Phantoms: Book of Eel, Book 2

By Samuel Kelsey

The world for the group has been flipped before their very eyes.

After a shocking reveal from Griffon and White, the group discovers that the world around them is nothing like they could have imagined. An entire second side of the world, filled with magic, bizarre creatures and quite literal manifestations of evil have remained hidden before their very eyes. But this barrier between the human and magic world isn't just a powerful border.

It's also the root of the entire Phantom outbreak that's afflicted the world.

But there isn't much time to dwell on this fact. The Eels, the vicious gang that's threatened the group on their travels, is expanding fast. And they're moving in on the little farmstead they've been calling their home. Even with magic now on their side, fighting off this group of brutes will be near impossible. However, a pair of strangers connected to the magical world might have the information they need to have a chance. Not only that, they may know just what to do to figure out what's causing the Phantom outbreak in the first place.

Now Griffon and the others must prepare themselves for the fight of their lives. Nothing about the Phantoms could have prepared them for facing the Eels head-on before the gang completely destroys them. But maybe something in the world of meisurs can...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638817758

Book preview

Prologue

In the thick of the woods, two figures walk through the shade from the trees. One wears all white, while the other dons black. Curious creatures turn their heads at the duo, pushing back their young and lighting the area around them with a glow. The one in black looks at them as they pass, making the creatures duck back into the shadows.

Having fun scaring off the locals? the one in white asks in a light tone. The one in black shakes their head, continuing their path forward. The one in white chuckles quietly.

The one in black stops, bringing their head up. The one in white notices, looking around for any possible signs of danger.

What is it? they ask, weapon drawn. Are there Phantoms? Beasts?

Someone has just used a large amount of magic, and they’re somewhere close by.

The one in white stops immediately, feeling the air. The one in black is right; a large amount of magic is tingling in the air. The creatures still near them notices too, looking in one direction. The one in white presumes it’s where the magic came from.

It must have come from that way, the one in white says, pointing the way the creatures face. The one in black follows his finger and nods.

You’re right. I can feel it moving from that direction.

What could’ve even caused an amount of magic like that?

I’m not certain, but I can tell it only came from one spell.

The one in white looks at their companion in exasperation. "One spell? How could that even be possible?!"

There are a few spells that contain power like this. The problem is I cannot tell which one.

Oh…so are we going to investigate?

The one in black turns around. Why should we?

Because there are other meisurs in the area. It’s the first sign we’ve had that the meisurs are even alive in this state.

The one in black narrows their eyes, then sighs. I suppose you’re correct. We’ll stop by there briefly and check out their camp. Maybe they know a faster way to the city.

Great! It’ll be good to know the meisurs are still alive.

With that, the two walk in the direction of the magic. The creatures duck down again as they start moving. The one in white notices the nervousness and turns to their companion.

I need to ask you something.

The one in black turns around. Hm?

Why are they afraid of you?

The one in black doesn’t respond at first, instead turning back forward. There is so much you do not know.

With that, the one in black continues forward while the one in white uneasily follows behind. The creatures watch them leave, hidden and alert.

They pray that whoever the two found would be safe.

PART 4

A New World to Discover

Violet

Wow.

You can feel the hope shattering in each and every person in the group.

Everyone, including me, is in utter disbelief in what Griffon just said. The cure…the cure, apparently, is not real. It was some weird bending of reality that was…that was just a way to make Theo not being infected make sense. That’s…wow, that one thing alone is a lot to take in.

I’m sorry, Griffon says. "I’m sorry I dragged you all into this. I had to do it though. If the Reflector kept up, with the Eels attacking us, it’s possible…it’s possible the Reflector could’ve shown people here getting killed. It would’ve had to for me and White’s combat to make sense and not show off magic. I… I didn’t want to see that, watch everyone get tortured by something that isn’t real. I’m… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…"

Oh. I didn’t…think that was how the Reflector works. Griffon…he only wanted to protect us, he didn’t want to see us get hurt by it. That’s…really great actually. I can tell just by looking at him that doing this wasn’t exactly easy for him. How long has he been thinking about this? How much has he been thinking about this?

