Running along the forest floor made her think of her dream. She’d had it so many times she could almost see where she was going before she even got there. Her arms stung from where the branches had scraped at her. She was used to running in the forest but she had to calm down to do it right. And that was hard while trying to ignore the stinging in her eyes as she remembered the face that sister made.
The face that she caused.
Her eyes turned a deep green as she walked. “God that was stupid Sofie. Why would you say that to her? You knew it was a bad idea. You know how she feels.”
She jumped over a rock and stumbled walking over a gap in the ground. Raising her hands, she stumbled forward and then almost stepped in it. Thrusting her hand down a gust of wind came down and she flipped over. Working to keep her balance she could feel her heart in her throat.
“How could she attack me though,” she mumbled eyes turning a mild red. “I know she’s a great spellcaster but I’m her sister. At least I used to be.” She kicked a log and swore. It was harder than it looked.
Turning around Sofie saw a gap in the trees. A perfect view of the academy, her home. Her eyes turned orange for a moment as she sighed, “This is stupid Sofie. You should go back home and say you’re sorry.” But she saw Silva’s face in her mind again and her eyes bled red as she started running again this time like she knew what she was doing.
She didn’t stop running. She kept going until she was out of breath. The forest was a weird thing. The trees were thick, the branches long, and the leaves broad. Down here sun didn’t really reach or come down. She stumbled past a tree and birds escaped out of it. They tweeted at her angrily flapping their wings. The animals that lived inside of it were used to spellcasters. She could blast all the feathers off their wings but that wouldn’t stop them from being hostile.
Stumbling out of the forest she hit the ground and then rolled across it. Sliding across dirt and rocks she caught herself finally and winced holding her hands against her chest. Staring at them she saw her bloody palm. Picking herself off the ground slowly she felt the breeze on her face and then looked at where she was.
It was the sound of the water that got to her first. Turning around she saw the lake in front of her. The gentle push and pull of the water. She didn’t realize how far she’d gone. Wrapping her arms around her sides she winced feeling the sting. She’d really done a number on them.
Walking toward the edge of the water she looked out in the distance. She remembered her daddy telling her stories about the lake. How he used to come here all the time with her mommy and una. How they all came together to get away from their problems. Even more so she remembered him talking about the island in the middle. He’d taken her there a lot when she was a baby. Taken all of them.
It wasn’t far. She could make it if she really tried.
Taking a few steps back she waved her hands back and forth wincing. Taking a deep breath her eyes turned blue and she focused. She found what little energy was left in her and ran forward. She got to the edge of the lake and jumped as hard as she could. Thrusting her hands down she flew forward soaring over the water and creating ripples.
Sofie shouted, excited as she flew. Hovering over the water, displacing it undercurrents of air. And then suddenly she wasn’t. She was sinking from the sky, the wind under her palms disappearing. Her eyes turned yellow as the panic sank in and she began a crash course with the lake.
“No no no no no. Come on Sofie!” Angrily she thrust her hands down and forced her magic out.
An explosion of wind burst out of her hands and light flooded her eyes. She flipped end over end until she crashed into the ground. She landed on her back hard and didn’t roll this time. But it hurt infinitely more. She stared at the cloudless and coughed.
“Ow,” she grabbed a handful of grass and pulled it out. Raising her arm, she watched it trickle down at her face. But she blew it away. “Good job Sofie. Can’t even fly to the lake without screwing it up. Can’t do any magic without screwing it up. For once just be like your sister.”
She let her hand fall down against the ground. She closed her eyes tightly and she wanted to cry. She wanted to bawl her eyes out. Silva was right. She was lucky to be a faerie. Lucky to even have the same blood inside her. She screamed and thrust her hands forward. A white ball of light flew out and then fizzled into nothing.
She watched the sparks fall onto her and then finally did cry. Her red eyes ran with tears and she covered her face. She tried to fight her tears but she couldn’t and ended up hiccupping and letting out choked sobs. And that’s when she started feeling it. The gentle breeze of air on her face. And it wasn’t her doing.
Hiccupping she rubbed her eyes, she forced herself to sit up and paused. No, she froze because of what was presently staring her down. Huge, muscular, thick plated green scales, coupled with massive wings. A pair of bright green eyes fitted into a wide face as the dragon leaned forward staring at her.
It huffed, breathing on her and the breath was so strong that she almost rolled backward. Her now yellow eyes watered at the intensity and the smell. Crawling backward she trembled and felt her hand brush against something sharp.
Looking down she saw the shard of a bone and then looked around herself properly. The thin grass near her gave way to patches of stone and the low mist. She looked behind her and saw there was a massive expanse of rock and stone, not water. She wasn’t on the lake.
