We made it back to camp without mishap and I was glad to be in front of the warm fire. Arian’s clothes lay in a tossed bundle near where she had fallen and I picked them up as she reverted to her human form. I studied her head as that came into view and winced at the nice big lump on her forehead.
I nodded at the wound as she finished dressing. “Is there something I can do for that?”
Arian straightened and smiled at me. “I will be fine, but I feel I should apologize. I should have been more alert and smelled that creature long before it attacked us.”
I cast a frown over my shoulder. “Don’t feel too bad. I think that pig is a special case.” A thought struck me and my cheeks lost a little color as I turned my attention back to my friend. “It is a special case, isn’t it?”
“Very much so,” she assured me, brushing the dirt from her clothes. “I have never known a boar to be so reckless as to attack one of my people without helpers.”
“Well, let’s forget about it and get some sleep,” I suggested as I dug into my knapsack and dragged out a thick blanket. “I know my weary bones could use one.”
Arian gingerly touched her wound and wryly smiled. “I will keep watch for a while and tend the fire. After all, I have already had a nap.”
I was too exhausted to argue with her and gladly tucked myself into bed. Sleep was soon mine and I awoke in the early hours of the morning with a touch of frost on my back. My front was still toasty from the fire that burned brightly and a scent of food wafted across my nostrils.
I sat up and discovered Arian with a frying pan in one pawed hand. Meat and eggs sizzled in the fragrant oil.
I lifted my nose and licked my lips. “That smells delicious.”
She smiled and nodded at a pair of plates and matching utensils. “Take one. The food is nearly done.”
I took up both the plates and scooted close to her like a beggar. My eager eyes didn’t miss the dark splotches underneath hers. “Did you get any sleep last night?”
“No, but I shall get some later when we rest for the afternoon,” she assured me as she slid half of the contents of the pan onto each plate.
I lifted an eyebrow as I waited for her to set the pan down to take her plate. “Is there a reason we need to stop in the afternoon? I mean, besides you needing to collapse.”
Her eyes twinkled as she took her food from me. “There is something I wish to show you.”
“Will pleading get you to tell me what it is?” I suggested.
She couldn’t contain her smile as she dug into her food. I sighed and did the same with my meal. My mysterious friend and I packed up camp and doused the fire. I missed those wonderful flames as we set off down the road. The chill morning nipped at my nose and I bundled my cloak about me so tightly that my lower half constantly vanished.
“I hope we don’t meet anybody on the road,” I commented as I glanced down at my invisible self. “It would be hard to explain this.”
“This road isn’t well-traveled except when a festival is happening in the heaven realm,” she assured me as she turned her head to and for, taking in the sights with a gentle smile of remembrance. “I recall the first time I traveled along here. My nurse and Jin took me to see one of Lord Eastwei’s fireworks displays during the Twilight Fair.”
“Nurse?” I repeated.
She blushed and stared at the ground. “I had a nurse when I was young. She was a very kindly but very strict woman.”
“And you were allowed to go up to the heaven realm to see a fair?” I mused with a soft tap of my finger against my chin. “They allowed anybody to see it at that time?”
“Well, not just anybody but I pleaded with my father so vehemently that he sent a letter of request to His Majesty.”
There came a tingling in the back of my mind and I narrowed my eyes at my evasive friend. “Who exactly is your father?”
Arian tightened her grip on her knapsack strap and quickened her pace. “We really must move faster or we will not reach my homeland by noon tomorrow.”
I scurried along after her with a bemused smile on my lips. We wound our way along the cliff walls with the fragrant scent of the river tingling our noses. The stone wall on our right was etched with carve-outs from a few small streams of water that ran down from on high. They grew more numerous the farther we traveled and my ears detected a faint noise that grew into a terrific crash.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The river that had been hidden by twenty yards of forest on our left curved toward us and a bridge appeared a hundred yards down the road. The river ran under the bridge and disappeared behind a bend in the cliffs. We passed the bend and my mouth fell open.
A monstrous waterfall some five hundred feet tall crashed down in front of us. The cool waters from on high cut into the rocks at odd spots, creating tiny ledges where small pools glistened in the bright sun. The constant barrage of water created a faint haunting mist around the place and cooled me with its kiss of spray.
