound in the blizzard. Joey shivered in fear. It was definitely a dangerous sound.
The creature was still howling when finally there was nothing left of the moon in the sky. The figure howled in a victorious tone that somehow seemed stronger and louder than before. Once again, Joey shook in apprehension.
Still howling triumphantly, the dark creature raced along the beach, until it was lost in the shadows. Joey gazed back at the spot where the moon had once been.
Please come out soon, he thought hopefully. The creature had spooked him, and the moon seemed to weaken it. And then, a black mist danced at the edges of his vision and soon it filled his eyes. Unconsciousness took over his dream-self as well.

∞ƾ∞ƾ∞ƾ∞ƾ∞

Joey was awoken by a strange feeling. It was almost warmth. He was awoken by a strange sound. It was silence. His back may have been close to warmth but the rest of his body felt frozen in the ground. He rolled over groggily and basked in the weak ray of what was almost certainly sunlight. He lay there for what felt like hours, but was only minutes and watched a single white cloud make its way across the sky.
There was a flash of gold to the west of Joey and he sat up and turned his head. But all he perceived was more white. At the corner of his vision, he saw the gold color once again. This time, he didn’t turn his head but instead, watched from the corner of his left eye.
He had to wait almost half an hour but eventually he saw the gold form. He gasped in shock. It was an Arctic fox. But its fur was shining gold in the weak mid-day sunlight. The fox walked towards Joey cautiously then stopped about seven feet away from Joey, who had hugged his knees to his chest.
The fox stared at Joey with piercing blue, unblinking eyes. Joey turned his head and looked the fox square in the face. Then, it bent its head down and lightly touched its nose to the snow below it. It then raised its head and looked at Joey without expression.
Then, in the blink of an eye, instead of a fox standing in front of him there was a golden snake with its head raised. It blinked slowly and calmly at Joey, but its eyes revealed a spark of energy. Joey could only sit with his mouth open. And then, the snake spoke.
“Hello Joey. I’m Kimoshu! What are you doing here?” she said enthusiastically.
“I-I’m here to leave my life behind me. I wanted to leave,” Joey conveyed. “And I’m not going back.”
“Listen, you are obviously one of us. And I am obviously yours. You must come with me to the camp,” Kimoshu said urgently. She then changed into a golden panther, at least five feet tall. Two golden-feathered wings sprouted from her back. “Climb on.”
Joey hesitated, but decided that he didn’t really have much of a choice. Besides, for some reason, he trusted this creature. He scaled the side of Kimoshu and sat in the curve of her neck. It was surprisingly comfortable. Joey supposed it was because of the silky fur.
Kimoshu’s wings beat slowly, then more quickly until they were ten feet off the ground, then twenty, then up to sixty feet. Joey held on tightly, fearing for his life once again. Paws tucked underneath her, Kimoshu raced ahead at blinding speed, graceful and powerful. Joey found himself enjoying the ride, after he got used to it.
“Joey!” Kimoshu shouted over the wind. “We’re nearing the camp. When we descend make sure you keep breathing. The pressure will affect you if not.”
Joey looked down and tried to spot the camp but they were racing so quickly that his eyes watered and he couldn’t see anything below. He felt the panther’s body tilt downward and continued to breath at what he thought was a regular rate.
Down and down they plunged, until Joey was feeling lightheaded from all the deep breathing. Finally, he saw green grass – which made no sense to him for they were in the middle of the Arctic – and as Kimoshu landed, the wind whipped past him and he struggled to stay in the curve of the panther’s neck.
The wind settled down and Kimoshu whispered, turning her head back to him, “Joey, climb down. The director is here to welcome you.”
Joey did as she said and looked around for the first time. He felt as though he was in an enormous bubble. Outside the bubble, there was snow falling and ice forming. Above him, there was blue sky and puffy white clouds. There was grass almost everywhere and he could feel the sun on his face. Green forests were shown in the near distance. He stripped off his layers of jackets and stood in a white T-shirt and cut-off jeans – Kimoshu had pitied the long pants and ripped them with her teeth.
A man in a purple shirt and jeans with a red fox by his side who was probably around 60 stepped forward and beckoned for Joey to do the same. The man had a wise look but humor was shown in his eyes. Joey nervously took a few steps toward the man.
“Hello! I am the director of the camp, Kyros. And what is your name?” Kyros questioned.
“I’m Joey,” he said. He noticed that kids with creatures by them were beginning to gather around them. They ranged from as low as 6 years old to at least college age. They had all sorts of creatures with them. Some scared Joey more than he’d admit. “Um, what is this whole thing here?”
Kyros smiled encouragingly. “Perhaps I should let Kimoshu here explain it to you.” He gestured to a hill a little ways off. “Go and talk over there. The rest of you,” he turned to face the gathered children. “Back to your activities. You may speak with Joey after he is taught.”




