Tolug

I stare at Tolug, confused, and he looks back at me with compassion. I have never been so scared in my life, but somehow "Wolfy" gives me peace. All of the sudden a voice talks to me in my head and says "do not fear, my dear Drea, we are going home." I flinch and look straight at him, because I can't comprehend how it is possible to hear his voice in my mind. 

He speaks to me, this time aloud. "Yes, I am real, and by now you should remember your parents and where we are from. I can talk to you telepathically, but you have to talk to me like this." I don't say anything back. I am just taking in everything that has happened today and hope I am not losing my mind.

"Oh, good! She woke up already!" Blake says from the pilot's seat. "I'm going to turn around now, and I hope you don't freak out and faint again." I brace myself, because I can already tell by looking at his pointy ears from here, that Blake is going to look a lot different than the Blake I am used to look at. He turns slowly, to face me, and I gasp. 

Blake doesn't move, he just stares at me. His eyes are so intense and huge, caramel like color, but so dark against his pale skin. His hair is dark blue and shaved on the sides, styled like a long mohawk. His face is clear and almost delicate, without any facial hair except his eyebrows, they are dark and thick and he has a small scar above his right eye, cutting his eyebrow. We study each other for a couple minutes without saying a word, until Tolug interrupts my thoughts with his comment in my head. "Wait until you see yourself too", he says.

I flinch! "What? Why? How do I look?" I shout. If I was scared before I am terrified now. Tolug laughs. Blake grins, and I contemplate him, getting lost while admiring this new creature I used to know as the mysterious twin. His limbs are long and he looks taller than before. He seems calmed and intimidating at the same time. "My name is not Blake, that was the name I chose for Earth. I'm Zul."

"Zul... okay... Well, I deserve an explanation, but first, set me free, please." Zul walks towards me, kneels in front of me and starts removing the chains keeping me attached to my seat. I have the urge to touch his silky dark blue hair and pointy long ears. I stare at his huge brown caramel eyes and the scar across his eyebrow, and that is when I notice two small black lines above the scar, near his temple. They look like some kind of tattoo. 

Without thinking, I trace my fingers through the lines, and Zul flinches and looks at me like a scared wounded animal. "I'm sorry", I say nervously, ashamed at what I just did. Zul collects himself and backs up from me, standing up. "The mark of a traitor", Tolug says. "But you have two lines, so that means you have been put through a test, to prove your alliance. I am assuming this quest was supposed to be your redemption", Tolug elaborates. 

I listen closely to Tolug's words, but then get distracted by a strand of what I assume to be my own hair on my shoulder. It is long, dark blue and silky, just as the princess from my memories... just as Zul's. I reach for my ears and touch them, and I get scared, feeling the length of them. They are pointy and too long for a human. 

"You stole this ship. Am I correct?" Tolug asks Zul, bringing me back to their conversation. "So, Jake is not your brother" I ask, thinking about all of them, including Nina. Neither of them were who they claimed to be. "His name is not Jake, is Racár, and no, he is not my brother. He is the General's son, General Mosk, the greedy scumbag who sucks on your Grandfather's power like a leech", Zul says with annoyance... no, it is more than annoyance; it is bitterness.

"Your grandfather, King Etrón, is blinded by him, manipulated. Rumor has it General Mosk is the one who killed your parents... or tried to at least", Zul says, seriously and thoughtfully. "But Mosk claims he went to a village to save Princess Maba, to rescue her from the group of savages who were holding her against her will in exchange for a treaty. He says rebel Andreúl took her to the swamps, where they both drowned while trying to escape." 

"This is outrageous!" Tolug growls. His growling scares me. The sound of it is powerful and terrifying. "That is not what happened! When we get to Crándactar I will kill that traitor with my bare teeth!" "Calm down, Tolug. I know this is not what happened. Andreúl survived after you escaped with her", Zul says, pointing at me, while sitting back at the pilot's seat, still facing us. 

