*Gasp!The Spirit Prime Wolf gasped as it"s eyelids flung open, blinking as it stared into the brightness about. It lay on the circular patch of rock infront of the rock, abit over sized for the rock while a drakon knelt on one knees looking at him while holding a half of a broken orb in each hand.
"Heh. Bayo... It worked." Jaspar beamed, happily.
Bayo merely squinted, adjusting to the light about. "What worked?"
"The essence transfer. Took me some huge chunk of energy when I saw you sleeping but yet unstable. Kind of a tussle between your two souls. And hey, how do you always change forms? If I wasn"t a nature drakon, I probably won"t have been able to find you."
"Eh... slows down?" Bayo"s croaky voice came again as Jaspar"s eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh My! You can talk, right?" He said, hands flung wide.
"Of course not! I"m just using sign language." Bayo rolled his eyes although he found the act very painful to make do with.
"Wow!" Jaspar grunted as he flung himself at the Wolf, hands clasping in one big bear hug. "This makes everything so easy."
"Hmmmm... Can"t breathe!" Bayo complained.
He smiled inwardly as Jaspar let go, observing his form. He had to admit it, being with Jaspar was just so comforting. With him, he felt nothing else mattered. And the new speech capability of him was really making the difference now.
"You are very big. About 5feet now. And different. How come?" Jaspar began tapping every part of his body...
Including his b.u.t.t.
"Eh... stop!" Bayo shoved against the drakon and moved down front he uncomfortable rock. His new size made staying on the rock a nightmare and even more, a touchable specimen by this pervert of a friend.
"What is your s.e.xual orientation, Jaspar?" He asked, his voice sounding strange to his ears.
"Err...w-what is s.e.xual orientation?" Jaspar has a face of genuine ignorance on.
"Ah... never mind. Just don"t go all touchy on me. I"m allergic to touch." Bayo face-pawed, trickling essence off his face.
Seeing this, Jaspar chuckled, smirking.
"Ehen... I"ve been having these questions to ask you for long now." Jaspar raised an eyebrow at Bayo"s words.
"Okay... shoot!" He smirked.
Taking a cursory look around, Bayo noticed that the corpses of the dogs had vanished and even those Vampires were no where to be found. However, just a little star to his right, where the trees had begun congregating, although spa.r.s.ely, was a thoroughly scorched and still smoking crater.
Was that the source of the intense heat he had felt during the time he was unconscious?
"Did you know what happened there?" He gestured his snout towards the scene causing Jaspar to turn in the direction.
"Uh... No. I was going to ask... was there a fight here?" He frowned.
"Yes. I was attacked by some vampires and a Spirit Wolf earlier."
"Hmm..." Jaspar shrugged. "I didn"t meet anyone here. Either they destroyed themselves or they left or something."
"O-okay!" If what Jaspar said was true, then He was safe, atleast for now. "And... I came across some people last time. They spoke about CFR... what"s that?"
"Oh!" Jaspar rose. "Center for forest reserve. The history goes really far back. We evolved from dragons, the dragons hunted us for being different and we escaped to the Second Heavens and built a task force of the strongest drakons to repel their attacks. That"s what they are for. Now, what would they have been doing here? The dragon expanse is towards the West gates." Jaspar"s frown deepened.
"Which is Second Heaven now? How many heavens do we have?"
"Seven in total. The first Heaven is the sky on Earth, occupies by demons majorly. Second is majorly occupied by us drakons and third is a mix of spirit beings while the fourth, fifth and sixth and seven belong to Eledumare and the Orishas and the Spirit Humans and the Sprit Warriors called Irunmole."
"Oh. If the sun is the first heaven and I"m in the second heaven, how come there"s still sunlight here?" Bayo grunted.
"Oh... that"s because Eledumare is so much of a glorious being that his aura extends through the heavens, in form of light. That"s why there is only Dusk and Dawn, no night. Except in the First Heaven." Jaspar shrugged.
"Oh!" That explained why he had never come across night ever.
"What are you? You never really told me, Bayo." It was Jaspar"s turn to ask now.
"Err... Just an unfortunate special creature." Bayo replied, earning a fit of hearty laughter from his pal.
"Really? You"re still using that old term." Bayo nodded at his words. "Come on, first you were an Ironspike Tailed Dog, then a different specie and now, you look much like a Spirit Wolf but rather bigger and somewhat stronger. Tell me honestly, what are you?" Jaspar asked, bending a little to scratch Bayo"s head. Despite the fact Bayo was 5feet now, he was pretty still smaller than the 7.8feet tall drakon.
"How come you guys are so tall?" Bayo dodged the question.
"Answer me first." Jaspar smacked his head playfully.
"Okay... heh! I am an Ascender. I am from Earth and I was reborn here kind of. Can change forms and evolve and lots of other things that Ascenders are."
"Wow!" Jaspar had a straight face on as he turned towards the Wolf, bending down to seat in the rock. "So... this is why Asoju Temi wanted to kill you." Jaspar said. "There was a world order about Ascender creatures. It said you guys are demons. So, you"re a demon?" Jaspar gazed deep into Bayo"s eyes.
"Do I look like a demon?"
"I don"t know." He threw his hands into the air. "After all some demons can change shape and all that."
"Well, That makes two of us. I saw you change into a dragon. Doesn"t that qualify you as a demon?" Bayo smirked.
