“Ughh..” I moaned as I lay in the bed. A tube was stuck into my arm, and I could feel the itchy restraint of bandages on my skin. maybe I’m dead, I thought. Maybe I died, and I’m gonna rise up to paradise any minute know. But then I twitched my fingers. They moved. “Now, this is gonna hurt a little,” a calming voice from above me said. Then a burning hot needle slid into my jugular. “Aagh!!” I screamed. “Now, hold still!” I got up, and tore the needle out of my arm. A trickle of hot blood slid down my arm. “What the hell... where... am... I. . .” The tranquilizers kicked in. My head fell limp, looking at the red bandages on my chest helplessly. I fell, hideously angry but my body slothful. “Now, young man,” “Nnnoo!!” I mumbled. “What’s your name?” he said, now completely calm as he put a hand on my shoulder. If I wasn’t drugged, I could’ve ripped him limb from limb. “I decided to wait until he felt content of my tranquilization well after it wore off. “My... name... is James...” I could hear the scratch of a quill on paper. I was starting to feel a tingle of pins-and-needles creep across my leg. Good. It wouldn’t be long.    “Good. And your surname?” “Elias.” I grumbled. I bit my tongue to get the feeling back. “Good. Where do you live?” I could feel my finger twitch, well out of the doctors sight. I made my fingers a fist, and did that several times. I clenched my jaw. “Um, I live at...”  We had pretty much just lived at different houses for the past few years. “... uh, I can’t remember right now.”  The doctor wrote again. “I’ll just ask the young man who brought you in. I owe you, you know.” “Why?” I could move any part of my body, and almost regained feel. “Because you’re a miracle case!  you’ve made me famous!” I could now move any part of my body. “You should have died,and that poor kid who brought you in even said that you were unconscious in a pool of your own blood! I’m a hero.” I began to plan my escape. The doctor was a griffon with tawny grey feathers. I decided how much poison to put in him. I barely got up, and he helped me. “You shouldn’t be standing, Mr. El-” he stopped, and looked tired. “Neither should you.” I pulled the tip of my tail out of the doctor’s shoe (I didn’t kill him, just made him temporarily catatonic), helped him to the bed, and opened the window. It was early in the morning, and there weren’t many people out. I touched my face, and realized it was almost completely bandaged. Just when I was about to escape, the door opened, and a small, nervous looking griffon with blond hair and grey feathers came in. “Is he awa-” he stopped. Silence. “Oh my God you killed the doctor!” he shouted. But this was a good opportunity to ask something. “How far are we from where you found me?” He thought. “Um, I think a couple miles.” “Good. See ya.”  “WAIT!” he shouted. “What?” I asked. “Can I come with you? I mean, I got no where else to go, ya know? And besides. You owe me.”  I noticed that the griffon didn’t have wings. “Oh, fine. Whatever. But I got no place else to go, neither.”  “Whatever! At least your better to talk to than the dude in the ally where I normally sleep. He smells like piss, and always drools and stuff...” and so, later that day, I met Naru. He took me and the griffon into his family, and there the griffon met his adoptive mother. I stayed with Naru’s family, but I never forgot that day.

 “James? Ja-ames...”  “What?! What? I mean, uh yeah?”  “You kinda just ran into three old ladies, and that dude who was sleeping on your couch is here.”  Ace waved. “Uh, hi? I’ve been trying to get your attention for, like, ten minutes.”  James had just kinda spaced out, probably thinking about the carving. “You okay?” “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. Just thinkin’.”  “Hey, were are we goin, anyway?”  He was paying attention now. “Um, I hate to be the one to have to say this, but we’re going to the Ienile center of faith, the Ohme.” “Okay. That doesn’t sound too bad.” “Yeah, but we’re going there to renounce your faith.” he cringed and clenched his teeth. “WHAT?!” I screamed. “I’m sorry, but you have to be neutral in all respects,” I could fell my skin turn white, my pupils dilate. “What did you say?!” I stuttered. James stopped, and thought. Then he laughed. “Oh, I’m sorry! Not all respects! You can still be a dude.” Ace doubled over laughing. I would have fainted right there, but I think the wind from my enormous sigh of relief kept me up. “Oh, thank you! Thank you so much! Whew!” the corners of James’ mouth curled into a smile.

