Chapter 23

“Liam my wand, it recognized my wand”, Amy said her voice heavy with fatigue.

She would normally be embarrassed to be held in such a manner, especially by a male with blond hair, blue eyes, and a magnificent jaw line; but she was too tired to acknowledge it. Dragon raid officials were in the process of arriving, immediately tending to Minerva who had accumulated the most wounds desperately trying to protect Amy as her guard.

Liam watched as his precious students were being treated, he responded with a distracted tone, “This is certainly precedent”, He looked down at Amy, into her eyes, Amy’s heart thumped, but she knew for Liam it was like holding an infant, “You know the more time you are here, the more I feel our society’s long-standing questions will be answered. Although, I’m beginning to contemplate at what cost will those answers come, if this is just the beginning”.

They left to return to Dylandil, Liam with a ponderous and vague expression in his eyes. Amy was too tired to speak.

Drip, Drip, Drip. Nothing but black dominated his view. His wounds accumulated, his energy spent after the last battle, his hunger, his thirst. He had come to an alien world only to be chased after, starving, pushed to his limits. ‘Have I been sleeping this whole time’, Jeremy thought to himself. ‘I’ve been waiting for you…’, Jeremy remembered the words he heard spoken before he fell asleep exhausted.

He shot up to look around alarmed that there was another, thing, nearby. But whether laying or sitting, looking or watching, it was still black. Instead of looking he relied on his other senses, he could hear the water dripping from the damp rocks. He placed his hand on his chest and found he was shirtless, at least he still had his pants, as he moved his aching legs. His hands moved around his upper body, his arms first, then his neck, his head, and it stopped when he reached his midriff. Bandages, somebody or something had dressed his wounds. There was something here; cold damp rock was not his bedding; he was on something soft.

Jeremy could see a light, or was it his imagination. ‘No, it is a light it’s approaching’, Jeremy thought as he reached around to find a means for defense. Like a magnet drawn to iron, his hand rested on the hilt of his sword. He still had his blade. He could now see a red rock wall in front of him. From a passageway a candle emerged, followed by a face and a person.

“I see you’ve awoken, you’ve slept for two weeks”, the woman said only her face revealed by candle light.

Its light danced with the shadows on the stage the red rock had provided, flickering, swaying in the slight changes of the air. She had a grey purple cloak, black hair that reminded him of Amy. Her face though blemished with dirt, was still fair and very beautiful.

“Come, eat, I’m sure you are weary and heavy laden”, She said as she turned around.

Jeremy arose, his body still ached with each movement, he was experiencing muscle fatigue.

“I don’t know how you managed so long on the surface. It is nothing but a barren waste land now”, he was surprised she was speaking English; for Jeremy knew, he wasn’t on Earth anymore, “I know the burden you carry, but you need food, there is nothing up there except sorrow and misery”.

Jeremy was led into a cavern, with a fire lit in the middle, it was enough space for one, cozy for two. Yet still he was alert, he had no information at all, so he remained silent and vigilant.

She motioned towards the fire, as Jeremy took a seat, then she disappeared as if she was never there. Jeremy was once again amazed at her movements, and ability to disappear from view. She was surely someone used to, or even highly skilled at hiding. She reappeared from some unknown corner, with a plank of wood for a tray. There was a grilled marsupial, about the size of a squirrel, a mound of nuts, and some biscuit sized wafers of unknown origins.

“It may be different from what humans consume, but you need to eat”, the yet unnamed woman said.

“Thank you”, Jeremy said as he nodded his head.

He knew from his survival training that he needed to eat slowly. His stomach had shrunk, and if he ate quickly, he would regurgitate this precious resource. Fighting against his primal instincts he began grazing slowly on the nuts which had a sweet succulent flavor, with a touch of iron, or was it earthiness.

“My name is Wan il”, She introduced herself, “I am one of the few dragons remaining here in this place we call Draegoch, world of the dragons”.

