Welcome to Avondale

“Papa, watch me!” I cried as I ran and stumbled along the rocky shore of the beach. “I’m flying!”

A great booming laugh followed me, “Be careful, Princess!” Papa called. “Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself.”

I looked over my shoulder to grin at the giant man following me, “I won't!” But I spoke too soon and tripped over a rock, falling down and scraping my hands and knees. I started to cry because it hurt, and I sat up, looking at my small hands, now scratched and bleeding slightly.

“Kendra, are you okay?” Papa ran over and crouched down in front of me. He was a towering giant with black hair and hazel eyes, his face covered with a short beard of black hair. “Oh, sweetie, you're bleeding.” He rubbed my shoulders with his great big hands, “Do you want to go home?”

I sniffed and nodded.

“Oi! You there!” someone shouted and I looked over to see an angry lady coming toward me and Papa. “Get away from that child!”

Papa’s face scrunched up like he was mad and he stood, “What business do you have here tellin’ me to get away from my own daughter?”

I backed away, I didn't like it when Papa was angry. The lady didn't look angry anymore, her mouth was open a bit and she kept looking from me to Papa and back.

“That can't be your daughter,” she said. “She looks nothing like you!”

“So?” Papa growled and I backed away some more. “That doesn't make her any less my little girl.”

“I'm so sorry,” the lady said.

“Aye, you should be.” Then Papa turned back towards me and smiled, “C’mon Kendra, let's go home now.”

I reached out to Papa but then a wave of water came and swept me away, taking me under the icy depths. It was so cold that I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. My eyes searched the blackness in panic, and I saw a flash of gold in the water. I tried to move, tired to swim away, but it got closer and closer. I tried to scream for help but my voice was lost in bubbles. The gold reached me and started circling me in a tornado. My body was peeled away as it was turned to gold, and at that moment I just wished I had gotten to tell Papa goodbye.

I bolted upright from my dream, my eyes flying open and my lungs struggling for air. My head smacked into something hard and I yelped at the pain that blossomed over my forehead. I started rubbing at the spot and wondered what I had smacked into.

Ōh, Kallu, nānu ksamisi nānu! A voice cut through my mind. Nīvu ālrait?

My body went stiff and I looked up to see what I had hit, but I could only scream in terror at the monster before me.

It looked like a lion, but it wasn't a lion, it was pale blue with yellow cat eyes and long whiskers that I had only seen in pictures of chinese dragons. I scrambled back as the animal looked me over with intelligent eyes. I looked down to see its powerful paws covered with armored plates that shimmered like pearls. Behind him, a long, thick tail ended with a deep blue plume, the tail twitched and flicked back and forth as it studied me.

I was still screaming at the top of my lungs when I registered the two women on either side of the beast. One was tall and black with green snake eyes, the other, short and brown, with eyes like a bird. The beast had moved back from me and the women were now touching me and speaking gently in some alien language.

The brown haired woman turned and glared at the creature, who now looked like a kicked puppy, its ears flat against its head. "Sanna, avaru mujugaravannu ide!" She snapped. "Matte śipht!"

The women continued to talk to me and try to calm me down while I watched in horror as the creature started to convulse. Its tail shrunk away, the fur receded, the muzzle scrunched backward into the face, the legs lengthened and the paws became feet and hands.

Before I could comprehend, the creature had changed into a fully grown man. A very attractive, very naked man with long brown hair down his back. Only his yellow cat eyes told me what he once was.

I scrambled away from the women and stood on shaky legs. "What the bloody hell is going on?" I screamed in panic. I pointed a trembling hand at the man, "He was a....and now he's a…” I held my head in my hands as I began to become overwhelmed. “Where am I?” I asked the women. “Please tell me I’m dreaming, this can't be real...this can't be real."

The brown woman looked at the other, “Avaru nam'ma bhāse maretiddāre!”

The black woman looked shocked, “Nāvu �"nu mādab�"ku?”

The first woman bit her lip and glanced at me. “Tanna otti hididukondiri,” she said, “nānu avala nanna rakta nīduttade. Ā trik mādab�"ku.”

My blood ran cold at their words. I had no clue what they had said, but I had a feeling I wouldn't like it. “Stay away from me,” I held my hands out and stepped back from them, but my legs collapsed beneath me and the women surrounded me.

The dark one took hold of my arms with inhuman strength, calm words in her alien tongue tumbling out of her mouth. I struggled and tried to get out from under her weight, but she was too strong, so I was stuck pinned to the stone floor. She was trying to calm me down but as I watched her friend, I found calm to be miles away.

The brown woman had taken a small knife from around her neck and sliced her wrist. I couldn't understand why until her friend grabbed my head and forced my mouth open, in her fingers alone there was enough strength to break my jaw, I was surprised she didn't.

I struggled in vain against the two women. The blood from her hand dripped into my mouth. I tried to spit it out but my jaw was clamped shut by the iron fingers of the woman restraining me, the smell of smoke and fire invading my nostrils. Both of them were still talking and as they held me still, my body raged against swallowing or vomiting again. Finally the taste of copper and wild flowers became too horrible and my body swallowed. After a moment of disgust I registered the voices were no longer alien.

