I screamed so loud that my ears felt like they were going to pop. We plummeted to the ground, falling closer and closer…
Oh man, I thought and closed my eyes. Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look…
“Really!” Seth yelled at the sky. “This brings new meaning to ‘things can’t get any worse!’”
I gripped furiously to the limp dragon. I was falling to my death: so this is how it was going to end. I never pictured it this way; I thought I would die a little more heroically, not screaming like a little girl.
“Not now Seth,” Emily screamed at him. “Everyone think!”
“How can I think,” I screeched back, “when the ground is rushed towards me at full speed?”
“I don’t know Jazell, just think if you want to live,” she said quickly.
I let out another scream as my body tipped towards the edge of the dragon. I felt someone wrap their arm around me and I gave a grunt as I was pulled upright. Seth held me, his arm stiff and somewhat uncomfortable. I was frozen in fear, realizing that I hated falling. This was worse than my fear of rollercoasters.
“Calm down,” Seth said to me. “You’re not going to fall-”
“What do you mean, Seth?” I said in a panicked voice. “We’re freaking falling right now!”
Emily looked at us and she tried to hide the fear in her face. “The dragon is going to pull its wings around us to protect us from falling but it’s going to make us fall faster. Make sure you hold on to something or get in the center.”
Seth pressed himself against me and we leaned closer to the dragon’s back. Jason tucked his arms under him and Emily pressed next to him. Then, as if on cue, the dragon tucked its great wings over us, blocking out the sky and we began to really fall.
I screamed louder and sunk deeper into Seth, trying to forget that we were falling at about 90 miles per hour without a parachute.
Every second felt like an hour. I squeezed my eyes in an effort to make it all go away. Make it stop, make it stop…
Seth gave me a comforting squeeze but it didn’t help. I tried to think of something else, like penguins or llamas. Anything, I didn’t care what I thought about, it could be underwear, as long as I wasn’t thinking about what was actually happening to me right now.
Llamas, I thought urgently. Llamas are furry and they spit at you when they’re mad. They’re the joke of most middle school kids, they’re tall…I think. You can see them at parks or zoos. They tend to try to steal your dad’s hat at the zoo. They can be black, brown, and white. I don’t think there are pink or purple or green llamas out there unless you dye them. I saw a llama once when I was, six at the zoo, and it stole Dad’s hat. They had to send a park ranger to get it back because Dad really liked that hat…
A bone-shaking bang scattered my thoughts. Pain shot through my side. We rolled over and I fell on top of Seth and then we both landed on Jason. Emily landed on us and we all tumbled onto hard ground.
I didn’t move. Instead I stared at the sky trying to understand how I wasn’t dead. I just was hurting all over and my back felt like I was run over by a car.
I sat up and my back cried out in protest. I pushed myself into sitting position and crawled over to Seth. He had his arms behind his head and was staring at the sky. He smiled at me when he saw me.
“You okay? You freaked out before,” he asked, his voice full of concern.
I nodded and answered shakily, “You know that I hate falling. You must have been scared too.”
He hesitated. “Yes, I was, but I think I was more concerned that you would wake the dead with your screams and they would attack us too.”
I smacked him lightly on the arm and laid down next to him. I stared at the sky. “So where are we?”
“Well, our winged friend managed to get us out of the woods and near the mountains. You can see them over there.” He pointed off in the distance and I spotted the mountains towering above everything else.
“That’s good, at least all of this wasn’t for nothing.”
He sighed and closed his eyes. “Yes, I didn't lose my hearing for nothing, because I had to listen to you scream.”
“Are you ever going to drop that?” I asked.
Seth smirked. “Nope, it's going to haunt you for the rest of your life.” He made ghost sounds.
“Wait,” I said suddenly, “weren't you going to tell Emily and Jason about you-know-what?”
“What?” Seth asked lazily and plucked at the grass.
I sat up and glared at him. “What do you mean, 'what'? You said you were going to tell them! I'm going to tell them if you aren't.” I stood up, but Seth was faster. He grabbed my arm. I stood there and stared at him.
“Please Jazell, let me tell them myself,” he begged. I waited for him to let go, but his grip stayed firm and strong.
I stared at him. “Fine but I'm tired of waiting, Seth.”
“I know, I promise I'll tell them,” He stood up, his grip still tight. “I just don't think now is the right time. After something like falling out of the sky, I don't want to bring more bad news.”
I sighed. “Alright, I'll leave this to you. But I swear...”
“I will, I promise you!” he interrupted me.
“I believe you, Seth,” I whispered. “Now are you good and clear?”
Seth stared at me, looked down at my arm and let go. He brushed his dirty hair away from his eyes and looked around. I blinked and shook my head.
“Jazell! Seth!”
I turned around and waved. Emily was running over with Jason on her heels. She slowed down and hugged me tight. Jason slapped Seth on the back and bent over to catch his breath.
“Hey, where were you guys?” I asked.
“We were looking around to see if it was safe,” Emily said. “We thought you two were doing the same.” She put her hands on her hips. “I guess not.”
“Are you going to get mad at me?” I pouted.
She play punched me in the arm. “No, I'll let it slide.” She winked at me.
I looked over at Seth, trying to catch his eye but he avoided my gaze. Jason started talking to Seth and the two whispered so we couldn't hear. Emily rolled her eyes.
“So did you find anything?” I asked and traced the dirt with my foot.
Emily shook her head. “Nothing, we're alone. Maybe we can try to get somewhere without bad guys jumping out at us.”