The ground shook as the dragon moved and she had to fight the urge to panic as she crawled backward. But it wasn’t enough though as the dragon leaned forward and pressed its face near her own. Its head was as big as her entire chest. Almost as big as her everything. Its eyes blinked slowly and she was struck by the intelligence in those eyes.
“You are afraid?”
The voice in her head was female, at least Sofie thought it was. It was a soft voice that reverberated in her mind. And it was a question. It, she, asked her this. She wasn’t just saying this, she was asking her. Blinking quickly and trying to catch her breath Sofie nodded slowly.
“Why are you afraid hatchling?”
She was at a loss for words and looked at her and slowly the yellow turned to green, “I’ve. I’ve never met a dragon before.”
“That seems to be obvious. I have never met a human before. Though you are human. And something else,” the dragon said leaning back and crouching slowly. She moved on all fours though her forearms seemed to be more supportive of her body. But she crouched slowly and stared at her fully.
She rubbed her eyes and sniffed. “I wasn’t. Where even am I?”
“This country has no name from my kind. And I know not what your kind calls it. I believe that you found your way here through a portal. I remember something similar happening many years ago. I did not expect it to happen,” she said.
Sofie nodded slowly and got to her feet. Talking to this dragon, she didn’t seem to be scary. Or dangerous. She was a dragon so she was obviously dangerous but she was talking to her. They were having a conversation.
“What are you doing here?” Sofie asked hesitantly. “This doesn’t look like a nest. Or a home. I don’t know what this place looks like actually.”
“It is a clearing,” she replied. “I was resting when suddenly you arrived here.”
Sofie looked back at the bones scattered around and gulped, “Were you eating?”
“No. Whatever consumed that did so before I arrived,” she replied. “And it departed before my arrival. Though it was not gone for long. Something has made my kind anxious. A change in the air that we feel deep inside us but don’t understand. I don’t know what it was but I came here to relieve some of that anxious feeling. Is that an odd thing to do for you?”
Sofie’s eyes finally settled on orange and she motioned toward her, “I mean, you are a dragon. Daddy talked about dragons. He was bonded to one. To Silver.”
“Silver,” she tilted her head. “I know that name. Partner to the first dragon rider in many long years. I always wanted to meet her.”
“She’s. Not around anymore. I never met her myself,” she said frowning and folding her arms. “But daddy loved her a lot. She looked over my brother and sister. But not me.” She looked down and frowned hard feeling her eyes stinging again.
The dragon looked at her curiously, “You are upset hatchling.”
“I’m fine,” she rubbed her eyes fighting the urge to cry again. “It doesn’t matter.”
“You are upset. You should speak your mind. Holding pain inside you only hurts and wears you down,” she said. “Speak your mind hatchling.”
Sofie was ready to object and not tell her but she stopped herself. She stared at the dragon and wondered what the harm was. This was a dragon. Maybe she knew more than her. At the very least she wouldn’t judge her. And even if she did she wouldn’t meet her again once she went back home, if she ever did that.
“I’m half faerie. And unlike my sister, I should be able to use the same magic as my una and q’unas. But I’m terrible at it. I can barely even do the normal magic that mommy taught me without screwing it up. But suddenly I’m now the special granddaughter who needs special training. And Silva’s. Silva is stuck holding the bag.
“And then I went and threw it in her face. I mean, she deserves it. She blames me for her not having faerie magic. But she’s a prodigy! She’s one of the best spellcasters I’ve ever seen. And. And I’m just a failure,” she looked down. “She should’ve been able to do faerie magic, not me.”
Her eyes bled a strange congealed mix of red and green and she felt her eyes starting to water again. She stared at the ground shaking her head. But she felt the warm breath of the dragon on her head and even felt her nudge her slowly. She didn’t say anything but she rested her head near Sofie’s and hummed. And that subtle vibration made Sofie smile.
She pressed herself against the dragon’s head and mumbled, “I don’t know what you’re doing but it makes me feel better. Thanks.”
“You are welcome.”
Slowly she reached out to touch her face and gasped at the sensation from her scales. They weren’t nearly as rough as she had thought. Smooth one way and rough the other. But they were also hard like stone.
“You are distraught at your nestmate’s thoughts of you.”
Sofie frowned and nodded, “My sister mainly but yeah.”
“Have you two ever confronted one another properly? It is how I’ve settled disputes with my nestmates.”
She blinked slowly, “Do you mean talking it out?”
“No. We fought. I have some scars and he has his. But we settled our differences well.”
Sofie made a face and shook her head, “I don’t think fighting my sister is the answer. I doubt I’d even win if we did.”
She rubbed one scale and then winced. Looking at the raw skin on her hand she hid them and looked away.
