I felt its movement just past the frozen white bush. The beast was incredibly fast, moving through the snow so quickly that, even with me sensing its use of Nex, I almost lost it. Thankfully, it stopped for just an instant. I thought maybe it was taking a break, having worn itself out from using so much energy, but I knew that wasn’t true. It had finally sensed me, just like Ronan had, and if I didn't take the shot I would absolutely lose the beast. I let the arrow loose, and my bow made a small cracking noise as the string launched the arrow forward. My fingers stung from holding the string back for so long, but it would all be worth it if I managed to hit my target. The arrow flew, and completely missed the white rabbit with short, wooden-like antlers I’d been hunting. As if it was never there, the rabbit vanished, leaving only a few small footprints from where it once was.
Father gave me a sharp slap to the back, “It was a good try son, but those damn Snow Skips are impossible to catch. Faster than even the arrow you shoot at them, damn rodents.”
I let out a frustrated sigh, “Have you ever caught one?”
“Hell no! They're too quick!”
“Then why did you have me hunting one for the last hour!”
Father shrugged, then broke into a wide grin, “Because it was funny. And to show you that these beasts won’t just let you catch them. They use some fancy magic that makes them super quick. So quick that I doubt even Ronan’s caught a Snow Skip before.”
Ronan lifted his head from the charred patch of ground he was laying on, the snow around him having completely melted away. He looked like Father had just given him a challenge, one that he intended to win. The two of them began to argue, Father doing his best to hold Ronan back from running around to find as many Snow Skips to kill as possible. It looked strange watching my father put a giant flaming wolf into a headlock and wrestling him to the ground. I ignored their fight and walked over to the final tracks the Snow Skip left.
The beast was nearby, as I could still feel the Nex moving around and within it, but it was keeping its distance. Sensing movements of Nex had become much easier over the past few weeks. The interconnected strings of Nex were difficult to follow at first, and although I could feel when Nex was moving, I couldn’t feel where it was or what type it was unless I was close by. Now, I had grown used to the way the strings moved, and how they changed. It was still very unpredictable, and difficult to do without extreme concentration, but I could sense where a beast was when it was using Nex, and what type it was using. Which is why the Snow Skip interested me so much, since it used Water Nex.
Looking down at the footprints the Snow Skip made, I got a better idea of how it moved so fast. The prints were much deeper than what I expected, and the snow was incredibly displaced. At first I thought it was because the rabbit hopped away, like a normal one in my previous life would, but rather than being pushed backwards, the snow was somehow launched forwards, in the same direction the beast went. As I followed its tracks, each one several meters away from the other, I finally understood how the creature had moved with such speed.
I connected myself to the snow on the bottom of my shoes, the feeling still blurry. “If I made a Soul Bind with the Snow Skip, would that foggy feeling go away?” I thought, but the question was immediately driven away as I propelled the snow against the bottom of my feet. In an instant, I was shot upwards into a storm of branches. I reached out, grabbing for one of them, my hand getting raked by sharp barbs and filled with cuts. I held firm down on one of them, stopping my fall and trying to collect myself.
“What the hell! What are you doing up there?” Father’s voice rang from down below.
I looked down and found myself high up in the air inside of a tree, a giant hole in the snow where I was just standing. Ronan was prancing around it, steam rising from his paws, sniffing at the giant mounds of snow that had been created around the ring of the crater. A wide grin eased onto my face and I began to laugh. Through the tears that began to well up in my eyes, I caught a sparkling glint of light just in front of me.
There, not even an arms length away from my face, was an owl. Its eyes shone a deep blue, like that of the ocean’s, and they were each crowned with long feathers that came upwards, almost like two horns. Its entire body glistened in the sunlight, each feather a light bluish color slightly brighter than its eyes that grew lighter and lighter as it came closer to the tip. The owl looked to be made completely of crystal, the light bouncing off of it in an ethereal way. Even the beast’s feet, each tipped with long dark blue talons, looked more like a sleek gem more pure than anything in the world. Its entire body was only slightly larger than my head, but that didn’t make the owl look any less intimidating as it stared at me with its deep eyes.
Entranced, I slowly reached towards its face, my hand outstretched like I was about to pet a dog. For a moment it didn’t react, but then its small beak flashed towards my hand, and I pulled away just before it tore my finger to shreds. The owl let out a small screech as its giant wings expanded, then it took off, coming straight at my face. On instinct, I connected myself to some of the snow that rested on a branch and flung it at the beast. On a flap of its wings, I felt a string of Nex flow into the owl, and the snow flew backwards, out of the tree. When the owl was just about to reach my face, its sharp talons rearing up for an attack, I did the only thing I could think of doing. I let go of the branch and fell downwards.
Another screech came from the owl above, but I could barely hear it over my own tumbling body snapping branch after branch as I fell to the ground. Cuts were scratched onto my entire body, and several of the branches were sturdy enough to not break under my falling weight, sending a shock of pain through me as I hit them. I could only imagine the many bruises I would have on my chest, arms, and legs after this. Every time I would reach out and try to stop my fall, my arm would slam against another branch. I was helpless, only able to hope that the snow would be soft enough to break my fall.
