The Realm Protectors

Chapter 2 - Ciana

When I emerge from the nightmare of my dreamscape, the memory of pain is the first thing to return to me. Burning pain that writhed through my veins like fire. I'm not sure how I'm alive right now, to be honest with you.

Maybe I'm dead. I think to myself. Maybe this is the afterlife.

I take a deep breath and smell the tang of disinfectant chemicals.

Definitely not the afterlife.

I open my eyes to see baby blue walls and tiled floors, rows of what appear to be cheap hospital beds along the wall in front of me. Sitting up, I realize that I'm in a hospital bed too. The thin white sheets are pulled over my legs, and there's a machine hooked to me that's measuring my heart rate. The steady beep-beep-beep calms me slightly as I look around at the rest of the room. There's a door in the corner, about ten feet away from my bed. And sitting in the bed across from me is another girl, sitting up and waiting for me.

"Well good morning, Sleeping Beauty." She says, leaning back against the pillows.

"Hi," I murmur. "Um, where are we?"

"Couldn't tell ya." She sighs, folding her hands behind her head, showing off some impressive biceps beneath deep brown skin. She could probably beat me to a pulp if she had the chance. I realize that it's probably best if I'm friends with this girl.

"I'm Ciana," I blurt. She looks at me, eyebrow raised. "Ciana Leonide."

She puffs a coil of thick black hair out of her face. "You seem like a sunshine child."

I bite back the retort of 'and you seem like a rude son of a biscuit.'

"What's your name?" I ask her.

She sniffs. "Avani Gipson. Varsity starting pitcher for the Westwood softball team, captain of the Westwood basketball team, first girl on the school football team, and the first freshman in school history to ever hold those titles simultaneously."

I sit and process that for a second before replying. "Nice to meet you, Avani. I assume you're from Westwood?"

She lifts her head. "She's not as dumb as she is fair!" I bristle at that, self-consciously rubbing my arm. "I assume you're going to tell me where you're from as well?"

I swallow back a rude retort and reply, "Yes. I'm from Christenville."

We sit in awkward silence for a few minutes before she asks, "Is this the Elemental Realm that Grantwood was talking about?"

"You met Professor Grantwood too?" The nervous knot in my stomach loosens a bit to know that Grantwood probably brought this girl here too. Which hopefully means that we are in the Realm.

"She told me that I was an elemental and brought me here." Avani goes on to explain. "But I must have passed out when we came through the tunnel."

"Me too," I realize. "The pain must've been too much."

"We must be really powerful if the pain caused us to both pass out." Avani says. There's a knock at the door and it opens to reveal Professor Grantwood. She smiles at us, gold band around her head shining brightly in the harsh fluorescent light.

"Good, you're both awake." She walks towards us, flanked by two guards and two nurses. The nurses unhook us from the machine and allow us to stand up from the beds. "Welcome to the Elemental Realm. How are you both feeling?"

"Like I was injected with liquid fire and then thrown in front of a bus." Avani replies sourly. Professor Grantwood looks at me.

"What she said." I nod.