Sage Sagittarius and the Dragon Spirit

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. And yet, tomorrow this empty reality will be realized once again, as the last known person with a dragon spirit is leaving: me.

I inherited the spirit from my mother, which is rare but not impossible. On Saepio, your soul is split at birth: one piece resides in your body, while the other manifests as the spirit of an animal that reflects your true nature. There are many reasons why some people get one spirit while others another, but all spirits have a purpose, and all are important.

My mother was the first person in a thousand years to be born with a dragon spirit, but not many were happy or impressed by this miracle. The dragon is recognized as the most powerful spirit in the world, and her force was impressive but came with unforeseen inconveniences, especially when she was a child. She was flammable and constantly set fire to everything in sight. Her skin would reach boiling temperatures, making her impossible to hold, and anything you set her on, she would burn right through. Her spirit quickly grew, which was tolerable at first, since spirits cannot move anything they do not intend to. However, after learning to merge with her spirit at the shocking age of thirteen, her size disturbed even the most passive Fey in the Valley. Due to this, there were new protocols when I was born. New laws, partially developed by my mother, but greatly insisted upon by everyone else. Luckily for them, I wasn't born with half the power my mother had. Not even close.

☄☄☄

I’m sitting on the western cliffside of Mount June in the tall grass of a small clearing. To my left, the deepest part of the Valley fades into a rich purple, and to my right, the sun sets in a brilliant show of orange and pink far beyond the flatlands. My spirit, Aria, is resting quietly beside me. Birds shuffle through their evening cadences in the treetops, leaves rustle, frogs croak; water rushes down a creek that empties into the Dream River far below us. The air smells like apples and earthworms. I flick a small pebble and it skips a few times before cascading over the cliff before us. Aria twists her body in the dirt causing tiny moths and lightning bugs to surface and flutter upwards and away. I used to come here with my mom. Before the disturbances started happening. Before she left and never came back.

Tomorrow I leave for the SSA, the required Spirit Service Academy for all seventeen-year-olds to develop their spirit bond and abilities. My spirit is like my pet, but she is also me. We can communicate without speaking, but we have our own thoughts, and I certainly do not control her; at least not completely. At the academy, I will learn to merge with Aria, so that I can use my abilities in her form and gain more control over our connection. I always envisioned my mom teaching me how to control my spirit. The last time I saw her I was sitting where I am now, looking across the sky for far too long after she faded like a mirage into the horizon. She left that day to protect us. To protect me. That was five years ago.

Aria senses something but doesn’t stir. The shadows bend between the densely packed sequoia trees behind us. I don't move. The grass at my side slowly parts, and from the corner of my eye I see a large snake lunging straight at my neck. Before it can reach me, Aria shoots up and catches it over her long snout, sending both creatures high into the air.

“You shouldn’t do that,” I say.

“She loves it, though,” says Zinnia.

I look up and watch Aria and Poppy’s long bodies knot together. Since it’s their last night in the Valley too, I let them have fun.

Technically children who have not gone to the SSA are not allowed to use their abilities outside of school, but there’s a lot of leeway in that law. It’s hard to tell a child with a frog spirit to not throw their tongue at food from across the room, or a child with a rabbit spirit not to sprint ahead of their siblings to be the first one home. Typically, young spirits are more behaved than their child counterparts, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get into trouble. If someone were to see Aria and Poppy they might report them, but at this point, let them, I think. Maybe it could mean I don’t have to leave.

Zinnia sits beside me. Her presence is cooling, and I instantly feel more relaxed. I lean into her damp side. She smells like lilies and lemons. Her long, slick arms wrap around my waist and she rests her head on my shoulder. The dew on her forehead sizzles up into mist past my ear.

“You’re warm,” she whispers.

“And you’re wet,” I say. “What’s new?”

She chuckles, “Nothing yet.”

“How was the river?”

“The same,” she replies. “I’m going to miss it.”

“We’ll be back,” I say.

“Will we?”

I sigh. She really means, will you. Most people don’t come back to where they grew up once they go to SSA. They get placed in a sector where they can put their skills to good use; a place that better suits the element that rules their spirit. For that reason, there’s a good chance that Zinnia could return. The widest points of Dream River are in the Valley, the forests that grow up each mountainside are cool and humid and it rains a lot. It’s the perfect climate for a Water Fey, or someone, like Zinnia, whose spirit derives power from water. I, on the other hand, am a Fire Fey. No chance.

A few miles behind us, birds suddenly fly out the treetops in a harmonious screech, and Zinnia looks up at me.

“Rocket,” we say simultaneously.

“Knows how to make an entrance,” I say.

“Knows how to ruin a moment,” Zinnia mutters, and at that, Rocket’s monkey spirit, Jal, erupts from the trees into the open air, catching both Poppy and Aria in his mighty clasp. Then, all three of them tumble down the cliff in a cloud of dust.

“Great,” I say. “We should get out of here.”

“No ones around, quit worrying,” Rocket chimes in from behind us.

“You’re so slow,” says Zinnia. “Can’t you keep up with Jal?”

“I wanted to take my time,” he says, “I might not see it for a while.”

We all stand there silently.

The sun has dropped below the horizon, and the edge of the forest is dark and alive. Sensing our collective misery, all three of our spirits emerge from the cliff and solemnly take our sides.

“Let’s go,” I finally say, and start walking into the forest.

