The fog over Feypost had lifted. The empty village was up on a hill where the flood water couldn’t reach. The wagons slid going up the hills, but the giant stags pulled hard. Sticking their hooves deep into the mud and being yanked out with a nasty sucking sound. The wagons drove up to the top of the hill and into the empty town. The towering trading post made Shaynen’s stomach flip. He sat back in the wagon and turned toward the rest of his village as they settled again. Reo sat across from him with dark, bruised eyes from their exhaustion. Their clothes were dirty from the still wet mud. The wagons pulled to a stop in the center of the haunted town. Shaynen scooted across the wagon floor and placed his hand on Reo’s. Startling them.

“We’re not staying here, are we?” Shaynen asked.

“We have to, at least until morning.” Reo said, patting his hand. “Nothing’s going to happen while we’re here.” Shaynen scowled.

“That’s what mom said before we went to bed. And what dad said before we came here the first time.” Shaynen said accusingly. “Every time someone tells me everything is going to be okay, it isn’t.” Reo looked down at the boards of the wagon floor.

“Yeah, I guess things have been a little uncertain.” Reo said with a slow, haunted nod. “But we’re all going to be here, so it’s going to be okay. At least for tonight.” Shaynen frowned with a deep scowl that wrinkled his nose.

“Are you sure?” He asked. Reo didn’t answer. Still staring off and holding onto Shaynen’s hand. He pat Shaynen’s hand a few times and looked down.

“You given that doll a name?” They asked. Shaynen looked at the blonde doll in his lap and tilted his head.

“No. Haven’t thought about it,” He said. He stared into the button eyes of the doll, trying to think of what it should be called. “Nothing’s jumping out at me,”

“Fair enough, maybe something good will come to you.” Reo said. Shaynen shrugged and played with the yarn hair, its ends were already fraying. Reo stood up and walked to the driver’s seat where Shaynen’s parents were entering the covering again. Shaynen pet the doll’s hair and contemplated what kind of name would suit the fabric toy.

“Hey,” Ila slid up beside Shaynen and grabbed onto his arm.

“Oh hey, did you get any sleep?” Shaynen asked, laying the doll in his lap and turning to his friend.

“A little,” Ila said. “I keep worrying about my mom. Do you think she’s going to be okay?”

“Probably,” Shaynen said. “I had nightmares.”

“Yeah, I heard about the trading post.”

“Yeah.” Shaynen focused hard on Ila’s hands to keep the visions from taking over his vision.

“Do you think we’ll ever go back home?” Ila asked. “What if we never do?”

“We’ll get home eventually,” Shaynen said. “Once the rains stop, so we can rebuild our platforms.”

“What if the rains never stop?” Ila asked.

“They have to eventually. They always do.” Shaynen looked up at the dark top of the covered wagon. The rain had slowed down slightly, the sound had Shaynen feeling sleepy again. As his eyes started to close, he sat upright, forcing them open again.

“What’s wrong?” Ila asked.

“I don’t want to fall asleep,” Shaynen said. “In case something happens.”

“You think something could?” Ila asked. A yawn tried to escape, but they shut their jaw to stop it.

“I don’t know, but stuff keeps happening so I don’t want to take any chances,” Shaynen said.

“Me either,” Ila said. He scooted closer and looked at the adults speaking quietly a few feet away. “What are we going to do? Should we stay up? All night?”

“Yeah!” Shaynen said. He shifted forward and a large mischievous grin painted his face. “We’ll stay up late! Way later than the adults!”

“And if something happens, we’ll know first!”

“Yeah!” Shaynen smiled, but it faded as a little girl crawled over.

“What are you two so happy about?” Lycita asked. Her strawberry blonde hair pulled into twin braids.

“We’re planning on staying up all night.” Ila whispered to her. Her dark amber eyes lit up, and she revealed the gap in her front teeth.

“Can I stay up too?” She whispered.

“Okay, but we can’t tell the grown-ups. If we do, they might make us go to bed,” Shaynen said. He looked at his parents, still talking with Reo. His mother was touching her necklace but trying to not play with it. “They might put us down for sleep, but we’ll have to pretend until they fall asleep.”

“And not fall asleep!” Ila said. Lycita nodded and looked between the two.

“How do we know when they’ve fallen asleep?” Lycita whispered.

“When my parents are asleep, they’re both still and breath to the count of seven.” Shaynen said. Looking back to the two other kids his age. “Mostly if you move and they don’t move, they’re asleep.” Lycita and Ila nodded. Shaynen tapped their knees and sat back with a smile. His parents walked over, which caused Ila and Lycita to sit up with equally broad smiles. His parents looked at the three of them with suspicion.

“What’s going on here?” His mother asked.

“Nothing,” all three children said. Lycita giggled and hid her face in Ila’s shoulder, which made them snicker. Shaynen elbowed them and glared at them. His parents looked at the three of them and then at each other.

