Spirit Animals: Life Of Tarik - Book 1

Hanzan

Tarik dreamt of Lishay that night. Her long dark hair, her kindness, her skin, her smile.

Her smile.

Tarik had missed Lishay so much. He started to run towards her. Lishay ran towards him, her hands reaching out to embrace him. Tarik's heart pounded with excitement and love as he got closer to her.

But she stopped.

Tarik slowed his pace, confused. Lishay didn't look happy any more, she looked angry.

"Die," she said through clenched teeth, readying her bow.

Tarik tried to speak but not a single word came out. He tried to scream, but that didn't work either. It felt as if his mouth had been stitched together just so he could be silent.

"Die! Die! Die!"

Lishay's words repeated over and over again for many seconds. Tarik was walking closer to her slowly, his heart breaking. He watched her, seeing if she would shoot him or not. Lishay pulled an arrow from her quiver, and aimed at Tarik, making him stop in his tracks.

Tarik stared at Lishay with disbelief and betrayal. Lishay stared back at him, not loosing eye contact. They held each other's eyes for a long moment before Lishay released an arrow. Tarik couldn't move, he couldn't escape the arrow heading for him. He squeezed his eyes shut, expecting his death.

A hiss came from in front of him.

Tarik opened his eyes, and was shocked to see Fang in front of him with an arrow in its side. The lion lashed its tail in fury, staring an icy glare at Lishay. Suddenly, Lishay turned to a gold ash in the dirt. Fang turned and faced Tarik calmly.

~~~

Tarik found himself lifting his head off of the ground, only to remember being in this dark, dirty, good-for-nothing cell. He also noticed Fang sitting in front of the door of his cell, staring at him with its tail curled around its paws.

"Why?" Tarik asked the cat. "Why did you do that?"

Fang growled, rose to its paws, and padded outside of the room. Tarik looked at Nara, who was asleep in the cell next to him. He had guessed it was the middle of the night, but he was wide awake. He thought about Lishay, Dorian, his brothers and LaReimaja.

LaReimaja.

He wondered how his sister was doing back in Nilo. He had hoped that she was having a better time than he was over here. Tarik touched the tattoo on his chest, wishing he could summon Lumeo for comfort.

Tarik jumped in fright at the sounds of shouting and chains being dragged. Nara awoke, oblivious to what was going on. They both sat in their cells like small children imagining a monster coming to get them. The shouts were getting closer and clearer.

"Just kill him!"

"Chain up his spirit animal!"

"Make him join us!"

A group of guards entered the room with a boy in chains who had a number of bruises and cuts on his body. They threw the boy into the cell next to Tarik, locking the door and taking the key. When the guards left, Nara and Tarik looked at him with curiosity and fear.

"Hi," Nara whispered.

The boy lay there, motionless.

"Is he dead?" She asked Tarik.

"He's probably unconscious," Tarik answered. "I can see him breathing."

The boy looked to be a bit older than Tarik, perhaps eighteen. Tarik could make out Zhongese features of him. He had black hair and tan skin, with a tiger spirit animal on the front of his arm.

Just like Lishay, Tarik thought.

The guards were arguing with one another as they marched passed the room.

"Is this who Lynk wanted?"

"We got the wrong guy!"

"I've never even seen him before!"

"His name is Hanzan, that's who we were looking for!"

"Hanzan?" Tarik whispered to the boy.

The boy did not move.