The tremendous amount of water dropped into the river and engorged the downstream flow of the waters, increasing its load two-fold. The river continued to flow southward, cutting deeper and further into the banks as it did so. The waters even nudged into the foot of the cliff at certain points, crafting little gentle pools from countless years of erosion.
Arian half-turned to me with a broad smile on her face. “What do you think?”
My mouth was agape as I bobbed my head. “That is really beautiful.”
She grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the bridge. “The view is even better over there.”
We hurried over to the wooden span and stopped at the top of its arched center. Rainbows danced all around us and
A few glistening lights at the bottom of the waters caught my attention. I grasped the railing and leaned forward, squinting my eyes. The ‘lights’ were small butterflies that flitted about, their beautiful blue and green wings reflecting the mist and creating a tapestry of dazzling color. Their finger-length bodies were covered in soft silver fur dampened by the constant spray. The creatures danced among themselves, seemingly oblivious to the crashing waves beneath them.
I caught my friend’s eye and pointed at the butterflies. “What are those?”
She looked at where I pointed and her eyes crinkled with amusement. “Those are meilita. We might be able to feed them if you wish. That will bring them closer to us.”
I nodded my head. “Definitely!”
Arian set her knapsack on the railing and dug through it before she pulled out a familiar bit of food. One of my chocolates. She held up the bar and smiled at my quizzical expression. “The meilita are very fond of sugar. I believe this has a great deal of that ingredient in it?”
I snorted. “Definitely a lot.”
Arian broke the bar in half and handed one piece to me. “Break the piece into smaller pieces and throw them as far as you can.”
I cast my eyes to the untamed crashing waters and lifted an eyebrow. “Is that such a good idea? I don’t want to drown any of them.”
Arian’s eyes sparkled with mischief as she began breaking her chocolate. “You will see.”
I shrugged and followed her example. Soon we both had a handful of chocolate pieces in our palms.
Arian nodded at my hand. “Now throw them.”
I wrapped my fingers tightly around the sugary treats and drew back my arm. A silent prayer passed my lips before I tossed them into the tumultuous water. The sugary bits flew three-quarters of the distance to the waterfall before they began to lose altitude.
That was close enough for our winged friends. The butterflies shot off toward the falling treats and their wings left little trails of sparkling dust. They used their wings to blow that same dust ahead of them and the glitter swirled around the treats.
My mouth dropped open as the food was suspended in midair by the dust. The butterflies reached the chocolate and gnawed them to nothing.
Arian laughed and threw out her handful. Her throw was better aimed than mine and the chocolate landed around the butterflies. They performed the same trick of capturing the food with the dust and eating the offered bits.
I snapped my gaping mouth shut and stared blankly at my friend. “Can they do magic, too?”
She nodded. “In their own small way. The dust that floats off their wings allows them to fly in place if they wish and can also be used to levitate other objects as well, though only small ones.”
I was a little disappointed at her last bit of information. There went my dream of floating. “So what do they usually eat when we’re not feeding them?”
“The bugs that come to the river to drink the water,” she explained as she brushed the chocolate powder off her palms. “They use their magic to capture and eat them, and when they’re not eating they play in the water.”
I draped my arms over the top of the railing and smiled at the dancing creatures. “Sounds like a nice life.” I cocked my head to one side and studied the flying insects. “I wonder if they’re as soft as they look.”
“Jin has a meilita as a pet. You might touch his pet when we reach the city,” she suggested.
My eyebrows shot up and I whipped around to her. “They can be pets?”
Her eyes twinkled as she looked me over. “Oh yes. They are very loyal and live a very long time. The meilita often help their owners clean their houses and entertain their children.”
“Wow,” I answered as I returned my attention to the flying little helpers. “How does somebody get one as a pet?”
She sighed and looked longingly at the creatures as I did. “You must be chosen by them. There is no other way.”
My shoulders slumped and I drooped over the railing. “Damn. . .”
Arian patted me on the back. “Perhaps you may find your own meilita someday, but we should continue our journey or we will not reach the next campsite before-” She tried to grab her knapsack but her hand instead pushed it off the railing. “No!”