Lily of the Shadows

Chapter 2

Location:Earth

Manx felt the roller coaster car rattling beneath her, nothing like riding a dragon. The car was solid, cold, and lifeless, passive and uncaring whether she survived its perilous flight. It moved slowly, tension rising in her chest as the metal beast rose higher and higher along its serpentine track. She desperately fought at the restraints, pulling, pushing, and kicking to free herself but the padded restraints were not responsive. She looked at the ground far below, strange and alien, and all she wanted was to wake up from this horrible nightmare. She tried to use her powers to teleport away, but the fear alone was sapping her strength. On a dragon, the scales were warm and alive, muscles rippling with every move. On a dragon she could feel the creature's life as it breathed during flight, its wings flapping rhythmically up and down. With a dragon, Manx could tell its motives and intentions. It was as if her heart and that of the mighty beast were one. On this metal monster, there were no warm scales to reassure her, no soft rippling of muscles, no conversation as to where it would take her. As the metal beast climbed higher and higher, Manx would have sworn that her entire life flashed before her very eyes. And then, it stopped. The horrid metal monster stopped at the very top of its hill, leaving Manx and Vaskin to gaze at the world below. Manx was hoping against hope that the thing would stay up there forever so maybe she could figure out how to escape its clutches, but to her shock and horror it tilted forward and began to fall, faster and faster, the ground speeding towards her face. Manx felt tears streaming from her eyes while Vaskin gave a whoop of laughter. She so wanted to punch him or something, maybe twist his arm like her father had showed her, because he had no right to be having a good time. Not when she was so miserable. But all she could really think of was her own survival as the ground was approaching fast.

But just as she thought that surely the metal monster would slam her into the ground, it shot upwards powered by its own momentum. The rest of it flashed by so fast that all Manx remembered was shooting through a dark tunnel and then winding up back in the station where it had all begun, only for the restraints to loosen and for Khashmyr to drag her off the ride, saying, "Meh. It gets old after the tenth time or so."

Manx could barely walk with all the distortion of equilibrium, and she half limped, half stumbled down the stairs to exit the ride. "So, you two want to head out to the food court and get lunch?" Khashmyr asked innocently. Manx was fuming with rage at her for dragging her along on the ride, and so she crossed her arms refusing to speak.

Manx and Vaskin followed Khashmyr through the endless crowds of people until they reached a place where there was a few booths in clusters with more people standing in line. "Y'know what, how about dessert instead? I stocked the fridge back at my place, so we can eat healthy when we get there. It'll be my treat." Khashmyr said. Vaskin perked up at the mention of dessert but Manx was still reeling from the trauma of the roller coaster.

"You okay, Manx?" Khashmyr asked when she saw how Manx was staring off into space with a fearful look on her face.

Manx spun around to face Khashmyr and then said, "Do I look okay?"

"Mmm...you look fine, but a little sick besides the fact." Khashmyr mused. Manx clenched her fists and her jaw, but said nothing in reply. The look on her face made Vaskin want to know just what exactly was going on in her head, but he had a feeling that she would probably bite his head of with her words if he did talk to her, and so instead he turned to Khashmyr and said, "What do they have in this world in way of dessert?"

"They have quite a ton of things you might like. For me I wouldn't know much in way of sweets though, because us cats don't have the receptors needed for tasting sweet stuff. So just pick out whatever you want. It's on me." Khashmyr replied. Vaskin nodded and eagerly looked up at the menu and read what the food stand had to offer while Manx gawked at him with annoyance. Vaskin ordered a large hotdog with mustard and a side of pepsi and fries, not knowing what he was getting himself into. Manx refused to order with the excuse that she didn't feel like it, while Khashmyr ordered a large ice cream for herself. When Khashmyr paid for their food and sat them down at a table with an umbrella overhead, Vaskin asked her, "Why did you get that thing there if you can't taste anything sweet? Wasn't that on the dessert menu?"