The brown haired woman was talking softly. “It is alright, this will help us understand you, just breathe calmly.”

The other woman was watching me, her slit green eyes concerned. She turned to look back at the naked man who had watched silently. "Sanna, put your clothes on!” She barked, releasing my jaws. “We are not animals."

I was finally freed from their iron grips and I skittered back from them. “Who the bloody hell are you people?”

"Calm down sweetie." The brown woman said in that soft, careful tone. "You are going to be okay. My name is Suruli Sparrow, and this is my friend, Śarat. Can you remember your name?" She offered a small brown hand for me to take.

"Keep your bloody hands away from me!” I hissed, then glared at her friend. "And you, just stay away from me.”

"Hey, hey, calm down." Said the man with his hands raised. He had braided his long hair and put on a pair of soft looking leather pants. His skin was very tan and gave him the look of a Native American.

He moved closer and I flinched into the wall, making him freeze and his yellow eyes soften. "I will not hurt you. I promise." He said softly, and lowered himself to his knees. Close enough to touch but he made no move to do so. “Can you tell me your name? Mine is Sanna Briar.”

I swallowed hard. “Kendra McLane.” I looked at the women who had moved away but were watching me sadly. “What did they do to me?”

“Suruli gave you some of her blood. It pulled our language from your memory so you could understand us, strange that you forgot it in the first place.”

None of his words made any sense. I could understand them fine, he seemed to be speaking English now, but they had no business being in that order. I tried a different question. "Where am I?”

Sanna frowned. "You are in Avondale."

I blinked. "I'm where?"

He sighed. "Come on, let me help you up." And he stood, offering me a hand.

I looked at it warily, then glanced into his creepy yellow cat eyes. They held no danger, and to be quite frank he'd done nothing to harm me….yet.

I took his hand, and he pulled me into a standing position. The room spun round and round and I stumbled forward. Slipping and tripping because walking felt far more different than I remember. I was caught by strong arms and enveloped by the smell of timber, like the forest. It was a nice smell and it made me want to cuddle up with it and sleep.

"Careful there." Sanna said as he set me back on my feet, a large grin on his face. "Can you walk?"

I backed away. "I'm fine....what-um...what are you?"

His brow furrowed. "I am a wyvern...what are you?"

"I'm a human." I said, just as confused. "What's a wyvern?"

"It is a type of dragon..." Śarat said slowly, confusion in her reptile eyes.

It was at that point I decided I was dreaming, so I just nodded.

"We need to take her to Nisvārtha." Suruli said anxiously.

Sanna and Śarat nodded in agreement.

I adjusted my trench coat and fixed my dress. "Who's that?"

"A friend of ours." Sanna said. "He should be able to help you."

"He can help me get home?" I asked. "Back to Scotland?"

They all looked at me strangely. “What is Scotland?” Śarat asked.

I sighed and shook my head. “Nevermind.” The longer this dream went on the more hungry and thirsty I was becoming, my brain felt groggy like I was drunk or extremely exhausted.

I shook it out of my head and tried to walk. The more I thought about it, the harder it became. Imagine trying to run in slow motion, it's hard because you can't do the part where you are in the air for a second between each stride. What I was dealing with was the opposite. My strides were lighter and I almost floated with each step. It was like I had been weighed down with fifty pounds on my limbs and now was free. I walked around the room in awe. My graceful movements seemed to fit now, I didn't trip or stumble like normal, it was like I was finally in the right place.

"Well it looks like you can walk alright." Sanna said cheerfully. "How about we get you out of this tower?"

I didn't see the harm in following this dream so I nodded and walked toward them. Sanna offered his large hand and I took it. Figuring if he killed me I would simply wake up.

They helped me down the long spiral steps that went up to the room and I didn't pay much attention after that. I was too busy focusing on getting down the stairs. It was difficult and easy at the same time, I still wasn't used to it and I slipped a lot. Sanna kept a firm grip on my arm to keep me from falling.

Other strange things were happening to me as well. The air tasted delicious, the atmosphere made my skin tingle, my blood seemed electrically charged in my veins and I couldn't stop giggling at every trip or stumble I made. Sanna, Suruli, and Śarat kept glancing at me, looking concerned and probably thinking I was crazy. I was too loopy to care.

We finally made it out of the castle and I saw the strange and wonderful place I was in. The sky was a clear blue and fluffy white clouds dotted the expanse that I could see. The clearness of the air was opening my senses. I could smell flowers, fruit and the old smell of wood. The ocean was close, the tangy, salt smell of the water tickling my nose.

We kept walking through a deserted city until we reached a patch of trees near a river. They had me sit down, then gave me water and some fruit.

"What is this place?" I asked as I ate.

Śarat looked at me sadly. "You are in Avondale, Kendra. This is the edge of the Silver City."

There was that name again, Avondale. I couldn't remember ever hearing the name before. Maybe I had read about it in a book once a long time ago and my subconscious was pushing it into this bizarre dream. I ignored my companions as they moved away to talk about me. I didn't care, why should I? I would wake up soon....

Right?