“Verlaam!” The pyricell dropped to the ground. Wings partly spread, it looked ready to fly away. “How do we kill it?” Jal muttered to itself.

“We don’t.”

“We do! There’s a child in its gut!” Jal raced into the street and dragged the creature under a store awning. “Bevin zi weak spot!” A pink line formed above its gut. “You keep it frozen, and I’ll cut it open.” Jal pulled a knife out of his sheath and thrust it through the skin. “Snee!” The knife slashed from side to side. Jal pulled the innards out of the way. Carefully, Jal cut a long slash in the stomach pouch.

The animal moved. “Verlaam!” Sage Elvan said loudly, freezing the pyricell. Jal pushed more guts aside. It carefully cut the stomach open and pulled it off the little girl’s face.Jal leaned over her mouth trying to decide if she was still breathing. She wasn’t. Jal pushed on her chest, then grabbed her arms and pulled. She slid out, like a sausage from a casing.

“I’ve got her!” Jal said tensely. It glanced up at the sky. “Master! Here comes one.” Shadows of several pyricells circled the buildings. Sage Elvan entered the pub and a circle formed around it. Jal followed and pushed through the crowd. “She’s still alive! She needs medical attention! Sage Elvan, can you get us to Eiske’s?”

Within moments, Sage Elvan transported Jal and the child to Eiske’s treatment room. “Eiske, Eiske!” Jal called. “Medical emergency!”

There was no response. Jal laid the little girl on the table and glanced out the window. Eiske’s vehicle was gone. Jal checked her for a breath; there was none. Trying to think clearly, Jal pressed on her chest. Fluid gushed from her throat. Jal turned her head and pressed her chest again. Without pause, Jal lifted her by her feet and held her upside down. Fluid poured out of her. It laid her down again and checked for breathing. Jal began to alternately push on her chest and listen for her breathing. It glanced up and saw the stethoscope hanging and put it on to listen for a heartbeat. It was barely audible.

Jal tapped the communicator on its tunic and picked her up. “Emergency transport! The hospital in Nik, Trazene.”

Jal found itself next to an open bed. “I have a little girl. Her name is Marit. She was swallowed by a pyricell. We cut it open. She’s still alive. I couldn’t get her to take a breath. Her heart is barely audible.”

A doctor listened for her heartbeat. “Where’s her parent?”

“Somewhere back in Dagmon on the Iragos Peninsula.”

“Let’s see what we can do. Please step back.” The doctor began to issue orders, and the group around the table moved like clockwork. Machines began to beep and showed her vital signs. “Is it possible those birds paralyze their prey before they swallow it?”

Jal had to think. "I don't think so.. But my spell to freeze the bird may have gone through its chest.”

“It may be a matter of time before it wears off. We have to get oxygen to the brain.” We’re going to intubate and use the Unvecuron procedure, folks.”

Jal watched as a tube was carefully slid into the girl’s throat. “Get him out of here!”

Jal found a waiting area. Someone else offered it a glass of water and a chair. As the endorphins slowed in its system, it began to think more clearly. “Eiske! I left a mess at Eiske’s!” Jal tapped the Protectorate communicator. “This is not an emergency. Can you connect me with Dr. Eiske Bonnema?”

“Next time, tap your communicator three times, and say his name.”

“Hello?”

“Eiske, this is Jal. I want you to know that I was in the medical facility and left a huge mess. Right now, I’m in the hospital in Nik.”

“Slow down, Jal. Take a breath. Who’s injured?”

Jal briefly told him what happened. “I’ll clean up the mess and join you. Let me know if you decide to leave.” Jal sat for nearly three hours before Eiske came into the waiting room. “What have you heard?”

“Nothing. I don’t know what I should be doing.”

“What was her name? Are her parents here?”

“No. I grabbed her from the middle of the street and ran. Jan transported us to your place. The Protectors transported us here.”

“Let me ask.” He came back in a few minutes with another doctor.

Jal rose to its feet. “How is she? Is she alive?”

“She is. Right now, the specialists are treating her to remove the residue from her skin.”

“Her heart is beating? She’s breathing?” Jal was trying not to cry.

“She is very much alive. The magic spell you used temporarily put her into a form of stasis.”

Jal sank into the chair and took a breath. “I need to go back to Dagmon.”

“No, Jal. You need to eat.”

“At least let me call Sage Elvan. It can inform her parents and arrange for their transport here.”

Later, over a meal, Eiske studied Jal’s face. “You need to rest, Jal. You look tired.”

“Maybe I do, but I’m supposed to be at my master’s side.”

“I know. Do you want me to talk with it?”

“No, I will.”

“How did you capture this pyricell? With a shotgun?”

“No. With magic.”

“What?” Eiske was shocked. “Sage Elvan hit it with a spell?""

“I did.” Jal ducked its head and waited to be scolded.

“Do you know what those animals do to people?”

“Yes, Eiske. I had just seen a little girl be swallowed by one.”

“Jal!” Eiske turned white. “You could have been next! Which spell did you use?”

“Um, um, verlaam. That would be paralyze.”

