The Inventory of Semi Precious Creatures

Thug did not trust the pegasus.

He eyed the creature the way one - who had been the victim of pickpocketing several times - would hold their belongings a little tighter and suspect anyone who walked too close.

Except in Thug’s case the pickpocket was the most beautiful animal he had ever seen. It was certainly criminal to have such flawless wings, a mane of clouds, and a dancer’s grace for a set of hooves. Its marble body of muscles flexed as it moved, pearl white skin reflecting the mint green of the surrounding grass.

Thug may have been enamored but he was not fooled. This angel was leading them into a trap, so said his Thug’s instincts.

“Now, dear pegasus,” Polkadot began. “I know you said you don’t have a name, but is there anything you prefer we call you for the duration of our trip?”

“No. There’s a reason so: semi-precious creatures are dangerous. You would not want to call us.”

“Right. We know that first hand, don’t we Thug?”

The images flashed in Thug’s mind. Centipedes colonizing the deck of the Polkadot Mansion. Majestic black owls whose razor sharp claws reached towards Thug’s fur. A terrifying growl of a dragon in the distance that they did not dare investigate.

Polkadot must have noticed Thug catching a sweat from remembering all the chaos they had gone through just hours before, so she continued speaking to the pegasus. “And the woman you describe - she knows how to handle you?”

“The Gemkeeper is not only our keeper but also a guardian.”

“She protects you?”

“She protects the world should we be unleashed.”

“Right. That’s why you’re taking us to her.”

For some reason, Thug wondered, his boss was unable to see the obvious. “Mam. We don’t know if he’s telling us the truth. If the semi-precious creatures are so dangerous, and he’s one of them, how can we trust that he’s helping us? Why would he want to capture his own brethren and lock them away?”

He locked eyes with the horse’s striking gaze, a wisteria haze covering his iris. “Semi-precious creatures like myself are agents of chaos and power. Each of us represent a different force, and affect the world in different ways. One of my specialities is wisdom. And, being wise, I know the world is better off while I am safely kept away in my gemstone.”

As he spoke Thug could feel the effect of his words settling over his mind, calming his doubts, easing his racing heart. A trick.

“Your assistant experiences unrest often,” said the pegasus. “Perhaps the Gemkeeper could offer my gems to your aid.”

“Ah, yes, howlite?”

“Indeed. We promote calmness and patience. Qualities I note your assistant is in need of.”

Thug held back his tongue.

“And is there a reason why your Gemkeeper decided to build her abode… here?” Polkadot gestured to their surroundings.

Standing there on the dark and damp grass, between his oblivious boss wearing her oblivious navy blue coat, and a pearl white omniscient pegasus, Thug felt strangely out of place. It was not an unfamiliar feeling. With his hybrid features of fur and wings and drooping ears, Thug was an anomaly. The same could be said about the current mountains the horse led them through.

A rainforest - wet with rain, dew, humidity, and wild with several species of moss and fern. The land itself was so uneven it seemed as if somebody had taken a bunch of giant boulders and glued them together, and the moisture kept them blanketed with moss. Hills and mountains surrounded them in abundance. Delicate blue flowers littered the fields. Waterfalls and creeks filled the air with music. And a light fog shrouded the horizons, but Thug didn’t complain about that. For the strangest of all was the fact that the land they were walking on was in the sky, a landmass floating among the clouds.

“I cannot say much,” explained the pegasus, “but you may know this. The Gemkeeper chose this abode because of its proximity to two kingdoms. Clans of the Skye and Sea, from which she was once part. Beings from both still visit her for her knowledge. And for the guidance of her creatures.”

“Such as your wisdom,” Polkadot finished.

“Indeed. We are nearly there. Her cottage is just among these hills.”

“It’s a beautiful place to live. These blue flowers are a wonder, aren’t they Thug?”

Thug nodded in agreement and continued his task of noting the surrounding flora.

“What other creatures does your Gemkeeper have stored?” Polkadot asked.

“Her inventory is expansive, it would take me a few hours to list all of my brethren. You have encountered some before my arrival. I’m still sorry about the destruction they’ve caused in your home. I will ask the Gemkeeper to offer her services to you.”

“That’s alright, dear pegasus. My mansion is not a regular one, it’s magical. Things fall or break, and they return to their spot just as they were.”