In the cover of the trees, and so far away from the village below, freedom overcomes us and soon we are running at full speed, our spirits chasing behind us like the wind, pushing us faster through the grove of trunks and luminous plants that amount to a neon streak in our peripherals. As we go deeper, the air gets heavier and fragrant of vanilla and rosemary. We reach the cliff on the other side of the mountain and I dive into the air with my arms and legs sprawled. As I fall, I completely release. I forget about the SSA and leaving my home. I forget the pain of losing my mom. The pain of being afraid.

When the air dramatically chills around me, I brace for impact. Without opening my eyes, Aria catches me on her back and delivers me to the edge of a small, fluorescent-blue pool encrusted by the roots of the largest sequoia tree in the world and a silent waterfall that rushes upwards towards the moon: the Lunar Lagoon. Completely forbidden to enter by underage Fey due to the location’s deep connection with the spirit world. It’s said that spending a singular night in the lagoon can accelerate your spirit connection thirty times over. You can see why a child wouldn’t be allowed in such a place.

When Poppy delivers Zinnia to my side and Rocket has settled atop a root protruding over the lagoon, we stop for a moment. With my dragon spirit, I can hear a twig cracking in the dirt from a mile away. I tune in: three heartbeats. Nothing else. Aria senses this as well, and before I can move, she twitches her tail giving it away, and Rocket leaps from the root, flipping gracefully through the air into a perfect dive. Jal follows, sending a magnificent wave up into the air. Zinnia and I watch as some of the water that reaches high enough stands still, caught by the moon, which shines brightly above a small opening in the canopy adjacent to the cliffside wall we jumped from.

Aria can feel the positive energy emitting from each of us, and as such, I feel at ease. This is exactly why we decided to visit this place tonight. I swim out to the center of the lagoon, lie on my back and spread my arms and legs out wide. The cool water cradles me and I feel weightless. Water is good for a Fire Fey. Floating here, ears below the water line, I feel balanced and lose track of time.

Suddenly I’m pulled below the surface at my waist. Zinnia carries me deep into the lagoon, then hooking our arms together at the elbow, bursts out of the water sending me flying towards the moon. For a moment, it feels as if I’ve been plucked right from the sky and hang by an invisible thread held by someone way up high, past the treetops and clouds. If you hold your breath, you can remain weightless for a few moments longer before gliding back to the surface.

We sit at the lagoon’s edge. Zinnia dives into the caves miles below the surface, and within minutes, brings us back up two handfuls of plump water chestnuts. Rocket climbs high into the trees to harvest lion’s mane and oyster mushrooms and a variety of different acorns and seeds. I click my fingers together to produce a small spark, make a fist, and when I open my hands, my palms are ablaze, ready to roast our harvest.

“You’re amazing,” Zinnia says as she carefully places chestnuts in my hands. When they are done, I place them in a clean, flat leaf she collected from the bottom of the lagoon, and repeat the process with the mushrooms.

I’ve never been able to take praise. I don’t feel special for my spirit. Sometimes wish I had inherited my father’s fox spirit instead. Hiding in plain sight isn’t something someone with a dragon spirit can do easily.

“Thanks, Zin,” I say shyly, and we eat quietly and contently. When we are finished, I start a small fire with leaves and twigs I gathered around the lagoon, and we lay at the water’s edge looking up through the crack in the canopy at the moon.

“I’m going to miss you guys,” I say, feeling sentimental. The moon is getting to me.

“You act like we’re never going to see each other again,” says Rocket warmly.

“Shut up,” Zinnia whispers, but I can hear her smile.

It becomes silent. Something has changed and I feel uneasy. I look up. The water has stopped trickling upward and the lagoon is flat and dead. Then we hear it. Aria shoots up, electrified and scared.

“What is it?” asks Zinnia nervously.

This sound. I recognize it. It’s overwhelming now. It sounds like the earth is ripping apart underneath us. Aria cries out and wraps herself around me.

“We need to get out of here,” I yell. “Go!”

The lagoon is now trembling, and the once brilliant, pearlescent water bubbles up like thick slime. The ground shifts underneath us, and all at once, the lagoon bursts to flame. Poppy gathers Zinnia and Rocket and we all start racing up the cliff, trying to outrun the eruption. The smoke engulfs us, so I get behind Poppy and push her with all my might. The sky above us is black and threatening, but with the cliff blocking us in, there's nowhere to go until we reach the top.

"Sage," I hear in the wind. As we reach the clearing, I push my friends through the forest and lose control, spinning out into the dirt. I regain my footing and run to the cliffside.

“Stop!” Rocket yells out. “It’s too dangerous!”

The fire has now reached the top of the cliff, but doesn’t spread into the forest. I’m dazed and dizzy from the adrenaline, but I have to look up. Something is telling me to look up, but I can’t see beyond the thick blanket of black smoke. I summon Aria, who takes me atop her back and follows it up and up until we reach the empty sky. I hover just outside of the smoke tunnel, large and menacing, that is being sucked up toward a bright light in the sky.

“Sage,” the voice calls out again. It’s her. It’s the voice of my mother.

“Mom?” I desperately scream as I ride Aria higher and higher into the air. “Mom, where are you?”

The higher I go, the brighter the light in the sky becomes. The sound is unbearable; like the infinite scream of a million tortured souls. The sky tears and cracks right before my eyes, before bursting out a tremendous wave of energy, sending Aria and I spiraling out of control towards the ground. I am paralyzed for a moment by the sheer force with which I strike the ground, and in a wave of panic, fire emits from my entire body, rocketing me up onto my feet, and I take off running. When I finally reach the clearing overlooking the Valley, I stumble onto my knees, desperately searching the horizon, and then I see it. The brilliant, crystal body of my mom’s dragon spirit twisting into the Valley.