Chapter 2

The children walked away and Kimoshu ran with Joey up to the hill Kyros had pointed to. Kimoshu had shrunken so she stood just at Joey’s shoulder. Her wings were tucked neatly against her side.
“Sit down,” she instructed. “How to begin… Do you have a religion Joey?”
Joey shook his head.
“Okay. All of us – everybody here is of the same religion. It is called the Centhin. I’m sure you noticed the creatures paired with each person. Those are Creatures of the Centhin. I am one of them as well. We each have a person that will be our companion forever. They are the other half of our souls. You have the other half of my soul. Back to the Centhin. It is a powerful energy said to be at the center of creation. It has a being in the center of it that changes form and creates everything. It created the Creatures but decided to put the other half of their soul into a human that would learn the Centhin and live by it. Now, there is a dark side to the Centhin. We call it the Shæma. It has a being at its center too. Very dangerous. It influences the world of the Centhin in terrible ways. The Creatures of the Shæma are pure darkness. Their souls are black flames.”
“You got that Joey?” Kimoshu said doubtfully.
“I think so. Please, continue.”
“Alright. Creatures of the Shæma leak into our world all the time. We call these creatures, Shædems. Some are extremely weak, like the kall bats. Others are terribly strong, like the Opiphorus. You will be trained here to fight them. They will never be truly killed but will return to the layer of the Shæma and be reborn at some other time.”
“So I have to learn to fight these things?” Joey asked – not fearfully, but in an interested way which pleased Kimoshu.
“Yes. We should go get you your weapon of choice. No! I have a better idea.” Kimoshu plucked a golden feather from her left wing and handed it to Joey. “Imagine any weapon or object – so long as it’s not another person’s – and the feather will turn into it. Try it.”
Joey imagined a pen in his hand. Instantly, instead of a feather in his hand there was a golden pen.
“Good,” Kimoshu said approvingly. “Now try for a weapon. How about a sword?”
Joey tried to imagine a sword. The pen extended quickly and soon Joey had a shining gold sword in his hand. It was perfectly balanced in his fist. He tried swinging it at an imaginary opponent, slashing and stabbing. He laughed in pleasure. He then turned the sword into a coin and stored it in his pocket.
“Your form may need a little work, Joey,” Kimoshu said teasingly. “Another thing I forgot to mention: Most other Creatures like me – who have a human – can’t change into a divine creature, like the form I’m in now. They only change into regular animals. The animals are very powerful though.”
“Why do you have the ability then?” Joey inquired.
“Have you ever,” Kimoshu paused. “Dreamed? Well of course you have, all humans do. But I mean, when you dreamed, did you ever feel like you were really there, doing whatever it was you were doing? Well, that is what we call your dream-self. You are in the most comfortable shape that your Creature can take. It’s called their true form. Based on your dream-self’s ‘spirit’, that is how the Creature’s ability is decided. That doesn’t mean that if your good you get a Creature with more ability, no! It’s just a visual of the true self.”
“You know, I’ve never even looked at myself in dreams before. Do you have anything else to tell me?” Joey said lightly.
“Actually, I have a question. What was your life like before I found you?” Kimoshu asked seriously.
Joey’s expression turned to confusion. “I’m not sure exactly what I did in my previous life. I can’t seem to remember. I just know that it wasn’t good, and that I wanted to put it behind me. That’s what I told you earlier.”
“Alright,” Kimoshu said. She could tell he was straining his mind trying to remember. “Let’s go back; the sun is setting.”
Joey looked west in surprise. The time seemed to have flown away.
The panther continued, “You can meet all the others tomorrow. Let’s go.”
The pair trotted down the grassy hill. Kimoshu continued – with Joey close behind – to a small house with a carving of a golden lightning bolt above the door. It was quite large and painted white. The whole structure seemed to shimmer in the dying sun light. It had columns in the front and the rest resembled a regular house.
Joey looked around and noticed that each other house was designed in its own unique way. He was too tired now to notice the details though, and stepped into the room in which he would rest. He vaguely noticed the sky blue walls and wooden floor that surrounded him. He lied on a large white bed in the right corner of the room and was instantly unconsciousness.
His dream-self was still awake, though. Joey look back at himself and saw that Kimoshu had been right; he was in the form of a giant winged panther. He beat his wings and lifted himself into the air. This time in his dream-world, the moon was full and he was above a snow-covered mountain. On it, he saw the dark outline of a man who seemed to be made of skin and flames together. There was a small ball of fire floating in the air next to the man. They were speaking. Joey flew in closer to hear what they were saying. But first, he willed himself to shrink. He became the size of a regular panther.
“The time is nearing, my servant. But the only way the Shæma will raise is if it gains enough power. We need a source,” the flaming man said.
The floating fire spoke, “Master Lendon, may I suggest something? Perhaps we could use the energy between a human and their Creature. I have observed some of our humans and it seems that the two have a very powerful bond.”
“I think I could build on that. I will need time though. Let us go back to my domain,” Lendon decided. His form darkened until it was smoke and then he completely disappeared, along with the flame.
Joey was pulled by some strong force towards the sun. He kept getting closer and closer until light surrounded him. And his dream-self rested.