“Ah, but I refer to that strange island.”

More memories of the chaos flashed in Thug’s mind. Razor sharp claws breaking his flesh. Hundreds of miniscule glowing creatures lighting trees aflame.

“Yes,” Polkadot said. “We have encountered a few. An owl with black feathers captured my assistant here before you arrived. Took him to a nest in the tree-tops of the island.”

“That would be the Obsidian Owl. My sister of the night.”

“And do you know exactly when and how this started happening?”

“I don’t. This has never happened before. But she has her methods to get us back where we belong. Please, keep your questions for her.”

“What if I have one more that only you can answer?”

The pegasus showed a hint of impatience. It disappeared quickly, replaced by the know-it-all expression of wisdom that Thug was beginning to hate.

“Ask away,” he said.

“What do you remember about breaking free from your gemstone?”

He took a moment to think, letting silence fall between them. Thug watched his movements carefully, how his hind leg muscles contracted with strength even as he simply strolled across the mossy boulders. In this misty landscape the light was dim, making the colors dull and subdued, but somehow the Howlite Pegasus glowed.

“It is as if you were asking me if I remember taking my first breath out of the womb,” he said. “The realm in the gemstones are womb-like. We float in liquid, in a state of sleep. The Gemkeeper nurtures our stones akin to incubating an egg. We don’t need to eat or drink for the realm inside is timeless. We don’t decay for as long as we are in there. All I remember is a great shattering, and a force ripping my eyes open as strong as the reflex of blinking, and I awoke beneath a portal in your island. All at once my body felt incredibly heavy, and I realized the process of death had begun for me.”

“Is that why you are desperate to return to your gemstone? You’re afraid of growing old and dying?”

For the first time, Thug detected some fear on the pegasus’s equine face.

“I am not desperate nor afraid. I’m wise. The world is safer while -”

“- while you are kept in your gemstone, yes.”

The pegasus looked at the waterfalls they were passing, lost in thought, and said: “Let me ask you some questions now. That island of yours. It’s strange. Where did those portals come from?”

“The Island of Doors is our personal pocket dimension. It’s just a means for travel, such as an airport or a railway station.”

“Did you create it?”

“Not alone.”

“I see. What about your assistant? He is also a strange one, and I am quite familiar with strange animals. The eyes of an owl, the ears of a bunny, and fur like a bear’s. A snout and wings. I haven’t seen anything like him. There’s a scent upon him.”

Thug’s ears perked with interest, but he pretended he was making notes with his parchment and quill instead.

“Thug is special.” Polkadot was saying.

“Thug?”

Just then a tremor shook the boulder they walked across. The moss shifted and tore apart in some places, and a resounding CRAAAAACKK echoed as a branch of a nearby tree split and fell sideways.

Thug barely flew out to avoid the branch when he realized it was not falling at all. It moved. Now it sprung diagonally out of the boulder, its little head of leaves shedding a few before stiffening again.

Their pegasus companion halted. His keen nostrils sniffed the air. “I think it’s best if we stay absolutely still.”

Thug wanted to do the opposite. He had the faintest inkling that the boulder he was standing on was not rock.

They heard the music before they saw her - clear, trilling notes on a flute echoing across the rolling hills. There in the mist was a short and stubby figure, with what looked like a long horn sticking out of her head.

The notes agitated the ground beneath them; a tremor rocked them and suddenly they were lifted as the boulder itself rose with the grass and blue flowers and the trees attached to it crack CRACKED once more -

They were on the back of a dragon - its mossy head rose out of camouflage and into view and its eyes lit up with a bright blue as it let out a deep rumble and shook the grounds. The blue flowers on its back glowed intensely cobalt, diffusing eerily into the mist like light bulbs.

“Run!”

Thug didn’t need the pegasus to tell him so - he had already taken flight, wings batting furiously to get away from the creature. The figure in the mist grew closer, her music growing more intense and in turn agitating the dragon more. Thug watched the scene in awe as a single gemstone, as small as his fingernail, floated towards the restless dragon and they both glowed blue and green and the note on the flute struck their eardrums -

Then the dragon was no more. Like a zipper shutting a bag, the space where the dragon once occupied collapsed on itself and all that remained was the small gemstone.

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