Chương 14: New Friends

Elias fell for what seemed like ages, and then he fell some more. He waited to see if he might die … again. His ears were filled with the sound of rushing wind, but somehow, that was not all. There was also a sweet song. It seemed to come from some place below him. Was it even real? # The song has uplifted you! # And it was true—for a man about to splatter against the rocks like a fly on a windshield, he did indeed feel a serious sense of … levity.

And then, when he did not, in fact, blink out of existence, he felt even greater still. Like he might even have wings. That song. What was it? It could only be coming from his elven companion. The rugged warrior who turned out to be a bard. Whoever she was, she kept singing the song louder. It was markedly different from her buffing song, although it seemed to be in that same strange language that Elias couldn't understand. It mattered not, the emotions behind the triumphant hymn felt utterly universal.

Silver linings. Hope in a crisis. All of that stuff. Elias realized then that perhaps he wasn't going to splatter onto the rocks after all. In fact, he found himself floating about fifty feet off of the treacherous crags. Floating was the wrong word, though, as it was more like he was resting on a giant beach ball of air that was slowly deflating under him. What was for certain is that his great speed had been arrested into a gentle, rocking, descent. A harmless, soft gravity had replaced the hateful one.

He reached the ground with a light step. The feeling of the stone beneath his toes was one of the sweetest sensations he had ever experienced. From the safety of the bottom, Elias looked up to see the ravenous wolves howling in disappointment. They shouted about technical fouls and how the league would be hearing of this. Or at least, that was what it sounded like. Elias was thankful he could finally safely ignore their ridiculous banter. He'd never cared much for jock types in the first place.

Then, he looked over towards Fiona, who was just finishing her song.

"You saved us," he said.

"That was … it was incredible." She blushed, performing a little ironic bow as she finished up the final note of her uplifting song.

"I mean it. We are alive, or whatever you call this state of being, because of you."

"OK."

"Seriously, that was one of the most badass acts of heroism I've ever witnessed." She smiled. Elias waved at the wolves, and they disappeared behind the cliff face, probably cursing in their sportsball banter. He felt intensely glad to be in one piece, but there was also a hint of bitter defeat in watching the wolves vanish.

"As happy as this moment is, I suppose we have to accept that our quest for a reagent is a failure," he said to Fiona, kicking a stray pebble.

"I guess this Spirit Animal spell was a bad choice. I should have grabbed snare, because now my skill point is useless. I didn't get a tuft of fur or anything from those wolves. I suppose I ought to try and find a nice bunny rabbit to summon, or something."

"I got something," she said, still wearing the sly smile.

"You did?" She held out her open palm, in which rested one of the long canines that were the signature of all wolf-like creatures. Elias felt a rush of pleasure and excitement.

"How did you …?"

"It landed near me after you bopped that one with your staff. Then when I was knocked prone, I fell on top of it. Talk about a pain in the butt. But I managed to nick it just before the cliff tumbled."

"Did I say you were a badass? Because I think that term doesn't nearly do you any justice. You're amazing." Fiona spun on her heels and performed another one of her bows. Only this one was a good deal deeper and less ironic.

"Save the songs of my glory for the tavern. Your treat, of course. And make sure to talk loud," she said.

"I'll be screaming it."

"And by the way, don't worry about the extra coins. I know we started out under false pretenses. I'm … let's just say mistakes were made and I have regrets." Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Are you trying to apologize?"

"Well …" He looked at her in the dim green light of the jungly sun.

"A bard... You should be proud of that. You being a bard and singing those songs quite literally saved us from being red smears right now, you know that? And your sticky fingers saved our quest from being a dud." She rubbed her chin a bit, as if thinking it all over.

"Go on …" she said.

"What was that song?"

"That? I usually just use that little ditty for getting over streams without getting my boots wet," she said.

"I guess some of my abilities have more powerful applications, just waiting to be discovered."

"That's one way to put it."

"Anyway, you've got the reagent now," she said.

"I guess it is time to cast this super important summoning spell of yours. We could use an extra set of claws to watch our backs as we make our way home. Who knows what other ridiculous creatures might be out there, just lurking and salivating at the thought of getting a chunk of one of us." She found the most chair-like rock she could amongst the jagged ones and sat on it, facing him as if she were preparing to take in an important presentation. She was right, it was time to do what he'd come here to do.

Elias only hoped that this wolf's tooth would work. That it was enough. He also hoped whatever familiar the spell summoned, it didn't come out talking like one of the anchors on Sportscenter.