“We should move, before something does find us. Whatever knocked us out of the sky isn't going to be friendly if they find us again,” I pointed out. “Let's move boys, we have a lot more walking to do.”
Jason groaned. “Why can't they have cars in Igneeria? Or maybe a motorcycle, I'm even fine with a golf cart.”
“Because,” I said and walked past him, not looking back, “Igneerians aren't lazy Jason's.”
I heard him huff and Emily ran up beside me. “Good thinking,” she said. “The girls should take control.”
I shrugged. “I guess if that's what you want to do.”
Thankfully, there were no trees anywhere except one. The ground was mostly dirt and rock, easier to walk on. The mountains loomed ahead of us and something tingled down my spine. Something was going to happen in those mountains, I just knew.
The sky was clearer here and also more windy. The wind tugged at my hair and clothes as I walked. I had to keep squinting to see through my hair. I felt a tap on my shoulder and I looked over. Emily held her hand out.
“Here Jazell, use this to keep your hair out of your face,” she opened her hand and dropped something in my palm.
I held it up. It was a thin, vine that was about a foot long. It felt like a ribbon to me and I shrugged. I don't usually wear ribbons and bows; that was Emily's style. I pulled my hair back and tied the vine. It kept my hair out of my face and acted like a rubber band.
“Thanks Emily,” I said.
She finished tying her hair back. “No problem. We should look for somewhere to stay for the night.”
I looked around, but everywhere was bare ground, hill after hill. “I don't see any caves.”
“We'll just have to sleep in the open,” she stated and pointed to a huge tree. “We'll sleep under that tree.”
“Okay,” I said, a little disappointed. “Seth, Jason, we're going to sleep over here.”
Jason sighed in relief and we all gathered around the bottom of the tree. I stretched and leaned against the trunk of the tree, happy for the silence. But, of course, that never lasts around here.
“Hey, didn't we stop the water war?” Emily asked. “We never got to finish it and see who would win.”
Jason laughed. “Yes, we did, that's right! It doesn't matter though; Seth and I would have won anyway.”
“No,” she said, staring him down. “We would win because we're awesome.”
“No we would win because we're awesome!” Jason argued.
“Oh boy, what did the two start?” I asked Seth. “This is going to go on and on and on and on...”
“I get it,” he interrupted me. “This is never going to end. We'll be up all night.”
“Unless you interrupt them and tell them about your secret,” I said.
Seth looked down. “You want them to kill me? Maybe I'll tell them in the morning when they aren't so crabby.”
“You better,” I snapped and stared at Emily and Jason. They were still bickering.
I felt something on my hand and I looked down. Seth had wound his fingers in mine. His touch was gentle and cool, kind of reassuring. My mind blanked. I was holding hands with Seth. I never thought that would happen.
Seth smiled sheepishly. “Jazell, you should just relax. Let them bicker all they want; we don't have to be a part of it. Get some sleep.”
My mind was still slow, trying to process why he was holding my hand. I blinked and nodded. “Alright but if it starts getting crazy, wake me up.”
“Wake you up?” he asked and laughed. “I'm sleeping too. If it gets crazy, they'll wake us up.”
“Okay,” I said and yawned.
I leaned my head against the tree and closed my eyes. The world seemed to fade around me, along with the bickering and Seth's hand, as I fell asleep.
I opened my eyes to see that I was in a cave. I peered at the entrance of the cave to see that outside it was dark. I walked toward the entrance when something stopped me.
“Don't go into the shadows, Jazell,” a familiar voice said.
It was the voice from my last dream.
I whirled around in a circle, looking for the source of the voice. There was nothing here.
“Who are you?” I asked, trying to calm down. “Can I trust you?”
“Trust me like your shadow,” the voice said again.
“But you said to beware of shadows,” I said. “So does that mean I can't trust you?”
“You know your shadow, there is a difference,” the voice said again.
I shook my head. “This is confusing, why don't you understand that?”
There was a pause. “I do understand; I hated it too. All the annoying riddles but that's the way it's supposed to be.” Then the voice said stronger, “Look behind you.”
I turned back around to see the inside of the cave. A girl was walking towards me, the same one I saw last time. She didn’t like it because I was staring at her, but I couldn't help it. She stopped in front of me.
“You're not supposed to see me yet,” she said and sighed. “Oh well, I never was one to follow the rules.”
“Who are you?”
She shook her head. “I can't tell you yet. That's one rule I'm not going to break.” I opened my mouth but she shook her head. “Don't ask what my name is or why I'm talking to you, because I can't answer either of those questions.”
“What can you tell me then?”
“I can tell you that I'm not an enemy,” she said. “I can also tell you to be careful about Kojas; he's tricky and will use your emotions against you. He'll find a way to get you to come to him instead of him coming to you.” She huffed, “Coward.”
“How do you know?”
She smiled sadly. “Let's just say I know what I'm talking about. Be careful and keep your friends close. The four of you were chosen because of your unbreakable bond, but even that can be broken. You are strongest when you are together, so don’t let yourselves be separated.”
“Wouldn't it be called 'an breakable bond', then?” I asked her.
She laughed but then grew serious. “Be very careful. We all know that we picked the right four, but it would be a shame if something happened to all of you before you could complete your goal.”
That got my attention. “You know how we became half-lings? You know who attacked us that day?”
“I've said too much already,” she said and backed up. “I must go.”
“Wait!” I called. “Wait; tell me what's going on! Tell me what we're supposed to do!”
But she was already gone.