Griffon, Azizi says. I understand why you are upset about this. I know how big of a revelation this is, and I know some of us are going to need time to adjust to this new idea, especially with the…information it provided. But…you trusted us with something you say most humans should never know about. You knew what this would do, yet you pushed through knowing it would really keep us safe. That takes a lot of strength, especially for a single person.

Griffon looks away. It seems like he wasn’t expecting such a positive reaction to all this. That’s…that’s really sad, actually.

If you were to ask me, Martha says, stepping forward. "I’d say this is pretty damn cool. I mean, you get to use magic, and shit, you’ve been protecting us with it and from it. That’s probably the best thing you could’ve done."

More people step forward to thank Griffon, including me. I’m guessing whoever has bad stuff to say is hanging back. Good, he doesn’t need it. This is already enough for him.

Faith. Thank you for wanting to keep us safe. I know it wasn’t easy to tell us this, so thank you.

Theo. "I know it makes sense to you for us to be angry, especially from me, but we’re not. Thank you. I know now I won’t be just some test subject. This is…so unbelievably relieving."

Me. If you think we’d hate you for this, you’re wrong. You want to protect us, even though you knew we’d know the truth. You were just trying to help us, thank you.

More people give him confidence boosters. Griffon seems overwhelmed by the positive reactions and tries hiding his face. White laughs and pulls his arms down.

Griffon, Azizi says, making Griffon turn to him. I have a question myself. All of this…meisur magic. With you being a ‘Cursed One’ and White being a ‘Reaver.’ What is the purpose of it? Why do meisurs exist? What is it they protect in the ‘magic world’?

Griffon puts on a smile. I’m glad you asked. This is my favorite part of the world of meisurs. Come on, everyone follow me.

Griffon steps down from the deck, walking through the crowd and down the hill. Everyone follows him, slightly confused by the lack of explanation. We stop right on the edge of the woods. Griffon stares out into the trees, completely concentrated.

It’s okay! he calls out. You can come out now! They aren’t here to harm you.

Almost instantly, a head pops out from a bush. It’s a fox…thing. It looks like a fox, but it’s glowing and as big as a large dog, with white fur on its tail and paws. And it has some sort of golden ring in the middle of its forehead. It takes a cautious step out, then another, before slowly walking up to Griffon. He kneels down and puts his forehead against the creature’s.

It’s okay, he says. You’re safe with them. I wouldn’t put you in harm’s way.

The creature backs up and nods (yes, nods) and turns back to the woods. It lets out a loud howl, and soon more creatures like it begin appearing. Some are different sizes, so there’s a mix of adults and puppies. The puppies seem to walk up faster than the adults, more excited than their parents. One bounds up right to me and sits right in front of my legs. I squat down and pet it on the head, and it makes a sound that I guess means it’s happy.

What in the sweet hell are these things? Rachel asks, backing away from one of the creatures that sat down close to her.

They are Viclanes, White says. Vi-claw-ney. A species of spirit creatures that control the small animal population. They keep the number of rabbits, squirrels, mice, and other small animals at an even level.

Faith looks up. Spirit creatures?

Yes, spirit creatures, Griffon says. I look at him and nearly jump. I already forgot how that dark magic made him look without the bandage. They’re like animals with strong magic properties. They control everything that happens in nature. Some monitor plants, others maintain water sources. These guys right here control small animal population. And we meisurs are in charge of protecting them.

Protect them? Josh asks, currently having his sleeve chewed off by a Viclane pup. Protect them from what?

Griffon’s expression seems to darken at the question. Corruption beasts. Creatures made out of pure evil, formed when others commit evil actions.

Evil actions? Aeisha asks.

