Relics of Aether - Homebound (Sample)

Chapter 8

Marina woke up, keeping her eyes closed. It was cold. She tried to move, but couldn't, only getting a subtle clinking noise in response. Her whole body was chained to something made of stone. With any panic being superseded by grogginess, she lazily opened her eyes. It was dark. She could barely make out the stone floor below her. Looking up, she noticed cool, bluish light emanating from spots on the walls across the room. It was coming sconces with mana gems that lined the walls neatly. They illuminated the other side of the room, revealing large, transparent prisms of ice. Looking closer, Marina realized that they were filled with bizarre creatures, each harboring some kind of deformity or abnormality. Her eyes caught on a two-headed cow that stood frozen, looking clueless. Her stomach broke the silence as it growled in protest. She was starving and her throat was parched. She wondered how long she was asleep. I wonder if Melody's okay.

As her eyes adjusted, she noticed manmade columns that seemed to support the cave's ceiling. They looked ancient, most cracked and one of them half-collapsed. The cave seemed to be some sort of ancient structure, the walls adorned with archaic etchings. The ice columns were on neat pedestals, and there was a set of giant tools that Marina had never seen before lying on a stone table in the middle of the room. To her left, opposite of everything else, was a large entrance, where she began to hear the sound of thundering footsteps approaching. As it got closer, she could make out the slight noises of icicles rustling together.

The dragon's massive, icy-white head peered into the room. The temperature of the room began to plummet. Its calculating, deep blue eyes locked onto Marina.

"Ah, you're finally awake. Good." The dragon approached her, bringing more cold with it. Each of its breaths released light mist. Marina began to shiver, whether out of fear or the freezing temperature, she was unsure. "You gave me quite a bit of trouble before," Motioning to fresh-looking lacerations cut into its crystalline, diamond-like scales that weren't present in their first encounter. Such damage would be difficult for any creature to inflict on a dragon, let alone a human.

"M-me?" She choked out nervously.

"Why, yes. Do you have no memory of it? Of the absurd power you demonstrated to me that day?"

"N-no." She timidly looked up. "What happened?"

"Fascinating," it commented thoughtfully, ignoring her question. It held a talon up to its chin and closed its eyes for a moment, thinking. "Nature'd demand I kill you, but I have many questions about your physiology that need answers. You are a biological impossibility. A human-aquatic hybrid. Two fundamentally incompatible species," It rambled as it reached behind her, tapping a mana gem on the wall, turning it on. Inspecting her, it gently nudged her head from side to side, and checked her teeth. "And then there's... Something else. Something I can't identify. Even as a dragon, a being most attuned to the natural flow of mana. Curious." It glanced at the sharp tools on the table. "I will have to run some experiments." Marina shuddered at the thought. "Well, no better time to start than the present," it stated, reaching to undo the chains binding her. She didn't dare struggle, though she shuddered at the thoughts of what it'd do to her.

When half of the chains were removed, it froze and its eyes narrowed. "It sounds as if we may have intruders." It slowly crept toward the entrance, listening. Marina heard it too. Multiple sets of footsteps, all approaching the cavern. The dragon crouched next to Marina in the corner of the room, ready to pounce.

Someone's here. Is it to rescue me? Who could it be? She looked to the entryway eagerly. Her heart fluttered. And can they beat a dragon? Can anyone? Or am I just going to watch someone die? The sounds grew ever closer. One of them seemed to speed up, followed by a vaguely familiar voice.