“That’s not level three magic.” They looked at one another. “What?” Eiske opened his tablet. “How could you have cast a level five spell?”

“Wizard Wyrran told me that if you’re strong enough, somehow your energy can be summoned to do what you have to do.”

“It must be like adrenaline. I’ve heard that some people have done phenomenal things when they’ve had to.”

“I think it’s only good for one try.”

“Why does that not make me feel better? Now you’re going to go do it again?” Eiske looked at Jal oddly. “Hold on! If that was fifth level magic and it was a stretch, you’re at the fourth level?”

“No. I’m only doing third level. That was a fluke, Eiske. It never should have happened. I did it out of desperation.” After they finished the meal, Eiske listened while Jal talked to Sage Elvan. It had realized that Jal was doing magic that was technically out of its reach and knew it would be exhausted. The sage gave permission for Jal to stay in Nik overnight with Eiske.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

The following morning, Eiske, Jal and Sage Elvan met in Dagmon at the bar. “Were you out of your ever-lovin' mind?” the barkeep said to Jal. “What were you thinking?”

“That little girl did not belong to that creature,” Jal said simply. “I was thinking that it was taking something that didn’t belong to it.”

“This boy deserves a drink!” someone exclaimed. “Get the boy a drink!” The proprietor filled a mug with beer.

“Don’t be silly! He’s not old enough to be drinkin’!” someone else pointed out. “He’s just a lad!”

“You are a boy, aren’t you?” someone asked. “Not as tall as Sage Elvan,” she observed. “It is! It’s a child Stafriez!” she said to those around her. “Sage Elvan has a child!” Whispers went around the room.

“I’ve come to see the city leaders,” Sage Elvan announced. “This is my apprentice, Jal Jomari.”

“Not your child?” someone asked it.

“Let’s visit later,” Sage Elvan ended that conversation. “Fien ten Lagren, are you here?”

She stepped forward. “I am. There’s a meeting room in back.” Several people followed her and gathered around a table. She introduced the other leaders. They took turns telling Sage Elvan where and when they had seen the pyricells.

“What you are saying is that the pyricells have taken up residence in the park near the city center,” Sage Elvan summarized the conversation. “They come out at dawn and fly around all day. In the evening, they return to the high places around the dome. How many are there?”

“If you count the little ones, I believe there are fifty-three.”

“Thanks to Jal Jomari, now there are fifty-two.”

“We could shoot them,” someone suggested. “I have a new hunting rifle.”

“And get killed in the process? No, thanks!”

“The Protectors believe that the pyricells should be returned to their natural habitat. Our goal is to get them home to the Pyricell Caves. The question is how. What are some ways we could handle this situation?” It looked around the room. “Could we capture them?” Sage Elvan proposed.

“Are you joking?” Jal could sense the fear that came over the group.

“If we caught them, what would we do?”

“I’m sure we could transport them somehow. The trick would be to capture them.”

“The trick! Master Elvan,” Jal looked over, “What if we could use magic to return them to where they belong?”

“Who would do that?”

“The area wizards and magicians.”

“Bah! Magic! That stuff doesn’t work!”

“What did we see yesterday?” someone pointed out. “It worked then.”

Sage Elvan wrote down Jal’s suggestion. The group sat together a long time, discussing the situation. “What you’re telling me is that these animals eat and fly. We don’t know where they go at night to roost, they’re obviously not incubating chicks, and they’re looking for food.” Everyone agreed with that assessment.

“We need to provide an alternate food source,” someone suggested.

“And raise our own batch of cute, itty-bitty monsters,” another person growled.

“If we provided a food source and slowly moved it to their home, would they follow it?” Conversation went back and forth between the leaders. A woman spoke up. “We’re talking about transporting live animals across the peninsula and along the coast of Trazene, in the middle of the day with animals circling overhead for a six-day trip. Count me out.”

“Would you rather your child accidentally goes outside and gets eaten? I, for one, don’t want to live in fear. People in Nik live like this. It’s a constant state of anxiety. Let’s do what we need to do!”

“What if Jal here, is on to something? He hit that thing with a blast of … what was it, Jal?”

“A paralyze spell.”

“Let’s say we figured out how to trap another one. What would we do with it?”

“Get it to the caves.”

“Could we ask the Protectors to help us with transportation?”

“Of course, you can ask. What are you thinking of?” Sage Elvan responded.

"Could they help us get the creatures into cages?"

"Then what?"

"We drive them to the caves."

"Someone would have to open the cages."

They were all silent, and sat thinking. "We could load a truck with meat, then throw it out behind us, while we drove to the caves. They might follow.” They talked about how many people and resources that would take.

“This is crazy. We’re doing all this to save animals that kill us!”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“We could wait for the winds to change. That’s likely the reason they’re here.”

“What if they don’t go when the winds change?” The group agreed that this might not happen for some time. “What other options are there?”

“I’ve got an idea!” A burly farmer spoke up. “Let’s say, Jal here hit one and froze it.”

Jal started to speak, and the sage put his hand on Jal’s arm, “Let him speak.”

“While it was frozen, the Protectors could transport it to the caves.”

“Could it be that easy? Didn’t you have to cast a second spell, Sage Elvan?”