∞ƾ∞ƾ∞ƾ∞ƾ∞

Joey awoke to the early morning sun, shining in through the window placed in the wall beside his bed. He could feel Kimoshu – as a hare – curled up on his pillow. He blinked his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. There, he got a surprise.
The tiles above him seemed to move around, depicting different scenes. At the moment, a tall, handsome warrior was facing off a green serpent in the forest while a huntress loaded her arrows in a bow, ready to shoot either serpent or man. Joey watched the man and snake duel for a while but soon felt restless.
He rolled out of bed and stood up, shaking his head to clear it. He went over to a white door opposite his bed and opened it to reveal a master bathroom.
After he finished in the bathroom – feeling much refreshed – Joey walked out of his house barefoot to enjoy the morning. Kimoshu – of course – followed him out, still in hare form. They walked towards a large pavilion to sit and maybe, Joey thought, get some breakfast.
He sat at a white table that seemed to resemble his house. There was a small emblem in a circle at one end of the table: a lightning bolt in a golden ring, exactly like the one at the house.
Kimoshu changed into her small, winged panther form and began to wash herself.
“Kimoshu? What are all the other houses resembling? They seem to each have something they, well, resemble,” Joey asked.
“I did not teach you this yesterday,” Kimoshu said. “There are some different types of Creatures. The person is placed based on their Creature’s true form. There are the serpents, the large cats, rodents, small birds, large birds, dogs, and many others. You are alone in your house because that is the house of the Divine Form. The houses area arranged in circle around the pavilion here.”
“What’s that house for?” Joey asked, pointing to a house painted black. It was small and surrounded in dark mist.
Kimoshu’s expression darkened. “That’s the house of the Dark Forms. No one has lived there for many, many decades. We figured out that the people and Creatures of that house were – in their dream-selves – in contact with the Shæma. Kyros put a curse over that house so that every child ever born into darkness would never find their Creature.”
“That’s reasonable. And yet, it seems so sad. It’s not really their fault,” Joey said. “So how does the Centhin, well, choose a person to match with a Creature?”
“No one’s really sure but we think someone is just born into the legacy at random,” Kimoshu answered, shrugging. “And behind us is the Uncertain house, which is for all the people whose Creatures haven’t found their true form. A person and their Creature don’t usually switch houses once they find their true form but it has happened.”
Joey turned to look at a cream-colored house. It was square in shape, and the outside walls had layers of dirt on them. This one looks so, dull, Joey thought.
Then, as though Kimoshu could read his thoughts, she said, “The people in there don’t usually decorate that house or personalize it because so many other types of Creatures living there.”
“Oh, okay. Kimoshu, can we get something to eat? I’m half starved,” Joey said with a grin.
“Sure. Um, Joey? How old are you?”
“Twelve,” he said automatically. It was as though he didn’t really know it but had memorized it. “Turning thirteen on June 21st.”
“Alright. Let’s go get some breakfast,” Kimoshu said. She trotted towards a large blue house that sort of resembled a barn. “This is the Commons house. We have meetings here, talk here, and get our food here. Kyros lives on the third floor. The second floor is for the meetings.”
Joey followed his nose inside with Kimoshu on his right. In front of him was an amazing breakfast buffet. One long table that stretched almost the entire wall was in the middle of the room. On it was every food Joey could imagine. He saw sausages the size of his head, pancakes big enough to wear as shirts, and all types of drinks. There was also bacon and eggs at the end – super-sized of course.
Joey picked up a plate and was about to take a chunk of sausage when Kyros made his way down the staircase.
“Hello Joey, Kimoshu. Looks like you two were too hungry to sleep. We would have let you rest more,” he assured them. Kyros gave them a grin, flashing his white teeth. He picked up a plate and went ahead of Joey. He divided up the pancake stack by cutting them into small, triangular pieces.
Joey looked at the red fox that was with Kyros. He noticed him looking at his Creature.
“Ah, Joey. Meet Lenta. She is my Creature, of course. She’s been with me for so many years…” he trailed off, gazing lovingly down at the red fox who looked up at him with intelligent eyes.
Kyros tore his gaze away from her to look at Joey and said, “Come outside to the pavilion when you’ve finished getting your meal.” And he walked outside.
“Do you want anything Kimoshu?” Joey asked. “Do Creatures even eat?”
Kimoshu purred in amusement, “A portion of the Creature’s meal goes to it. It does not matter the size, just as long as it is given from the person.”
“Oh, alright. I’m ready to go eat.” Joey had stacked two triangles of pancake and a chunk of sausage on his plate. He drenched the pancake in maple syrup.
“Um, Joey? I’d rather have the sausage, if that’s alright with you,” Kimoshu said sheepishly.
“Okay,” Joey answered.
Side by side, Kimoshu and Joey walked to the pavilion with their meal. As they exited the Commons house, they passed a line of people going inside to get their meals. At first, Joey thought they didn’t have Creatures. Then he saw tiny bugs with each of them. They were either really dirty or those were their Creatures.