Anything done to solely harm the Earth and its inhabitants, White explains. Extreme pollution, killing wild animals in any way other than food and self-defense, slaughtering farm animals in inhumane ways, hurting people in ways other than self-defense, ruining other people’s lives out of greed. Anything that is selfish and hurts others to benefit the committer creates corruption, which is what forms the beasts.

We’ve…actually ran into corruption beasts before. While we were out on the road.

Max lets out a quiet gasp. You mean…back at the bunker…?

Griffon nods. Yes, those were corruption beasts. While you viewed them at panthers, they were really a species of corruption beasts called Yyims. The Reflector disguised them as panthers as they do share quite a resemblance, and wild panthers nowadays wouldn’t be that uncommon. Anyway, they only have a motivation to kill animals. Not for needs either, solely for sport. One of the animals they hunt are Viclanes.

As if to agree, the Viclane that first walked up to Griffon let out a low growl. I’m guessing it’s like the leader of this group of them. Griffon nods to the lead Viclane and pets it behind the ear. It lets out a low hum.

The rustling of a bush makes everyone look out into the woods again. From behind a tree another creature walks out. I’m guessing it’s another spirit creature, because it does not look like a normal animal. It looks like a deer, except it’s completely covered all over in different plants. It has bark and moss growing on its back, leaves and flowers spurting from tree-branch-like antlers. It looks over with milky white eyes. Is it blind?

The Viclane turns and howls toward it. At first I’m afraid the Viclanes are gonna try and attack it, but none of the Viclanes move. Half of them aren’t even looking at it. The new creature takes a cautious step out, and then slowly trots over in front of Griffon. Griffon connects his forehead with it’s the same way he did with the Viclane. The new creature nods and turns back lets out a loud bleat, and soon more creatures like it pop out. They all come out slower than the Viclanes did, more cautious.

When the reach the bulk of us, they begin sniffing different people. One sniffs David, one that looks almost like a teen, and sits its face into the crook of his neck. David just stays there, like he’s afraid if he moves he’ll end up hurting it.

These are Elkms, Griffon explains. Spirit creatures that control and maintain the growth of most plants. Trees, flowers, bushes, all of that.

And that, White says, pointing out into the woods. Is a Sorbek.

As if on cue a new kind of spirit creature comes out. This one looks more like an alligator with smooth, blue skin and a very round head and mouth. It also had pretty long legs, almost like a dog’s. Everyone becomes a bit nervous when it pops out, but it looks more scared of us. Griffon lets out a soft laugh seeing everyone’s worried look.

It’s okay. They don’t harm humans. No spirit creature does. Griffon turns back to face the Sorbek and signals for it to approach. It perks up and bounds over, along with a few more that appear from the underbrush. One walks straight up to Susie and sniffs her curiously. Then it flops down right onto her feet. Susie squats down and cautiously puts a hand on the Sorbek’s back and starts petting it. The Sorbek lets out some sort of purr.

I’m guessing they’re in charge of bodies of water, Susie says, looking happy from the Sorbek’s reaction.

Correct, White says. They keep rivers and streams moving, and clean out waste and excess plants from lakes or ponds.

Any more creatures we should know about? Azizi asks, a Viclane lying in his lap.

Two more, Griffon says. That should cover the main ones in this region.

This region?

Never mind. We’ll be here for a month if I go into all of that. Anyhow… Griffon makes two weird calls, one sounding like croaking and the other sounding like chattering. Almost instantly, a large winged reptile…thing with a round body and head and purple fluff around its skinny neck drops down from the trees and next to Griffon. It makes a croaking sound similar to his call, and he pets it on the snout. It nods and walks around, observing everyone. It finally settles on Martha. As in it literally jumps on her, knocks her to the ground, and lies on top of her. Martha looks shocked at first, and then laughs at how playful it’s being.

A few more drop down, including a few babies, before Griffon explains what they are.

These are Hooplars. They’re in charge of the local winds, making gusts and breezes when needed. And despite the large size, they’re actually quite nimble and can fly through tight areas with ease.

