Chapter 4-2
1028 Words
Ralahin“Cool,” I said, hiding my embarrassment. “So those are pixies.”
Neelu nodded and we continued our trek.
“Keep in mind for the future,” she warned me, “that it’s not a good idea to wander into a pixie or sylph garden. You can call to them from the edge, but if you take a step into their gardens and damage anything…let’s just say they are very protective and very deadly.”
That surprised me. “Deadly? But they are so small!”
“One at a time, yes. But a swarm? A thousand pixies can turn you into a pile of meat and bones in a few minutes. I understand it is a very painful experience.”
“I bet!”
“Even the wolves and other animals of the forest know to be wary of any gardens.”
“I noticed some of them carrying around their young,” I told her. “The small ones didn’t seem to have wings.”
“The wings are an aspect of their magic and how they connect with the Ralahin,” she explained. “As they become proficient with their connection to the Ralahin, wings manifest, and they are able to float and hover to do the work they do with the flowers.”
RalahinRalahin“Can you do that?”
She shook her head. “No. That is not how I connect with the Ralahin. Ulané Jhinura don’t fly.”
RalahinUlané Jhinura “Ulané Jhinura.” I was getting better at remembering what the sprites called themselves. “And what about the pixies and sylphs? Those are human words, too, right?”
Ulané Jhinura“Yes.” Neelu smiled. “Pixies are actually called Pilane Jhin. And the sylphs are Sula Jhinara.”
Pilane JhinSula Jhinara“Okay, that’s going to take me a bit.”
Neelu nodded. “For the most part, no one minds the human words, except for fae fairy. But if you use their real names, they will respect you more for taking the time to learn it.”
After we had hiked another hour, I was wishing we had a car or even a horse. The scenery was pretty and all, but I was impatient to get to where we were going.
“I bet you could get to your village a lot faster without me slowing you down.”
“True.” Neelu didn’t seem bothered by this. “But in time, you will learn to travel quickly with the Ralahin.”
Ralahin“Maybe I could learn now?”
“Perhaps,” Neelu laughed. “You should learn patience first.”
I tried not to scowl at that.
“Seriously,” I ignored her comment, “maybe I could learn a bit as we go? If it works, maybe we can get there faster.”
“It is possible you could learn enough that, with my help, you could travel safely.”
“What do you call it? When you move fast like that?”
“We move with the Ralahin.”
Ralahin“Yes.” I nodded. “But what do you call it?” I was remembering how she zoomed around all of those goblins—those Urgaban, I corrected myself.
UrgabanShe shrugged. “Only as I have described it.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I told her. “There should be a name for how you flit from one place to another.” I paused. “That’s it—flit!”
Neelu laughed again. “If you need to put a label to it, I suppose that will do.”
“Yes.” I had decided. “How do I do it?”
“Alright,” she turned to face me. “Hold out your arm.”
I did as she instructed.
“Now, feel the Ralahin around you and around your arm.”
Ralahin I nodded.
“Do you feel the ebb and flow? The push and pull?”
“Yes.”
“Good, feel that around your arm. Around your hand. Feel the pull above your hand.”
“Yes,” I told her. “I feel it.”
“Now, surrender your hand to that pull.”
“This will teach me how to move really fast?”
“You do not move,” she explained. “The Ralahin is moving, and it takes you with it. Surrender your hand to the pull of the Ralahin above it.”
Ralahin Ralahin I let my arm go, but it just fell to my side.
“No,” she told me. “Don’t surrender to gravity, surrender to the specific pull of the Ralahin above your hand. Try again.”
Ralahin I held my arm out and focused on the Ralahin.
Ralahin“Do you feel the pull?”
“Yes.”
“Can you feel how you are resisting the pull? Feel how you are keeping your hand from going with it.”
“Yes!” It was something that had been below my awareness. I didn’t even know I was doing it.
“Then stop resisting. Surrender the hand.”
I focused on my resistance and what I was doing to hold my hand in place from being tossed around by the Ralahin all around it. I looked at the specific resistance to the pull above my arm. And I let it go.
Ralahin Suddenly, my hand shot up, pulling my arm with it. If it hadn’t been attached to my body, it would have just kept going.
“I did it!” That was cool. “I just need to do that with my whole body, right?”
“Slow down,” she was shaking her head. “You made a good start, but you’re a long way from that.”
“Okay, then what’s next?”
“Next, we will move with the Ralahin together and I will keep you from getting into trouble.”
Ralahin “We’re going to flit?”
“Yes. We’re going to flit.”
- Writer