“But you still can’t fly-” “SHUT UP!!” I screamed. Ace was still laughing. “What about flying?”  I mouthed ‘no’ to James. He looked embarrassed, like he was trying to hold in laughter but couldn’t. “But still. Why do I have to renounce my Truism?” “Because you have to have people to be able to listen to you without provoking memories of the feud. I mean, you have to be an ambassador for all of the races.” “Why do I have to be the embassador? Why am I the Son? How the hell is Naru so sure that I am?” “Did you ever notice that you have a large scar shaped like an x on your back?”  I did remember Naru wanting to see my back, and when I was a kid, my dad told me that I had a growth on my back that the mayor (?) Cut off when I was born. I never really questioned it. “Um, yeah? What does that have to do with anything?” James and Ace looked at each other. “Listen, kid. You’re the Truist, not us. Shouldn’t you know this stuff?” Ace said. “When the father died, it is said by the Truists n’ stuff that the gods cut open his son, a lifeless stillborn, and placed the soul of the father in him. That’s why the scar will never heal.”  “Ew. If I was the Son, I had some creepy old dude (great! Now I’m even talking like Ace and James) living inside of me. Or, even worse, I was the creepy old dude. But I don’t even like bran!” A thought shouted rebelliously inside of me. “Well, aren’t they gonna think I’m a heathen?” “What’s a heathen?” James said. I stared, mouth open.  “Hey, what’s a guitar? Now we’re even!” he snapped. “This kid doesn’t know what a guitar is? Are you serious?”  “Well, what’s a heathen? Huh?” Ace cleared his throat and said,  “A heathen is a derogatory noun referring to a person who does not believe in a locally or widespread held religion. It stems from the Nullroth, ‘heathias’, meaning savage or uncivilized. Sample sentence: Jim called Bobby a heathen after he heard that he was Ienile. Adjective: relating to heathens.”  James and I stared at him, mouths open. “What? I was bored so I memorized the dictionary while James was gone. Is that a problem?” he asked earnestly. “Wow. Couldn’t you have, I dunno, gone outside, or exercised or something?” “James, think about who you’re talking to.” “Good point.” “You memorized the dictionary?!”  “Yeah, but only up to gangrenous. Gangrenous: resulting from medicine localized death or decomposition of skin tissue, resulting from either bacterial infection or obstructed circulation. verb: to become infected with gangrene.”   “But H comes after G.” James said, counting on his fingers. “Did I say I did it in order?” we laughed. I thought Ace was weird, but I liked him. It was a funny, ha-ha weird. Not like, it-puts-the-lotion-on-it’s-skin, eat your children  weird.

“Hey, that reminds me. Have you seen Don lately?” Ace nodded. “Yeah.  Vitara’s back at the vet again.” “What? She just went right before I left!” “Yeah, but she got sprayed two days after. You shoulda seen him tryin to get her into the little cardboard box! He looked like a blind dude after shaving! It was hilarious!” they laughed. I once again had no idea what they were talking about. Who was Don? Who’s Vitara? What’s a vet? What cardboard wagon? But I didn’t ask. Except for one. “Who’s Don?” “You’ll see. We got a few hours to kill. Let’s go surprise him”. We arrived at a strange building, and we walked in. Lernalaban was such a strange place. “Hello? Um, when is Poseidon Simons’ appointment getting out?” Ace asked a woman behind the counter. “It should be getting over in a few minutes.” I was going to sit down, but James and Ace ran into the door that said, ‘patients only.’ when I walked in, she said, “um, young man? That door is for patients and their owners only. I though fast. “I, uh, know. I’m going in for emotional support.” she smiled, sharp teeth showing. “Well, Okee dokee then!”

