The Destined Protector (The Chronicles of Mistar - Book 1)

Eight · · · Ophryn (.2)

"So?" Mell asked, still waiting for an answer.

Ryn shook his head to get out of his daze. He cleared his throat before he said, "Yes. She was nice, but she could be a real jerk at times and a flower the next."

Mell laughed.

"What?" he said, nudging Mell in the shoulder.

Mell shook her head with laughter. "You called her a flower. I've never heard anybody say that."

Ryn shrugged his shoulders. "Well, it's a frequent thing we say in Pent. Flower is just another word for nice."

Mell nodded in understanding, but then paused when a look of confusion crossed her face. "Do you even have flowers in Pent? I mean, the country is underwater. Where's the sun?"

Ryn rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Of course we have flowers, same ones you guys do since we imported them from Casta. Our most abundant flower is the blue rose which lives well in the coral patches that are out of the water."

"What about the sunlight needed for them to grow?"

"The flowers, just like coral, get their sunlight from the sun but it only reaches the flowers if the water is clear enough, which is most of the time."

Mell bit her lip in confusion. "But what about the coral? You said that the Pent have patches of coral out of the water. How is that possible if coral needs water to survive?"

Ryn scratched the back of his head. Now this was a tough question. "I'm not certain," he started to say, "but I think our scientists made like a hybrid coral or something like that." Ryn winced like he would get punished if he was wrong.

"It sounds funny, but I guess it makes sense," Mell reassured him. "I'm sure it's not a big deal why you don't know how coral can live above water. If I was born in Pent, I would just assume it was a regular thing."

Mell was right. Ryn had never thought about it before. He just never thought that the Pents and Castans had different lifestyles, besides the fact that the Pent lived under the water and the Castans lived on land.

"Um, what is-" Ryn started to say before he cut off by a growl.

The heart in his chest started beating faster and he could feel the adrenaline pump faster through his body. He felt Mell's hand slip into his when the growl first sounded. He looked at Mell though his peripheral vision, due to the fact that he was scared to move, and saw horror mixed with a certain kind of calm on her face.

"What is that?" he asked through gritted teeth as quietly as he could while still freaking out.

"Wolfa," was Mell's only response.

Slowly, but surely, the terror had soon disappeared from her face and smile sprouted above her chin.

"Be calm," she said taking her hand away from Ryn's to smooth her jacket. "It's daylight, see. They don't feel threatened during the day, so if you see one them, something is seriously wrong."

Mell slowly turned around as Ryn begged, "No! Don't turn around!"

Mell faced the wolfa as she calmly said, "I already did. You turn around too. You need to see this."

Mell's words scared Ryn. As he turned around, he could see the scared, but calm look on her face. Finally, Ryn glanced at the beast.

The wolfa was large. Its head was in line with Ryn's and that was when the monster's back was hunched. The wolfa's teeth were a nasty yellow with dried blood making them look like a striped painting. The monster's fur was a light gray that had patches of brown where its hind legs, its bear legs, meant with the beast's torso. Its other legs were shorter and bonier so they looked more like a wolf but with the claws of a bear. Its tail was long like a wolf and a dirty gray color. The tail was so long that it wrapped around its front paws.

The hind end of the wolfa was big like a bear and covered in dark gray curly fur which was just begging to become brown. The intercepting colors almost looked like they were fighting to become either gray or brown. The front part of the wolfa looked most like a wolf. It was smaller than the hind end and had light gray fur. One of its ears was pointed and the other was threatening to become curved like a bear's ear, but it was clearly visible that it was pointed.

The beast's face resembled a wolf's face exactly for the teeth, which were the teeth of a bear so it looked as if they didn't fit right, which was probably accurate. The muzzle was the same as a wolf and Ryn could definitely see its jowls rear back as it growled. As the monster stepped forward, Ryn took notice of its eyes.

They were a crystal blue, almost clear like the color of water when the sun hits it just right. They almost made Ryn feel like he was back under the waves or deep in the depths of Gazar's snowy plains.

Ryn watched Mell walk forward. He was about to stop her, but she hit his hand away as she observed its side and sides most likely for cuts or a broken bone.

"Be careful," Ryn whispered, too scared to walk closer to the wolfa. He felt ashamed of being afraid of the beast when he was trained to kill these monsters. Now all he felt was pity for them even though they scared the heebie-jeebies out of him. He also felt ashamed that he wasn't protecting Mell. That was his pain reason for coming to Casta. It was to save her, but now the monster could snap its jaws and she would be dead.

Mell didn't respond. All she did was walk forward, her hand outstretched. As she got closer, the wolfa growled louder. Mell closed her eyes, her whole body shaking from fear even though there was a placid look on her face, as she touched the wolfa's fur. Instantly, the wolfa stopped growling as it loomed over Mell.

As Mell's arm stayed still, the wolfa moved it's head so Mell's palm was touching its forehead. The wolfa whined making Mell open her eyes. Ryn watched as Mell looked into the beast's eyes for about thirty seconds. It made him feel uncomfortable.

Then Mell retracted her hand and turned to look at Ryn. A smug look was stamped onto her face.

"She says you smell funny," Mell said.

Ryn wrinkled his nose in response as he took a step back from the wolfa. "Why would you say that?"

Mell walked forward but then turned as she dragged her hand along the wolfa's side. The wolfa's response was a pur of some sort.

"Did you know that humans can look through the eyes of a wolfa and communicate?" she asked. "Most people don't know that because they are too afraid of what the beast looks like to actually get to know how gentle they are. That's her name."

"What?" Ryn asked, still afraid of the wolfa.

"Cossandra," Mell soothed.

Ryn nodded it was a nice name. It was the Wanish word for gentle.