Evalieh stumbled into a circular clearing, where citrus fruits filled the air and butterflies fluttered around. He brushed his hair back when something shiny caught his eye. At the heart of the area, vines and leaves cascaded into a mound, hiding something shiny underneath. When he drew closer, the sunlight caught the object and reflected a rainbow across the ground and into his eyes.

               He felt a tinge of excitement when he noticed the glass, it reminded him of home. He quickly pulled on the vines, and they snapped loose, revealing a large glass throne that stood taller than him. A bright crystal bloom fell off the top, he snatched it up, and it turned to dust. With a huff, he chuckled and collapsed on the seat, slamming his fists down.

            Evalieh looked back and forth at all the noisy animals and called out for help. His lips quivered and he climbed atop the glass and curled into a ball. His eyes filled with burning tears and made everything look glassy. He didn’t want to see this world anymore and buried his eyes into his knees. He felt like this was all too cruel because he’d never be able to survive in the wild on his own. He wanted someone to come to his rescue and hoped it’d all go away soon. The noisy animals grew quiet, and he fell asleep.

            Sometime after, when the sun began to set, there was a loud crack, followed by a few pings. Evalieh flung his eyes open, peered around and leaned back. Butterflies had gathered around him, but he swatted them away. He gawked at their colorful wings and admired how quickly they could come and go. It made him wish he could be as free as they are.

            Another crack erupted, followed by more that grew louder each time. Evalieh jumped to his feet and a violent earthquake jarred the ground, causing him to trip. The glass throne shattered like dust and trickled throughout the sunlight like glitter. Rising from the ground, Evalieh’s eyes and smile grew wide with excitement. Then, he huffed and scowled. “What sort of idiots put a glass chair in the middle of nowhere? I could have been hurt!” he said.

            For a moment he stood still, gathering the courage to move closer. When Evalieh finally took a step closer, he saw his reflection in a shard and screamed. He threw himself onto the ground and flailed his arms and legs around. “What’s happened to me, now?!” Two, long, curly antennas stretched out the top of his white hair like a butterfly. Evalieh stopped and poked at the antennas, causing his eye to twitch and his body to flinch. “They’re real!” He rolled over, gripped his chest, and started breathing heavily. “This can’t be! I’ve turned into a freak! They’ll never let me come back, now!” he said.

            Evalieh cringed and drew a trembling fist, then grabbed his antennas and started to pull. His scalp and hair began to pull and tear like ripping off a bandage. With all his strength, he rolled around in the grass, slamming into plants and crystals. He bucked and stretched, trying to pull his antennas off. For what felt like a few hours, he rolled around until finally giving up with a loud groan. He stat up and folded his arms.

            Bushes and trees parted, casting a blinding light around gigantic creatures that stood in front. When they moved forward and came into view, green bean-shaped bodies clad in feathers, leaves, and flowers emerged. They stood a quarter of Evalieh’s height and had the friendliest smiles stretched across their faces. Behind them, came a group of humans dressed in gold and jewelry. Their eyes were wide and in awe of Evalieh.

            Not far behind, the ground quaked and rippled, causing Evalieh to stagger and fall. The scent of citrus and coconut filled the air on a gust of wind. When he looked up, the trees parted, and a tall woman stepped forward, crunching crystals beneath her golden heels.

            Evalieh reared back, trailing the woman’s tall figure. She must be ten feet tall!

            Beneath her waves of midnight hair, she wore a ruby veil that wrapped around her body. Her crimson eyes and olive skin glistened beneath ropes of gold and jeweled ornaments that hung off her body. A wide smile stretched beyond the width of her veil, making Evalieh frown with worry.

            “Wh-who are you?” he said.

            The tall lady leaned forward, and her outfit jingled like windchimes. She then wrapped a strong firm hand around Evalieh’s chin and lifted his gaze. “M’name’s Mishavlo, child. I am queen of the jungle—the sun and beans,” she said. Her voice was deep and heavily accented.

            Evalieh raised a brow in disbelief. “Jungle queen—you can’t be serious.” He pushed her hand away and stood up, causing everyone else to gasp in awe and kneel.

            “Divine one, you’ve come to us,” everyone said.

            Evalieh flinched. “Divine one—me—no way.”

            Mishavlo chuckled and patted Evalieh on the head. Her hand was like being thumped by a heavy pillow. “Child, you are the hero of the sun. The one who will save this island from our sworn enemy, the Shaman Clan.” She kneeled with a thud, causing the ground to quake.

            Evalieh grabbed his antennas and pulled them back. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just lost—that’s all.” He staggered backwards, but the others drew closer.

            Mishavlo brushed her hair back. “Don’t worry, child.” She shuffled closer and met Evalieh’s eyes with hers. A waft of coconut surrounded the air around her. “Our legend foretold of this meeting—that one day, you, our divine one, would fall from the sky, sit upon our throne, and hold the magical crystal bloom.” She looked around the remnants of the throne and frowned.

A crystal bird with the tail of a peacock fluttered down on her shoulder and squawked. It inched closer to her ear and began chirping, almost as if it were whispering. Mishavlo nodded and agreed with a chuckle.

Evalieh felt a tinge of fear rising in his stomach like a tingling queasy sickness. He looked away, too afraid to find out what was happening.

