One book after the other, Ezael continued to climb the towered shelf, all the way to the top. Whatever top there was, anyways. Red, green, blue, book by book, he made his way up each and every shelf. He had to be nearly there by now, didn't he? Carefully clinging to the shelf as he held onto what seemed like a gray book, Ezael dared to look up, searching with his eyes for the statue.
There atop the shelf, but still so very far away, was the statue, completely in shadow and impossible to make out the details. Had he not climbed at all? Ezael sighed in frustration. He was never going to get there! That guy had been wrong. Ezael didn't have what it took to reconnect with his magic. He wasn't like his brother. Kotah had a gift for it, he had been in contact with it over three times. Ezael hadn't.
Just as he was about to give up and start climbing down, Ezael could feel his hand slipping from the book above him. Gripping it tighter, Ezael tried to pull himself back up, but felt the book its self slipping out of its spot in the shelf, almost as if the shelf was forcing him away. With a cry of surprise, Ezael fell back, falling from the shelf with shock across his face.
Falling faster, Ezael waved his arms out in the air attempting to grab the shelf as he fell passed it. But try as he might, he couldn't seem to get close enough to it. The more he tried, the farther away it seemed.
No! If he didn't do something he was going to hit the bottom! But what could he do?!
Tightly closing his eyes in the act of bracing himself for the impact of hitting the ground, Ezael suddenly felt something hard hit his head and opened his eyes to find the book he had fell from drop off his head and into his hands. Through sudden instinct and without thinking, Ezael wrenched open the book, its pages cemented stone.
The same instinct willing him on and urging him to not give in, Ezael struggled further with the book and finally, at last, the pages started to open little by little. When the book was about half way open, a golden light came flooding out, its luminous rays breaking through what was left of the stone and flooding him in its brilliance.
When the light had faded, Ezael found himself falling slower, a slight tickle to his back. As he turned his head to look, he found to his surprise, he had wings. The knowledge of flight in his mind, given to him seemingly out of nowhere, Ezael did as his senses told him and flew to the top of the shelf, straight towards the statue that appeared to be calling to him.
Kotah on the other hand, was having much more trouble. The closer he got to his goal of the shadow ahead of him, the more the shadows around him pulled him back. Bound in literal shadowed forms tying him to place, Kotah kicked and fought his way through the miasma of gloom. The shadows like chains holding him back. The more he fought, the tighter their grip became.
When Kotah could take no more he stopped and the shadows began to cover him, smothering him in their darkness, pulling him further in and attempting to steal his last breath. Coughing and choking, Kotah struggled to fight the shadows again, each attempt more futile than the last. His air cut off from the smothering darkness, Kotah's vision began to dim, the things around him spinning as he became light headed.
Was this the end?
Kotah's vision blackened as he fell back, the shadows consuming him whole...
And then? A brilliany light flared through the cave, its color aglow as it surrounded the near-unconscious child in violet flames. The light searing through his eyelids, Kotah weakly forced them open, only to find the shadows were slowly releasing their hold on him. They seemed to be afraid of the light. But this wasn't enough to make them retreat.
Feeling his head start to clear, Kotah welcomed the warmth of the flames, his vision and senses returning to him. With the light as his guides, Kotah returned to his struggle, forcing himself through the hold of the shadows and towards the shadow in light at the end of the cave. The flames burning through the miasma, Kotah at last reached the end, running into the light.
The very moment Kotah reached the shadodw, Ezael reached the statue, both children reaching to their respective goals at the same time. When they had, something happened, and the whole worlds around them fell apart, the children finding themselves in a field of grass, together. In front of each of them, were the objects that called out to them.
In Ezael's hand was the statue, which, now that he could see it better, resembled a totem of a young type of cat. Holding it in the both of his hands, Ezael rubbed his hand across it, the statue glowing in response. Ezael jumped back in surprise, dropping it as it alight with energy. Fallen to the grass, the statue grew to the size of a young cub, which stood to all fours and walked to Ezael, its form revealed to be that of a bobcat.
At the same time, the shadow Kotah had reached, now stood in front of him, its eyes watching him, but doing nothing else. It seemed to be waiting for him.
Reaching forward, Kotah brushed his hand across what seemed like the head of the shadow. To his shock, Kotah fell back, when the violet flames from his hand literally melted the shadow off, fur revealed to be under it. Quickly getting over his surprise, Kotah knew what to do and began to pet the shadowed form, everywhere the fire from his hands touched, more and more shadow melted off.
At last, the rest of the shadow was gone, and the form beneath took that of a young lynx, also barely a cub.
As both children stared at each of the respective felines in front of them. A voice rang in their head.
Play?
The question rang in each of their minds, as the two felines walked closer towards the unresponsive children, this time the voice was more demanding.
PLAY?! The question was sent with more emotion attached to it, feeling and visual imagery accompanying the request.
This time both Kotah and Ezael nodded, the two of them reaching down and picking up the cubs. And as they did, they felt a connection to them, a sense of being complete, as if a friend that had been away had returned to them.
Satisfied, the cubs jumped out of the kids arms, and the children followed, letting what they now knew to be their Spirit Guides lead the way into the lush grass ahead.
