Chapter 10 CHAPTER 10
The man repeated himself, staring at me like I'd sprouted a second head.
Fine, if I were a flat-eared man in medieval getup stumbling across some girl in jeans and a T-shirt, caked in dirt and looking like a drowned rat, I'd stare too.
"Can I join you?" I tried English again, this time with elaborate hand gestures and pointing at myself, at him, at the cart... showing my desperation for him to take me anywhere but this abandoned red path.
Fear coiled tight in my stomach as we stared at each other, two odd strangers. What if he were a serial killer?
But then again, this road didn't lead anywhere close. I'd probably collapse and die before reaching civilization on my own, so why draw out the inevitable? With him, I at least had a thirty percent chance of survival.
I looked up at him, tears threatening to fall while he processed my situation.
Finally – thank goodness– he nodded.
No more words, just a wave beckoning me over as he stepped back into the cart.
I climbed in with difficulty but made it, wading into the dark interior. He pointed me toward a bag of... wheat?
I climbed on, noting he was a farmer and that the cart was impossibly bigger on the inside than the outside. Just another odd fact to add to the pile of things I was unable to explain in this place.
The bag was oddly comfortable, more than I'd expected, or maybe it just felt that way compared to the man's rigid posture in his seat that lowered my expectations. Anyways, it allowed me to rest my aching feet and that was all I needed.
As the horse pulled us forward, reality settled into my bones like ice.
Alira Ferguson, real estate agent with more problems than anyone she knew, was in another realm. In a physics-defying cart. Being pulled by a horned horse. Going somewhere probably equally impossible.
Oh dear, I was going to hyperventilate if I didn't get my shit together.
I curled into a ball, thankfully the man acted like I wasn't there, focusing on peeling something as the cart rattled along.
I had so many questions but besides the language barrier, I was exhausted.
I don't know how I managed to sleep in those circumstances, but we've established that everything about my life now is upside down so why not sleeping off when I should be wide awake and alert?
A violent lurch jerked me awake.
I blinked once and stopped myself from doing it again, terrified I'd slip back to Earth where Baldwin was probably still waiting to drag me under those sterile lights.
The man climbed down first, and that's when I truly saw him. He had reptilian features that made my breath catch. How hadn't I noticed earlier?
His outstretched hand was webbed between the fingers, red scales dancing irregularly across his arms like living art.
Still, I took it tentatively. He'd been kind when he didn't have to be.
I grew up in a world where this could've ended with him taking advantage of my desperation or delivering me somewhere terrible.
Hell, my ex-husband had seemed kind too, at first.
My thoughts swerved as I took in where he'd brought me to.
Okay, I take that back. He definitely didn't take me anywhere... normal.
I was expecting some town or market as our destination where I'll figure out where to work handy jobs until I could move up the corporate ladder if there was any here, but instead, I got delivered like a burden to a military outpost.
I stepped out, taking in the view of the outpost. Soldiers in uniform armor prowled everywhere, and not one of them looked at me with anything resembling a welcome.
They conversed in that raspy, guttural language while I clung to the cart, terror clawing up my throat.
What would they do to me? Why were they staring like I was carrying explosives in my bra?
I shifted from foot to foot, pulling at the white streak in my hair, a nervous habit I'd never been able to break.
"Young lady?"
My head snapped up so fast at the familiar language.
"You speak English?" My heart hammered with desperate hope.
"We like to call that language Pallavi, it's for the elites," he replied with a proud smile.
As he walked closer I noticed his ears which were more human than the farmer's, but still small and scaled like a Komodo dragon's. "And you are far from home."
Truer words have never been said but something else had my attention.
"Pallavi..." The word tugged at something distant in my memory, like a page I'd read but couldn't quite recall. "Where is this place?"
"Welcome to the Great Kingdom of Drakkonia. I should take you to the King, he'll want to ask you questions."
Before I could react, someone called him and they switched to that language, the harsh sounds making my stomach drop.
I'd never wanted Google Translate more in my life.
"My colleague just reminded me that the King is tired of us bringing him irrelevant issues," he finally said.
"Ouch."
I didn't want to be questioned by this king but still, to be considered an irrelevant issue stung.
"So I'm taking you to the academy instead. You either find your way back home or adjust to life here." His smile didn't reach his eyes. "Try not to die."
O-okay
I glanced back at the farmer, hoping to thank him, but he was already gone, his horse galloping away impossibly fast.
Oh well, I didn't really have anything beyond words to give to him for his kindness anyways.
So I focused on walking behind the soldier in front of me.
"Where's the academy?" I asked, then realized how pointless the question was. Like I'd know the difference between one location and another in this realm.
"Nestled deep in the Kalutian mountains. One of our greatest accomplishments, built without magic."
"Magic?"
I'm aware my brain was being slow, but there was just so much to process. It hadn't quite clicked that all of this was literally magical, not just some grief-induced hallucination I was trapped in.
"Yes. Our ancestors were strong, which is why the dragons chose us." He announced this proudly as he led me through large steel gates, past soldiers with shiny swords embedded with stones that pulsed with faint light.
The guard's words seemed to suggest we were weaker, that the dragons rewarded their strength with magic.
Good for them.
If Earth developed magic from dragons of all creatures, we'd probably ruin the entire planet before anyone could blink.
The buildings were stark, utilitarian and had unpainted walls, as well as no doors with soldiers stationed at every corner. Everything was designed for function over comfort, choosing defense and practicality over beauty.
I wondered why the farmer hadn't entered through this gate. There must've been another outpost. Why bring me here instead of wherever he lived? Was I too much of a burden to keep?
I shut down that line of thought immediately. I couldn't be ungrateful or entitled in a foreign land where I understood nothing and had no one.
Until I could work for myself, I'd survive on handouts. And unless I wanted to go back to Baldwin's waiting arms, which I absolutely did not, I'd keep my eyes open and my mouth grateful.
After a long walk past what looked like barracks, we reached a garage-like structure holding thousands of carriages, each with one monster-sized horse tied to it.
The farmer's horse looked like a child compared to these beasts, and I stumbled backward, pressing against the guard's back when one breathed down at me. Hot air that smelled of smoke and something ancient.
"Is everything here so large?"
"The army gets every strong Steed. It's law. We have special breeds at important outposts." He walked toward one particular horse, running his hand along its mane.
They seemed to communicate in some way I couldn't understand, a silent exchange that made me feel even more like an outsider. "Ryanair is ready. She's the fastest, which is why I'm the one taking you."
"We'll get there tonight?"
"Yes."
Relief and dread warred in my chest. At least I'd have shelter soon, maybe a shower too.
"Thank you for your help." The words felt inadequate for everything he'd done. Taking in a strange, foreign girl who'd appeared out of nowhere, speaking a language no one understood, wearing clothes that marked her as completely other.
He nodded once, then gestured to the carriage.
As I climbed in, settling into the surprisingly comfortable seat, I sent up a prayer to whatever gods or stars or cosmic forces might be listening.
Please let wherever I end up be as manageable as this journey has been and help me survive whatever comes next.