Onryx

Chapter 3

'An elf? Here??' I thought while glancing at Ivaylo, both our tails twitching. We stood there, expecting a fight or more guards. Instead, the elf introduced himself. "Hello dear travelers. Thank you for protecting the felines.my name is Ricodicus, but u may call me Rico." "How do we know you are telling the truth?" I sharply asked while noticing the sun had fully risen, making me nervous. "I don't know, but you look rather fine, my dear, even with all the scratches. I have never seen one like you before" He said, trying to walk around me to get a better look of me, but I stared at him, letting him know I didn't like that. As we went back to stand in front of us, he started to explain why he was on this side of the wall. "I used to live in Onryx. It is such a beautiful city. In my years of youth I was quite the adventurer myself. One day my friends and I found a hole in the wall, through we slipped into the forest to gather extra ordinary plants for our potions. We made sure the guards wouldn't find it. But one evening, as I came back from a nother trip, the whole was covered, which meant I couldn't go back. I tried to convince the guards to let me in but they just laughed. So I went deeper into the forest and after a few days I found this little village. I've been taking care of it ever since. On side note, I learned about potions in school and from my dad, one of the best potion brewers of them all" Ivaylo then told him we would go to a nearby waterfall to wash off and see if we would let him take a look at the potions I brought.

So off we went, following a narrow path to a beautiful waterfall with clear sparkling water. Behind the waterfall was also a small cave, in which we would stay for the rest of the day. As we were washing ourselves, my head started to hurt like crazy. I made sure Ivaylo didn't notice, for I didn't want him to worry about me. Pain shot through my body, as I quickly went into the cave. I felt my bones be broken into pieces, as I clenched my teeth together and tried not to scream. Panic struck me, as I realized I was transforming. Burning tears rolled down my widened eyes. I fell onto my knees and started to blackout. "Mira!" Ivaylo yelled, as the world around me turned black.

Once I woke up, I realized the sun was already on its way down and I was alone. 'Dam it! Its already noon!' I thought while standing up. Dizziness got the best of me, forcing me to sit down on a cold rock. I held my head with my hands, for my paws where now replaced with these. My body had gotten smaller, and my wings were only little stubs on my back. My hind legs where now capable of walking, but my tails where just as fluffy and long as before. Tears rolled down my snout, as I held my hands over my eyes. "Mira, thank god you're up. Are you ok?" Ivaylo asked as he had returned with a dead turkey. "Don't look at me!" I yelled, embarrassed about the way I looked and quickly turning my back towards him. I pulled in my knees and hugged them, while my tails wrapped around me.

Ivaylo sat down by the entrance to the cave, looking into the distance, by a part where the waterfall didn't cover the cave entrance. "I didn't know these transformations where that painful. I always thought you were being dramatic when you were little. I still don't get why you hate this form so much. You are still very beautiful." He thoughtfully said while slowly making a fire to cook the turkey. Frustrated but hungry, I decided to go sit next to him and leaned on his shoulder. "Sigh. This form makes me feel weak. The adults and kids used to make fun of me when we still lived in a village. I also was beaten up a lot by the slightly older ones, when I was in this form. It hurt, you know? I can't fly and my claws are gone. I usually faint while transforming and I get human features. Humans don't even exist! They are just made up..." I sobbed while pulling my knees in and holding them close. "I'd say you look just as stunning in this form as in your normal one." He replied, holding the turkey over the fire. "just so you know, I gave Rico the potions, as I think we can trust him. One of them was really to destone beings so the four felines have been given it and are now resting. He will give the rest of them back tomorrow, since he needs to study them a bit more to know what they do." 

Silently I watched as the fire crackled, as he handed me a turkey leg. We sat in silence as I munched on the turkey. Once I was almost finished, Ivaylo stood up, stretched and asked "How long do you stay in this form again?" "sometimes a few hours and sometimes a few days." Replying as I went to wash my hands where the water wasn't falling. "oh ok. Then we'll see when we keep going tomorrow. Also, before I go back to the village to make sure we have all we need, I wanted to tell you this. Humans aren't as much of a myth as you think" He grinned as he ran off on all four paws. "Wait, what?" I yelled after him, but of course he was long gone. "Fine then. So be it."

I went back into the cave and sat down. I picked up my bag and looked through the things I had picked up on the way here. A few rare orgin tree branches, some purple dillac flowers and a coin. As I held the coin in my hands, I realized that there was a duck on one side and a nother creature I couldn't identify on the other. I put back the coin, took out my voice recorder, and starred at it for a while. 'Maybe Vay is right. Maybe humans do exist.' A chilly wind blew through the cave, giving me the chills. Then I made sure the fire was out, for I didn't want to start a forest fire. While doing so, I looked at the stars that had slowly started to show up. 'I wonder what I can do in this form. Maybe it isnt that bad. Ugh!' I held my head tightly as pain decided to creep through my head. I quickly stumbled back into the cave. I screamed in agony, as my wings started to sprout through my skin, pulling and ripping it in places. I fell to the ground, as my bones broke down, getting ready to reform to hold up my bigger body. My fingers grew shorter as they slowly turned back into paws, screaming just before I blacked out again.

I woke up a while later and saw Ivaylo sleeping next to me. This made me relax and I could go to sleep. The next time I woke up, the sun was starting to rise and I had my normal body back. Ivaylo was swimming in the river and greeted me with a playful splash. I joined him and enjoyed the fresh water. After a while we decided to go back to the village and see what Rico knew about the potions. He then informed us that one was a healing potion, a curse reversing, a poison and two strengths potions. Ivaylo and I decided to leave the potions here at the village and made sure we took a lot of apricot thriller and jerky with us. We said our goodbyes and left in a good mood. Slowly we made our way closer to the enchanted part of the forest. A part that could be pretty but also quite dangerous. Most creatures avoid this place, for it makes one hallucinate and there are some dangerous plants hidden in them. Maybe even a few creatures we didn't know about. Well, these things didn't bother us at the moment, for we had a long journey in front of us, and we felt unbeatable.