Tranquil Clan: 3

The three Empyrians parted ways from the healing lesson with Pyrri. They wandered around the clan talking to others as they tried to learn more about the clan. The trio had shared a meal with a few Haedians as they swapped stories about life without sun. In return, Griffith, Aule, and Oeric took turns sharing stories about their life above ground. 

As they shared stories, the haedians saw that the topsiders grew agitated and panicked. 

“What’s wrong?” One haedian asked urgently. 

Oeric gasped as his body shuddered. In his mind, the cavern started to close around him. 

“I need to get out.” Oeric gasped as his magic released. The fire aura scorched everything around him, adding to his panic. Griffith and Aule felt their panic rising. 

The haedians were slow to catch on, but with Oeric magic, they felt only one reosean could help. One haedian ran off to notify Pyrri, while the others tried to direct the three Empyrians to the area where Pyrri was. They tried to direct the topsiders with breathing exercises, but it didn’t work. 

‘You can leave us,’ Pyrri urgently spoke without moving her lips. 

The haedians looked at their leader, nodded, and then rushed away. Pyrri quietly assessed the three panicking empyrians. It was clear to her that they were having a panic attack and based on the events she was told before the attack she assumed it had been too long since these three had stretched their wings. 

Pyrri settled herself deeper into her meditative state. She sat calmly and used her aura to help calm the three friends at least to a point where she could break through to them. After a few moments, she had. 

She started with Oeric. 

‘Oeric,’ her soft voice tapped into Oeric's panicked state. He heard her and felt a sense of calm wash over him. His fiery aura receded and Griffith and Aule calmed a bit more once the heat was gone. 

‘Open your mind,’ Pyrri instructed the orange Empyrian, ‘and join my meditation.’

Oeric settled on the ground with his eyes closed and kept his consciousness in tune with Pyrri, much like how Pyrri helped him with the healing crystals earlier. In his mind’s eye, he was a cluster of smoldering butterflies while Pyrri was a cool breeze. The two linked and Oeric settled even further into a mediation. 

Aule was the one that appeared most calm, so Pyrri tuned in to Griffith. 

‘Griffith,’ Pyrri called for his attention. When she was sure he was listening to her, she followed the same steps she had with Oeric. When his mind opened to her, she was surprised to find chaos in Griffith’s mind. 

Griffith listened to Pyrri and felt her aura reach out to him. His panic calmed easily with the connection, but the chaos Pyrri was sensing was more his thoughts. He had a million thoughts rushing through his mind like a hurricane. Griffith didn’t completely enter the meditation, but his mind was open enough that he could calmly rest. 

Oeric watched as Griffith’s consciousness joined his and Pyrri’s. Oeric found Griffith’s aura was very similar to Pyrri’s, but where hers was a gentle breeze, Griffith’s was a tornado. Oeric grimaced but maintained his meditation.  

Next, it was Aule. 

Pyrri didn’t have to call to him, she found his consciousness waiting for her. She had expected Aule to be the easiest, but when their minds met she was overwhelmed with fear and panic. Aule had hidden it well, but after telling his stories and witnessing Oeric’s outward panic Aule’s panic only doubled. 

The whole time they had been underground, Aule’s panic was growing. He was large, but these caverns and tunnels felt too small. He loved to fly through the snow storm, but here there was hardly any wind, let alone snow.  He missed seeing the moons, but here he couldn’t even see the sky. Everything about the world beneath had thrown Aule off-kilter. 

‘How long have we been down here?’ Aule’s mind repeated over and over again. 

‘Aule, it hasn’t been too long, and it won’t be much longer.’ Pyrri replied to the question. 

The question faded to the background of Aule’s mind, not completely gone, but settled for now. In turn, the panic and fear slowly ebbed in his mind too. Aule rested on the ground as he tentatively joined the meditation. 

Oeric and Griffith watched through their minds as a spirit-shaped owl flowed into the group of mind links. 

‘You share similar fears,’ Pyrri said to them, ‘if you’d like, I can pull from your memories and show you the things you’re missing.’

The three friends remained silent as Pyrri explained, ‘I can show you, through this link, the snow storms, skies, or trees that I see in your memories.’

The trio ended up declining the offer. They whispered to her how they had calmed enough with her meditation. The group fell silent as they all finished the meditation. When Pyrri opened her eyes, the three empyrians followed suit. 

“Thank you,” Aule spoke first. Griffith and Oeric thanked her in turn, but Pyrri simply nodded. 

They exchanged their goodbyes and Pyrri directed them to where they might find the next clan. 

[869]