I laugh to myself thinking about these Hooplars, which are big enough for the adults to ride; swooping between trees and buildings like it’s nothing. In response to the laughter a baby Hooplar jumps around me in excitement.

I look back to Griffon and see what must be the last creature he wants to show us appear on his shoulder. It’s probably the most normal looking out of all the creatures; it looks just like a normal squirrel, except it’s vibrantly colored. Like, this thing has the brightest shades of orange and purple I’ve ever seen. Griffon holds his hand up near it, and it happily climbs into it, Griffon bringing the squirrel creature close to the ground, letting the creature hop down.

Last, and certainly not least, this is a Klip. They’re job is probably the most unique. They’re in charge of fruit specifically. They make sure they grow and ripen properly, and that there isn’t an overgrowth or undergrowth of it. They’re kinda like workers for Elkms, getting to places they can’t reach with themselves or magic.

The Klip rubs its nose with its front legs, and sprints directly to Theo and Gabe (who have literally become the best couple in existence by the way). More Klips dart out from the bushes and show us that apparently no two have the exact same color. Seriously, they’re all different shades of red, yellow, blue, green, pink, gray, some even have white, black, and brown. They all head toward Gabe and Theo and start climbing up them. Everyone laughs when they end up becoming the nest of about thirty Klips, some even hiding in Gabe’s jacket.

So, yeah. Those are the main spirit creatures you’ll probably be seeing around, Griffon says. And it’s me, White, and all the other meisurs of the world’s job to keep them safe and to fight back against corruption beasts. I’m… I’m glad I could share this with you all. You have no idea how it felt knowing all this and keeping it from people I trust so much. I…thank you, for understanding and for listening to me ramble about this.

More people ask Griffon and White about all this. What kind of corruption beasts are there? Are you born as a meisur? How many spirit creatures are there in existence? How many types of meisurs are there? Is your type of meisur the common one? White, do you know how many Reavers there are? Do you know any other Reavers? Just a few of the questions that are being asked. Griffon and White seemed more than happy to answer them. Well, White seemed a bit vague on all the Reaver questions. Must be a touchy subject for her.

Anyone who isn’t asking questions is busy meeting all the spirit creatures. Brianne’s family seems to be bonding well with an Elkm and its fawn. Andrew is holding what looks like a nearly newborn Sorbek in his arms for dear life, while who I’m guessing is the mother sits next to him. I think she has a smile on her face. She looks really amused by how worried Andrew is, I can tell that much. And of course, Theo and Gabe are still acting as homes for Klips, but now I think the amount on them has doubled. Seriously, they need to slow down their relationship. They just got together about an hour ago and they already have sixty kids.

(Ignore that. That was a horrible joke.)

I think one Hooplar is trying to get Malcolm to ride it. Malcolm keeps looking at Trixie for help, but she’s too busy trying not to laugh as the big reptile basically cuddles into him, trying to throw him onto its back. Meanwhile Adrien is lost in a swarm of Viclane pups while his mom watches, looking the happiest I’ve seen her in a long while. Harold and Carol are sorta communicating with an Elkm that looks very old. They ask it basic yes-or-no questions, and it nods or shakes its head to answer just like a person would. Wow, these spirit creatures seem really smart.

I look across everyone’s faces, and I think it’s the happiest I’ve seen everyone…ever. With everything that’s been going on, no one’s had time to really sit down and relax. Now we have a chance to just sit and take a load off and learn about this new world we’ve been opened to.

The only face that doesn’t have an excited look on it is Marcus’s. And normally I would ignore it, because most of the time he has a blank expression. But this time is different.

This time he doesn’t have a blank look on his face.

This time he has a worried look on his face.

I’ve seen Marcus worried once since I met him. I don’t even remember why he had the look. I just remember it was over something big. If he’s worried… I have a bad feeling.

Griffon, Marcus says.

Griffon looks over at Marcus. Hm?