"Oh-No! Demons have affinity with laws of darkness. I can sense Law of Gluttony in you. That"s makes one of us." Jasper flung a finger at him.
Bayo grunted, throwing his head away.
"Come on. You are one cool demon."
"I"m not a demon. I"m a human being."
"Just human being... haha... h.e.l.lo? There are only spirit beings in Orun, no s.p.a.ce for mere human beings except you are a spirit human which you aren"t." Jaspar chuckled.
"Whatever..." The wolf poked at Jaspar"s side.
"Anyways, What is Fugitive Mark? And I do I escape it?" Bayo asked upon remembering his conversation with Trixius earlier.
"What? So it was you he cast the technique on?" Jaspar growled, traces of fear in his eyes.
"What?"
"You don"t know? A fugitive mark is a sort of slave contract except that you are being marked for destruction at the end of the day. No one can kill you without incurring the wrath of Asoju Temi and, people will avoid you at all cost or try to capture you for him to incur his favour. That"s how serious it is."
"Oh My! This serious?" Bayo panicked.
d.a.m.n that Trixius for making it seem light and easy.
"Which means people will start coming after you. You can"t stay here." Jaspar shot up. "You need to go to the World Bridge and escape to Magmor. Magmorians are rock skinned beings. That feature of them will help in dampening the homing mark on you or even cancel it out. "
"Slow down... what is a world bridge?"
"World Bridges are small realms containing spatial energy enough to teleport you into the World above or Below. And it usually is heavily guarded to control its traffic and prevent enemy invasion. But it is your best bet. The farther you go from Drago, the faster the mark fades from your soul." Jaspar gesticulated.
"So how do I get there? I don"t know anywhere besides this forest." Bayo replied.
"Thank Goodness, I brought it. " Jaspar muttered as he dug into the pouch by his waist at his left. "I saw him cast the mark so I thought I had to see you to make sure you left. a.s.suming the mark was for you. But I was right." He muttered again as a pulled in out necklace of green entwined vines linking at a green orb like gem that sparkled in the light.
"This is nature path seeker orb. I already set the directions on Magmor. It will guide you towards the World Bridge. I wish you luck, Bayo." Jaspar bent as he made to wear the necklace on Bayo.
"Why you sounding like I"m going to die soon?" The vine lace expanded, becoming bigger to fix around his neck.
"Because you are. Why are you looking at my pouch with those gluttonous eyes?" Jaspar said after wearing him the path seeker orb.
"Well, I"m hungry. And how come you keep pulling out things bigger than the pouch from it?"
Jaspar doubled in laughter.
"I"ve spoiled you already. You want those herbs to eat, eh?" Bayo nodded.
"Haha... Spirit beings don"t need to eat. We survive on Agbara. We only eat when we need to calm down or just feel the pleasures of taste. And that is once in a while." Jaspar chuckled, stooping to square eyes with the wolf.
"So? I"m hungry. What is that pouch anyways?"
"You like food, too much! And this is a spatial pouch where I can store things in a spatial dimension and my herbs. I gather them because I am a nature dragon and want to study them when I gain admission into the Alchemy Academy of Drago." Jaspar said, a hint of pride in his words as he pulled out several herbs out.
"I"m going to ignore you called me a glutton." Bayo said as he dug his snout into the pouch, earning laughter from his friend.
This... this was so heartwarming.
Jaspar sat down again, watching Bayo clearing the pile in seconds as he wolfed down everything in.
"Well, There"s the glutton for you." Jaspar taunted only to earn a head smack from Bayo.
"Don"t call me that. Hmph." He snorted, throwing his head away.
"You will need to start moving, Bayo." Jaspar said sadly. "I will miss you."
"No. I don"t have to go. I survived the vampires. I can survive what comes next too."
"No, Bayo. I"m serious. Do you think you can stand against Asoju Temi? He"s out to destroy you and believe me, you are nothing on the power charts. If I wanted to, I could destroy you in a blink of an eye. The only chance you have is to ascend for the 3rd Heaven." Jaspar stated gravely as Bayo hung his head low.
Jaspar had a point.
The more he stayed here, the more he was easily accessible for damage. Afterall he had merely survived those vampires by sheer luck.
If the Law of Love didn"t have a bonus usage then he sure would have been mincemeat earlier.
THUD!
The soft echoing of weight slamming against the forest grounds echoed slightly. Startled, Bayo looked up, his eyes meeting a drakon with a silver gem in her forehead while she donned an armor padded with iron at the chest, joints and hands.
Just before her was a circle with an image in it. He recognized it.
It was a summoning circle.
SKREEECH...
An all black bird flew out of the circle, circling around the female.
"Take this to the CFR quarters. I"ve found the beast even though it changed its form already." The drakon lady gave a tiny scroll to the bird which took it in its claws, all the while gazing at Bayo.
The bird Skreeched again and exploded into a s.h.i.+mmer of white light as Jaspar shook his head slowly.
"Yasmin, scan!"
—————————-
Huntress 02178
Specie: Drakon
Soul: Omni Cla.s.s
Energy: 256 674/ 300 000
Ability: Metal Elemental Affinity
Law: Law of Sickness
———————————-
"Son of Drakon Master Dakota, step aside. This is official matters on the securing of the beast with you. Please, do not interfere." The drakon lady said, her eyes beaming fiercely.
At that, Bayo huffed before letting out an ear piercing howl. With his new form, he would be able to buy some escape time from this huntress.