The Morning Song (Complete)

2 - The Ruins

When Zubin and I stepped off the intergalactic shuttle with six guards surrounding us, we saw that the small royal city was in ruins, the destruction palpable. Houses were missing roofs or walls, while fountains and statues were smashed. The debris was everywhere.

We had been told and saw some footage of the dinosaur-like creature that did this. We were just unsure as to where it was now. It had disappeared as it walked behind a destroyed structure, vanishing from sight. Its size should have never allowed that, so they need my sensitive nose to find it.

No growls came from me as the scent in the air was not an animal I recognized. I nudged Zubin's hair as I spoke. "I smell something and can lead you to it."

Zubin moved his hand to his shoulder so I could step off and onto his wrist.

"Go on. Find it," he said.

I flew around the immediate area, noticing the scent was everywhere. As I let my nose do its thing, I saw several statues left intact while the others around them were utterly crushed. I dove down to one and noticed the scent was overwhelming as if the animal had rubbed itself against it.

I immediately flew to another and then another. They all had the same overpowering smell. Before I could send my thoughts to him, Zubin jumped to the same conclusion I did.

"All the statues of the young prince were not damaged," Zubin said aloud to the others. "The Elder said the prince went missing several hours before the giant animal attacked. Could this thing be his pet? It may explain the reaction of destroying everything except his statues."

I didn't wait for an answer but circled the area's outskirts, looking for the escape path. There wasn't one.

It's still here.

My protective nature kicked in, and I needed to find this thing before it went after my handler and friend. The animal's scent is potent in one area, by the prince's stone quarters. I had skipped it earlier as the destruction had not touched it. Now I was going in closer to locate where it had gone.

Behind a small stone wall, I found a borough going into the ground. I thought it was too small to house such an animal, but the scent told me differently. I looked up as Zubin came up behind me. I called out a warning with chirps and whistles while talking through the mindlink.

"Please do not approach. This is its home, even though I can't imagine it getting through that opening."

"...Patark...where are..."

My head turned suddenly, and my ears perked up as I heard the soft sounds and felt the emotion behind those words. This animal is like us! It can think and talk through a mindlink. I focused hard and directed my speech into the hole in the ground.

"Hello? I'm Jenna. Can you come out so we can talk?" I asked gently.

"What?! How?!" I heard movement and knew the thing was coming closer to the surface. "How are you talking to me? Only Patark could ever hear me!"

"I have the same power. What's your name?" I asked as I relayed the entire conversation to Zubin.

"Pashi. I heard the guards say Patark went missing after breakfast. He usually came to see me then, but he never showed up. How could they let something happen to him?! It's their fault!"

I could feel his young age, along with the pain of losing his only friend. It wasn't too hard to realize why he lashed out. He loves Patark.

"Can you come out? I won't harm you unless you attack," I told him.

"I..I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have transformed. Patark told me to never... But...I'm scared for him and angry. Where is he?!"

As I watched, a small creature resembling an old Earth's red panda emerged from the ground.

"That is the prince's pet. He is in the picture sent around to identify the prince." The guard pulled it up on his wrist com, and a hologram of the two appeared. I turned back to the creature with my next thought.

"Can you smell the prince and track him by scent?"

His head perked up, and I watched as he sniffed the air. "I think so."

Knowing we had company, I smelled the air and told Pashi to lead the way. The guards parted as we both headed in the direction of the main doors to the house.

"Is this his scent?" I asked as I sent the smell along with my question.

"Yes! Let's follow the newest trail. It's been hours, but I can still smell it."

We came to a wall with no door within minutes, but the scent went through it, not around. Both of us sniffed the floor before scratching the wall. I turned to Zubin. "It's like he walked right through."

"That's impossible," an older Kymari said, pulling out a tablet. After a touch of a few buttons, the entire panel slid aside, revealing an empty room with the young prince curled up on the floor. Before anyone could move, Pashi darted in and scrambled around the young boy in joy.

The feelings he unknowingly shared with me rivaled the joy of the Morning Song. I sat down and allowed them to flow over me. It was a euphoric feeling I knew well.

"Pashi!" Prince Patark hugged his friend tight as he turned to the others. "I saw the room and was curious, not realizing I would get stuck there. There was no lever on this side to open it." He had directed his speech to the one with the tablet.

"It is here." The Kymari stated plainly as he touched an area with his foot. The wall started to move back into place but stopped as others were in the way of it closing.

"I will announce that you have been found safe." He turned to Zubin as he asked his next question. "Do you find the animal that destroyed the city?"

Zubin turned to the young prince, then blatantly looked at Pashi with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, no. Pashi! What did you do?!" The tone was not very harsh, and the little creature looked contrite.

"No one died, and everything can be fixed." Zubin told Prince Patark.

The royal heir looked down at the animal he was holding and shook his head.

"We will work on this..."

********

Prompt 2:

Your character arrives in the ruins of a city. This city has once been the crown jewel of the empire, but something or someone had reduced it to ash. They notice the only statues still standing are of the Kingdom's youngest prince.

(1090/2138 words)