Rabbit Hole to Altima Island

Rabbit Hole to Altima Island
Sam

The wind in the Outlands wasn’t like the breeze in Talos. In Talos, even after the wars had chewed through our home, there was still a whisper of magic in the air, a scent of something green and alive. I had heard rumors that Talos existed, not as I used to know, but still existed. One day, I will find Talos, and I will find Avery. 

In the Outlands of what was once the Dragon World, the wind was a constant, biting snarl, carrying the dust of forgotten cities and the tang of despair. It whipped my long, blonde hair across my face, stinging my eyes, but I barely noticed. I was too busy scanning the horizon, my hand instinctively resting on the hilt of the obsidian dagger at my hip – a gift from a grim-faced Alden, years ago, before he vanished.

Years. How many? The calendar stopped mattering when every day was a fight for survival. I’d seen many summers, each one hotter, harsher than the last. My parents… Layla, Adrik, Akon, Ashton, Ayden. The names were a mantra, a distant echo. I knew them as legends, as the Dragon Kings and Queen who once ruled a thriving Talos. I knew them as the ones who fought, and fought, and fought, until the wars swallowed them whole, or scattered them to the winds. I knew their faces from faded tapestries and whispered stories, but the memory of their touch, their voices, their laughter – it was a void. A dull ache that sometimes flared into a sharp, bitter longing.

I’d been raised by the remnants. Alden, mostly. He was a gruff, ancient lava snail, a walking encyclopedia of forgotten lore and sarcastic remarks. He’d taught me to fight, to survive, to read the subtle shifts in the land. He’d taught me about the black diamond, about the Fire Dragon, about the impossible power my mother once wielded. But he rarely spoke of her, or of my fathers, beyond their titles. It was too painful, I think, even for him. “The dragons are dying, Sam,” he’d rasped, his voice rough with age and grief, the day I left Talos for good. “The world is turning against us. Find a way to survive. Find a way to remember.” That was the last thing he ever said to me. I know that he was right, but there had to be another way.

And so, I walked the Outlands. There weren’t many dragons left. I had a mate that I knew I must find. Dragons were a dying breed, and mated pairs even more so. The wars had been relentless, not just against other factions, but against the very essence of dragonkind. Humans, emboldened by our perceived weakness, had hunted us. Other magical creatures, seeing an opportunity, had turned on us. The great dragon forms, once a symbol of power, were now a target. Most of us, myself included, kept our true forms hidden, locked away. I lost all of my tribe and my mate. Alden was missing, and my parents were faded memories. I was a lone dragon shifter in a world that was rapidly forgetting magic. Until I met Susie as Samantha and not as Sam. It took me a bit to show her who I truly was. I hadn’t shifted in years. The thought of unleashing my draconic self, of becoming that magnificent, vulnerable beast, filled me with a cold dread. But having Susie in my life meant that I would never be alone.