Of Two Suns

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The sky above her was darker than she'd ever seen it. It seemed that Foltarus, God of the Night Sky, was finally free of his responsibility to Helirus, Goddess of the Moon. As she stared upward, she watched how the soft twinkling lights of tiny stars began to take form amidst the darkness. As they appeared, one after another, she realized that they were forming a line in the sky.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was following that line. It seemed to extend forever, with no end in sight. But just as quickly as she had started moving, her legs halted. A gust of wind pushed against the front of her, causing her entire body to sway like a small tree in a storm. When she looked down, she found that she now stood on the ledge of a cliff. The toes of her boots were no longer cushioned by the rocky ground, but instead jutted out past the edge.

Ahead of her, below her, was murky. As if the ground far below her was shrouded in a dark, muddy fog. She couldn't see through to what was beneath it. The air around her tasted foreign, thick with a substance she couldn't name.

She turned her gaze upward once more and found that the line of stars had disappeared. Only one remained, far out ahead of her, above the center of the fog. Its light seemed to fade and grow again and again, as if signaling to her. She was almost to where it needed her to be, but she didn't know how to get down there.

Another gust of wind barrelled into her, causing her to sway again. It felt as though her stomach shot up into her throat, choking her as the fear of falling took hold of her. She couldn't even move her feet to stumble backward to safety, as they seemed to have taken root where she stood. Still, her body continued to sway with the push of the wind, back and forth. She was unable to look away from the drop in front of her, unable to close her eyes.

Then, finally, she swayed a little too far.

And she fell.

Ryla woke up with heaving breaths, her heart beating as though it was trying to break free from her chest. The gray stone room greeted her eyes, a small relief after the sights that her just been playing before her. Small chirps drew her eyes down to her lap where the tiny dragons were laying. They both stared up at her with knowing eyes, as if they had seen her dream as well.

With a sigh, she slouched back into the stone wall behind her. Only as her heart began to calm did she notice that both Elves were gone. Her eyes flicked from left to right and back again, but all three tunnels were empty as far as she could see or hear.

Another small chorus of chirps returned her attention to the dragons. She scooped both of them into cupped palms as she extended her legs to stretch out ahead of her. Her stiff limbs at first protested, but quickly relaxed again once she was settled. She stared at her dirt-coated feet as she wiggled her toes. There was a piece of moss wedged between the two smallest toes on her right foot, and made it look like a tiny tree was sprouting between them.

"So," she started as she rested the back of her hands on her thighs. "Do you think they've left me here? Do you think they'll come back, or am I on my own?"

Both dragons were quick to answer her with a flurry of chirps, and she raised a brow. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Are we on our own?" Further chirping was her answer.

Before she had a chance to respond to them again, movement caught her attention from the corner of her eye. From one of the two tunnels to her left, Gale emerged. He paused just as he entered the small room of rock, his confused stare fixed on the dragons in her lap.

"Can you understand them?" he asked.

Ryla blinked up at him. The thought of being able to actually understand the dragons had yet to fully cross her mind. But, she supposed she did. She wasn't sure why; it wasn't like she heard words where everyone else would only hear their chirping. And it certainly wasn't every time they called at her, either. But sometimes, she just knew.