Dragon Kin

18

Alicja

Ocean pulled me up the grassy knoll away from the door, and held me until he saw Victor stumble out, and the door fade and close behind him. Then he let me go and began walking away. "Follow or don't, it's all the same to me," he said.

"Why, Ocean? Why did you do this?" I yelled.

"Orders. Orders are orders," he lifted his arms, bent at the elbow, palms facing the sky in a 'what can men do' ... but he didn't turn around or stop walking away.  When he reached the rise of the grassy knoll, he waved, but still did not turn, "I'll see you soon, I'm sure. Take care."

I had my backpack on, thank the spirits. At least I had something. Who knew what I might need in this place? 

Clearly, I thought to myself, I wasn't going with Ocean. So I went to Victor who continued to struggle and stumble and fight for breath.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked, when I reached him.

"Drugged," he managed to say.

"What can I do?"

He shook his head several times, and then said, "It will wear off in a few minutes, I think. I can already feel it draining out."

He sank down and then dropped, to sit on the ground.

I looked around. The ground rose up, becoming a knoll ahead. To the left and behind us there was a forest. Thick stands of trees, which looked to be pine. The air had a chill to it, something I wasn't accustomed to. Right now it felt good, but after the sun went down, I was betting that chill grew razor claws.

A fire, perhaps. I had a lighter. In that forest there had to be fallen branches or something to burn.

"Do you know where we are?" I asked. "I mean, I know which world we are in, but where in this world are we?"

He leaned back on his arms, and took in a deep breath. Then he looked around, "I think we're about a mile away from my home. The capital city."

That didn't sound too bad. Sounded better than camping out under the stars. Did they have stars here?

My terror had crystallized and became a stoic shield wall inside my mind. I might experience backlash from that later, but for now, I was just fine with it. The panic and fear I felt when Ocean pulled me through that door hanging in the air like a bad special effect — I never wanted to experience that again.

I looked back to the door, and saw no sign of it. It was gone. And with it, my way back home.

"Can you make one of those doors?" I asked, believing I knew the answer. Ocean wouldn't have left us if it was that easy for us to return.

"Yes, but I have to be in flight to do it. I can't summon the Mana to open the Way, when I'm on the ground," he said. His voice was coming around, returning to its normal strength.

"I suppose you have tested that theory a few times, yes?" I asked.

He nodded, and looked behind us, "Yes. It's been a point of contention for a long time."

"But you can fly with me, right?" I asked.

"I can't fly at all right now. I can't even unsheathe my wings."

I was about to ask him about that, when the ground began to rumble. The rumbling grew steadily louder, and then became thunderous. Turning around the first of several horses with riders came into view at the top of the knoll.