Page 135 of Valpar

I whipped my head to look behind me and saw my miresa’s companion in the dirt. He was lying on the ground, and I walked over while others ran to him. However, he wasn’t small anymore, he was growing.

“What’s happening? What’s going on?” I asked.

Osirus’ eyes widened when he knelt, his hands touching the lower part of Simon’s legs. “I-I don’t know. Did Simon have that potion fall onto him?”

Theresa nodded. “Yes, he was trying to get Karma away from her. The rest of the bottle fell into his fur. Is there something wrong with the potion? Is this a reaction to it?”

Osirus petted the animal on its back to comfort him, and then a large clump of fur fell off of his body.

“Stay back!” Osirus had all of us rise and we backed away. He held onto Melina and kept her close. “It seems that Simon wasn’t a goat at all, but another creature.”

“What?” I snapped. “Did you know about this?” I turned my body to Theresa and Birch and they both shook their heads.

“No!” Birch snapped. “He was a goat gifted by the Toboki tribe to my brother. When Calliope was allowed to walk the groundsof the palace, she saw him and they immediately connected with each other. We said she could keep him as a pet!”

We all watched, stunned, as the fur fell off the enlarged goat. The head no longer looking animal like, but more like a human. A face with a nose similar to the goat’s and two pouty lips. The braided mane on its neck was now atop its head, filled with flowers. The bottom part of his body stayed the same, along with his tail and hooves.

“He’s a faun,” Theresa whispered. “It’s a faun, like in the Greek Mythology on Earth.”

Osirus blinked several times and grinned. “Is it now? That’s interesting.”

“What the fuck is going on?” I held my female closer. “And has this thing seen my female naked!?” It was male–human like. It must think, talk and act like one of us it wasn’t an animal at all.

Then again, it wasn’t a shifter, Simon had never shifted in front of us before. I had never heard of a goat shifter, even in the book I was given to study.

They all stared at me in disbelief as Simon’s nose and limbs twitched as his body moved to stretch. We were all going to get our answers, and hopefully soon.

We maintained a good distance, ensuring he had ample space. As his eyelids gradually fluttered apart, we were met with the familiar sight of his goat-like eyes.

“Simon?” Theresa steps forward. “Is that you?”

Simon’s hind legs wobbled as he attempted to rise but lost his balance, crashing down with his face hitting the ground. He gazed intently at his hands, then back at his longer hind legs and hooves, before turning his head towards us, wearing a confused expression.

We were all confused.

“Simon?” I asked, adjusting my miresa.

His head turned to see me and then my female. He frowned and his body fell over into the dirt.

“Simon, she is alright.” I did not know why I felt the need to comfort the goat—faun, but he looked after her when I could not. He looked just as confused as the rest of us. “You kept her safe. I will keep her safe now, too.”

Simon shook his head and got on two hooves. He didn’t stand tall but acted like a newborn kid and wobbled on his two hooved legs. He used his hands to steady himself on the ground.

“Can you speak, Simon?” Osirus came closer. “Do you know who you are? What you are?”

Simon shied away and before any of us realized what was happening, he was galloping away on his powerful hooves while gracefully using his hands for balance. The sight was strange, and I stood there like moss growing on the side of tree. I was worthless and of no use as I let him get away.

Theresa tried to move out of Birch’s arms. “Wait!” she screamed but we all stayed still, unwilling to leave our spot.

Osirus sighed. “Simon will be fine—he knows the land and knows Calliope’s scent. He won’t venture far.”

Worried glances shot between all of us, at what we just witnessed, and I held my female tighter in my arms. I placed my nose in the crook of her neck. It was the only thing that calmed me. She was the only thing keeping me tethered to the soil.

I stood in silence, my hand caressing my miresa’s face as Theresa explains what a faun was. The creatures came from a lore that humans used to tell about the Greek Gods of their realm. Really, it was just the gods we knew of this realm, but humans just referred to them differently.

Fauns were half goat and half human. Depending on what lore you believed, fauns were merry creatures often carrying a flute and would bring joy to all those around them. These fauns also had a great sense of direction. There were many stories thatfauns would help lead lost men to the right path so they could find their way home.

I suppose, in a way, Simon led my miresa to me.

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