“You are hurt hatchling,” she noted.
“It’s my own fault,” Sofie shook her head but faced the dragon. “Not that I don’t dislike the name hatchling. But my name is Sofie. Well it’s Sofia but I prefer Sofie.”
“Sofie,” she repeated. “Hello Sofie. My name is Emerelda.”
“Emerelda,” Sofie repeated. “Can I call you Em?”
“Em?”
“Like you know. A nickname. Short for-“
Sofie gasped and Emerelda took a step back as something passed between them. It was subtle and yet monumental. She stared at the dragon, at Emerelda, and couldn’t help but smile. Her eye color faded until they were a bright white.
Walking over to her she hugged her foreleg tightly and she barely got her arms around it. But when she did it was electric in a way that she’d never felt before. Emerelda hummed in response closing her eyes, a sound that resonated more than just in her chest.
She took a quick step back but frowned. She wasn’t sure what she was feeling. Wasn’t sure what to call it and something told her that Emerelda didn’t know either. But it also seemed to bother her less. She looked at the sky and sighed softly because she suddenly remembered her predicament.
“Em do you know how I can get home?” she asked hesitantly and then realized she wasn’t talking anymore. She was just thinking to her. “I was actually supposed to see my teacher. And I don’t want to worry my parents. Or my siblings I guess.” She thought of Silva again and frowned hard. “She’s probably pissed that I ran away. And knowing Seffy he’s worried and making her look for me.”
Emerelda turned her head back and forth and Sofie looked over her shoulder. She had expected to see a portal or something magical behind her but it was just more clearing. The sky looked the same as back home but she couldn’t see the academy. For the first time, she realized just how far away from home she was.
Taking a step back she walked into Emerelda and pressed one of her hands against her arm. Just touching her made her feel a little more secure. It didn’t take away the fact that she was scared but she wasn’t shaking. She looked up at her and Emerelda was looking down at her.
“I. I don’t know how to get home Em,” she mumbled. “I don’t know where I am.”
She felt a nudge at her back and Emerelda had lowered her face to be at eye level with her. She hummed gently and again her doing that made it that much easier to focus and not panic. “Close your eyes Sofie. And concentrate. You brought yourself here.”
“But I’m not that powerful a mage,” she mumbled. “I can’t even properly cast a wind spell.”
She hummed and shook her head, “You are more powerful than you believe. Trust in yourself hatchling. And focus.”
She frowned even harder but didn’t know where to start. Creating portals back home. She didn’t know how to do that. Or even where to start. But when she looked up at Emerelda she saw a measure of confidence from the dragon that she didn’t understand. She’d only seen something like that from her parents.
So, she closed her eyes again and concentrated. She thought back to how she got here the first time. The burst of magic inside of her and the frustration of failing in the middle of her spell. Her eyes bled into the same frustrated and angry red as she concentrated. As she brought her magic together it made her hands burn.
But whirling around she thrust both her hands forward and shouted in the same frustrated way. And when her eyes opened wide was bathed in a new light. Bright enough that it hurt her eyes. When the light faded slightly, she saw the circle of magic in front of her.
A glowing circle manifested in front of them but it was dozens of feet high and just looking through it she couldn’t tell where it went. She wasn’t even sure if this would take her back home. She wasn’t sure how she did this to begin with. She reached toward the light but took her hand back.
Emerelda walked forward slowly and brushed her face against her back gently. “But what if this isn’t the right portal? What if we’re going somewhere else? Even further away from home?”
“You have to learn to believe in yourself,” Emerelda said softly. “You are more powerful than you think. You can be just as great as your sister or your father.”
She gave her a skeptical look. “You’re sure this is safe?”
“I am sure that I trust you.”
“What makes you trust me? We’ve only just met.”
“I am aware but something makes me believe that I can trust you,” she said and it was so simple. Like addressing that the sky was blue or that the leaves were green.
Sofie’s eyes turned a gentle white and nodded quickly. She started to walk again but paused and looked back at her. “Wait. Will you come with me? I know you live here but,” she looked down and frowned. “I want you to come with me. If you want.”
Emerelda tilted her head to the side, “Did you think that I would stay behind?”
“I don’t know. I. I just thought. I didn’t think you’d want to. I mean. Where I live isn’t exactly a good place for dragons. Well. Silver did live there. So maybe there’s space for you too. In fact, I’ll make sure there is. Daddy’ll know.”
She made a fist and smiled brightly her white eyes shining as she reached out toward the dragon. Emeralda nodded stepping forward slowly. Sofie led her, stepping through the portal. It was blindingly bright and somehow warm. Warm and welcoming. A far cry from the panic that brought her through it the first time.
The Harlequin Library 