Blaise

The day couldn’t have gone any better. Mari enjoyed herself, making the day a success and as a bonus, Kenna wasn’t treating me like a plague on phoenixes. To top it off, I was going to see Cai for the first time in months. I wondered if the girls could entertain themselves for twenty minutes so Cai and I could “catch up”. Twenty minutes? Maybe thirty.

The rest of the audience went back the way we had come. But I maneuvered us around the crowd towards the stage. As we got closer we could see the stage hands dismantling the stage and lights. The monkey clan controlled nearly all of the entertainment industry with nearly a dozen types of monkeys in the clan. We could see spider and squirrel monkeys climbing the lighting poles and dismantling things from the top down.

One large man walked around with a clipboard, checking things off periodically. Several others made sure to usher any eager fans away from the stage. I tried to maneuver around these too but several voices rose in protest. They sounded like a bunch of baboons even in human skin. The man with the clipboard didn’t even look up as he yelled, “That’s Cai’s girlfriend, let her through.”

Kenna rolled her eyes. Thankfully Mari had lost most of the annoyance that plagued her expressions for the last two days.

Behind the stage the path continued for a short distance until it stopped at a magenta tent the size of twenty tents put together.

Two more baboons in human skin stood at the front entrance but these guys recognized me right away.

I could hear laughter coming from inside. The aroma of smoking grass hit me as soon as I lifted the flap, obscuring my view with the smoke. I frowned. I knew two of the other members had a habit of smoking to relax before a show but now all of them smoked?

“Blaise!” Cai jumped up from the couch he was sitting on. A head shorter than me, he appeared thin but I knew that his body was covered in sinewy muscle. Red hair as bright as mine sat on top his head in an organized chaos only he could manage.

Damn, he was adorable. Even more so when he ran up to me, hugged me trying to lift me up. I laughed. My feet never left the ground.

I leaned down, finding his lips with mine, feeling his tongue slip past. Damn. Surely they won’t care if we slipped away for twenty minutes.

Kenna cleared her throat.

We broke apart. Party pooper.

I introduced the members to Mari and Kenna. All the members of Nomad were outcasts. Capeka, tall, thin, white haired stork woman from Elbio, ruled by dragons; small, dark haired turtle-girl, Ridley, from Atoll, ruled by Kraken; and big Armel, the sloth bear from Bellecouth, ruled by unicorns.

“This is Mari, she’s Skinless, the other world exists and I brought her here,” I exclaimed. My excitement dying as quick as it came with Kenna’s glare.

“They’re not spies.” I waved her off.

It was just the seven of us. Armel popped open bottles of wine while Ridley rolled up more grass. Enchanted instruments played soft music in the background. I told the story of everything I saw in the other world. After a few drinks Mari and Kenna seemed to relax a bit and Cai and I were able to sneak off for a private moment.

Drunken laughter greeted me when we came back.

“I think it’s time for us to go,” Kenna stood but for once her posture wasn’t rigid, in fact standing seemed to be a conscious choice. She pointed at Mari who seemed passed out on one of the couches.

“Oh good, we can fly back,” I said.

Mari

I’m not sure what was in that drink but I didn’t remember the ride home. I found myself in Blaise’s room, trying to keep my eyes open as Kenna was leaving.

“I don’t think she realized she was flying,” one voice said.

“Ha, and she will never know,” the other voice laughed.

“Bye Kenna,” I waved. The blonde giant smiled back.

“I’ll report to the Council, make sure you get her home.”

“Yes, yes, just a few more hours and she will be gone.”

The door slamming made me open my eyes. “What happened? How did we get back?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Blaise grinned, “Are you hungry? I’ll ring the kitchen to bring something up.”

“Kitchen? You even have someone cook for you? Man, you live a charmed life.”

“We all have our roles to play,” I heard the response but I could feel my consciousness slipping again.

Someone shook my shoulder, “Mari, eat then go to bed.”

I sat up, feeling far less groggy than when we first got back. I looked at Blaise; she was sitting on the bird perch, still in human form, what looked like a hamburger in her hand.

“What’s that?”

Blaise seemed to shake herself, her eyes focusing on me. Was it me or did she seem tired? Or was it worried? Blaise worried? “It’s a bean patty, tons of protein, you should eat it.” Even her voice seemed less energetic than before.

My sandwich sat on a little table beside the pillow I lay on. I debated whether to ask her what was wrong. I was leaving in the morning, no reason to meddle in someone’s affairs in a whole other universe.

The bread felt much the same here as at home. I bit into the bean patty; juicy meat taste filled my mouth. What the hell! How do you make beans taste like beef?

By the time I finished eating I came to the conclusion that I should ask Blaise what was wrong. Despite my best efforts, I think we became friends. Her over the top attitude was actually endearing and fun once I got used to it.

“So…” I turned only to find Blaise was nowhere to be seen. My nervousness burst like a bubble. Somehow now I wanted to know what was bothering her, I wanted that moment of closeness before leaving. After all, once I left I wouldn’t see her again and unlike Blaise I wouldn’t even have pictures to remember my trip by. I got the healing stones from my bag. They were cool to the touch, making a satisfying clinking sound in my pocket. A small souvenir.

Now I really didn’t want to go to sleep so I walked out on the landing strip, stopping just outside the doors. I sat with my back against the wall so I could focus above me and ignore that I was a million floors off the ground.

Even the moon looked brighter here.

I took a deep breath. The air cooled considerably when the sun went down.

Just a few more hours…suddenly the idea of going home made me sad. What did I have waiting for me there? Work, school, more work? I didn’t really have friends, and my family? They won’t miss me.

A shadow passed over the moon. Cloud? I squinted, like that would help me see better in the dark.

Then I saw it.

Falling towards me like a silent rock. When I’ve seen them in movies they roared or breathed fire. Somehow watching that giant beast falling towards me like a falcon with its prey caught in its sights—except fifty times, no, hundred times larger…

It finally registered in my brain that a dragon—a fucking dragon—was falling towards me.