I saw Ace and James with their ears against a door. They were holding in laughter. I went to listen. “Listen, girl, it’s not gonna hurt,” “REAOW!” “Ow, ow, no, let go, Ow, ow!”  I could hear something like a cross between an eagle’s call, a bark and a meow. “Well, that should be it, Mr Simons..” “Oh, thank God...” “Here’s your check.” “What?! For a flea bath and some shampoo? She still smells like skunk!” “Well, I also had to examine her-” “YOU STARED AT HER FOR HALF AN HOUR! THAT’S AN EXAMINATION?”  After a string of mumbled curses, a griffon with what appeared to be a cat/ dog with a griffon head in his arms walked out. He had tiny pieces of toilet paper held to his face with blood covering his face. He had brown feathers and red hair. “Aww, c’mon!” he shouted as all three of us began laughing. “She wouldn’t get in the box! Gimme a break, those claws are sharp!” the creature in his arms looked up innocently with large brown/black eyes. My sides hurt from laughing.

When we left, I again asked about me having to renounce myself. “What does that involve, exactly? Will it hurt?”  James shook his head. “No, but any articles of your faith that you have in your possession will have to be burned.”  “Well, all my stuff’s back at the village,” my heart burned again, “so that shouldn’t be a problem.” then James cringed. “Oh, yeah, um, the um, what do you call them?”  “I think they’re called priests, James.” Ace said. “Oh, right! The priest is kinda speciesist. So don’t take any dirty looks personally.” “Uh, okay. Anything else?”  “Nope. Just a quick ceremony.”  “Good.”  As we kept walking, I noticed strange lanterns on ceilings that could be turned on and off. When I asked James, he said that it was called electricity. It was a power source like lightening, but it was received from power stations in the eastern deserts of Lernalaban. “It was stormy all the time, there.” he said. Tall towers harnessed the lightening, and it traveled through wires until they received it here. It was very complicated. When we reached the Ohme, I was once again amazed by Lernalaban’s ridiculously advanced nature. It was like a huge temple, almost like another city. No meat or food from an animal was allowed. Monks called Sune lived there, giving religious council and reading from the temple’s incomprehensible collection of books. The religious leader of the Lernalaban, a prophet named Elpha, was blind. Nicknamed the Blind Queen, she also governed political matters. Lernalaban also had a complex government called a democracy, led by a council of elected representatives. Different sides of Lernalaban support different leaders, as some are for a completely religion controlled government. We made it to the gates, huge iron doors that sealed the entrance to the Ohme.

When we reached it, a brown dragon in a robe bowed and asked our names. James spoke first. “Captain Gajamesaheanoelianius, also called James Elias.” “Captain?!” I whispered. Ace stopped me. “Please, don’t get him started.” the monk turned to Ace. “And you?”  Ace sighed. “Civilian Naridiaceanaceiuminius.” Poseidon chuckled. “Shut up!” Ace snapped. “And you?” the monk turned to me. “Just Beldas Threabaum. I’m not Ienile.”  The monk bowed. “And you?” he turned finally to Don. “Uh, Poseidon. Just Poseidon.”  “Very well. You may enter.”  The doors creaked open loudly. The tall roof of the Ohme was made of elaborate stain glass, and it’s light shone on the cobblestone floor. “Hey, why’s your name so short?” I asked Don. “Well, my real name’s Ascintemnionus, but I wanted it shortened to Ace. But since Ace’s real name has two Ace’s in it, I decided to just change my name entirely.” “Okay, but why Poseidon?”  He shrugged. “Sounded cool, I guess.”  I had seen a lot of strange things in the past couple days. I have seen my village get massacred in the blink of an eye, I have had a cat-person threaten my life, I have flown, and, strangest of all, I have befriended, hm, let me think, a dragon with personality problems, a cat-person with family problems, and two griffons, one with a ‘rock band,’ (I don’t know. It’s something Ace told me), and one with a pet that seemed to be a sadist, from what I heard so far. They were all strange. Mainly Ace, though. And, as I soon found out, it only got stranger from there.