You said before the Reflector is a powerful force that separates spirit creatures and meisur magic from humans, right?

Yes, that’s correct.

Well, does the Reflector ever…fail?

The Reflector should not fail, White says. "It has powers that would match those of a deity. There would be no reason for it to fail. Well…there would be one reason…"

Marcus, why are you asking this?

Marcus looks away. Well, this may sound crazy, but… I think I’ve seen Elkms before all this. A few times, actually. I had no idea what they were, and I was fully prepared to go searching for it. With everything going on though, I never had the chance.

Griffon’s face becomes panicked, and he turns to White. She looks to him with a concerned face. Why the heck would the Reflector fail, and why is it making them so worried?

How…how many times did you see the Elkms?

Twice. Maybe three times.

Come to think of it, Theo says, moving very slowly as to not startle the dozens of Klips climbing on him. I think I may have seen Klips once before, back at the country club. And there were some weird mushrooms I saw. They were glowing in an unnatural way. There’s…a good chance they were also magic.

Wait… Faith steps close to a Hooplar and puts her hand on its purple neck fur. She has a curious look on her face. I think I’ve actually seen a Hooplar before, out on the road. I could only see its neck fur, but it was definitely a Hooplar’s. I was so shocked no one else noticed. It looked like it was making a lot of noise.

Griffon and White share a worried look of agreement. Griffon turns back to everyone.

What White said is true. The Reflector is a very powerful force. Its power could equal that of a god. It’s often even worshiped as such in meisur lore and history, and some meisurs still do such today. There would be no reason for it to fail…except one.

And…that is? Azizi asks.

It’s dying. I’m not sure how, but it is. I… I’ve been theorizing that’s what’s been happening since this all started, but I’ve never been able to confirm it. Now though…now I’m sure of it. And I hate that I’m right about it.

The Reflector dying is more than just losing the separation of the magic and human world, White explains. "The amount of power it would release because of it is exponential. Too much for the world itself to handle. I have only seen the Reflector truly dying once in my lifetime. Four thousand years ago. The world was turned into a constant natural disaster. Tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, disease, war. Millions upon millions of humans, meisurs, and spirit creatures alike were killed from it."

Which means… Griffon says, seeming to slowly come to a realization. Which means that…the cause of the Phantoms was the Reflector dying. The question now though, is…why?

Rachel

’Twas not scientists that solved the mystery of the Phantoms.

’Twas a bunch of jackasses sitting in the middle of a field petting magic animals as they had their whole world turned upside down.

Seriously, wow, plot twist. Who could’ve predicted there’s a whole magic world protected by some godly force; that if the force starts dying, the world will go to shit; and that force dying is what actually caused the apocalypse to strike? I’ll tell ya, I wasn’t expecting any of that shit. No one was expecting that. And all of that in the span of a couple of hours?

I’m surprised no one’s head melted.

Once we got all the crazy done with, everyone pretty much flew into discussion all about the Reflector and what could be making it die and all that crap. I really have no idea what in the hell any of it is about, so I sit back and try not to get eaten by any of these spirit creatures. Griffon may have said they’re harmless, but I don’t trust the look of those crocodile bitches.

After a few hours of talking and getting ourselves comfortable with these spirit creatures, the creatures have to head back into the woods. Griffon wishes them farewell as they go back into the trees, disappearing almost immediately. Griffon and White turn to everyone.

Thank you, everyone, for being so understanding and eager to learn about this, Griffon says. White and I need to discuss everything with the Reflector. If anyone would like to join us, or has any more questions, please feel free to do so. I know I only gave a basic summary of this, and I understand if anyone has questions. Now if you’ll excuse me…

With that, Griffon walks back up the hill, followed by White. With them gone, everyone slowly disperses in their own little groups, talking about what the hell just happened. I walk off with Susie, who’s still kinda in shock about what just happened.