“Okay, you three seem pretty wide awake.” His father said.

“Hard not to be,” Lycita said. Crossing her legs and leaning forward over her dress. Showing her pants underneath. “The flood waters can’t get us here, right?”

“No, the floods don’t come this high up.” Shaynen’s mother said. “Otherwise, the town wouldn’t be here anymore.”

“When are we leaving?” Shaynen asked.

“Soon as the road clears,” His father said.

“How long will that be?” Ila asked. Shaynen’s parents looked at each other but couldn’t come up with an answer.

“What happens if it comes back?” Shaynen murmured. His father knelt down beside him.

“If what comes back?” He asked equally quietly.

“The thing that…” Shaynen said, but couldn’t say the words. “In the post?”

“Oh,” His father said. “It won’t come back. It’s long gone now.”

“But what if it does because we’re here now?” He asked.

“I promise you it won’t.” His father said, Shaynen spoke but thought better of it and nodded instead. His father moved Shaynen’s hair from his face with a smile that Shaynen didn’t find very reassuring.

“So why don’t we get comfortable and Kiylla will tell us a story?” His father said. He took some blankets from the center of the crowd as the other villagers passed them around to bed down again.

“I remember Shaynen had some questions about a dragon.” His father looked at his mother and glanced at her necklace and back.

“Kiylla, have you REALLY seen a dragon?” Lycita asked as she took a blanket and rolled up into it.

“I have,” Shaynen’s mother said. She wrapped Shaynen up and his father wrapped up Ila with another blanket. “It was a long time ago when I was very young. It’s also how I met your father.” She pushed Shaynen’s hair back and smiled at him.

“There are many worlds other than this one.” His mother took a blanket and draped it over her shoulders. “And many of us are from many worlds. There is a world that is so woven with powerful magic that every seed, drop of water, and even the grains of sand can cause cities to fall. There’s another world of the elements. Where the very elements of the world live and breathe.”

“But of all those worlds, there is a realm that is mysterious. It is unknown and hardly any know how to get to it, or out of it. Where there is no rule but the rule of magic and imagination. The Astral Plane. No one knows how or why it exists. Or what exactly lives inside it.”

“Some say it is the stomach of the great devourer who was slain, but its great hunger still lived on. Others say it is the graveyard of fallen gods. Within the plane you’ll find whole abandoned villages, ripped right from their foundations. Not all are abandoned. This is a town in the Astral Plane. It has no known name and can’t be found by looking. At the center of this town is a great monastery. Made of several obsidian stone floors that float independently of each other. A current of energy keeps the floors floating and separates them.”

“Within this village live the souls of the lost, and the spirits that guide the chosen. Hidden inside the monastery is the great being of the Astral Plane. The Astral Dragon. Where it hides exactly is unknown, but when he is needed most, he will appear.”

Shaynen didn’t feel tired in the slightest. Ila yawned beside him and nodded. Lycita had collapsed almost instantly. He waited for the story to continue. But his mother played with her necklace and looked up at his father. Shaynen watched their expressions for a few minutes.

“So. How did you see the dragon?” Shaynen asked. Ila sat up, startled, but started nodding again.

“You’re not going back to sleep, are you?” She asked with a small smile. Shaynen shook his head. “I suppose that’s fair enough. I’ll stay up with you for a bit, then your dad can take over when the sun comes up.”

“Just be quiet when you get up. You don’t want to wake the others.” His father pointed to Ila slowly drifting down to sleep. Shaynen nodded and slipped his blanket off. He bunched it up and put it under Ila as they finally fell fully asleep. Shaynen slid to his feet, avoiding watching his parents kiss. His father took the blankets and laid down.

“Do we have to talk really quietly?” Shaynen whispered. His mother frowned and peeked out of the wagon.

“Follow me,” she whispered. Then slipped out onto the driver’s seat. Shaynen followed and into the rain. His mother helped him down to the ground and took his hand. She started running. Shaynen resisted at first, but the rain drenched him nearly instantly. His mother’s lead and the icy rain got him moving. Following her into one building. Crossing the threshold, Shaynen choked. Memories flooding in so abruptly it shut his throat tight and his stomach rushed up to escape.

“This is the inn,” His mother said. Interrupting the room’s silence. She turned and knelt down beside him. “Are you okay? You’re turning green.”

“Are there any gross things in here?” Shaynen choked out. With a quiver in his voice.

“No sweetie, there’s nothing gross in here.” His mother said, pushing his hair out of his face and holding him to her. “Nothing bad can happen while I’m here with you.” Shaynen threw his arms around her neck and embraced her tightly. She squeezed him tightly and then stood up. The inn had a large common room area with a giant brown bear rug in the center and hundreds of antlers and other hunting trophies on the wall.