“Bug Creatures?” Joey asked. “They’re not exactly powerful for fighting Shædems are they?”
“No, they’re not. But they are able to get into small spaces and spy on enemies. They can be a very valuable house to have on your side. There are many battles here between houses. Sometimes it’s just for entertainment and others there are real feuds. Houses ally themselves and betray. It can become very interesting.”
Joey sat down at his table and began to eat his pancake. Kimoshu coughed.
“Oh, right. Sorry,” Joey apologized as he cut off a nice portion of the sausage and laid it on the ground for Kimoshu. She tore into it hungrily.
“Joey, you realize I haven’t eaten for twelve years.”
“What?” Joey almost choked on his pancake. “Oh,” he said, calming down. “Since I was born. And I guess since only I can feed you…”
“Yes. This is my first meal,” Kimoshu said happily.
The first people to enter the pavilion after Joey were the house of the Insect Forms. They sat at a table that seemed to be made of dirt. Their Creatures crawled into the table.
After them came a line of the house of the Fish Forms. Each of their Creatures floated in a circular bubble of water. The bubbles moved with their bodies, so the fish was always at the center of the bubble. Some fish were very small and others were up to 7 feet long. Most had pointy teeth. The people’s eyes were the same color as their fish’s scales.
Next came the house of the Large Cat Forms, then Serpents, then Dogs. A girl entered after the Dogs. She had a beautiful silver fox by her side. He saw two boys and a girl enter, each with a red-brown fox. They walked gracefully over to their table, each carrying their food. Their table was decorated with forest wood with tiny inscriptions carved all over the surface and benches.
“Kimoshu, who’s that girl over there – with the silver fox?” Joey asked.
“That’s Eliana. She’s the head of the house of the Fox Form. They don’t really like to stand out,” Kimoshu answered.
Joey had finished his breakfast and was walking out of the pavilion when Elliana tapped on his shoulder. He turned in surprise.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hi.”
“What’s your name?”
“Joey. And this is Kimoshu.”
“I’m Eliana.”
When Joey didn’t say anything else, she continued, “Um, do you want to go train with me and Cæma?”
“Sure!” Joey said enthusiastically. He couldn’t wait to start training Kimoshu.
“Follow me,” Eliana instructed. Joey followed her over a hill and into a clearing, just bordering the forest. Kimoshu and Cæma were running in front of them.
When they got there, Eliana instructed Joey.
“Joey, go stand over there.” She pointed to the right side of the clearing. “And I’ll stand on the left.”
They went their ways and stood facing each other.
“Now get Kimoshu to change into her best form,” Eliana said, loud enough so he could hear her from where he was.
“Alright Kimoshu, do you want to be large again?”
“Alright,” Kimoshu said enthusiastically. She became five feet high and growled loudly. “Let’s do this.”
Cæma stepped out into the clearing and Eliana beckoned for Kimoshu to do the same. Cæma was only a little bigger than before which made Joey wonder how she expected to beat him with such a small Creature. The only other change was that he could see the tips of her top, sharp teeth poking out. She bared her teeth in a snarl.
Eliana said, “These two will fight until they are at a point where death would come, or until one person forfeits. You can instruct Kimoshu and use your connection with her to help her on. Let’s fight!”
Cæma leaped forward at Kimoshu with startling speed and bit down on her leg. She scrambled away before Kimoshu could close her jaws on her. Joey now understood why Eliana had chosen that Cæma had such a small form compared to Kimoshu. Agility could sometimes beat size and strength.
Kimoshu was being beaten badly, only being able to nip Cæma’s tail.
Joey shouted, “Eliana! We’re beaten. I forfeit.”
He called Kimoshu back to him and she shrunk to a normal panther size. Her head was bowed.
“I-I’m sorry I messed things up Joey. I couldn’t even get at her,” Kimoshu wailed.
“It’s alright Kimoshu. Sometimes agility can match size. Next time, we’ll make you smaller so you can move more quickly,” Joey encouraged.
“Alright.”
Eliana and Cæma were walking over to them.
“Hey Joey, maybe you should train with the Big Cats sometime. They usually become very large, like Kimoshu was and then you could test out her strength,” Eliana suggested.
“I’ll do that. Hey, what’s in those woods?” Joey asked, looking into the trees.
“Shædems and some other things. There are beasts in there that are neither Centhin nor Shæma. They are sort of their own thing, outside of reality. We go in there and fight them whenever we want. Kyros captures them from the outside world and brings them here,” Eliana said.
Suddenly, there was the sound of explosions. Joey jumped, startled.
“Come on Joey, that must be the houses of Serpents and Large Birds. They’ve been feuding all this week. I’m allied with the Large Birds. Strangely, the house of Rodents has allied itself with the Serpents, calling a temporary truce,” Eliana called over her shoulder as she sprinted back towards the circle of houses.
