Chenoa’s Spellbinder Notes (Day 8)

Species (according to Ursa):

8)               Icedwellers

-      Basically, a Firedweller but in ice

-      Large humanoid creates that appear to be made of ice

-      Have veins of frigid blue liquid that looks like water

-      Live in coldest areas of world when they lived in our world (none of these creatures are here anymore supposedly…they are all in Taikaa)

o   North Pole

o   Antarctica  

o   Mount Everest

§  They are what people thought were yetis (again according to Ursa)

-      Craftsmen of leather and furs

-      Are more docile than Firedwellers (meaning they don’t work as mercenaries)

-      Good guides

-      Love yak’s milk ?

-      Believe that images can be seen in blizzards (omens, predictions, etc)

-      Weaknesses 

       o  heat (duh)

       o  fire (double duh) 

       o  too cold and dry climates (interesting) 

       o hot liquids (duh again) 

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Dawn broke over the horizon as Chenoa stood, petting Ursa’s muzzle.  The dragon purred as she closed her eyes.  Cor kept talking, explaining more about spellbinding and such things.  Chenoa wasn’t really paying attention, though.  She focused on the ever-changing texture of Ursa’s scales and fur. Her mind was too numb to absorb any more.  Not to mention she felt guilty for what she could only assume was betraying her father. 

Papa Bear’s expression when she had asked him to forgive her had broken her heart.  Saying nothing, Papa Bear had turned and left them in the fields. Words and anger had failed him.  In her heart, Chenoa knew why her father was upset and she recognized the sacrifice that her mother had made.  However, Chenoa also knew in her heart her mother would want her to be herself and, if being a Spellbinder was really what she was, then she had to do it.

“Chenoa?  Chenoa?” Cor repeated, waving his hands to get her attention. 

“Huh?” Chenoa snapped back to reality.

“This has been a long night.  You should get some sleep.  We can continue training and explaining everything tomorrow.”

“Oh okay. I do have school in a few hours. I should get some sleep.  What about you all?  Where will you all rest?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Ursa is kind of big and noticeable.  When sun comes up, someone will see her, and the tree, you said she was in, is now destroyed.”

“Oh, that is no problem,” Ursa laughed and she glowed electric blue.

Gasping, Chenoa watched as Ursa shrank to the size of a cockatiel.  Flapping her wings, Ursa planted herself on Chenoa’s shoulder.  Stunned Chenoa didn’t know what to say.

“It’s a handy trick I know,” Ursa chirped in amusement at Chenoa’s shocked expression.

“O…okay.  How about you, Cor?”

“I am fine, Chenoa.  Don’t worry about me.  Go rest with Ursa.”

Wanting to object, Chenoa tried to, but she felt so exhausted that she gave up.  Waving goodnight to Cor, Chenoa headed back to her home with Ursa on her shoulder.  She trudged upstairs and crawled into bed for a few hours of sleep. 

Gentle kneading woke Chenoa for school.  Groaning she opened her eyes and saw the miniature Ursa on her chest.  Ursa gave her best dragon smile and kept kneading Chenoa’s shirt.  Taking a deep breath, Chenoa sat up and threw her blankets off. The blankets landed on something, catching her attention.  Cautiously Chenoa pulled the blankets back and almost screamed bloody murder, but the scream got caught in her throat. 

At the foot of her bed was a humongous wolf.  Not only was it a wolf but it was four times the size of a large dog with red-brown fur, electric blue designs flowing around its entire body, and huge condor-like wings that were currently folded tight to its back.  The wolf was sleeping soundly, its chest rising up and down slowly.  Stumbling backward, Chenoa hit the window by her bed and found that it was open a few inches.

“Calm down, Chenoa,” Ursa said kindly as she watched the scared Chenoa from the bed. “That is Cor in his natural form.”

“That is Cor?” Chenoa gasped.

She found herself unable to tear her eyes from the monstrous wolf.

“All the winds are winged wolves.  They can live or appear in human form, but the wolf form is their most natural,” Ursa explained.  “It is easier to direct the winds on four legs.”

“I didn’t know…”

“Of course, you didn’t, little one.  You just officially met him and it’s not like he started off by saying ‘Hi, I’m Cor and I’m actually a large winged wolf.’  I mean that would be a crazy start to a conversation.’”

“When did he come into my room?”

“Your father came in around five and opened your window.”

“So?”

“Oh, right.  Cor is Ventus Cordis, Heart of the Winds.  The winds can only go where winds can exist.  There is no wind inside a sealed house.  When there is a window or door opened, even just a crack, then the wind can enter the house.  The same concept applies to any of the Ventus family.”

“Oh, that actually makes sense.”

“It also is damn useful because if you want any of them to leave you alone, you just have to close a window or door and they disappear from the building.”

“Huh.  I’ll have to remember that.”

Both of them watched Cor sleep soundly.  Scratching her head, Chenoa felt like it was going to be a long day.  Her body ached from exhaustion and there was a winged wolf and dragon on her bed.  Shaking it off, Chenoa showered then dressed for school.  She knew she was running slowly, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t push her body faster.

“Do you want me to wake him?” Ursa asked as Chenoa started to exit her bedroom.

