REFLECTED SPIRITS

  Refitwa’s eyes were closed. But the gentle pull of the spirits guided her into the still depths of the Reflected Spirits pool. The water around her did not place any pressure on her as she graciously moved down, feeling more and more like a spirit as she did so. Not until she had felt the soft tap of her feet on a stable landing did she open her eyes.
  The world that laid in front of her was lit by an unknown sourced light. It was a low silvery coloured glow, that gave the feeling of being in a dream. It continuously swayed, every now and again stopping, as if an image was becoming clear, but then swept away again by the demands of time. The atmosphere around her, was not that of water, but a gentle soothing liquid like silk, that could do more satisfaction than air. The ground was a mist of black, like a large lake of fog on the ground, only it had a soft touch to it and sprayed up a little of its black mist, like sand being trodden on underwater.
  The inhabitants of the world curiously looked round at her, all their eyes filled with a veil of knowing, but each still as independent as life was from death. They were all in Wolvian shapes, but some looked as though they had acquired new features as the years had surpassed. They were a lot cleaner than what the natural outside world would allow them, and from Refitwa’s judgement, she could see that what laid in front of her was not used to having such company as strange as herself.
  It had been a while since she had visited this place. It had grown more accustom to being untouched and unseen. But she had more pressing matters than to just be looked at.
  A kingly looking Wolve walked up to her. His long golden coat moved graciously through the silky, liquidated air. His paws strongly touched the ground, but without a sound to be heard. He stood broad and taller than Refitwa. The black mist from the ground swirled around him in exotic patterns as he halted in front of her. He stood proud, head high, front paws together, back legs stretched out to heighten his frontal stance and tail low with a slight curve upwards.
  Refitwa was impressed at such majesty. She lowered her head and bent herself into a bow, spreading her wings slightly as well to show as much grace as she could muster.
  “Rise dear Wolvian. It has been a long time since we have seen any of your gracious kind here.” A low but strong voice rumbled from his kingly chest. “What presses you to come hither to the world of the Reflected?”
  “My honourable Mythord,” she said as she rose, her voice was as tender as the early bloom of a blossom, reaching into the hearts of any creature that was within hearing range of her, “I have come because of a serious matter upon the Wolvian Land. I have seen what would tear apart the hearts of the most impenetrable; a destruction of what was once most pure in its forms. And I also fear what has done the destruction, has also awoken what was once considered the most fearful creatures of existence. I have not seen one for myself, but I do not need eyes to know. I have felt in my wings on the wind as I fly, I can feel it in the ground with my paws, I can hear it’s terror being shaken through the trees. I do not know what to do.
  I have come here to seek counsel from your experienced eyes and harden mind.” With that she gazed into the eyes of the Mythord, the wisest Guider of the Reflected world, like a steward in place of a king.
  His expression hardened from the hearing of this news. A moment silence passed between them and a few other of the inhabitants had come around to listen.
  “If what you speak of is true, then I honestly myself do not know what guidance I can give you. You speak of the destruction of Ruvellentia, do you not? And the creature with the name that shall never be spoken as long as I live, but otherwise known to the Wolvians as the simple name of the Death Wolve?” His jaw became more firm after he spoke. Refitwa could see a little fear being sparked in his eyes, as if some horrible memory was being brought back to the present.
  “I do. But if I cannot seek aid from yourself, where else can I go? I cannot stay here, for yourself know to well that if Mann discovered the pool the creature could also…”
  “Enough.” He said to cut her off. His voice was deep, resigned but still had the resonating sound of power. “No more shall be spoken of future fate. The pressing matters of the present should be dealt with first. Come with me and we shall talk about all that has occurred from the beginning to the present.” With that he turned and led her across the dark land, his powerful stride throwing swirls of black into his wake. Refitwa followed on his left side, but slightly further back so that they were not shoulder to shoulder. A lot of curious eyes followed them both, and with it a lot of curious paws; for in the land of the Reflected, each Wolvian could do as they willed.

