THE SECOND REALM: ORANGE — Warmth for the journey

After saying goodbye to the orange tree and her friends, she went to a stream. As she bent over the water, she saw that the blue scales on her body had multiplied. They shone with the same iridescence as her beloved crystals and the beings who visited her in dreams.

She felt a warmth in her chest. Helio appeared overhead, as though she had just emerged from Skyblue’s heart.

“Why did I feel that?” she asked, bringing a paw to her chest.

“Because that’s where I live. I’ve always been there.”

Skyblue looked at the size of the eagle, then down at herself. Some things, however magical, still seemed impossible.

Helio laughed.

“I have no fixed shape. I chose this one so you could see and recognize me outside yourself. It’s the form of your lineage on the Blue Planet: the golden eagle lineage.”

Skyblue looked again at the scales reflected in the water. She would wait. Perhaps that would take a little more of the journey to understand.

“Now we’ll ascend to the Yellow Realm,” Helio said.

Skyblue looked up at the horizon. That word again. As far as she could see, they were still traveling forward.

The eagle took flight, and Skyblue followed, the cauldron’s warmth traveling with her in her belly.