‘World of the dragons huh’, Jeremy thought, of course this wasn’t earth he knew that.

“You seem less shocked than I thought you would be”, Wan remarked as she studied Jeremy; her deep brown eyes running over his sturdy, toned physique, “Well anyways, I know the burden that you carry”.

“My burden?”, Jeremy responded with a puzzled tone.

“Yes, your burden, the wand you found that brought you here”, she replied with an elegant look bellying her disheveled but beautiful appearance.

“Ohh, that thing, it gave off a bad vibe so I threw it away in the same place I found my sword”, Jeremy replied nonchalantly.

Her expression crumpled, Jeremy could tell she was surprised as she struggled to maintain her composure, “Oh…well…ummm. Do you remember where?”.

“I dunno, it was in some armory or something, 40 miles from here, it’s the same place I found my sword”, he answered.

“Well, I’m sure it’s hard to know the direction from inside this cave, but where you passed out was over there” Wan pointed.

“Hmm”, Jeremy wiped his mouth, “These nuts are delicious by the way. Let’s see, That way”

“That way?!”, Wan responded once again disturbed and agitated.

“Yep”, Jeremy said nonchalantly, as he tried the biscuit with a small nibble.

“My clan has strictly forbidden us to go there. It’s very dangerous, it’s a miracle you survived”, she said surprise dripping from her tone.

“Well, I’ve been trained to survive under bad circumstances, so I guess my instructor did a good job”, he replied.

“Oh, so you humans train each other?”, it was a surreal conversation for Jeremy; of course, who wouldn’t know this stuff, unless, they were under a rock in another world, which she currently was.

“Yep, we have armies and governments, but its mostly peaceful in my country”, Jeremy responded.

“Hmm, country, so it’s like a clan?”, she asked.

“Kind of”, Jeremy set down the biscuit, it was made from the nuts he was just eating, like how Native Americans used to use acorns to make bread.

Jeremy finally looked at Wan, “So what was that wand, and why am I here? Why am I being hunted?”.

“My people say that the wand you discarded is a bad omen of disaster”, she said with a serious tone, “We have been hunted like you for as long as we can remember, so much has been lost, but the things up there hunting you were once like us, but they were twisted by that wand according to our oratory legends”.

“I guess it’s a good thing I threw it away”, Jeremy responded, “So how did you know I would be here and wandering around?”.

“It has been foretold”, Wan responded, “Out of the North, or what you called east, a savior or enemy would come”.

“Well, as long as your people don’t try to kill me, I’m not an enemy. I don’t know about savior though”, Jeremy said curtly.

“That has yet to be decided, truth is I want to believe you are a savior, but the elders, they have lost countless, so some think you might be a threat, I disagreed, so I am here”, Wan said anxiously.

Jeremy swallowed, confident that his stomach had expanded enough to eat properly he began to eat in earnest, through mouthfuls he spoke as he began to fill his mind with information, and his belly with food.

During this whole conversation Jeremy could tell his attitude wasn’t what this person expected, he could read the crest fallen expression written on her face. Maybe she wanted the encounter to be more ceremonious, or him to be more agitated asking why he is here. He didn’t care, he was in a place he knew nothing about, for a reason he did he know, with a person he had never met. Information was the first priority, now that his stomach had been filled.

Jeremy brushed his hands off, “So shall we go to your village or whatever you call it. You’ve been waiting here, I came, I need more information, and I feel meeting your people would be a good step towards my understanding of things”.

Wan was silent, Jeremy asked, “Don’t tell me you were exiled? They won’t let you return?”.

Wan fidgeted with her hair nervously, “No, No, No. It’s not that, two weeks ago the tunnel connecting us to my clan’s lair was caved in. It was right after I found you”.

Jeremy looked down at his empty plank for a tray. Not a single morsel remained. Two weeks cut off. He knew there was no food of any kind to be found on the surface.

