Olansaf 3 - Draft 2

“Do you believe him?” Chris asked, not rudely, just curiously.

“It sounds ridiculous, but I do. You could be spinning a very elaborate story, but my eyes have seen some proof that I cannot explain.” I replied quietly.

Jace spoke next. "There is one thing I can now show you, the true basis of us. You see, we're Heyvanlars. What I just explained are classes. We all have them, they are a vast skill set that help us excel, yes, but they are not all that we are. What we are can only be believed if you see it. But know this Hatter, none of us will hurt you." Jace finished and clicked his fingers. On what seemed an impulse, everyone but me jumped up and stood in an arrowhead formation.

I wandered 'round the table to stand in front of Jace.

"Do you trust us?" He asked, but I felt the weight to the question.

"Completely, irrevocably, stupidly." I replied. A smile crept onto his face.

"Hold onto that, and remember, we are us."

Without another word he stared into my eyes, raised both arms and brought them together above his head. As soon as they connected a pure white light, brighter than a hundred towering bonfires, flashed out from all of them. A range of noises, from the croak of a raven to the howl of a wolf sounded, spilling out into the night. All at once the white purity vanished, and standing, perching, lying, in place of Jace and his clan were their Heyvanlars.

The great golden beast, huge and muscular with a flowing golden mane stepped forward. A lion, they call them in the desert lands, I had seen them in the captains log. Swirling grey eyes told me it was Jace, without a doubt. I stepped hesitantly forward, blinking spots from my eyes. I reached out a tentative hand forward and he bowed his head, allowing me to stroke the golden mane as I walked forward. He bared his teeth and growled. I growled back and He bared his teeth, but in more smiling than threatening. He turned around and stood on my right side.

To the right of him was a wolf, I knew it from my homelands. They would roam in packs, great, grey beasts. However the one before me was so brown it was almost black. The eyes were a burgundy, and gave away to who it was.

"Hello JayJay," I smiled. She blinked and bowed her head in recognition, and moved aside, turning round to stand beside me on the side Jace wasn't flanking.

This revealed the others, and suddenly, Bens little prophecy came under a new light. In front of me stood a White Tiger, a monkey, a snake and a raven.  I looked into the brown eyes of the tiger and knew it was Chris, the green eyes of the snakes and saw it as Billy. The raven was easy, the eyes were still swirling a mixture of gold and purple, and I made sure not to look into them. That left just the deep blue eyes of Ben, a monkey that so aptly represented him.

I greeted them all in turn, and in turn they flanked me. Jace and Chris sat to my right, lion and tiger, and on my left was JayJay and Ben, Wolf and Monkey. I offered my hand down, a sign of trust, and Billy slithered up and wrapped his endless body around mine resting his head on my left shoulder. I crooked my arm and the raven flew up to perch upon it. I swallowed guiltily and relaxed, looking into Lu’s eyes. He cocked his head and blinked.

The feeling of having someone share your mind is impossible to explain. You’d think it intrusive, and at some points it can be, but it is also an amazing experience. The visitor then has the ability to understand everything about you, exactly who you are and what you’ve done, all the experiences that have made you this way, and all of the tragedies that have paved your path. Lu could have torn all of this up in seconds and rendered my helpless, but instead he sent a thought racketing around my brain.

“Yes, Miss Redlaw?”

“I believe you. This is all real. Tell them to change back.”

“Yes, Miss Redlaw, whatever you request.” His tone was so respectful, I was taken aback. He fluttered up and connected his eyes with jaces for a microsecond, before they all took a hesitant step back, Billy slid down to the floor. Lu hovered back in front of my face and his voice resounded around my head.

“You may want to shut your eyes, this could get bright.” I obeyed. I saw the light through my eyelids, it was even brighter than before. When it had faded I opened my eyes. Jace was talking to Billy about patrol changeovers, but it ended abruptly when I heard a clack. I started to turn, to see who was going to come up the stairs, but Chris stood in front of me.

“You wanna be one of us?” He asked, his voice quiet and respectful, but his eyes blazed with seriousness.

“Yes. If I have it in me, yes.”

“We’d better get started then. You have a lot to learn, and so little time to do it in. The next initiation is in-” He glanced at a chart on the wall- “Four tendays. Luckily you’re not too badly out of shape.” He began to usher me one way, back tracked and moved me towards the fire. As we neared it, I noticed a narrow window hidden by a wooden beam. He opened the window inwards and unhooked a lantern from the wall. He checked the oil and then lent out, affixing it to the outside wall near the window. He stepped back and pointed.

“What was your rank aboard the ship?”

“Bos’n Mate.”

“Then get out on that rope. There’s a ladder on the other building. Go.” His voice was slightly panicked. I heard a deep voice call out greeting as I scrambled out onto the sill. Aboard the ship I had got quite used to climbing between masts and up the ropes. The sill stuck out a bit so I regained my footing.

The deep voice got louder.

I took a breath.

I leaped.

The rope flew up in front of me and I grabbed it with one hand. I used my momentum to carry me forward swinging along the rope like a monkey. Within moments the ladder was in sight and my toes had purchase. I let go of the rope and grabbed the ladder, sliding down it, my hands clamped onto the sides, my body pushed away from it. I saw the floor approaching and spun away, landing in a crouch, my back to the wall. I glanced up at the window in time to see Chris leap. He jumped from the windowsill with incredible grace, covering the gap in seconds, slamming into the ladder. It groaned under his weight as he pushed away from it, falling 20ft to close the gap between himself and the floor. He spun up from his roll into a full out sprint, dragging me with him. I grabbed a breath and ran speeding after him. My hand enclosed in his own. I was disorientated as we ran between streets and alleyways, vaulting walls and scaring beggar boys. Scattering cats and rolling round corners, we soon reached a dock, and before I could splutter a cry we were plunged into the deep dark water. I panicked. The darkness closed in and I blacked out.