"Alright, here goes then," he said. He stood back and raised his arms, concentrating hard on his Spirit Animal spell. Great blue pearls began to swirl from his hand immediately, and the wolf's tooth began to hover in the air a few feet in front of him. Then, there was a great sound of rolling thunder and a chorus of thousands of wolves howling all at once. # You have summoned a Spirit Animal. Congratulations on your MALE SPIRIT WOLF. Time to give him a name!

#"Merlyn," Elias said, without the slightest bit of hesitation. The tooth seemed to glow for a moment and to take on slightly molten qualities. Then, it vanished in a puff of smoke. From the jungle floor, a plume of white, translucent matter rose up out of nothing. It wimpled, incorporeal and nebulous. But out of this cloud formed something more definitive. Like a piece of formless dough puffing up into a loaf in the oven. A few seconds later, and the vapor had formed into the shape of a great wolf.

"Hi!" The wolf shouted, its tail wagging in a frenzy.

"Hi. Hi. Hi!" Elias, delighted, bent down towards it. Fiona watched wide-eyed from her stone chair. He reached out his hand to pet the creature, still feeling a slight bit of hesitation. After all, the thing was huge. Its paws were the size of Elias' head and its claws the length of small kitchen knives. The spirit wolf opened its massive jaws and performed that downward dog stretch that gives the yoga pose its name. All the while, the tail kept on wagging as if it would never stop.

"Hey boy," Elias whispered. He almost wanted to ask if the dog remembered him, but Elias had to remind himself that this was not the same Merlyn from his sweet childhood memories. This wasn't even the same world. Not even the same life.

"Hi! Hi! Hi!" Apparently, this was all that Merlyn could say for the moment. Oddly, Fiona didn't seem to be able to hear him at all. How interesting, he thought. The beast leaped up onto its master and Elias was surprised to find that the form of the great wolf was not quite so incorporeal as it appeared. In fact, Merlyn's paws had real weight. His slobber was warm and wet. And his breath even smelled very … dog-like, as if he'd spent the morning scrounging around in the unmentionable detritus of the forest floor.

But despite the huge claws and terrible weight of the animal, Elias found that he felt no pain. More importantly, he seemed immune from taking any damage from the familiar.

"Good boy," Elias said, choking back a tear.

"Good boy! Merlyn GOOOOD boy!" said the wolf in eager agreement.

"Well, isn't this sweet," said Fiona.

"Maybe you could write a new song about it?" Elias said.

"Now I'd like to hear that."

"I don't take requests," she said, still wearing that sly grin. The beast now rolled onto its side, presenting itself for a belly rub.

"Scratch Merlyn! Rub Merlyn! Love Merlyn!" it shouted. Elias happily obliged. Something occurred to him then, and he stopped petting the dog. He stood up and walked over to his elven companion and stuck out a hand to her.

"You made this happen. I owe you a debt of gratitude, and I'm sorry for being a jerk before."

"I guess … yeah, I'm sorry for lying about being a brave warrior," she said.

"I just wanted you to think I was cool."

"I do. I think you are very cool."

"Even though I lost my sword?"

"You couldn't swing it anyway. A silly thing to be carrying around the jungle if you don't know how to use it." She didn't take his hand. Instead, she stood up and regarded him for a moment with warm eyes. He wasn't quite sure what to expect. But a moment later, and she reached her arms out like she was inviting him in for a deep embrace. He was just about to take her up on that when a voice cried out from the dense foliage a few meters away.

"AND FREEZE," said the voice. And indeed, Fiona froze. The same fetching expression was stuck on her face. The wind stopped blowing. And even his new canine companion stopped panting. The only things that didn't actually freeze were Elias and, of course, the giant mushroom, who stepped now out of the foliage with a sort of facetious smirk on its fleshy face.

"This is the moment in the movie where the romantic music swells, you know," said the mushroom.

"The tissues start getting yanked out of the box. Your girlfriend sitting next to you in the movie theater squeezes your hand because it turns out that the pair of bickering adventurers who didn't see eye to eye at first are actually going to end up in a loving relationship. You know, enemies to lovers is SO HOT right now." Elias raised an eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure it was just a hug. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug, you know? We almost just died." The mushroom winked knowingly as it bent down to inspect his new spirit animal.

"I see you are really gathering yourself some allies in your new home."

"I guess you could say that."

"Well, I just thought I would interrupt you to say that you should be careful before you go … you know … falling in love with anything, or anyone, in this plane of existence." Elias sat down, feeling a bit exhausted all of a sudden as the adrenaline from his fall finally started to fade away.

"And why is that?" he asked.

"Because that is not what they want out of you."