“You gave me the last of your food, didn’t you?”, Jeremy looked at her with curiosity, “Alright then we will go to the surface you can guide me to another entrance”.

“It’s too dangerous!”, Wan protested her rough and dirty, but still attractive hands waved in the air.

“Wait I still have some food left”, she said with a vague expression.

“How many days?”, Jeremy quickly continued to question her.

“Two saikus: the rodent you ate, one pound of nuts, and two br…”, She was going to say it could be rationed for longer.

Jeremy interrupted her, “For two people that may last a few days, then we would have the same problem again. We’re leaving, and you’re supposed to be a dragon, dragons should be scary but you seem so helpless”.

“Starving would be a preferable death, have you seen what they will do? I have”, she asked in a full panic.

“I’m pretty sure what they want to do every time they see me”, Jeremy responded looking at her with a placid expression, “But I don’t want to die. You’re not gonna save your people by being like this”.

Jeremy started walking towards the crevice he fought to come through. He needed to don his shirt and armor but he would at least take a look with some light.

“Wait! There’s another exit”, Wan said, exasperated, “Fine but I don’t want to die a gruesome death”.

“There you go”, Jeremy said with a smirk as he poked her puffy pouting cheeks, “How far until we can reach another entrance?”.

“By surface it should be eight hours”, Wan said still hesitant, “But I’m not sure what it looks like from up there”.

Jeremy realized something and he turned around, “You’ve never been to the surface, have you?”.

Wan shook her head.

‘Definitely not what I was expecting a dragon to be like’, Jeremy thought to himself. She was rather useless, yet still she looked at him with pleading eyes wanting him to be her savior.

He sighed, this ‘dragon’ lacked social skills, “Well we’ll look anyways, I need my shirt and whatever is left of my armor”.

“Have this”, Wan handed him another cloak, “It makes it easier to hide”.

The cloak gave off a feeling, a certain aura that could not be put into words. It seemed to entrap all the shadows caused by the fire light.

“Maybe she’s not useless after all”, Jeremy muttered to himself as he looked over the cloak.

“What was that?”, Wan asked with a puzzled look.

“Nothing. Let’s go”, Jeremy urged.

“Ok”, Wan replied meekly.

Once again on the surface, nothing had changed unsurprisingly, two red suns hung on the black sky. The ground was still red. Wan watched after the first human she ever met. He was flexing his hands, and clenching his fists; then he rested his hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword.

“Why is the ground red? Is it a different type of mineral?”, Jeremy asked standing, seeming relieved to be back on his feet.

“Legend says, it’s the blood of our people, and all the lost clans that soaked soil and rock alike”, Wan responded glancing furtively at every stone and shadow.

The exit Wan had taken was further from the lake. Wan began thinking trying to follow the tunnels that her people had carved into the rock. She knew they needed to move carefully, lest they attract any unwanted attention.

She took the lead for a few moments, moving from rock to rock slowly crouching listening hiding. Wan turned back to confirm Jeremy was following her to see him still standing with a smirk on his face. She knew she heard the word useless. It was a word she was very familiar with. This man was annoying why did the hero have to be so direct and abrasive, couldn’t he use more tact, and be softer to her. She thought a hero would unfailingly kind and nice.

Jeremy coughed, “Ahem. I think it’s better if I take the lead, you can just tell me where to go. You’re moving too slowly we’ll run out of food before we get there”.

“But, we have to be cautious”, Wan said in a resisting hesitant tone.

“If monsters come, I can just cut them in half”, Jeremy said with an expressionless face.

Wan pointed her hand in the course she believed the connecting tunnel to take, snaking through the earth of Draegoch. She couldn’t fathom this man’s thoughts; when she thought it was better to hide, he walked tall brazenly, boldly. He seemed to have a disregard for danger. Exasperated she gave up. She dreaded every time she moved forward, feeling that with each step she was getting closer to her doom and impending death. But just like the portents said, she hoped for him to save them. No, not just hoping, she desperately clung to that believe, like a slave wishing one day to be freed from their heavy oppression.