As I saw the pure white come closer in my view, another giant shape blocked it and I slammed into something hard. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in my father’s arms, his body laid out on the snow and Ronan sniffing and whining to the side. Father lifted his head and stared at me. “Are you okay Sean!” he yelled, worry clear in his voice.
“I’m alive,” I said, but the pain was the only reason I knew.
The cuts and bruises all over my body were incredibly painful, but they were nothing compared to how my legs felt. My ankles and knees throbbed, and even my Soul felt strained from overuse. The powerful launch had almost broken my legs from the force, and manipulating so much snow at once was too much for my Soul. The Snow Skip spell would have to obviously have to be refined, but how could I practice it if it damaged my body this badly?
I rolled to the side and Father stood. Ronan trotted over and began to sniff at my face, his hot breath enough to melt the snow I was lying in. “Okay, I think we’re done for the day. Go on, get going back to your cave!”
Ronan let out a low whine, then slowly walked away in the direction of his home.
“We’re going home? But it’s barely noon.”
Father’s eyes rose in a questioning manner, “You want to keep going, even with all of that? I doubt you can walk.”
Even though my bones felt like they would crack with each movement, I slowly rose to my feet, ignoring the pain as best I could, but I was sure it was plain on my face how hurt I was.
Father let out a whistle, “Look how strong you are! Now I don’t have to carry you back. C’mon, let’s go home.”
“Mother won’t be happy if we come back with nothing,” I said, which caused Father to pause.
He replied with a shaky voice, “You let me worry about your mother, okay? Besides, it’d be worse if I let you keep going in that condition.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I sighed, and my eyes were caught with a familiar glint. Up in a tree, not far from the one I fell out of, was a glistening gem with two deep blue eyes and large feathery wings. The owl’s head was bouncing up and down, its eyes squinted and beak slightly open. It looked like it was laughing. Heat rose in my cheeks, and I wanted to chase after the mocking bird, but Father was already walking ahead. I followed, but made sure to point out the beast to him. “Father, have you ever seen a beast like that?”
He looked up, and I could almost see the glint appear in his eye, “No, I can’t say I have. I doubt I’ve seen half the beasts in this forest though. Maybe we can ask Baird or some other hunter about that one. Why?”
I looked back up at the laughing bird. I knew why I wanted to know more about it. I felt its magic. Whatever that beast was, it was powerful, and it used Water Nex. It was perfect for me, and I wanted it. “Just curious,” I replied, but my mind was already thinking of what I’d be able to do if I formed a Soul Bind with the owl.
A small prick at my senses hit me, and I immediately began to focus on the strings of Nex around me. One was familiar, and it was being used. I turned in its direction, and once again I found a girl standing in the trees not far away from us. A wisp of air danced on her shoulder, and I finally sensed a second stream of Nex. She stared at me with a glare, like she was mad that I spotted her. As quickly as I saw her, she vanished into the woods. When I learned her story from Father, I knew she was a reincarnate.
I’d seen her many times now out in the woods, and I thought it’d be impossible for her to live out here on her own at such a young age unless she already had more knowledge than a regular child. That, mixed with the fact that she shared a birthday with me and Blair, was more than enough proof for me. Blair and I had discussed the possibility of more reincarnates existing, but we’d never run into one until now. I hadn’t even gotten to tell him that I suspected her, but I would if I ever managed to talk to her, which was unlikely given that she ran away each time I saw her.
The walk back to Dousin was excruciating, but I was able to deal with the pain by thinking up improvements on the Snow Skip spell. Clearly just pushing snow against the bottom of my feet wasn’t correct. It had to be done at an angle so that I would be shot forwards rather than upwards, and at just the right amount of force so that I didn’t injure myself. Although, none of this mattered since using the spell once would exhaust my Soul due to the blurry feeling I got from manipulating snow and ice. There were too many things to fix, and I had no way of fixing some of them.
My frustration at this died down as we approached the city gates. Father knew most of the front gate guards, since that was his main duty when he worked for the city, but many of them ignored him for some reason. The only time they really gave him the time of day was when he tried to bring Ronan into the city, which he knew was illegal. Wild beasts like Ronan were not allowed within the city, unlike tamed lisyfe’s or other beasts of burden. Even then many of the tamed beasts had to be preapproved by one of the city’s officials, or even the Lord of Dousin himself. So when Father showed up with a giant fire-maned wolf, or a Sairla, as Father had taught me, the guards at the gate were less than happy. Today, however, we walked through the gates with ease. Well, Father did. I stumbled my way into the city since my legs were finally becoming too painful to bear.
Mother spent a long time making it known just how angry she was at my father that I came home so hurt. I prayed to the God she loved so much that she wouldn’t turn her attention to me. God didn’t listen. I was once again lectured on the dangers of the outside world, some of which actually frightened me, while others just got me more excited. It took a long time for her to clean up and bandage the many cuts I had, even with her magic and training as a nurse. The biggest issue was my legs though, both of which were completely black and blue. Mother once again let Father know how angry she was, but this time it was because he let me walk home. The noise of mother’s yelling and Father’s laughing was a weird yet comforting thing to fall asleep to.
