Au'Lure - Chapter Four

Chapter Four

    Luet’s mind swam with the information from her conversation with Niet’ver for the rest of the day.  This is what caused her unfortunate distraction.  This distraction caused many problems throughout the day.  She had tripped and fallen into a muddy puddle, dirtying her clothes.  This was what led Luet to head home earlier than she would have preferred.

She had hoped that wandering around town, without Niet’ver following after her, would allow her time to process all the information she had learned.  Niet’ver seemed to know more than she imagined he would.  He had spoken of what he believed he knew of human society.  After replaying the conversation in her mind over and over, she believed he knew more than he was telling her.

This plagued her mind even during dinner with her family.  At dinner she could hear them all happily chatting with each other, but she couldn’t consciously hear what they were actually saying.  Luet’s attention was snapped back to the conversation when Lina called her multiple times.

“What are you spacing out for?  You look so serious,” Lina commented.

“N-Nothing, just lost in thought really about some silly little thing,” she replied.   This was when Niet’ver decided to wander into the room where they were all gathered.  Luet frowned at his appearance and when Lina followed her gaze, she laughed.

“What did the bucket do to earn a glare like that, Lu?”

Luet coughed and took a large gulp of her drink, effectively earning a soft pat on her back from her sister.  She was almost certain her heard Niet’ver laughing at her.  Luet made some silly excuse that she had remembered her ruined dressed and thus she simply glared due to annoyance.

After dinner and once everyone was asleep, Luet glared at Niet’ver who was resting on her bed as though he didn’t have a care in the world.  He didn’t seeing as only he was visible to her.  He didn’t seem bothered by her obvious agitation, in fact, he seemed amused.

“You’re going to get me in trouble,” she hissed quietly.  She did not want to wake Lina.

“Actually, no.  You’re going to get yourself in trouble, not I.  They can’t see me, and if you want to have your ability kept a secret, you best learn to bluff my dear.”

Luet’s mouth opened and closed multiple times as she tried to argue against him.  Eventually her shoulders slumped in defeat and she sighed.  He was right.  Even if he left her alone, there would always be the chance she would be caught in the field where there were spirits.

“I could teach you.  Though that means you’ll have to stop being so stubborn about getting answers to all your questions.  Answers will always come in time.”

Luet nibbled on her lower lip with her teeth as she pondered his offer.  She had a terrible curiosity; the kind of curiosity that always led to trouble.  She squared her shoulders and sat up straight as she looked down at him.

“I want to know.”

Luet didn’t have a peaceful sleep.  She was like a little girl the day before her birthday celebration, eagerly wanting it to be the next day so that she could receive her presents.

Luet didn’t have to help at her father’s stall for the next few days.  This gave her more time to spend with Niet’ver, though she couldn’t converse with him at home.  She was certain her mother would notice her strange behavior.

Luet and Niet’ver spent their time at the field just outside of town.  No one really wandered through there besides herself.  It also gave her the freedom to openly interact with Niet’ver unlike if she had been at home or in town.

“Before we begin, I shall first explain the rules of these little lessons,” Niet’ver began.

“I will only answers I decide are worth giving an answer for.  Some questions you may have will be answered on their own.  Also, you are horrible at pronouncing my name, so just call me Niet.”

“That’s it?” Luet asked.  She had expected him to be stricter considering how he made such a fuss about things.  Then again, having questions unanswered was sure to bother her, oh the tricky little spirit.

“Yes.  Why, did you want me to make some ridiculous rules?  I can still do that if you wish.”

Luet smiled and gently laughed.  She wasn’t surprised that Niet had a talent for sarcasm.  It made her wonder what the personality of others spirits were.
“First lesson, not all spirits are as wonderfully charming as myself.  Our appearances can change from something a human would consider a docile creature to one of violent aggression.  So that cute little air spirit you’re staring at right now could change into something vicious and terrifying.”

Luet had been gazing at a small spirit in the form of a bird.  She had always thought a spirit’s form was a reflection of their nature.  Based on what Niet was telling her, she was now feeling completely foolish.

“All this time, one of them could have hurt me?” she asked.

“Yes.  Though rarely does a spirit does harm without reason.  If you had posed a threat, then you would have learned early on that you cannot always believe the outer appearances of anything.  So, before you go petting some adorable little bunny spirit, you better know you might lose a few fingers if you pet it the wrong way.”

Luet’s cheeks flushed.  She had actually cuddled and petted a small earth spirit that had been in the form of a rabbit.  It was slightly embarrassing and always worrisome that maybe he had been spying on her before he approached her.

“Now, a spirit can change its form through will and power as well.  Though the weaker of us can only change through a strong emotion.  Suggest a creature for me to change in to,” Niet’ver commanded.

“Hmm, perhaps something large.  Maybe a horse.”

Luet felt her skin tingle with a strange, almost prickly sensation.  There was a harsh gust of wind which caused her dark hair to twist madly around her head.  In the next moment, the prickly sensation stopped and before her stood a large horse.  Luet was certain her expression probably mimicked that of a fish as her mouth kept opening and closing.

“That’s… very impressive,” Luet said.  She wasn’t sure how else to react.

Again he shifted back to her small ferret sized self and sat down a foot or so away from her.  It seemed so easy for him to change.  If only weaker spirits could change on the whims of their emotions, then it was logical that Niet’ver was not weak.

“Could you change to look like a human?”

There was a long stretch of silence after she asked this question.  She had never heard of a spirit that looked like a human, but if a strong spirit could change form on will to what they wanted, couldn’t they change into a human?

“Have you ever heard of a spirit that looked like a human?” he asked in return.

“Well, no.”

Perhaps she had been mistaken about the idea of a spirit changing into a human.  There were always rumors about the various spirits in the world.  There was even a legend there had once been a spirit in the form of a dragon long ago.  If there was some sort of mystical beast of legend, it was always associated with being a spirit, but never one about a human formed spirit.

Niet’ver stretched out her body before flopping lazily to lay down in the drying grass.  They had already spent most of the day here and the heat of early fall was still strong.  Luet decided it was time to head back to the comfort of home, hopefully in time to help prepare dinner.

It was on this walk home, with Niet’ver resting lazily on her shoulder, that she encountered one of the merchant caravans entering the town.  Usually the merchants were a merry bunch even if they were exhausted from travel.  Something seemed strange as most were quietly talking amongst themselves with serious expressions.  Even Niet’ver took notice and said they had a strange smell clinging to them, a mixture of death and something unfamiliar.

This caused Luet to hasten her pace to reach the safety of her home.  Her mother greeted her cheerily and urged her to quickly clean up before coming back down to help with the meal.  She lifted Niet’ver from her shoulder and placed him on her pillow, he favorite spot on her bed.

“Be very cautious, Luet.”