There were dark couches and sofas around a dark wooden table with simple flyers and books set over it. The wall had a large ornate fireplace with different knick-knacks and mugs. There was an empty table along the side and a single cupboard filled with plain dishes.

“Is anyone watching for the flood waters?” Shaynen asked as he slipped his hand into his mother's.

“Yes, we have a few people on watch.” His mother said and went to the fireplace. She put a few of the logs into the grate of the fireplace. She looked over her shoulder at him.

“Why wasn’t anyone on watch when the flood happened?” He asked as he sat on the thick woven rug in front of the fireplace.

“There was.” His mother said soberly. “Phosi was one of them.”

“I haven’t seen Phosi. Are they in the other wagon?” Shaynen asked. His mother lit the fireplace, staring into the flickering embers.

“No. They’re missing,” His mother said. She turned to him and took his hands. “Shaynen, you need to promise me that if you see Phosi OR Ila’s mother, you will not go near them. Do you understand?”

“Why? Phosi’s always been nice. They gave me the doll-”

“Promise me you will NOT go near them. You come get me or your father. Do. You. Understand?” His mother said. Squeezing his hands tightly. So tightly she was hurting him.

“But why?” He asked.

“Shaynen!”

“Okay! I promise!” He yelled. Pulling away from her. “I just want to know why!”

“We don’t know yet. We just know they aren’t right anymore.” She said, readjusting herself on her knees. Shaynen rubbed his hands.

“Mom?”

“Mm?”

“We’re never going back home, are we?”

His mother paused. She sat back with crossed legs. Hunching over, resting her elbows on her knees.

“You know your father and I had to leave our homes and make a new one?” She said. Shaynen shook his head. “Homes aren’t the place you are, it’s the people you're with.”

“But where are we going to go?”

“We’ll seek shelter back where I came from,” she said. “Unless we find a more suitable place on the way. We can make any place a home.”

“What’s it like? Where you came from?” Shaynen crawled beside his mother and leaned against her.

“It’s a place made of sturdy stone walls. My brother and I were raised there.” His mother said. Wrapping an arm around him.

“You have a brother? Has he ever come to visit?” Shaynen asked “why haven’t I ever met him?”

“He and I had a difference of opinion,” His mother said. She spoke slowly as she thought about her words. “I left with your father and he stayed at the monastery.”

“You think he’s forgotten about the argument?” Shaynen asked, leaning his head against her shoulder.

“Oh undoubtedly. Especially.” She leaned around and cradled him in her arm. “When he meets you.” She quickly tapped his nose.

“Yeah?”

“Yes, he won’t be able to resist family.” She said, letting out a long yawn. “And you’re a pretty cute kid.” Shaynen smirked and watched the fire. His mother watched the fire with him.

After a while Shaynen noticed his mother’s breathing steadied to the counts. He shifted and gently lowered her down to the rug in front of the fireplace. Then standing to stretch out. He was itching to climb up on or over something. The couches and sofas looked appealing to how restless he was feeling. Shaynen jumped up onto the arm of one sofa. It was worn and far too soft. Nothing like being in the trees. Shaynen collapsed onto the couch. Staring up at the wood beams that held up the roof. With a sigh, he covered his eyes.

“Pst. Hey!”

Shaynen sat up. Peeking into the inn was Lycita, her face drawn into a big grin. She waved at him and motioned him to the door. Shaynen spared a look at his sleeping mother and then ran over and out the door behind Lycita.

“What are you doing?” He whispered.

“Looking for you!” She giggled. “C’mon, there’s an entire city to explore! Let’s go!” Shaynen went white and his stomach ducked for cover.

“We shouldn’t do that. I went exploring around and found stuff. Dead stuff,” Shaynen whispered. Lycita’s eyes went wide.

“Did you? That’s so cool.” She whispered. Shaynen shook his head.

“It wasn’t. It was gross and awful.” Shaynen said.

“You said you wanted to explore.” Lycita shrugged and turned her attention to another building across the road.

“I did not!” Shaynen snapped.

“Yeah, you did. Why else would you want to stay up?” She started toward the building. Shaynen jumped forward and grabbed her arm.

“To keep watch,” He said. “Cause bad stuff keeps happening! I don’t want to get into trouble anymore.”

“Your mom wouldn’t take you into the village if it was dangerous, would she?” Lycita asked. Shaynen frowned, but looked at the inn.

“C’mon, I’ve never been to a ground village before! There could be cool stuff!” She continued. Pulling him toward the next building. “Aren’t you even a little curious?”

“A little,” Shaynen admitted, stepping forward.

“You’ve already seen the worst, so nothing worse can happen.” Lycita said with a shrug.

“Yeah?” Shaynen kept moving forward in short, hesitant steps.

“Definitely.” Lycita nodded with confidence. “I mean, what’s really the big deal?” She pulled him into the rain, where they broke into a run toward the other building.