A loud thump woke me from my slumber, but I wasn’t in my room anymore. I was somewhere else. Somewhere where my legs didn't hurt, and my body felt fine. There were no cuts or bruises, but I felt weak, like I hadn’t moved in days. That’s because I hadn’t. I didn’t want to move anywhere. There was nowhere else to go. All I had to do was stay here, in my room, and wait for everything else to disappear. But, something had made a noise. It sounded like something had fallen.
“Nana!” I yelled out, but my voice was so rasp that it barely came out. “Nana!” I yelled again, this time actually producing sound.
“Help,” a small old and croaky voice came from outside my room.
I ran for the door, jumping out of the soft cloud-like bed, but as I grabbed the handle, I stopped. I felt chills run down my spine, and my hand shook so badly that the doorknob shook with it.
“Please, help.”
I grit my teeth and slowly opened the door. It felt strange, coming out of my room for the first time in… I don’t know how long. I grew nauseous at the thought, and I wanted desperately to run back into my room where it was safe, but I stopped myself. Nana needed my help, so I ran down the hallway. At the end of the hallway were the stairs, and at the bottom lay Nana, her back up against the wall. I ran to her side to see if she was alright and immediately called for help. A few minutes later I could hear the sirens of the ambulance making its way towards us.
“You’re out of your room,” Nana said, her hand against my cheek.
“It’s going to be okay. They’re on their way, Nana.”
“It’s good to see you out here again. I missed you.”
I felt tears fall down my face, and they kept coming even as Nana was taken away to the hospital. Everything happened so fast that I suddenly found myself outside on the road, and with a girl's arms wrapped around me. I couldn’t see her face very well, as it was buried in my chest, but her hair was long and brown. I felt my breath stop, and I fell to the ground, pushing the girl away as I did so. I didn’t want these people around me. There were too many gathering to see what all the commotion was about. I wanted to go back to my room. I wanted to be alone. I walked as quickly as I could back into the house, and away from all the others. I could still hear someone just outside the door to my room, their breathing loud as their back sat against the door. I ignored them, since I was safe now, and fell quickly back to sleep.
I awoke again like I had never fallen asleep at all, but this time my surroundings were familiar. I was back on the regular old cot I had grown on, surrounded by the wooden walls I knew so well. “It was just another memory,” I thought, “Another one that I can just forget.” My past life wasn’t important. The memories I had regained were of a boy so overcome with sadness and fear that nothing in life mattered. I refused to be like that boy. I had a new life, one where I had people I loved and goals of my own. A life where I was able to go outside.
Even though my legs still felt like broken glass, I jumped up from my bed and readied myself to go back out into the snowy forest. After I put on the large fur lined coat and pants, I stuck the two waterskins to each of my hips and lifted the heavy backpack over my shoulders. The added weight hurt, but I was growing used to the pain. I grabbed my bow, hurried out the door of my room, not letting myself think before I did so, and ran downstairs. My mother was there helping Father get ready for the hunt, and she frowned as she saw me coming down.
“No no no! You’re still hurt! No way am I letting you go out today!” she yelled.
“Mother, I’m fine!” I did a small jump to convince her, holding back a wince, “I really want to go out hunting. Father says my shot is getting better every day! I don’t want to slack off just because of a few bruises.”
I gave her my best begging face while she thought. Finally she let out a sigh and said that I could go. I smiled and gave her a hug, then ran out as quick as I could in case she changed her mind. Father said he needed to talk to her alone for a minute anyways, so I waited just outside the door for him. That’s when a familiar voice came from down the street.
“Sean!” I heard Hector yell, then saw him and Lennox running towards me, “I haven’t seen you in so long!”
I waved to the two of them, “Hey Hector. Lennox. How’s your training going?”
“It’s going awesome! I landed a hit on Blair a few days ago, and I’m sure I’ll be able to beat him in a duel soon!”
“Yeah, I bet you will.”
“I will! You should come with us today! I’ll win against him, then we can go play. Blair might be able to join us too, if he can convince Cade or Morrison to let him. Those two like you, so you can probably convince them.”
“Sorry you two, but I have more important things to do. We can hang out sometime in the future, okay? Tell Blair I said hi.”
“Oh. Yeah, okay Sean. I guess we’ll see you later,” Hector said, looking down at the ground and walking away.
“See you guys,” I responded, then looked down at my untied shoe.
“You’re mean,” a girl's voice came from my side.
I looked up and saw Lennox glaring at me like she wanted to hit me. Then she did hit me and ran away. I rubbed the spot on my arm that she slapped as I watched them run away. I felt bad, especially since Hector seemed so excited to show me how he’d improved, but I really did have more important things to do. I had a new spell to work on, I had to somehow find the reincarnated girl and talk to her, and I wanted to form a Soul Bind with a beast. That thought brought me back to the crystal owl. I had felt its power. The owl was much stronger than a Snow Skip. I wanted to befriend it, I wanted to learn from it, and I wanted to form a Soul Bind with it to share its power. All I had to do was catch it.