There seems to be nothing worse than waking up after passing out. Your head always seems to have its own personal jackhammer, and you are always disoriented and confused, and I’ll be damned if I wasn’t tired of feeling this way. A long groan escaped my mouth as I sat up, rubbing my fists into my eyes and looking around for anything familiar. Of course, all that stared back at me were the green grass and- wait grass? My head whipped around wildly, looking for any sign of the place I had been previously imprisoned, but it seemed to be nowhere in sight. In fact, there was nothing in sight for miles, except trees and grass. Where am I? I thought in confusion as I stood up on unsteady legs.
You’re in a field, babe, obviously. The smug voice of Talon echoed throughout the confines of my head, and I whipped around in circles wildly, glancing everywhere to see if I could find him. However, like before, the field was devoid of any other living being besides me. A rustling came from my right, and I turned in the direction and peered into the trees to try to catch a glimpse of what was there. You can imagine my complete and utter shock when Layton, of all people, stepped through the brush. Her face was set in harsh, unkind planes that I had never seen before. It was very shocking when her parents stepped out behind her as well, both looking upon me with nothing but disgust.
“Layton? Layton!” I yelled, first in confusion then in relief. I ran towards her, my intention being to hug her like crazy but as soon as I got close enough, her face twisted into an ugly sneer and she scoffed before stepping back, away from me and closer to her parents. “Layton, what’s going on?” I whispered in confusion and hurt. Something flashed in her eyes that looked like pain and remorse, before it was covered by anger again.
“She’s obviously been informed by her parents their career choice.” Talon’s voice echoed through the clearing, startling me. I turned around to see him striding towards me with a large smile on his face, but it didn’t reach his eyes; they were full of sadness and sympathy, two emotions I couldn’t understand the need to feel right now. When he did reach me, he pulled me into his arm and pressed his face into my hair, letting out a deep sigh and smiling against my scalp. In turn, I pushed my face as much into his chest as I could and took a deep breath, smelling the faint traces of smoke on him, letting me know he had recently been in dragon form. A small smile graced my lips, before I pulled away slightly to look into his gorgeous eyes.
“Talon, w-what’s going on? The last thing I remember is being in that dungeon…” I pushed towards him again, trying to hide the bad memories in his embrace. Talon’s arms tightened around me before he answered me.
“Honestly… I have no idea. I passed out shortly after you, and when I woke up all of us were in this field. Your fath- I mean Caij took Violet farther into the woods once he caught Layton’s sent. He said it had hints of something familiar- which means he’s probably had run-ins with her parents. Now Ash, honey, Layton’s parents…. They hunt my kind. Our kind, actually. They track down anything supernatural and exterminate it.” Talon’s melodic voice drifted through my head, and everything about his answer unsettled me. I couldn’t get a grasp on why Ailden would just let us go when he had gone through so much trouble to get us, or what was up with Lay’s family. In addition, I found myself pondering over what Talon had been about to say about Caij.
Sighing, I turned around, still within the safety of Talon’s arms, and looked at the McMillian family. I had grown up knowing these people and nothing ever stuck out as odd about them. They had been an ordinary family for as long as I knew them, but I guess now all of Layton’s parent’s “business trips” made more sense. The two would be gone for weeks, sometimes moths, at a time, without a single call to Layton, telling her what was happening. I was hurt that she was so obviously choosing the people who had basically abandoned her over the girl she considered a sister, but sometimes-family ties outweighed love for others.
“Layton, Mr. and Mrs. McMillian, I am now aware of what you guys do. I can’t let you harm Talon, or any of my friends for that matter. They’re good people who don’t deserve to be hurt, and all I ask is that you please let us go.” I said quietly, making eye contact with every one of them, before casting my gaze to the ground. I heard the deep sigh of Layton’s father, soon followed by words that shocked me.
“Ashlyn, we’re leaving, and Layton’s staying here with you.” My head snapped up and I looked at the three people in front of me in shock. My eyes met Layton’s and she looked equally as shocked, but still happy.
“Where are you going?” I asked timidly, trying to hide the bubble of joy that was forming in my chest.
“My wife and I will be setting up a false trail. We’ve actually been hunting this Ailden character for a very, very long time. You four have brought us the perfect opportunity to find him. Hopefully he will follow our trail and not yours.” Mr. McMillian stated matter of factly. I was being more and more shocked with each passing sentence and did not know how to compose myself, or answer for that matter. Luckily, I didn’t have to, for the soft voice of Mrs. McMillian broke through my inner confusion.
“I could never think of hurting you, my dear. You are like a sister to Layton here, and we both love our daughter too much to hurt the ones she loves, or put her in danger. So, without further ado me and my husband will be taking our leave.” They embraced their daughter, who was still very much shell-shocked, and turned to walk back into the woods. Before she disappeared from view, Mrs. McMillian turned on her heel and made eye contact with Talon. “Take care of my daughter, Dragon. Or I may just have to come after you myself.” And with that, she was gone.
The three of us, Layton, Talon, and myself, just stood around and stared at one another for a while, not knowing what to say or to do. Finally, Layton took a small hesitant step towards us, and then another, until she was sprinting at me full force, and wrapping her arms around my waist, which was a tad awkward seeing as Talon still had his arms locked tightly around me. Layton didn’t seem to care though; she was too busy sobbing into my shoulder, her body shaking violently. I rubbed my hand along her back, trying my best to comfort her while she mumbled unintelligable things. After about ten minutes, she calmed down and pulled back, smiling at Talon and me sheepishly.
“So, what do we do now?” Layton voiced quietly, her voice cracking at the end. I turned my head to the side, slightly looking at Talon to see what he thought. He shrugged, before answering Layton himself.
“We go home, and hope that everything will be fine.”
If only they knew what they had stepped into the second they woke up in that field…
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Honestly, I hhate this chapter. I'm hating my writing a ton lately because I just got lost on the original path I thought this story was going to take. However, I'm trying to get it back to where it should be. Wish me luck(:
Also, I felt like this song (Far From Home by Five Finger Death Punch) kinda went along with what's been happening the past few chapters. I love the way it flows with the story and Ashlyn's struggles and everything that happened because of Ailden. Give it a listen if you want(:
Peace out cub scouts!!
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Marked By a Dragon
FantasyThe colorful flowers and grass of the field were buffeted by a large gust of wind, as if someone had turned on a fan suddenly. Ashlyn stood there, staring at her surroundings curiously, wondering at the sudden wind that seemed to have no effect on h...
