Skins & Needles (COMPLETE)

Lycan

Charlotte

I don't know how long I fell for— time seemed to cease existing for the moments after I jumped over the waterfall— but after what might have been no time, or infinity, I hit water.

The cool, turquoise pool enveloped me in a soft, purifying embrace, and I forgot for a moment to swim up for air. When I did, however, I was met with cheers, and I blinked water from my eyes to see the faces of everyone I knew. I realized after a second that I was human again, and that we were all naked, but no one seemed to care. Arsen told me nudity wasn't a private thing with shifters. I just hadn't been expecting it so soon.

"I knew you'd make it," Arsen said from where he treaded water across from me.

"Were there concerns?" I wondered, and Nathan laughed nervously until Arsen splashed him in the face. "Great."

The sound of gasping came from behind me, and Nathan's face lit up.

"Oh, thank Lycan," he murmured, and I glanced back to see Doran swimming up.

"We need to hurry," he said as he approached us. "The Drakens won't wait any longer."

"Did everyone make it through?" I asked, but something told me it didn't matter.

"Come on," Arsen said. "We need to join the others. The dragons will be here any minute."

Dragons? I thought, but at this point, nothing would surprise me. At least, that's what I thought.

When we were all on solid land, a strip of beach at the edge of the pool, an ear-splitting roar sounded from the top of the waterfall. Out of the electric mist flew a giant winged beast embellished head to toe in emerald scales. Jeremy, I thought as the dragon swooped low and then circled back toward the Pass. Two more dragons came from the mist, one the color of the water, and one a deep red, and together, they attacked the Pass.

The emerald dragon lashed out at the mist with a great wing attack, and I heard the cracking of trees in the distance as the wave wrought destruction on the other side. When the red and blue dragons opened their mouths, twin bolts of concentrated flame swelled from their jaws, and the mist burned so brightly that I saw spots. A few sorcerers made it through before the Draken circle could completely burn the Pass to nothing, but they were torn apart by some of the other shifters. I thought I recognized Kase as one of them, and the other was a polar bear shifter I'd never seen. It was hard to make out anything over the dragons' blinding breath.

When the scaled beasts finished their assault, the mist was gone completely, and in its place was no forest, and no trace of Phoenix, or anything of the world on the other side— only charred, black rock remained, with a split where the waterfall still poured into the pool below.

One by one the dragons landed. First the green one, who'd I'd been right about being Jeremy, then the red, and lastly the blue. When they shifted back, instead of standing around naked like the rest of us barbarians, they were given robes by other clothed people, and I realized for the first time that many actually lived here. Soon enough, more shifters from Lycan came and brought us clothes. I was given the option of a loose white dress, or a pair of brown pants and a similar white shirt. So was Arsen, I noticed, and I wondered what kind of customs and culture Lycan had of its own.

"What do we do now?" I asked Arsen softly as I pulled the dress over my head. The Dragons were talking with one of the residents, someone who looked in charge, and everyone else was standing around waiting. It was such a strange change of pace from running through the woods from sorcerers, and the adrenaline in my veins still had me on edge.

"I'm not sure," Arsen said. "The circle leaders will need to meet with the keepers of Lycan and discuss what to do next."

"Where will we go until then?" I asked, just as the person the Drakens were speaking to turned toward us.