The conversation continued until late in the evening, allowing Meyra to become comfortable with her new comrades. The three said their farewells and went to their rooms, leaving her alone. Meyra walked up to the bar and asked for her key. It reminded her of a horse with glowing hooves and it stomped its feet, guiding her to her room. 

Once she arrived outside the door, the key jumped onto the door handle. The hooves stopped glowing, and a light appeared above its head. The horse touched its head to the key hole and the door unlocked. It creaked open to a dark room, and the key jumped into a bed on a table beside the door.

Meyra walked into the dark room, only able to see with the minimal light coming through the curtains. She opened the curtains and placed her bag on the chair beside the window. Meyra sat on the bed, her wings draping down and touching the floor. 

She looked around the room, seeing a large mirror beside the door.

Meyra touched her face and tugged at her hair, feeling the unfamiliar body. Tears welled up in her eyes as she pulled out her journal. She flipped through the pages, recounting the trips her family went on together. Her tears began to dampen the page, so she moved it to the side to dry in the moonlight. 

Meyra rubbed her tears away and got up, walking over to the window. She leaned against the ledge and looked outside. Both moons shined brightly, the smaller one partially hidden by the larger one this night. In the distance she could see the clear sky had become clouded. 

She looked down and saw smoke towards the horizon. Meyra watched the smoke quickly dissipate and closed her curtains. Her heart jumped when she saw the white fox sitting on the chair where her bag was. She caught her breath as she walked over to the bed to sit down. 

“How are you adjusting?” The fox asked. 

"Better than I thought. I need to focus so I can go home faster,” she grumbled, resting her head in her hand. 

The fox grinned, cocking its head to the side as it quietly mumbled, “That's why you were chosen.” Meyra was unable to hear this. 

“Can you elaborate on the beings in the forest?” She asked, not able to get more information from the group for fear of suspicion. 

Spiritualists are beings that make contracts with the natural spirits. They assume various forms, some retaining their original body while others molding to better harness their spirits abilities. It is possible for some to combine with their spirits, giving them the complete spirit power in addition to their own abilities. Spiritualists are hard to distinguish if they remain in their original form, often blending into the population, but those who decide to mold often stay in the forests.

Spiritualists generally remain within the forest, as their needs are well-met, and the forest provides the best environment to contract with spirits. For those that can contract with more than one, they have more difficulty leaving the forest unless they have complete authority over their abilities.

“You will meet more species over time,” the fox spoke. 

Meyra had left the windows unlocked but closed. A breeze came and opened the windows. The fox looked back at Meyra before jumping out the window and disappearing from view. Meyra sat there for a moment before getting up to close the window and curtains. 

As Meyra was dozing off, she felt something tickling her nose. When she began to dream, she saw that she was waist deep in the ocean. She frantically looked around, seeing that she was far from the rocky shore. Something slithered against her leg, making her jerk her leg. 

Meyra strained as she raised her wings above the water. She shook the water out and thrusted down, getting herself out of the water. Her feet hovered just above the water as she tried to gauge how far she was from the shore. 

A hand grew out of the water, going around and back into the water just below Meyra. A Mer pulled themselves out of the water, keeping their tail just below the surface. Their hair was a silvery blonde, matching their scales and eyes. They had scales covering their lower abdomen up their chest, fading as the scales reached their neck. White, chalk-like, markings covered their chest and arms, coming up to their neck. The markings glowed underwater on their hand, but not on their torso above the water.

A thick silk-like material covered the upper half of their torso like a shawl. Adorned on their head was a small crown of coral and opalesque gems. From within the crown, horns protruded from their head with sparkling ends in the sunlight. Instead of ears, they had small fins covering a small hole behind them. On their face appeared to be freckles that went down to the base of their neck. 

Within the water, a creature tried to play with Meyra’s feet. It had the coloration of a clownfish but had a large horn-like protrusion on its head, and the body of a horse. It had a large white heart on its chest and popped its head out of the water, licking her foot.

"The Novon like you, they have not steered me wrong once,” the Mer spoke from the rock. 

Surrounding their waist, a creature was swimming around in circles. Its eyes were locked on Meyra and it watched her as it swam around. It had a slender body with multiple fins and long tendrils coming from its snout. Its long horns blended into the hair on its head as it moved around. 

"I am Reix, the leader of the Mer. I will keep this short."

The Mer were being kidnapped during the night and returned the following day unharmed. The only notable thing is that the Mer shed their scales at night, but the scales are only used for jewelry. They also had more fishermen coming into the waters that were allowed. But the Mer were unsure what was causing the high need of fish suddenly. 

“I believe this is related to the famine and wanted to warn you in advance,” Reix paused, “I know you will find a way, but I am unable to see your future.”

The Mer leader is born blind, as their eyesight belongs to the future. Thus, their eyes are the lightest of all Mer. They have dots on their face and neck to receive electrical signals underwater. The dots allow them to move more freely underwater, in addition to their superior sense of smell and hearing compared to other Mer. Their senses are dampened above water so the Mer leader is escorted to their meetings. 

“I feel unyielding dread when I attempt to look into your future, so please take this.” Reix fumbled before grabbing Meyra’s hand. 

The Mer cut their thumb and drew a marking on Meyra’s outer hand. The marking glowed when it was completed before fading from view. Reix explained that the marking would be of assistance on their journey. Meyra thanked Reix and the Mer began to slide into the water. 

“Rendel told me about your group’s journey,” Reix’s voice cut out, “Please be safe,” the Mer wheezed before disappearing under the water. 

From under Meyra, the water began to swirl in a circle. It began to darken and the currents became more erratic. A column of water grew into the air, sending her flying.