"He got rescued by the Zatra Tribe, by a friend who had gotten behind schedule because of the war in the forest. He made it in time to save his life. He took Andreúl to the coast and the Zatra people healed him. It took months for him to heal. As soon as he did, he went back to look for Princess Maba, but she had vanished. Then, there were rumors of her dying in the swamps. Andreúl did not give up easily... but eventually he had to accept that the rumors were real."

"Years passed and he continued to live with the Zatra Tribe. He felt defeated and without purpose, so he was ashamed to go back to his people. Andreúl was looking at the possibility of getting killed by the leaders of the Kandreo Tribe and he did not want to put the rest of his revolutionary friends at risk. After a few years of living in Zatra territory and becoming almost one of them, he fell in love and got married. The Zatra woman and him had a baby boy, Kenúd, your brother", Zul says to me and I gasp. 

"You have already met him in your dreams", he says, smiling. "And how exactly do you know all this?" Tolug asks Zul, with a very serious tone, almost threatening. "Well, I am… How can I say this... what is the word I'm looking for?" "A traitor?" Tolug says. "How do we know we can trust you?" Zul looks at Tolug with the same determination. "Because I made a deal and I never break a deal. I am, you will say, a facilitator, a dealer. I am called The Magician for a reason."

"So you betrayed your people, they gave you a second chance, and you committed treason by stealing this ship with us… and all for what? What can possibly be so important that you would want to trade in a deal with Kenúd? Excuse me, but I am having a hard time believing that you are returning Andreamaba to her brother out of the kindness of your heart." 

Zul laughs, pointing at Tolug, while looking at me. "I like this guy!" He says. Tolug grunts at his comment. "You are very smart, my new friend… To answer your question, I made the deal for the exchange of information about my sister's location. We were separated when we were kids. Well, I was taken, and when I was old enough to go back to our old place, she was no longer there. I was 6 years old and she was 10, so it has been 11 years since I last saw her.

"You see… My parents were healers. They helped everyone, including Kandreo and Halves, so they were considered traitors. We lived in the outskirts of the Kingdom and practiced medicine in a hut near the forest. One day, Farrix guards came to our home and arrested our parents for treason. We knew the rules; our parents' instructions were for us to escape and meet at the hut later, if they were taken. My sister did so, but I wasn't as quick. They got me while I was trying to flee."

"I am sorry", I say to Zul, feeling sad for him, and despite not wanting to interrupt his story, I can't stop myself from asking him to explain something he said. A term he used while talking about traitors left me confused. "I have a question", I say to him. "What are Halves?" Tolug and Zul look at each other and I can see Zul tensing. He looks a bit embarrassed, perhaps uncomfortable. "Mixed creatures, like you", Tolug says, looking at me with compassion. I nod, while feeling more confused, and ask "Is that a bad thing?" Zul and Tolug exchange looks again, and Zul sighs. 

"Not many years ago", Zul explains. "Not before the separation of Tribes occurred. Back then it was not a common thing to do, but not a bad thing either. It happened seldom because of how far the tribes live from each other. We only came together for special events and to trade, but some people opted to move in with different tribes and fall in love and marry among them." 

"After the incident of the evil Kandreo traitor, no one was allowed to associate with a different tribe from their own, until the treaty was signed, excluding the Kandreo Tribe, but still, mixing with a different tribe and getting married with them is considered a bad thing now." I lower my head and all I manage to say is, "oh". Tolug and Zul stay uncomfortably silent until Zul awkwardly says "we can continue this story later."

"I think she wants to look at herself now", Tolug says, with sympathy in his eyes, agreeing with Zul, sensing my disappointment and discomfort. "I would also like to know how my parents met", I say, looking at Tolug. "Excellent. You will, my dear." Tolug nods and smiles at me. Zul stands up and gestures to me to follow him, showing me the way to a room he says is to be mine while we travel. 

When I step inside and look at my reflection in a long narrow mirror, my heart races when my eyes stare in astonishment at the creature looking back at me.