Jinī Island

My resolve was weakening. As I rode on the back of a silver and blue serpent, my arms clinging to a wyvern, I began to question my earlier conclusion that I was dreaming.

It took maybe ten minutes to reach the island in the middle of the lake, but I wasn't sure, my watch had stopped working when I arrived in Avondale. The shore of the island was made up of smooth pebbles, but great logs of driftwood and enormous slabs of stone were scattered over the beach, coarse vegetation growing low to the ground.

I swallowed. It looked like the kind of island you would be murdered at.

As if sensing my thoughts, Havala spoke. Welcome to Jinī Island, Fledgling.

"Why is it called Jinī Island?" I asked.

Suruli looked over her shoulder at me, “The island is the only location in Avondale where Jinī trees grow.”

I gave her a look, “Gee, thanks Suruli. Cleared all my questions right up.”

Suruli smiled, oblivious to my sarcasm, “You are welcome.” And she turned back around.

Havala pulled her body part of the way onto the shore and Sanna hopped down before offering a hand to me. I waved it away and slid down to the ground, holding back a grunt as small bolts of pain shot through my feet.

Aww, so cute watching her be tough, right Sanna? Havala said in amusement.

I whipped around and glared at her. "F**k off, you overgrown water snake." I spat.

The blue eyes narrowed at me and then a strange thing happened, she slid back into the water and began to turn, spinning her long body in a spiral, faster and faster until the water was moving with her then her body morphed and she stood up as a beautiful, olive skinned woman, with silver hair. Her skinny arms were crossed over her chest, and the water was level with her hips. The only thing she was wearing was a small knife that hung around her neck just like Sanna and Suruli.

I gaped at Havala as Suruli handed her a silky, pale blue robe that ended just past mid-thigh, and a pair of tight fitting pants in a grey color. Like the others, she went barefoot.

Her eyes met mine, cold like ice. "You were saying?" She drawled.

Before I could think of an answer, a shadow came from above and I gaped at the creature as is landed on the rocky shore.

Sanna had called himself a type of dragon, but the beast who stood before me looked far more of what I pictured a dragon to look like. A giant lizard covered in bronze scales, four clawed legs, a long neck, tail, diamond shaped head, and a set of large, leathery wings. On its head were a pair of ivory horns, long pointed ears, and webbed fans. Running down its spine was soft fur in the same pearly color as its underbelly and ended on its tail as a decorative plume.

Oh, do not get so testy, Choice. Śarat’s voice cut through my mind and I realized she was the bronze dragon. I think she was being funny.

"Dragon." I finally was able to say, my eyes were wide and my breathing was heavy, this was too much. "A real dragon."

Suruli looked at me, “Yes, but we all are, Kendra. We are all different types of dragons. Remember? Sanna is a wyvern, Havala is a serpent, Śarat is a wyrm, and I am a phoenix.”

All four of them were looking at me like I was mad, so I just nodded, "Right." Pretending I believed the crazy words coming from this small brown woman. It wasn't difficult to imagine her turning into a firebird of myth and legend, but I still couldn't convince myself that this wasn't a dream.

Śarat changed back into her human form and we continued on foot through the forest. Slowly, very slowly mind you, I was getting over the “forcing me to drink blood” thing. Suruli and Śarat seemed nice enough, but you try getting force-fed blood and see if you trust so quickly.

As we walked, I couldn't help but stare around me. I had lived all my life in a place where the greenest thing was grass and maybe a few trees, so the greenness of this place was a shock to my system. It was like being on an alien planet, moss covered the trunks and the branches were heavy with leaves and fruit. The green seemed to seep into my body and overwhelm it. I couldn't be sure if it was poisoning me or healing me of some unknown illness.

Turns out it was both

My steps soon became sluggish and I stumbled a lot, tripping over my own feet. I lost a shoe at some point and I couldn't feel my toes. I felt like there was this pressure on my chest, heavy and making it hard to breathe.

"What's happening to me?" I managed to garble out with my heavy tongue.

Far away objects blurred in and out of focus as Sanna swore and I saw Suruli look at me in concern. "It must be the forest fumes, she is not used to it yet."

I felt arms lift me up and Sanna's voice got closer and louder. "Suruli, the fumes have never done this to anyone." Sanna said, his voice tense. "Worst case scenario it would make them sleepy, she is acting like she has been drugged."

"We need to get her to the village," Suruli said. "I can’t help her here."

"What is wrong with her?" Śarat asked.

"I have a hunch, but I could be wrong..."

And that's when the world went black.

* * * *

When I opened my eyes again I was in the dark, laying down on a soft surface as someone moved around near me.

"What happened?" I rasped, my eyes trying to pick out the figure in the room.

"Oxygen poisoning." A soft voice said, it was Suruli. "Although I'm not sure how, Avondale air is very pure and rich in oxygen. You would have to live in a place with really bad air quality for your whole life for this to happen."

I sat up and rubbed my head. "I already told you I'm not from around here."

“Right,” she said, but I could hear in her tone that she still thought I was crazy.

I just sighed and rubbed my eyes, they weren't adjusting to the darkness. "Why is it so dark?" I asked.

"You needed rest to expel the fumes from the Jinī trees," Suruli said as she clanked lightly with something. "And your eyes needed near darkness to heal properly."

"My eyes? Fumes? What are you talking about?"

She sighed. "Sorry, I sometimes forget others are not healers." There was a creak like someone sitting in a chair. "In the forest on this island there are trees that are very good at healing us if used properly. Unfortunately, they give off fumes that cause slight drowsiness. It has never been a problem until today, but the fumes mixing with the high oxygen content of Avondale gave you a few symptoms of oxygen poisoning. Nearsightedness, trouble breathing and disorientation. Lucky for you, the fumes are also very beneficial to our health, and healed your eyes after a few hours. I was able to help you acclimate to the high oxygen levels, so you should be fine now. Drink this."

An object was placed in my hands, it was cold and felt like a ceramic cup. I brought it to my lips and found it was exactly that, filled with the sweetest, most delicious water I'd ever tasted.

"Could we turn on the lights?" I asked when I had finished the cup. "The darkness is making my eyes over focus."

"One moment,” there was a cracking sound and a flame appeared, lighting a candle and the face of Suruli. I could see we were in a small room, three walls and the fourth wall being a curtain of some kind.

“Where am I?” I asked, I'd been asking that so much it was starting to get old.

Suruli blinked her large owl-ish eyes. “This is my room, you are in Clan Maretu.”