‘Are all humans this brave, direct, and focused?’, Wan thought as she had no comparison other than her own timid people who had been in hiding for countless generations.

She silently followed his path as he stood upright proudly, a master unto himself against a harsh environment, like a lone jutting rock in the tumultuous sea. Or at least what she had heard the sea was like. At least he was cautious enough to refrain from idle words, but every so often he would ask a question about this new world for him, and an ongoing nightmare for her. She felt sad as she recalled the clan, the family she had lost over the fifty years of her life. Every day there was a new victim, a new invasion into their homes. This drove, them ever deeper into rock and stone. But she did not want to wait until the few who remained dug deep enough to surface on the opposing side. She thought eventually they would be unable to go further; and then they would be trapped; waiting to be killed at their enemy’s leisure.

Several hours went by like this, as the time above increased her worry grew, then she became numb to it. She was surprised they had not been attacked.

Suddenly Jeremy stopped, he grabbed her by the collar of her cloak roughly and shoved her down behind a rock. She felt like crying as she stared at the red rock inches from her face, treated harshly. It was stained with the blood of countless souls. She thought she could even smell the dried blood as if it were fresh.

She gathered her courage to look up, “Shhh”, Jeremy said softly and calmly as he pointed ahead.

They were on the ridge of hill, perched upon a short cliff. The sound of yelling and screaming, and weapons colliding entered her ears. What? There was a battle nearby. She dearly wanted to climb back into her hole.

She mustered even more courage to peek above the rock, down the other side of the hill and short cliff. Her eyes widened.

“My people!! Why are they out on the surface?!! They’re going to be killed!”, Wan said as tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes.

“They’re searching for you silly dragon.”, Jeremy said, “and they’re not dead yet. Do you want to save your people Wan?”.

This was the first time he addressed her by name. She nodded meekly.

“As you are now, you’re pretty useless”, Jeremy paused looking down on the scene of a desperate struggle, then he looked directly into her eyes, and sighed, “But it’s ok, I’ll help you become a person that can fight for her people; and hopefully in the process I’ll find a way to get home. Stay here for now, but watch. Even if it is their last moments, you have a duty to watch your family facing death to save you”.

She felt a chill down her spine, and her heart throbbed at his reliable words. She yelped when Jeremy disappeared from before her. She looked down to see him moving at an unbelievable speed. She began to feel hope again, but then her heart plummeted as she saw the goblins there cutting and wounding.

Jeremy jumped down right away. His survival was his first priority, his life was not his own. It took him a while to learn in his absence; but after seeing Amy attacked when he should have been there, he realized he could not run away from his problems; because, by doing so he would make his precious people cry. He sprinted, moved and motivated by the sounds of weapons colliding, and people screaming in pain as they succumbed. His heart hurt as he thought of the people below who he had never met fighting to survive, so they could save the one they cared about as well. He could not allow such individuals to die.

He counted one hundred goblins; they must have crept out from their holes seeing fresh prey. At least he thought they were in caves, according to his knowledge of them that he was familiar with.

He felt power overflowing in his body. It was mysterious he had slept for two weeks; his wounds were not severe enough; maybe he would have slept for a few days. But then he awoke and his strength grew exponentially; it was at the moment he realized he grew stronger when he killed his enemies.

His eyes sharpened, as he drew nigh at a remarkable speed. Goblins, he had killed dozens, he had struggled at first, but their crude stratagems, and cruder weapons were not a match for him. The more malicious beings he killed the stronger he would be, and the more likely to survive in this hellish environment. With a cold eerie grin, he descended the hill into the rock-strewn valley, and exploded into the flank of the goblins. Heads, black oozing blood, and limbs flew everywhere as he began his assault. Before him they were not predators, they were prey waiting to be added to his strength.