When they reached the top of the hill, they looked down on a battle scene. The other three people in Eliana’s house were fighting, their fox bighting and clawing at snakes and all assortments of rodents. Birds swooped down and used their talons to claw at rodents and throw them around. Many mice and hamsters were picked up and brought to the roof of a house made of mainly twigs which Joey took to be the house of Large Bird Form.
People were fighting with swords, knives, spears, fists, you name it. They all had war armor on with their house’s emblem on their breastplate.
“I’ll ally my house with yours Eliana. But what if our Creature gets hurt?” Joey asked.
“Inside the boundaries of this safe haven, no Creature can be harmed fatally. Humans can be hurt though and this is your first battle so try to stay out of the fighting,” she answered. “Now come on, get Kimoshu to be a little smaller and get those serpents, the birds have the rodents under control.”
Together, they raced down the hill. Kimoshu and Cæma leaped at a snake that had wrapped itself around a bright red falcon. The snake was tossed away and a bird in the air caught it and flew it back to its house. Eliana held a sleek silver knife which she used to disarm and slice. Joey soon lost sight of her.
A girl from the house of Serpents stepped out of the mass and charged Joey. Suddenly, she stopped and growled, “Why don’t you fight me, new boy? I don’t believe your Divine. You won’t even fight.”
Her taunting was making him mad. He reached for his coin and was about to change it into a sword when someone called from the main battlefield. “Hey Sell! Come help us, we’re losing!”
Sell turned around and ran back to the fighting with a bronze spear in hand.
Joey had stopped fuming from Sell’s insults. He looked down at the battlefield again. The fighting had stopped and both fox and bird alike were cheering in victory. Joey ran down to Kimoshu.
“Oh, Joey that was amazing! I thought I fought really well for such little training I’ve had,” Kimoshu exclaimed.
“Hey Joey,” Eliana said, walking up with blood oozing from her arm. “Would like to make an official alliance with the house of Large Birds and Fox? I don’t think the one with the birds will last but we could have one to last a while yet.”
“Okay,” Joey said. “The house of Divine Forms allies itself with the house of Fox Forms.”
“Good. Let’s go to the house of Small Birds. They’re excellent healers, also allied with the Large Birds,” Eliana suggested.
“Alright, let’s go,” Joey agreed, even though he was not injured at all.
The house of Small Birds was almost exactly like the house of Large Birds except that the roof’s twigs had flowers blooming in between some of them and the house was painted blue. The Large Bird’s house was painted red and was very military-like.
Cæma flicked Eliana’s brown ponytail with her front paw for entertainment. A pretty, blonde-haired girl with a flower behind her ear walked out of her house and to Eliana. She carried some different kinds of leaves and a wrap bandage.
She nodded at Joey and said, “I’m Keira, and this is Yula on my shoulder.” A blue bird had landed on Keira’s right shoulder and was staring intently at the wound on Eliana’s arm. Yula whispered something the Keira and she looked at him with happiness in her eyes. The news that the Large Birds had won was spreading.
Yula pressed some leaves on Eliana’s arm while Keira wrapped the bandage. In only a few moments, Eliana’s wound had been treated.
“Thank you Keira, Yula,” Eliana said graciously. “Come on now Joey, we can introduce you to some people from the house of Large Birds. They are your allies now.”
After Joey had said good bye to Keira and Yula, they headed back to the house of Large Birds. Joey stopped just outside the door. There was a boy about Joey’s age sitting with his back against the side of the house. Joey walked over to him.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“I guess,” the boy answered. “The leader of my house wouldn’t let me fight today. I know I could’ve helped. Fælon would’ve beaten every serpent out there!”
A brown-red bird fluffed its wings in agitation that it hadn’t been able to fight.
“It’s alright Fælon. We’ll fight next time,” the boy promised. “Oh, by the way, I’m Gelp.”
“I’m Joey,” he replied.
“And I’m Eliana.” Eliana had just walked up behind Joey. “And my Creature is Cæma and Joey’s is Kimoshu.”
“Hi,” Gelp said. “Are you two allied with my house?”
“Yes. We’re fought for them just now. We’re here to meet some of our allies,” Eliana replied.
Gelp gasped, “Hey Joey, you’re from the house of the Divine Form, aren’t you? That’s amazing.”
“Yea I am. Thanks,” Joey replied. “Eliana, Gelp do you two want to go into the woods?”
“Sure!” They replied in unison. Gelp said afterwards, “I’ll just have to check with the head of my house first.”
Gelp went into his house and quickly returned, assuring the two others that he had permission to go.
“You two are so lucky. You’re the heads of your houses and you don’t have to ask permission to go anywhere,” Gelp joked.
“Let’s go!” Eliana said. She raced off, up the hill she had already climbed twice that day with Joey.
“We better follow her Gelp.”
“Yea. Race you there!” Gelp took off up the mountain with Joey right on his heels.
Kimoshu said to Joey, “Climb on my back. We’ll beat them!”
Joey climbed on and Kimoshu spread her wings and used them to push her forward. They soon overtook Gelp and came to a rest in the clearing at the bottom of the hill. Eliana was looking into the woods, her back to Joey. He climbed off the panther.
Two glowing red eyes were staring at Eliana from the dark forest.




