Chapter Fourteen :

Mirai's Vision /

Her tent was so full of beautiful things - oil and watercolor paintings, tapestries, hung lanterns and small chandeliers, aromatic potted alien plants that weaved along everything, rugs on the ground and plush chairs alike to beanbags, a little table and bookshelves, jars and vases filled with shimmery powders and stones. 

She led us to a part of the tent in which we had to walk through countless beads strung from the ceiling. The tent looked so small when I was standing outside, but now that I was inside, it seemed endless. We sat around a small coffee table with old books and scrolls piled on top of it. "Tea?" Mirai asked. "Sure," I replied. Dolion politely shook its head no. Mirai stepped into another part of her tent, to prepare the tea. 

In about five minutes she came back with two steaming teacups in her hands. "Mm, thank you." I told her, breathing it in as she handed the cup to me. The tea smelled so floral and sugary, and tasted better than it smelled. Little flower petals floated around in the burgundy colored brew. We sipped in silence for a bit, and then Mirai spoke. 

"I can't exactly control my visions," She told me. "They occur only when they want to, and that almost always happens at night. I know you are in a hurry to fix everything that's going on, but I have to ask you to wait. Until after tonight. I'll get some sleep, and a vision will come. You are more than welcome to stay here until I can give you what you're searching for." Her hazel eyes looked at me inquiringly. 

"Of course, we"ll wait. We might as well stay here anyway, this place was somewhat hard to find. Thank you, Mirai, for everything." I managed a small smile; I was suddenly exhausted. 

She showed us to a part of the tent containing multiple thick, soft rugs with pillows. "I'll see you in the morning," She stated. 

As tired as I was, I couldn't fall asleep. A few feet to the left of me, Dolion lay silently with its eyes closed ( I never knew when it was actually sleeping ). I stepped outside of the tent to get some fresh air, something that always relaxed me. Then I heard snarling and mumbling coming from the forest behind the tent. I cautiously hid behind one of the tent flaps, watching. 

About ten creatures of random breeds staggered out of the trees. A horrifying wolf-type beast strode out ahead of the rest, with a dead deer in its enormous mouth. I was incredibly saddened at the fact that it was one of the magical deer from earlier, now departed from this world. What was left of it was so gory I can hardly describe it. 

"This is where you said you think she is?" Another of the creatures snarled, a leopard-like being with goat horns growing out both sides of its head. 

"No, I know this is where she is," A tall brute alike to a goblin reported. "Because I saw her and the human girl talking earlier... As well as that traitor Dolion."

Something in the woods screeched, drawing their attention. "What was that?!" A huge lizard with claws and black stripes hissed. "We'll get back to Mirai and the others later," Another growled. "First, we're gonna get whatever that is." 

After dropping the murdered deer, the wolf, along with the rest of them, raced off into the forest. I went to go back in the tent to warn Mirai and Dolion, and I caught sight of Orpheus's tall, slender frame, half hidden in the trees. His blue eyes gleamed in the darkness, then he disappeared.

I ran into the tent and almost crashed into Dolion, who was standing just inside the entrance. "Did you hear all that?!" I whisper-shouted. It nodded its head. "we need to leave right now," I snapped. "What did they mean when they called you 'traitor'?" It shrugged nonchalantly. "Because I didn't choose the path that they did," It replied. "I'll have to think about all of this later," I said irritably. "Lets go get Mirai." 

Upon entering her room, she sat up straight, her hazel eyes glowing. I started to tell her that we needed to go, but then I realized she wasn't looking at us. She was looking through us, an emptiness in those shimmering eyes... But not empty like everyone back home, or in town. Her eyes were unseeing only to this world; she was in a galaxy all her own. Glimmering butterflies surrounded her head, the pendants on her jewelry shone. The moon and star symbols spun, and her hair seemed to be floating around her. But then everything was floating; Dolion and I and all that existed in the tent, levitating in a universe full nameless shapes and colors. 

It all returned to normal after a few minutes, and Mirai woke up. "We have to go, now !" She shouted, as the tent walls tore and the beasts from earlier entered.