"I just can’t believe all this just happened, I mean, Ron…just passed away…then we find out there’s some whole other world that we couldn’t see because of some magic force and then that magic force is dying, which is why our world is going through the literal apocalypse and—"

Susie, gurl! I turn to Susie and shake her. I seriously can’t keep listening to this. Get your life together already! You’re going on a rant again!

Susie stops talking, shaking her head around. Sorry, sorry. It’s just a lot to take in, y’know?

I know, I know, but this is no time to lose our heads. We’re gonna have a lot to figure out, no doubt. So we gotta keep our heads straight. Got it?

Yeah, Susie says, nodding. Thanks, Rachel. When did you become the levelheaded one?

I have no idea and it feels unnatural. Please be the levelheaded one again.

Ha ha, Susie laughs, giving me a light punch on my arm. See, this is why Susie is my best friend. Even though we are complete opposites in every way imaginable, she still gets me and when I’m joking. She’s cool with how I am, which I know is very over the top. She knows when I’m only messing around, and she knows I’ll stop if it’s too much for her. Thank fate or Jesus or whatever the hell it is that we ended up not only as friends, but sisters.

Hey, what are those guys doing?

I turn to where Susie is looking and notice a small crowd forming. From here I can see it’s Faith, Violet, Theo (who, BTW, finally got his act together and got with Gabe, OTP yes), Marcus, Aeisha, David, Max, and Josh. I can hear them all talking with each other, but it’s too far away to hear what they’re saying.

Should we check it out? Susie asks.

I shrug. Why not? Not like we have anything else to do.

We walk over to where everyone is talking. As we get closer, I make out some words they’re saying, like meisur and magic, so I can tell they’re at least talking about everything that’s happened. But they’re talking really quietly, so I can’t get any full sentences. They all notice us walking over and say Hey, and we say Hey back.

Whatchu guys talking about? I ask.

A few people share some weird looks between each other. Do they like, not trust us to tell us?

We were talking about…asking Griffon and White if we…could train…to be meisurs? Theo tells us. The last bit comes out as a question, but I think I understand. There’s just one question that needs to be asked.

Is that even a thing? Me and Susie ask in unison. Seriously, second for second we said that sentence. Please don’t tell me we getting that weird best friend telepathy thing. I mean, Susie is honestly my bestie, but I don’t wanna be in her head all day. I look at her and we end up making eye contact. Hm…

Nah.

We don’t know if it’s a thing, Faith says. But we need to ask. We know Griffon only did it because he hated lying to us about it, but it seems like a bit of a waste to only know about it.

We want to make ourselves useful with all this magic stuff, Marcus says. Wow, I forgot he talks. Not only would we have strong combat capabilities, we would also be able to help them in defending spirit creatures.

Do you guys…want in? Max asks.

Huh. Another surprise for the day. I have the chance to become a magic user and learn how to fight with magic. Again, never thought this could happen. Hm, do I wanna do this? Hm…

Yeah sure, why not?

Theo nods, looking at Susie. What about you? Do you wanna join us in meisur training?

Susie puts on her thinking face and looks at the ground. She even does the foot tapping thing people do when they think. Why do people always do that when they think, does it increase their brain power or something? Susie looks up again.

Sure. It sounds like it could be a good thing for everyone.

Theo nods. Okay, we got a group going. We’re planning to ask them about it tomorrow. I think everyone could use a break from all the craziness. Meet us by all the cars. That’s where we’ll gather up to go find them.

Mmkay.

Sounds good.

That must be the last thing they needed to say, because after that, the group of teens and kids disperses, leaving us to think about what we just agreed to.

Susie turns to me. You think this is a good idea?

I shrug. Do you see anything that could go wrong?

Susie looks away for a second before turning back. Yeah. But to be fair, everything has something that can go wrong.

At that we both shrug and continue on like nothing just happened.

Things are about to get interesting.

Trying Something Abnormal

Faith

Are we seriously gonna ask to be trained in some weird magic that we’ve never even heard of before by someone who’s younger or as old as about half the people in our asking group and another person who’s apparently ten thousand years old?