Chapter 3

The red eyes stayed for another heartbeat and then they disappeared. Joey felt frozen to the spot. The eyes had frightened him so much, he couldn’t move. Then Gelp came racing down the hill.
“Aw man, I came in last! I’ll beat you next time though! Maybe…” Gelp stopped. He noticed the shocked state his two companions were in and started panicking.
Gelp started shaking Joey, and then Eliana. Joey shook his head to clear it and relaxed his stiff position. Eliana took a moment longer and then she tore her gaze away from the forest.
“Did you see those eyes Joey?” Eliana asked with fear in her eyes.
Joey nodded. “What was that?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe we shouldn’t go in the woods though,” Eliana said.
“Why not?” Gelp asked. “What did you guys see?”
Eliana leaned in and whispered to Gelp, whose eyes widened. “Oh. Yea, let’s not go in the dark, creepy forest.”
The trio headed back to the cabins in silence, their Creatures following in the same shocked state. The creature with the red eyes had given them quite a scare.
The sun was high in the sky now so they went to the Commons house to get lunch. They ate at their own tables in silence. After their meal, Joey walked towards a circle of dirt, just out the back of the house of Dogs. He thought he’d practice his fighting with a sword.
Joey flipped his coin in the air and turned it into a gleaming sword. It was perfectly balanced in his hand. He tried some stabs and swings and tried to pretend he was fighting an opponent.
“Good job, for a beginner. But I think I can help you.” A boy about sixteen years old in a blue collared shirt and baggy brown pants walked up to him. He had a silver sword in hand. A yellow lab was trotting next to his master.
“Uh, hi,” Joey said. “I’m Joey.”
“I’m Dalen. Now come on, let’s practice.” Dalen showed Joey some techniques in sword fighting that Joey thought were brilliant. The yellow lab – his name was Taq – was showing Kimoshu some battle skills.
The two practiced and fought for hours until they were both dripping with sweat, and the sun was setting in the west.
Dalen called them to a stop. “Let’s go grab something to eat and catch up on some sleep.”
Joey noticed then that there were dark circles under Dalen’s eyes.
“What’ve you been doing these past nights?” Joey asked.
“I’ve been out in the woods, hunting a Shædem. It has glowing red eyes. It is my quest, assigned to me by the head of the house of Owls to kill this monster,” he replied proudly. “I will get it.”
“I saw it today, down in the clearing on the other side of that hill. I wouldn’t want to have to fight something as fierce as that.” Joey shivered.
“Alright, I’ll have to look over there. Let’s go to the pavilion.” And Dalen and Taq walked away with a friendly wave back.
Joey and Kimoshu were exhausted. Kimoshu had changed into a mouse and was resting on Joey’s shoulder. He didn’t feel hungry so he headed straight for his house. He walked inside and collapsed on his bed. He fell asleep watching a thunderstorm on the ceiling.
That night, Joey’s dream-self was asleep with his body.