“I did. You would likely need for the transporters to move it from here to the Enclave, then they would transport it to the caves.”

“We’d want someone by the transporters, so no one gets hurt.”

“Put a cage around the transporter?” Not surprisingly, there was no disagreement.

They looked at each other, “Do you use magic?” Not one community leader did. “Who do we know that does?” Very slowly, names came to mind.

“You don’t have to move them all in one day.” Sage Elvan reminded them. “It takes a lot of energy for a paralyze spell. Wizards and magicians need time to recover.”

Later that day, Sage Elvan and Jal returned to Ridali Farm. They were both tired, and the sage was increasingly frustrated with Jal. Jal went off by itself on a walk. It finally sat down by a tree. Taryn found Jal and it turned away.

“Come on, tell me what’s wrong.”

“I want to help next week, but Sage Elvan says I need to stay here. I don’t want to miss the excitement!”

“The thrill and the danger, is what you mean, I would guess.” Taryn shook her head. “I can talk to Jan if you really want to go, but it will probably say no. If there were a specific, helpful role you would take on, it might be better. “Maybe Jan would let you work with him?”

“I wish I could work with him. But I’m in trouble with him for being too impulsive.” Taryn put her hand up to stop him. “‘Not that it’s a bad thing,’ he said. But you’re not going. Because I said so!” Jal imitated Jan. “It sounds like something Geldou would say.”

Taryn pointed. Jal looked over its shoulder. Jan stood two meters away. “That’s a pretty good imitation.”

Jal hung its head. “I’d like to go.” It sighed. “I understand that I would likely be in the way. I’m just a child.”

“Jal, I’ve fixed it so that you can be in the transporter room of the protectorate. There’s a scientist who’s coming in. He wants to put a leg band on each bird, and get a picture of the wings outstretched, if possible. There’s a group who wants to track their movements.”

“I was hoping to get in on the action.”

“Jal, you were in on the action. You saved a little girl! You killed a pyricell! You got that girl to where she could receive medical attention. That’s unheard of! If this works, there’s a chance we can move the creatures out of Nik."

“There is?”

In the middle of the following week, an assemblage of magicians, wizards, meat suppliers, and a few news reporters gathered in Dagmon. A different pyricell had taken the spot on the city building by the park. When it saw that something had been thrown into the street, it rose into the air, then went straight down for the kill. One of magicians waved her wand, and it was stopped in midair. “Now,” Sage Elvan spoke into its communicator. It was transported to the enclave, stunned again, then tagged and measured. It was immediately transported to the entrance of the Pyricell caves, where a satellite was targeted. Jal wrote down the minutes between the second paralyzing shot and the creature's first flight. After five transportations were made, other magicians took their turns. Thirty-one pyricells were returned to their native hunting grounds that day. When a local resident saw three in one tree, the magicians figured it was a roosting site. The creatures were left alone, and all of them were captured over the next several days.

Jal had a great time looking at the flying beasts. It was impressed that they were so big, yet they could fly. The evening after the last one was transported, the residents of Dagmon celebrated their freedom. Their thanks to Sage Elvan and Jal was profusive.

After they returned to Ridali Tower, Jal read in the sitting room with Jan. “I know you’re not reading, Jal. What are you thinking about so hard?”

“I’m thinking that I have had a great deal of freedom since we first met. Those people are celebrating and will mark this day in their history. Men and women who have been “loosed” often remember that day. I will mark the day that I came to live at Ridali Tower as my day of freedom. And I will remember the day that I shot a Giant Pyricell and cut it open to restore a little girl to freedom.”

“I’ll give you half a day to celebrate your freedom, Jal. Tomorrow afternoon we’ll go to Nik and see how Victor turned out with his efforts in Pejaru.”

“I can do whatever I want? Taryn’s not going to be after me to do schoolwork, practice martial arts or do magic?

“I’ll tell her that you need time off. How will you spend your time?”

Jal laughed. “Do you really need to ask? I’ll be at the pottery wheel.”

“I’d love to watch you sometime.”

“Come anytime you like.”

The following morning, Sage Elvan stood in the doorway to the crafting room. “It’s very warm in here.”

“It is. I had enough to fill the kiln.” The wheel spun as Jal carefully formed a cup. After taking it from the wheel, Jal set it aside and made a saucer for it.

“You are very good at this. What does the Master Potter in Nik say?”

“I will present my work for evaluation next week, if it’s ready.”

“Why wouldn’t it be? It’s in the kiln,” Sage Elvan pointed out.

“That’s the first firing. It will need another firing after it’s been painted with glaze.”

“I’ve never had the privilege of watching a potter. It’s like magic!”

“It is." As the wheel spun, the side of the cup grew taller. “I love doing this. Thank you for giving me the freedom to make my choice of crafts. Soon, I’ll be making pots with lids and maybe bottles for elixirs and potions.”

“Wizard Wyrran will teach you what to put in them.”

“Yes, if I don’t turn him into a mouse first!”

The sage walked over to the shelves and studied them. “Solrio gave you a lot of supplies. Will you give her something in return?”

“I hope to.”