A new realm

“What?” she screamed. She tried to look around to see where Kai was, but the falling force was too much. All she had the balls to do was hold on.

She tried to scream, but it was lost in the wind. Dayton held her securely as if to say to trust him, but she couldn’t see how they would survive the impact into the volcano.

Juniper was convinced she would die; all she could do was face it head-on. Every bone in her body froze. Her muscles all contracted, and her jaw clenched shut.

She saw the bright lava and felt the burning heat, but only for a second before she found them flying at a stable pace again. Dayton was laughing and rubbing her arms up and down. “You are in my world now. Be prepared to have your mind blown.”

“Holy fuck!” was all she could muster up as she let out a nervous shock and tried to make sense of their surroundings. She felt sick, but excited. The emotions were all too much for her. Short, nervous laughter came out of her mouth like a broken record of a hyena. She shook, and her whole body was clammy, but the adrenaline was like no other thing in this world. She felt alive. The view was so foreign she wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or not.

Just then, she felt a bit dazed. Perhaps it was from the adrenaline. White light shot from behind her eyes, taking over her sight, and she was back home again. She was on the dirt floor, lying in the same spot where Barcelona had hit her.

It was no longer night, but there was no sunlight either. It was all masked by the dark storm clouds roaring in. The wind blew around her and the horses scattered around frantically. They bucked around, flinging dirt in the air. Usually, Juniper would think that was a sight to marvel over, but something didn’t feel right. How did I get here?

She looked to the sky to see a giant gray whirlwind coming her way. So fast that she didn’t have time to think, the words she could think to say screamed out of her lungs, “Mo—” They were already sucked into the storm along with her. She couldn’t cry for her family. The rapid rate of the wind brought her higher and higher, jostling her left and right. She braved a peek from her shut eyes and instantly regretted it.

Her home looked like an ant lived there, and with that, she found herself stumbling on her feet. She ungracefully fumbled with an intent not to fall on her face. She frantically looked around.

She was in a city. The same storm clouds were coming in. She wasn’t in any old town but the Big Apple. A screech broke through the storm. Utterly unrelated to the scream of the wind. Juniper shot her eyes past the skyscrapers to see a cluster of movement beyond the clouds.

She recognized the majestic movement immediately. Dragons. One as red as Barcelona swooped down with a breath full of blazing flames; Juniper raised her hand. She felt the heat, but it didn’t harm her. The fire took dominance over all other scenery, but that wasn’t what she was focused on.

Instead, she was looking at her bare arm that was stretched to the sky and did not recognize it as her own. It looked like it was tatted with henna in the shape of ruins. She could only imagine what they meant. Deep down in her gut, she knew they were not good.

“Juniper!” a melodic voice sang through the flames, causing them to disappear quickly, and she found herself in what looked like a castle. She wore nothing but a thin fabric across her body, accentuating her curves. She searched for the voice, knowing it was familiar but unsure how it was familiar until her eyes landed on Kai.

He held a cup in his hand and took a sip as he looked at her seductively. She couldn’t resist the look he gave her, which melted her insides. She almost lightlessly walked towards him, finding her way to his arms and lips.

Before she felt the warmth of his lips, she saw Barcelona watching them. She remembered the liquor that touched her lips the other day and found her throat burning for the need of the same sweet liquid. She wanted to scream as the heat rose in her body and found its way to her nether region.

It felt too much. But then… she felt something that tamed the burn and caused the urge for release all the more. His hands. His breath. His lips. She found his lips and was sucked away.

“In another thirty minutes, we will be home.” Dayton’s voice broke through, utterly unaware of her hallucination. “No one knows about you yet, so please don’t wander. Stay close to me, and we will get you where you can clean up and get some rest. You have a lot to take in and plenty of time to learn. Just respect our ways, and you will be fine. After all, you already survived the dragon ride.”

She calmed her breathing. Unsure of what had just happened. She felt the need for whatever was in that vial Kai gave her last night. She focused on how Dayton was being so kind to her.

She nodded her head as she took in her new surroundings. The air smelled smokey and thick and burned her lungs a bit. The sky was stormy, like in her hallucination, giving her an eerie feeling.

It did not help that the sky had a much more ashy color. Every once a while, lighting would come through the clouds, colored like the lava that bubbled below them. Despite the lava, everything seemed dark, like she was in a cave.

After some time, she saw it before Dayton pointed it out. “Welcome to Groda.”

The walls were built high on what seemed to be a mountain. Below lay a river of lava, and she could feel its heat. The wall acted as a barrier to an entire city. Encircled by much smaller buildings was a castle. Both the town and the castle were large. She was shocked to see that they were flying straight to the castle.

She could see ant-like people moving below and spotted about a dozen dragons.

“Put your cloak over your head,” Dayton said, and she complied.

They landed in the castle and were met by a young boy who walked up and greeted her and Dayton. She only nodded as she was told to do so and got help climbing off the dragon.

Dayton spoke in that same unfamiliar tongue to the young boy. Who then took the black dragon away. She followed closely to Dayton, keeping her head down.

After a few turns, she found herself being led to a room. It was extensive, with a small living room space, a bed, and other rooms. The room was made from a beautiful gray stone and lit with a torch.

She took in the room silently. “Here we are. So Stasia will be here with your bag soon, and you can get cleaned up and ready for bed. Kai won’t be long, so I will get out of your hair once he gets here. We will hang out in his room until then.”

“What?”

“Well, if you want me to stay, I can. I’m not sure how all three of us will fit in the bed,” He pondered, playing ignorant.

“Is this Kai’s room?”

Dayton’s eyes opened as if he “wasn’t messing” with her right now. With a chipper tone, he spoke, “Oh, yeah! It is. You will be staying with him.” So much for a kind Dayton, she thought to herself.

“Why? This castle is huge. Isn’t there another room for me to stay in?”

Dayton put his hands up in a motion like, don’t shoot the messenger. “I’m just following Kai’s orders. You must talk to him if you don’t like something.”

“But where would I sleep? The couch?”

“ugh, no… you will sleep in Kai’s bed… with him.”

“What?” Juniper searched Dayton’s eyes for the truth.

“Was there some confusion when Kai told you he took your life? You belong to him now. Why would you sleep in separate beds?”

“You mean... I’m expected to—?”

She didn’t finish her thought as a light knock at the door interrupted her, and Stasia came flying in.

“Hi, we have a problem!” She squeaked.