Spiritmal, The Deadly Glow

10. To the ruins

"Felix! Is that you?" A loud voice reverberated through the market place.

Felix immediately tensed up, looking behind him and seeming to have gotten eye contact with someone. He then got Topaz to transform. The lionblitz did so without question, Felix hopping onto its back instantly.

"Only a small walk around town right? Well, let's get going to the ruins then!" He rode away, leaving me confused.

"Wait, what just happened?" Star echoed my thoughts.

"I... I don't know. But I guess we should follow him..." I turned back to where he had been, realizing that I had lost him in the crowd.

"Excuse me," a middle-aged lady approached me. From her voice, I could tell that she was the very lady who called Felix out from the crowd. "Do you happen to know a boy named Felix?"

I thought about the question for a while.

"Yea, I do. He's that racer on television, isn't he?" I finally replied.

The lady grumbled, clearly expecting a better answer. I studied her closely. She had curly brown hair tied up in a ponytail and blue eyes that glimmered with an expression I couldn't quite place.

"Ok, let's cut to the chase. Have you seen Felix?"

Mentally, I asked Star what I should answer the lady.

"Oh whatever..." the bird replied. "Just don't give him away no matter what you do. I don't know if we should trust this lady."

Not knowing how to answer, I decided to just take Star's advice. "Why would the great racer be here?"

The woman opened and closed her mouth like that of a fish's. In the end, however, she decided not to rebut my statement, walking away soon after.

"What's up with that woman? Winter questioned, seeming a little annoyed by the exchange.

"Beats me." I replied. "But now... how are we going to find Felix?"

"Leave this to me." Star replied, transforming into her true form. She grinned at me, beckoning me onto her back.

I climbed onto her back alongside Winter, and she took off into the sky.

"Nice new form." I remarked, glancing at her sparking tail feathers. They were gleaming with stars, unlike the last time she reverted to her true form. Her wings also had newly colored feathers, dark blue ones with the galaxy seemingly painted on them. The few dark feathers she had hid in between her usual brightly-colored yellow ones.

"Thanks, it is a sign of my experience. Even though it means that my final evolution is soon..." She shuddered. "It just isn't fair... I don't want to evolve. Even if I had a hundred percent chance to survive the evolution, I want to retain the form of a Glowstaride. Not one of a Dawnmorix or a Phoenixight..." she sighed, slowing a bit. I petted her head, trying to calm her down. "We better get down to finding that stone then."

Star nodded.

"I spy with my little eye, a blob of dark blue hair." Winter announced.

I looked down to see that she was right. Felix and Topaz were just a few meters ahead of us.

"Dive down Star, till we're roughly the same level."