Then the queen rose and peered down at Evalieh. “If the throne shatters, it becomes proof that our hero has appeared. Although, I never expected you to shatter our dearest treasure, the crystal bloom.”

“I did no such thing!” Evalieh’s tone sharpened as he defended himself. He looked down at his hands and frowned doubting himself for a moment.

Mishavlo’s and her clan started to circle the boy like a pack of wolves. “We did not expect someone to shatter the bloom while it was gathering strength from the sun. Without that crystal, we cannot protect this land from its evils.”

“Well what kind of person leaves something so important out in the open? It’s not my fault!” Evalieh said.

“Child, it’ll be alright. Your great wisdom and power will lead us now that you’re here. You can go forth and gather the six sun tears and form a new crystal bloom,” she said. Mishavlo and her clan sighed with relief.

They looked towards the setting sun as stars began to appear. “Glory to the sun!” they said.

“Pfft—what wisdom? If I were so wise, I’d have known better and held my tongue. Now, I’m stuck in some weird place and don’t know how to get home!” He folded his arms and flopped on the ground. “I’ll never get home—I’m going to die in the wild.”

Mishavlo wrapped her big hands around Evalieh’s body and lifted him up with ease. “Humor me, for just a moment.”

Mishavlo’s clansmen pulled out their golden swords, startling Evalieh. He latched onto her thick arms, clawing like a cowardly cat as she hoisted him onto her shoulders. She whistled and the clansmen began to slice through the woods, making Evalieh burrow his face in Mishavlo’s hair. Fearing the worst, Evalieh clung onto the woman’s head, squeezing her neck between his legs. She pointed towards the others and showed how they were carving a path through the foliage.

Evalieh’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. I knew that.

“For our sun hero!” the clansmen said.

With a path carved, Mishavlo moved forward with everyone in tow.

Evalieh swatted the vines and branches away from his face. Every now and then, a stray branch would slap him, and he’d groan and whine. Wondering where they were going, he kept a close watch over the sword bearers, fearing this might be a trap.

“Calm yourself,” Mishavlo said. “The jungle is our home. It won’t hurt you.”

With the sky turning dark and the stars guiding their path, the tribesmen cheered and smiled. They filled the air with laughter and songs, surprising Evalieh at every turn. As he held onto her head for balance, he couldn’t help but feel a lump welling inside his throat. Their catchy tune made him hum a few notes and he gasped, covering his mouth before anyone could notice.

“Bet you never caught a bunch of fish with one hand, eh, hero?” said a man.

Evalieh looked back at the man and stared blankly. The bushel of shiny red scales was new to him, he had never seen salmon before. “What’s a fish?”

The others gasped.

Then, a woman pushed the man away and waved her flower necklace at Evalieh. “Who needs fish when you can wear flowers.” She tossed her neckless towards Evalieh. “Do you like wearing flowers?”

Evalieh lifted the necklace and sniffed their sweet scent. “Why would I wear this? I’ve never seen a flower before—only in books. I learned how useless they were,” he said.

The others gasped and looked at one another.

Then, one by one, some of the bean people started picking berries and leaves the further they went. Stacked like boxes, they stood on top of one another’s shoulders and reached their goods to Evalieh. They had the warmest and happiest smiles he had ever seen. Feeling uncertain about their gesture, he tapped at the berries, thinking something was amiss. He clenched his stomach, feeling as if their kindness was becoming a bit too much. Apart from all the nosy neighbors and opportunists back home, such kindness was unknown to him. To his annoyance and curiosity, they continued to ask a variety of questions until he felt dizzy from answering them all.

Evalieh sighed and closed his eyes, questioning their sincerity. He wondered how they could care about him so easily, making him question their sincerity for an ulterior motive. He was already accustomed to hollow friendship and hollow love from back home. He shook his head, not wanting to become their pawn. Then, a branch smacked him in the face, nearly knocking him off Mishavlo’s shoulders. He panicked like a scared cat and dug his nails into her head to pull himself up and stable his seat.

“Easy now!” she said.

He loosened his grip, covered his face, and looked away, feeling ashamed.

A couple of hours into the night, the group eventually arrived at a breezy cliffside. Mishavlo put Evalieh down and everyone stood by the edge. He wobbled forward and gasped. “What is this?! Where have you taken me?” Quickly, he backed away from the edge, feeling his knees wobble.

Mishavlo pointed forward, having him look ahead. “Do you see, child?” Between moonlit clouds, an island appeared below them like brush strokes on a painting. The island was shaped like a broken star, where snowy mountains rose in the north, forests to the east, jungles in the southeast, a desert to the west, and broken strip to the northwest covered by purple smog. “You are in the land of our glorious sun. May your path always be lit,” she said.

“So, what does this have to do with me? How does this help me get home?” Evalieh said.

Mishavlo politely shushed him. “In time, child, in time. We will help our dearest hero as best as we can.” Then, she held out her arms and smiled. “We wanted to welcome you to Starfall Island, may our six clans bring you prosperity and joy!”

Evalieh rolled his eyes and turned towards the jungle. “I don’t have time for this.”

“But don’t you want to join our Sun Clan? Our hero is supposed to use our magic to…”

Evalieh whirled around, raised a brow and smirked. “Did you say magic?”