“No,” Chenoa said, glancing at Cor. “If he’s really been following me around this last month, dealing with Tristan and me, he must be exhausted.  Let him sleep.”

With that, Chenoa left the room.  Ursa curled up on the bed and decided to rest a bit more herself.  There was a moment of silence before it was broken.

“She’s so different and yet the same all at once,” Cor said, his eyes still closed.

“I know,” Ursa said, closing her own eyes.

“She is going to be in serious trouble very soon.”

“I know.”

“We may not be able to protect her.”

“I know.”

Cor shifted his body, laying his head on his paws, tilting it away from Ursa. 

“Well, it’s nice to know after all these hundreds of years you haven’t changed.  You’re still a little know-it-all.”

Without opening an eye, Ursa’s tail grew and snapped the window shut.  There was a soft chuckle as Cor disappeared from the room.

On the bus Chenoa fell asleep on Gabby’s shoulder.  Gabby silently laughed at her friend as Chenoa slept soundly.  Not knowing what Chenoa had been through the night before, Gabby thought it best for her to sleep.  Chris watched Chenoa sleep from his seat two rows back.  She looked peaceful and serene.  For brief a moment, Chris wished that he could switch with Gabby. The urge distracted him so much that he looked away from Chenoa to his own reflection in the bus window.  What the hell was wrong with him?

Nick, on the other hand, studied Chenoa for other reasons.  While he had always thought Chenoa was a nice girl, she had never been his type.  The reason he studied her sleeping is that she seemed to be glowing like a lighting bug.  Whenever she took a deep breath in, her body seemed to glow with a faint light.  It was a shimmery light that lasted barely a second, but he could have sworn he saw it.  What was she? He wondered.

At school, Chenoa dragged all day.  It was hard to concentrate in classes but finally, lunch came.  Chenoa thought about going to eat, yet she was so tired that she wasn’t hungry.

“I’m going to go take a nap in the nurse’s office,” Chenoa yawned.

She nodded down the hall in the direction of the nurse’s office. 

“Okay.  I’ll come wake you up when lunch is over,” Gabby agreed, waving as she headed to the cafeteria. 

Chenoa disappeared down the hall and Gabby grabbed her lunch.  Sitting, Gabby started eating, lost in her own thought.  A soft clacking noise drew her attention.  Shifting her gaze up, Gabby saw Nick take a seat across from her.  Raising an eyebrow, Gabby gave Nick a questioning look.  She had known Nick since she was six years old.  They had always gotten along but, since middle school, he never really associated with her outside of a class project or casual conversation on the bus. 

“Yes?” she asked, very suspicious of him.  

“We need to talk about Chenoa,” Nick said seriously.

“Why?”

“Because something strange is going on with her.”

“Look if you like her, why don’t you just ask her out?”

“Like her?  What the hell makes you think that?”

“You don’t stop watching her and you are now trying to talk about her to her best friend.  Sounds like you have a crush and don’t know how to handle it.”

“Gabby, look, Chenoa is pretty and sweet, but she isn’t my type.”

Gabby gave him a skeptical look. With a small smile, Nick grabbed Gabby’s hand and held it in his while he looked her straight in the eyes.

“Gabby, trust me Chenoa is not my type.”

Blanching, Gabby didn’t know how to react for a moment before she pulled her hand away from him.  While she didn’t break eye contact, Gabby felt uneasy about the conversation.

“Then what about Chenoa?”

“What is going on with her?  We both have seen the way shadows follow her.”

“We could be imagining things.”

“Both of us?  And I’ve seen it a bunch of times for the last three months, since that big snowstorm.  And didn’t you notice the way she seemed to glow on the bus today?”

“What are you talking about?”

“When she was sleeping, Chenoa seemed to pulse with a soft shimmery light.”

“You are just crazy, Nick.  You are seeing things.  I think you have been watching too many movies or reading too many books.”

“Gabby, I’m not making this up.  Why would I?”

“I don’t know to get some kind of kick out of it.  To make me look stupid for believing or going along with it.  To make Chenoa look like a freak or something. This could be some elaborate gag that Chris and you cooked up to pick on Chenoa.”

“You know me better than that…”

“Nick, we haven’t had a real conversation outside of a classroom topic since sixth grade.  I don’t know you at all.”

“I am not someone who believes in picking on others or trying to make people look bad.  If I wanted to do that, I would be telling my friends about Chenoa, not her best friend.  I would have told everyone about the shadows already.”

“No one would believe you.”

“Let’s be honest.  I am pretty popular and viewed as an overall nice guy.  People would believe me.”

He had a point, Gabby thought, but she would never admit it to him.

“Something weird is going on with Chenoa and I really think you should find out.  You are her best friend and I just have a feeling that it is serious.”

“I’ll think about it, but I really think that you are overreacting.”

“If you really thought I was, you would have left the table already.”

Smirking, Gabby thought for a moment before sighing and placing her head in one of her hands. All this stuff was giving her a headache.  Didn’t she have enough to worry about without worrying about what was “wrong” with her best friend?  Of course, she was worried about Chenoa, but it couldn’t be that serious. 

“I’ll try talking to her, but it is probably nothing, Nick.  Try to forget about it.”

“Fine, but I know I’m going to be right.”

Nick stood up and left, leaving Gabby to think for a moment.