The answer is yes. Yes, we are.

Thank goodness it’s already so late. I can barely wait to ask Griffon and White about becoming meisurs. It means we’ll get to help protect the spirit creatures. They were all so friendly. And smart. It was like they understood exactly what we were saying. It was like they were talking back to us.

Soon the sun begins to set behind the trees, and people begin heading off to bed. I’m pretty much one of the first ones in the barn. I want to get to tomorrow as soon as possible. Of course with everyone still talking, it’s not gonna be that easy. I realize that with literally everyone up talking, I’m never gonna get to sleep. So instead of lying in bed struggling with sleep, I get up and begin watching everyone else.

Violet is up talking with her dad. From what I’ve heard she’s been practicing how to use his shotgun. Good. I didn’t wanna say anything to her face, but she was definitely not supposed to use a handgun. She did not understand it at all. With shotguns she actually showed she was interested in learning.

Moving on. I spot Griffon and White talking a bit more. I’m not sure what, but I’m guessing it’s about magic stuff.

Boring. Next?

I spot Martha and… Whitney? What’s she doing in here? I thought she slept in the Nelsons’ house. Well, she and Martha seem to be having fun talking to each other. They’re pretty loud and very active in their conversation, making a bunch of hand gestures and stuff. Then Martha leans forward and whispers to Whitney, who goes wide eyes and nods. Then they stand up and sneak out through the back. What the heck are those two up to?

Eh, whatever. I don’t feel like following.

Now I see Gabe and Theo. They’re chatting excitingly, arms over each other. Sometimes they just stop and just touch their foreheads, hold their hands together, or just look at each other without saying anything. I smile at the complete saps.

Finally, they got it together, as in actually got together. I think everyone can agree it was hard not to literally shove them into a room and keep them in it until it happened.

I just kinda go from person to person, seeing everyone talking excitedly. Mainly everyone is talking about everything with the spirit creatures and meisurs and magic and all that stuff. Who wouldn’t? Especially when you find out it’s been hidden from you your entire life by some powerful force.

Eventually, and I mean eventually, one by one people start going to sleep. The lights begin being turned off, and I hop into my bed excited. Once I get to sleep and wake up the next day, we’ll be able to start meisur training. If Griffon lets us. Man, I gotta remember that. We don’t even know if that could be a thing, I don’t wanna disappoint myself if I get worked up for nothing.

Somehow, I manage to fall asleep despite all the energy I still have.

Sweet dreams.

*****

Or no dreams. All right, that’s fine too. Means that morning comes a lot faster.

I can tell I’m one of the first ones up. A few people are up moving around, but most everyone else is still asleep. Judging by who’s up, I’m guessing it’s somewhere around six in the morning. I got some time to kill until everyone else has woken up. Hmm…ooo! I could try talking with White! I know she tends to shut people out, but I think I can get her to crack open her shell.

I walk up to her. She decided to leave her wings out. I stare at them, completely amazed. A lot of kids imagine having wings, and I’m no exception. White’s look beautiful. The only thing that’s weird about them was the color. They’re a dark blood red, but it makes them stand out even more.

Can I help you? White’s voice brings me back as I realize she caught me staring at her wings.

Sorry, I say. I was just looking at your wings. They’re very pretty.

White gives a quiet Hmph before going through some stuff. I look back at her wings again. I just noticed they’re made of feathers. They look so…fluffy…

Can I touch your wings? I ask.

White looks at me sort of weirded out. Was that a bad thing to ask?

Excuse me?

I just…wanted to know what they feel like.

White puts on a pondering face for a second before responding. Normally I would ignore a question like that, but since you are human and not meisur, I assume it is from pure curiosity and not rudeness or malicious intent. I will tell you though that asking a winged being if you can touch their wings can be very rude to them, and I ask that you try and word yourself better.

Um…what?

White sighs. "If