∞ƾ∞ƾ∞ƾ∞ƾ∞

Joey blinked his eyes open and looked up at the ceiling. It was blue like the sky and had clouds floating around on it.
Joey realized he still had on the clothes he’d worn when he’d first met Kimoshu. He looked in a suitcase someone had placed at the edge of his bed and changed into the yellow T-shirt and white shorts he found there. He brushed his teeth and combed his hair in the master bathroom, then walked outside to stretch in the morning light. Kimoshu was a panther – no wings.
“Hi Joey!” Dalen called, jogging up to him. “Kyros wants to see you on the second floor of the Commons house.”
“Alright. Thanks Dalen,” Joey said.
Dalen nodded with a grin and took off, towards the sword fighting clearing.
Joey nervously walked towards the Commons house, cautious as to why the director needed to speak with him.
Am I in trouble? he thought. He recounted the past events in the last two days he had been in the safe haven. It didn’t seem like he had done anything to be punished for. Unless he was talking about the earlier battle, but according to Eliana that was a normal event here. Joey was puzzled.
He entered the Commons house and made his way up the stairs to the second floor. Kyros was waiting for him, sitting at the head of a long table in a relaxed position.
“Joey, welcome. Study the posters for a moment so I can gather my thoughts,” Kyros instructed.
Joey turned to the wall to his right and looked at a painting. It depicted an enormous red fox fighting a dull brown hawk, equally enormous. The setting was a beach. The waves were crashing at unbelievable heights and lightning flickered in the stormy gray sky. In the left hand corner was a name. Joey leaned in closer to read it. The name was Weltros.
Joey looked to the left of the painting and saw a list of all the cabins in the haven. Joey read it:
I. Commons House
II. House of Large Cats
III. House of Divine Forms
IV. House of Dogs
V. House of Small Birds
VI. House of Large Birds
VII. House of Small Cats
VIII. House of Fish
IX. House of Fox
X. House of Owls
XI. House of Rodents
XII. House of Dark Forms
XIII. House of Bears
XIV. House of Insects
XV. Uncertain House
XVI. House of Sea Mammals
XVII. House of the Ocean
XVIII. House of Tree Mammals
XIX. House of Arachnids
XX. Burial House
The houses were arranged in this order, Joey realized. Looking out a window, he saw the Burial House. He thought he knew what was in there.
“Alright, Joey. Come over here. Please, sit,” Kyros said. After Joey had sat down across the table from Kyros he continued, “I realize that this is only your third day here in our little safe haven. But you have already done so many things. You’ve battled with your Creature; allied your cabin to the winning side, and I don’t mean to be taking sides; and you’ve trained with one of my best swordsman, Dalen. You’ll someday be quite an accomplished child.”
Joey was stunned. He had thought he was going to be lectured, not praised.
“Uh, thank you, Kyros,” Joey stammered.
“But I didn’t call you up here to be praised, I have some things I need you to do,” Kyros said. “Actually, you only have to listen. I have to tell you some things about this place. Are you ready for my speech?”
Joey nodded, grinning alongside Kyros.
“Alright then. Everyone here has had training. You need to be trained so that you will be able to live. You will train in athletics, – including running, jumping, climbing, etc. – sword fighting, artisanship, and fighting Shædems and other monsters. You may train with any of our senior members. They should be happy to help. Now go, maybe you could practice more sword fighting with Dalen this morning, then get your breakfast. You are dismissed.”
Joey left with a respectful nod to Kyros and went to the sword fighting clearing.

∞ƾ∞ƾ∞ƾ∞ƾ∞

Over the next month, Joey trained. He had help from Dalen; the head of the house of Large Birds, Rolond; Eliana; Kyros; and Keira. Kimoshu trained alongside Joey. That month had been very hard on Joey, but also very strengthening. His arms, legs, and chest were well-muscled and his technique in sword fighting had improved drastically. Kimoshu had been changed as well. She was faster now, and she put more thought into every move she made. Joey happily felt that they had improved together, as a team.
But he never forgot those red eyes. The entire month Joey had spent away from the clearing in which he and Eliana had first battled. The two eyes interrupted his dreams every night. He’d usually awoken screaming.
Joey had already trained with Dalen in sword fighting and fist fighting that morning, and trained in art and healing after lunch with Keira so he decided to ask Gelp to go swimming in the lake. He had found out from Rolond that there was a blue lake on the other side of a small hill that had been used for training before. But Joey didn’t want to train right then, he just wanted to hand out with his friend for a while. The two plus Eliana had become close friends over the course of the month and did almost everything together.
Joey found Gelp lying on his back in the grass, looking up at Fælon joyously.
“Fælon has gotten so much stronger. I think he’s ready to take on any monster now,” Gelp said happily. He rose and brushed off his jeans. He studied Joey’s face. “You want to do something, don’t you? Something besides training. I know how you feel. Let’s do it!”
“Okay. I just had the idea that we could go to the lake and swim for a while,” Joey replied.
“Great! See ya’,” he called over his shoulder, racing towards the lake. Joey grinned and took off after him, Kimoshu running gracefully at his right.
Joey was at the top of the hill now, looking down at the lake. He couldn’t see Gelp anywhere. Then, a hand pulled him into a bush, and another clamped itself over his mouth. He turned his head to see Gelp sitting there.
Gelp whispered, “Sh. Eliana’s down there. Come on, let’s look. And be quiet!”
Joey nodded and followed Gelp through the bushes until they were only about twenty feet from the shore. In between them and the water was Eliana, her back to them. Gelp’s Creature had turned into a mouse so Joey motioned for Kimoshu to do the same. She looked displeased with the weak shape.
Joey turned his attention back to Eliana. She was down on one knee, bowing her head and chanting. Cæma had bowed her head and was not moving so much as a twitch. Then, the strangest thing happened.
Suddenly, there was darkness. A ring of hills surrounded the lake. Anything outside the hills was light but inside the ring, it was night-time black. Then, the moon reflected on the surface of the lake, even though there was no moon overhead. Cæma stood and leaped into the lake, disappearing under the surface. A silver figure floated out of the water and spoke to Eliana. She was vaguely humanoid.
“Eliana. I have tried and failed to help you. You must bear the curse a while longer,” the figure said.
Eliana looked up. “Is there nothing you can do?”
“I am sorry, young one. I have sent my best spirits into the world to look for the remedy but alas, none have returned with success,” the figure said sadly.
Eliana sighed dejectedly. “Thank you – I guess – Lady Plephoi.”
Plephoi nodded and disappeared under the water and Cæma leapt out, completely dry. Then, it was light again and Joey and Gelp had to blink for their eyes to adjust, so sudden was the radiance.
Gelp turned to face Joey and said, “Uh, wow.”
Joey blinked and grinned. Gelp was always able to lighten the mood. But Joey still had a lot of apprehension for Eliana. Apparently, she bore a curse.
And he was sure, as a friend, that he would help her.




