Spirit Animals: Life Of Tarik - Book 1

Disaster

They had made it to Trunswick. The sky was red and smoke filled the air. The blazing flames swallowed up the city like it was nothing. There were screams and cries coming from the city folk. Tarik looked at Dorian and Lishay, who looked just as terrified as he was.

"It's on fire!" cried Dorian as he looked at Lynk.
"Yes, I know, we will have to turn back", Lynk turned away from the burning city and started walking away.
"Wait!" Tarik said. Lynk stopped and looked at the young Greencloak. "You're just going to leave this city to burn?".
"Yes, there's nothing we can do right now", Lynk replied calmly.
"You're not even going to help these people? The Conquerors might even be here! They could take over Trunswick!" Lishay glared at Lynk furiously.
"What is there to take when the city turns to ash?!" snapped Lynk. "You're young, you wouldn't understand. There's nothing we can do", Lynk motioned for them to follow him. Tarik couldn't believe the senior Greencloak's words. Did he even care that Trunswick was burning? Dorian slowly walked over to Lynk, looking back at the blazing city. Lishay and Tarik followed him, still terrified of what they saw. Within a few heartbeats, Lynk lead them back to Greenhaven.

"What?!" snapped Olvan. "Trunswick was on fire and you did nothing about it?!"
Lynk nodded, "Trunswick was already gone when we got there, people were dead, and if we went in there the Conquerors would have captured us, or worse, killed us". Olvan stared at him for a long moment, then he turned away. "Sir?" Lynk began.
"Get out of here, all of you", Olvan's gaze held Tarik's. Tarik stared back, unaware what the great leader was thinking of.
"But sir, what should I do with these Greencloaks?"
"Train them! Do whatever you want with them! I need time to process all of this..." Olvan pushed all of them out except for Tarik and closed the door. Tarik was confused. Why did he have to stay in here?
"Tarik", Olvan began.
"Y-Yes sir?"
"Two children came to Greenhaven last night. They were from Nilo, and they said that they were looking for you. The youngest one was named Marlo, and the other Ahmar", Olvan eyed him closely.
"Oh! Marlo is my brother and-" Olvan held up a hand to silence him.
"I know that you are related to him", Olvan said, "but they didn't come here for a family reunion".
"Why were they here?" he asked the leader.
"I don't know, they just looked troubled. I told them you were doing a mission and to come back another time". Tarik nodded, a little disappointed. When was the next time they would come back? Was there even going to be "another time"?
"Okay", Tarik managed to say. After being dismissed, Tarik pushed open the door and made his way to the Great Hall. It was quite a nice place, even when the moon was starting to rise, the Hall was still lit up as if it was a beautiful sunny day.
"Go to bed", said a voice behind him. Tarik turned to see a man covered in tattoos with brown hair. "It's late".
"What time is it?" Tarik asked the man.
"Time for you to go to bed", replied the man. Tarik didn't bother to argue, he did what he was told and went to his room. Dorian was already snuggled up in his bed, asleep. Tarik layed down and closed his eyes. I didn't even have dinner! He thought. As images of the blazing city, Trunswick, clouded his mind, Tarik fell asleep.

Tarik was running with Dorian and Lishay through Trunswick, smoke filled their lungs, but they were still trying to find a survivor. A cry of help came from the distance. The young Greencloaks ran to where the sound came from, until they found a wounded child on the ground, gasping for air.
He probably breathed in too much smoke... thought Tarik. As the Greencloaks were about to help the child, a hiss sounded from behind them. Tarik turned around, a mountain lion lashing it's tail from side to side stood infront of him, it's teeth bared. It was Lynk's spirit animal.
"Tarik!" Lishay cried out. But before Tarik could reply, the mountain lion lunged at him, ripping and tearing his own flesh. Tarik gasped and tried to push the giant cat off of him but he was useless compared to the animal. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lynk, staring down at him with a smile on his face. Then he held up a dead Ricko.
No! Tarik wanted to scream, but he couldn't speak. The mountain lion had sunk it's teeth into Tarik's neck, and then he fell into a dizzying blackness.