Chapter 3: The Forms
The boat rocked and swished in the thickening fog. Sea sickness crept in my stomach and gripped me and I longed for the journey to end. Finally, there was a clunk as the boat rammed into the other side of the lake.
A Jivae ran past and the boatkeeper whistled. A whistle of birdsong, one that I hadn't heard since I was young... and the tawny Jivae dashed back towards us. His large, doe like eyes absorbed me in rapt attention. A friendly creature... what will he do if I pet him? Will this spell of peacefulness break?
Behind him, came a smaller female of brown and black and her three pups. They had stubby wings. She had an extra long tail that was composed of ivory. Shiny, strong, silver.
The boatkeeper didn't let me wonder any longer as he glanced over the open land. "Last surviving mating pair for the Emerald Warriors. They've reproduced enough many pups to supply the whole army." Then he grunted, "Get on the male, he travels quickest."
I did. I held onto the ears.
The boatkeeper whistled his song, trill, trill, trilllll, rrrrrrrr, trill, trill, trillll, rrrrrrr. And the buck Jivae reared, his tail balancing him, and he bounced off towards the large, gothic castle in the distance. I held on for dear life as his pups flew absentmindedly around us and their heavily shedding fur acted as pixie dust... we soared and bounced, soared and bounced.
Then the ride was over, the Jivae was descending, it was time to leave my past to those more experienced and wise. And so I entered the castle.
Immediately, there was Mr. Brown and an unwelcome clipboard. He shoved it in my arms and asked me to fill out the form. Shaking all over as I looked at the airy, light interior of the Orphanage, I picked up the Jivae claw and began to write...
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Name: M. C. LENS
Age: 14
Gender: F
ID: Empire Loyal but Also Chained to Dynasty
Appearance: Dull red hair, fair skinned, pointed face, green eyes
Health: Overall good, underlying health conditions to be named
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
I rubbed my head as Mr. Brown swiped the pages away and gave them to an Emerald Warrior, and they left me in silence for a few minutes before returning. Both had grim looks in their faces.
"Ms. Lens, you are qualified to become an Emerald Warrior."
