Coalesce: The Escape

Two days have passed since we found the phoenix, it has not recovered yet so we’ve kept it with us, along with the message it carried. It’s able to walk alongside us just fine, and hasn’t tried to get away. I think it may want to stay with us. But, that’s just me. We’re almost to the mountains now and have a great view of them. I’ve always loved the mountains, but never got a chance to see them so close.

“How much longer do you think we have to go?” Eraleth asks, sounding annoyed that we haven’t gotten there yet.

“Just stop asking.” Sabille is annoyed. He hasn’t stopped asking since this morning. We’re all tired of hearing that question.

“I think we should all hold hands and skip along until we get to the mountain,” Kylon mutters, showing his clear agitation.

“That is a horrible idea,” Eralath gives him a sidelong glance.

“Yes, it is.” He agrees and looks over at the bird walking between us. “Why are we taking it with us again?”

“We couldn’t just let it die, and it has a message it needs to deliver,” A simple enough explanation. I look over at him and shrug.

“Right...”

I look down at the bird and it lets out a soft caw and nudges my hand with its head, it seems to like me enough. I’m not quite sure about it yet though. I mean it seems harmless enough right now, but something just seems off about it. The way it follows willingly without hesitation, the way it lets me stroke it, just everything. Sabille says it’s odd for a phoenix to follow humans or let them touch it at all. It makes me worry that something is much worse than we think it is. What if it was sent after us? I’m probably just being paranoid, but I can’t help it.

I’ve taken to calling her Ruby, it seems to fit her. It’s probably the red feathers and eyes. I gently stroke her silky head and she ruffles her uninjured wing and coos. She really is a magnificent creature. Kylon reaches out to stroke her head as well but she draws back, she doesn’t seem to want anyone other than me to touch her now. Such a strange, finicky thing.

“That bird hates me,” He says and looks disappointed.

“It could be the doggish smell you have.” He sighs and glares at the ground. “Don’t worry about it, she may just have issues since she’s been hurt.”

“Oh, yeah.” The corner of his mouth draws down. “You know... My doggish sense of smell tells me you may be hiding something about yourself.” He looks up with a smirk, proud of himself.

“And what does that mean?” I look at him, I have nothing to hide. Not that I know of anyway. I could simply be hiding things from myself too.

“Something about your scent hints at a dark secret buried within,” Okay, now he’s just trying to sound smart. Probably trying to get on my nerves as usual.

“I’m not hiding anything that I know of.” I reply calmly and look at him. His cloudy blinded eye makes a shiver run down my spine and I look away after a second as we continue walking. Today marks that we have been on this journey for a fortnight and haven’t killed each other. That is a notable achievement.

“Look there!” Ahead of us Sabille stops and points toward a dark figure. To me it looks like one of the aloidia, a horse-like creature with an incredible sense of hearing. They also have large elvish ears that aid in their unnatural senses. There are many legends surrounding the creature’s origins. All of them do agree on one part; they only appeared about two centuries ago. Strange creatures have been showing up a lot in recent times and no one seems to know why.

“What is it?” I step up beside her.

“I think it’s an aloidia. I can’t tell from here clearly, but something seems odd about it. Worse than the phoenix.” Her head tilts and my eyebrows draw in and I bite my top lip. What did she mean? It looked about as normal as they can be.

“What do you think could be going on?” Kylon steps up beside us, Eralath off to the side looking at some undergrowth.

“Nothing good. Something has to be done.” A cold tingling runs down my spine and I walk ahead of the others to the creature. Why must she be so vague? Are all mages like this?

You are not like the others, mortal. I look around to see what spoke to me, but nothing else is there.

“Did an animal just, talk to me?” I wonder out loud as my eyes settle on the aloidia once more.

“Yes, mortal. I did speak to you.” The voice comes louder mixed with the whinny of the aloidia. I stop and stare at the pure black creature. It turns its head towards me and makes a little nod and paws at the ground. I notice a golden circle around its right eye, far different than the usual blue tint to their eyes. A thin line marks the top and bottom of the circle in silver. “My name is Legend,” It whinnies and steps closer to me.

“How can you talk to me?” I whisper, breathless and confused, holding out my hand.

“You are not just any mortal, did you not know this?” Legend nudges my hand with his head, it’s warm and silky to the touch.

“What do you mean?”

“You are special. Not a gypsy for sure.”

“Of course I’m a gypsy...” I say softly, almost doubting it myself. Mother never did tell me much about the rest of my family.

“Who are you talking to?” Kylon says behind me and I jump slightly. I nearly forgot there were others with me.

“T-the aloidia...” I say looking at it. Sabille and Eraleth give each other a disbelieving look.

“You can’t talk to an animal, Morgan. That’s ridiculous.”

“No it isn’t.” Is it? I must be crazy... I must be imagining things. “Let’s just go.” I walk blindly forward. Legend trots at my side, apparently wanting to come along as well. I don’t question it. Weirder things have happened to us, and at least this isn’t one that is actively plotting our demise.