Chapter 4

Eliana and Cæma stayed kneeling a moment longer and then rose, turning to face the houses. They sprinted away from the lake, not noticing Gelp’s muffled screech.
“I, hate, spiders!” he shivered. “Get your hand off my mouth!”
Joey removed his hand and said, “Eliana could’ve heard you! We would’ve been found out if not for me!” Then he laughed and said, “Amazing. Spiders.”
Gelp punched him on the shoulder and said, “Don’t mess around, man. Those things give me the creeps. Is Eliana over the hill?”
“Yep. Let’s not swim though,” Joey said, remembering the spirit in the water. Gelp paused for a moment in mid-protest and decided that he didn’t want to swim in ghost either.
“Okay Joey, let’s go see the little kid’s training,” Gelp suggested.
“Alright.”
Joey and Gelp walked luxuriously up the hill and towards the clearing where they had seen the red eyes. The only reason Joey was going there was because there would be plenty of people to fight any Shædem off there.
Eight kids were sitting in a semi-circle around Jowg, the head of the house of Bears. He was by far the eldest of the house, 18 years. All his cabin mates were around 6 to 10 years old.
Jowg was having his creature – a white bear named Ruil – perform all sorts of battle moves. The other kid’s bears were cubs, and they were trying to copy Ruil.
“Hi Jowg!” Gelp called, trotting down into the clearing. “We just came to watch for a little bit.”
Jowg snorted. “Don’t you two have better things to do?”
“Actually, no!” Gelp replied cheerily. And he sat down in the grass and patted the ground next to him, motioning for Joey to sit as well.
Jowg sighed, “Very well. Just don’t distract my house!”
Gelp nodded overenthusiastically. Joey groaned.
Gelp and Joey watched Jowg train his pupils for two hours and then they decided to head back to the pavilion for some dinner. Gelp’s belly rumbled, which he was obviously not embarrassed about at all.
Jowg had pushed his house really hard in training. Most of the kids collapsed from exhaustion afterwards. Joey and Kimoshu had a small portion of steak and white rice and then headed cheerily to their house.
This is the first time I’ve gone to sleep happily, Joey thought as he climbed into his beautiful bed. He yawned once and was unconscious soon after.
Joey’s dream-self was in the sky. It was night out and the starts were shining above. It was a quarter moon. He saw a silver light and a red light circling each other. Then, the red one attacked, and the two fought.
Joey yelled, “Stop it!” But of course, the lights didn’t listen. Joey kept yelling at them, but the scene was fading. His dream-self soon slipped into sleep, still whimpering, “Stop it.”

∞ƾ∞ƾ∞ƾ∞ƾ∞

Impressum

Texte: http://www.myselfanand.com/2010/12/near-lnfrared-image-of-the-milky-way-target-name-milky-way-spacecraft-cosmic-background-explorer-produced-by-nasa-this-image-of-our-galaxy-the-milky-way-was-taken-with-nasas-cosmic-bac/
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 17.04.2011

Alle Rechte vorbehalten

Widmung:
I would like to dedicate this book to the authors Erin Hunter and Rick Riordan, hence my pseudonym.