    The three of them had ran against the cliff sides face for more than half the day. It was only until the sun was half-way into the west that they finally reached the joining of the Belltrude and Shamrok.
  Icalave slowed down before rounding the corner. On the other side there was a substantial amount of shade which he great appreciated, and from the look on the other two’s faces, they did to when they also rounded the corner.
  “Give us a break for a minute or two, Icalave. We’ve done nothing but run for nearly half the day.” Arssneq puffed. Rossmend looked around at Icalave with a tired face before going to the Belltrude River and having a drink. Indeed Icalave knew that they had been running in the sun most of the day, but a large cloud coverage was drawing up from the south. He followed them to the River side as both of them were there now, having nice cool and refreshing drinks.
  Once they were all refreshed Icalave started off east down the side of the Belltrude. The cliff was still high on the side but about 30 yards ahead he could see it starting to slope downwards. The others followed. Their muscles ached but they continued to push on, showing Icalave no signs of weakness.
  Icalave sniffed the air, checking every so often for any unfamiliar smells, but could only smell nothing but unfamiliar smells. He thought this strange. Even the rocks smelt different. The earth, the air, the grass, but not the trees, as they’re weren’t any on this side of the river.
  They continued to walk along, as Icalave had decided that they’d had enough of running for today. The slope slowly moved further downwards, and it wasn’t long before Icalave could soon reach the top just by jumping.
  The others followed him up and they came across a flat bit of land with pasteurised grass. In the near distance there were four hills rising, each spread out over a vast distance. They weren’t incredibly high, but high enough to let anyone on top of them see for a good distance. There were a lot of brown and reddish looking rocks poking out of the hills, each varying in size, but most commonly about the size of Icalave and his companions. The grass grew more sullen looking as it got further up the hills and beyond it was where Icalave was seeking his answers.
  “We are very close now,” Icalave whispered, not sure if anything could be listening even though they were out in the open again, “If any one of you wishes to turn back, I advise you to consider it now. I don’t think there will be another chance for a while.”
  “We are with you every step of the way, Icalave.” Replied Arssneq in a bold voice. Rossmend silently agreed with a firm nod of his head.
  “Alright. First I need to get up on top of that hill there,” he pointed his nose in the direction of the hill, the sun cast an eerie shadow off to its eastern side through the rocks, “ so I can see which direction we must head in next.”
  “Where exactly are we trying to get?” Rossmend asked with an annoyed tone.
  “To wherever we can get answers, and when I am satisfied with the answers that I have gotten.” Icalave took no hint of the rudeness. He just continued on as he normally would. “ But I think we should wait ‘til nightfall before we move on. To stand on that hill in broad daylight could prove fatal. Take time to rest now. There will be no resting beyond this point unless we are lucky enough to come across a well hidden place among the heavy colonised land of Mann.” Arssneq went next to a huge boulder that was sticking out of the ground and provided a shade well enough against the blaring sun. Rossmend followed and they both sat to rest.
  “I will take first watch,” stated Icalave, “When the sun hits the western land I will wake Rossmend next, then he will wake Arssneq when the stars awake. Arssneq, you know when it is the exact middle of the night, do you not?”
  “Yes I do.” He clearly answered back, a proud sound was in his voice.
  “Then we have an agreement then?” Icalave asked them both.
  “Yes.”
  “I suppose.” Rossmend was already half asleep. Icalave set himself into a spot where he could keep an eye on most of his surroundings, facing south. He knew there was a less likely chance of having something attack from the north from the river, so decided he would only need to check every so often. With that, the other two were fast asleep, and he was sitting as still as a rock. So out of place he looked from this land with its lush colours of red and greens, that he looked like a white light that had been placed in the middle of the dark.
  He watched the sun go down, as he familiarised himself with the new surrounding smells. Then woke Rossmend up when the sun hit the western horizon. Rossmend wasn’t to happy but reluctantly placed himself as their chief protector whilst they became the most venerable as they slept.  

  Icalave was startled from his sleep as Rossmend shook him vigorously.  He became fully awake when he noticed that someone else was shaking Arssneq awake as Rossmend was shaking him. Confusion immediately took his face and mind. It wasn’t quite Arssneq’s turn for watch yet, but the emergence of Rossmend’s abrupt wake up call told him something was horribly wrong. With a great heave, he got himself up. There were four white figures including himself, and a new sickly sweet scent on the air.
  Icalave was taken aback when something smaller than himself clung to his left side. He looked down to see what it was, but nothing was there save a few purple markings that were insanely hard to see against the black ground.
  “They’re coming!” said a small petrified voice from the left side of Icalave where the black abyss clung to him.