Life Line (a Neptune Royal Series novel) Book #1

Chapter 4: Hesitation and Creation

Chapter 4.

Hesitation and Creation

I did not know what I was getting myself into, but Izzy needed someone to trust. People have been known to ask me for advice, but this is a first for someone asking me to help them keep a big secret. If I had said no, she would have no one to count on or trust. Now what kind of a friend would I be if I denied her my attention? I would be a complete dick and that is putting it mildly. "Okay." I had said with an unsure tone in my speech. Izzy could probably tell that I was freaking out slightly not just but the tone on my voice but also with my body language. I felt my body tensing up too. I knew that it was not just due to the fact that I was attracted to her, but something more was going on.

She threw her clothes at me and I was not sure what she was doing. "Um, Izzy? Why are you taking your clothes off? With how cold it is in here, soon, you are going to get hypothermic." I moved my eyebrows together while crossing my arms over my chest, confused and speechless before bending down to pick up her clothes. I saw nothing in front of me in the process, and it was silent. I could even hear her breathing which was also quite strange. I bent down and picked up her clothes wrapping my hands in them. They were still warm to the touch, but the warmth soon drifted away the longer that I stood there, standing in the darkened cave, silent and unmoving. I was beginning to worry. Something felt wrong and I could not quite understand what it was yet.

The silence carried on for a few more moments as I stood there. The next thing that I hear is the sound bones cracking and she was groaning in pain. There was no screaming which worried me. I started to walk closer to her, uncrossing my arms in the process with her clothes still in my grasp. Hearing that painfully awful sound caused me to react, wanting her to stop feeling pain. But then she spoke in a very deep tone.

The breaking and crackling continued. I even heard her voice strain to speak past the pain. I could not tell what she was trying to say, but I continued to listen closely. "Don't come closer. Please, just trust me. I need to do this." Her voice whispered. I could hear as her bones started to discontinue breaking, but then I heard the breaking resume, but these did not sound like normal bones breaking. But then why would her bones be breaking at all, I wondered. Something big was going to happen and I felt it growing in my chest: something that was going to change the way that I see things: the way that I see her. The breaking finally stopped, but I heard loud breathing and I felt a cold breeze emerge from the back of the cave where she was standing. I could not tell what it was.

The ground beneath my feet began to shake and rumble. Whatever it was, it started to walk towards me: footsteps getting louder and louder. I kept telling myself to not freak out. If I were to freak out, what would happen next? I could not risk losing her as a friend. It would not only hurt me, but it would hurt her even more. I knew that she probably had enough to deal with.

I started to breathe a little harder with each passing second. I gazed at the ground and saw what looked to be a large paw or at least I thought that it was a paw with silver talons at the end. The paw was layered with shimmering scales that caught the light and changed colors like that on the back of a DVD. Its legs were thin and also layered with darker scales and had silver spikes going up to meet the shoulders. If I didn't know better, I would say that I have been watching and reading too much fantasy because of what it looked like. That is when I saw her. She kept walking out into the lit part of the cave. Slowly placing one paw in front of the other. I did not know what she was. Her eyes opened and looked at me with fear. I dropped her clothes on the ground and just glanced at her in amazement.

I was mildly speechless at first and I could not find the right words to say to her. Looking deeper into her eyes caught my attention to speak the response that I was reaching for. "Wow, Izzy. You look like a dragon... It is so beautiful. You are a mix of a mythology dragon and a sea horse from my vantage point. And here I thought that you were going crazy, but I am the one going crazy because I did not believe you. I did not think that these stories were true, but you have proved me wrong today. I did all of that research thinking that you were just seeing things or that the sulfuric acid was causing you to feel sick. I am sorry for doubting you. But you look amazing." After I had spoken, I could fully see her as she stepped into the light and it was clear of what she was.