James

Chapter 8: James

As soon as Sarah was through, I jumped, Harold at my heels, through the portal and closed it as Harold fell. I got up, helped Sarah and Harold up, then looked around to see where we were, because it definitely wasn't where we had planned for. 

"Where are we?" Sarah asked. 

"I don't know, this isn't the planned destination." I said. 

"What?!" Sarah yelled. 

"Sarah, calm down, sometimes portaling goes awry with the destinies of those who are traveling through them. Trust me, we are supposed to be here." Harold said. 

"And just exactly who are you and why are you here?" Sarah asked. 

"Oh, my bad, Sarah this is Harold, the guy I told you about in the simulation." I explained. 

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know, I wouldn't have been so rude if I had." Sarah said, very sincerely. 

"You're fine, I knew you would react to me in some way or another. James informed me of this." Harold said. 

"Really?" Sarah asked, a little bit upset, "Dude, really?" 

"Yeah, I told him that because it was something I thought was a thing he needed to know." I said. 

We looked around us and saw that, wherever we were, we were completely submerged in water, a large portion of where we were, however, was surrounded by a glass looking substance. 

"Hey, guys, you might want to see this." Sarah said, standing near the edge of a cliff, which we were all standing on. 

"Sarah, first, please back away from the edge of that cliff. Second, what do we need to see, because if it's guts, I can't look at it." I said. 

"Ok, I'll back away, and it's not guts." Sarah said. 

After she backed away Harold and I went over to see what she was talking about. What we saw was described like the childhood story of Atlantis, the advanced people who mysteriously disappeared a very long time ago. 

"How is this possible?!" I said, very excited that I was the one to find the biggest discoveries in history, or Sarah, you know what I mean. 

"James, it isn't possible." Harold said. 

"Harold, no offense, but obviously it is possible. It's sitting right here in front of us." I said. 

"Guys, stop bickering and look, people are trying to talk to us." Sarah said. 

"Hello, my name is Dakota and this is my romantic partner, Rachel." Dakota said. 

"Wait, Dakota? Ah, you can take off the masks, I know who you guys are. Dakota, Nefario is dead I killed him myself, burnt him to the filthy rags he was." I said. "Oh and Rachel, you're the girl who told us to go to the institute for safety and training." Sarah added.  "Wow, we really should change our names when trying to stay hidden." Dakota said. "Yeah, you really should." I said. "Follow us." Rachel said. As we walked Dakota dropped back to pull me aside and talk to me. "You know pulling her along with you puts her in danger, right?" Dakota asked. "Actually, you'd be surprised how much she can handle on her own, she is a sage, after all." I said. "Oh, well then she is definitely safe, unless you get taken over and you get forced to hurt her, then she is completely defenseless." Dakota said. "I would never do that, ever." I said in response. "You would if you had no choice, I was forced to hurt Rachel because Leon wanted to break me, and luckily she still loved me enough to stay with me afterwards. Well, after I broke us out." Dakota said. "Oh, well, maybe I should worry about that." I said, "Is there any way to stop it, without killing people." I finished. "There is one way, but it isn't easy by any means." Dakota said. After that we spent the walk down to the city talking about a cave full of eggs. "Though, I've heard a dangerous being resides there, and it will eat you for lunch if you take one of its eggs." Dakota said. "I'm not afraid of some monster, bring it on." I said. "Well, I'm glad, because you have to do the task alone. You can grab more than one egg but only one person can go and try to complete the task." Dakota said. "What?! Sarah and I do everything together, why can't we now?" I asked, incredulous. "Because, the beast has allowed some single person parties to return but no two or three person parties have ever returned." Dakota explained. "Oh, ok." I responded, saddened. After dark and Sarah was deep in sleep, I snuck out of the house Rachel and Dakota assigned Sarah and I,( Harold was put in the house next to ours to give Sarah and I some privacy), I then went to meet Dakota at the designated meeting spot we set up earlier. "Ah, I was beginning to wonder if you would show up." Dakota said, as I came up to the fountain. "Sorry I had to wait until Sarah fell asleep to leave the house." I said. "Wait, you didn't even tell your girlfriend goodbye? You do realize that you might die trying to fight the beast, right?" Dakota asked. "She'd have never let me leave if I had told her." I said. "Okay, your choice,come on." Dakota said. Dakota then led me through a series of winding streets that eventually led out to a small clearing that housed one cave opening that was barely big enough for Sarah's small frame. "How did a beast get through there? I mean its not even big enough that Sarah would want to go through there." I said. "Well, city legend says that the beast went in as a baby and grew to be the size it is now. One thing before you go in, the beast is said to not like any type of light so use light and it will fear you most likely so try that." Dakota advised.  

"Alright." Is the last thing I said to my twin before everything changed again. I walked into the cave and saw a sight so shocking I almost fell backwards. The inside of the cave was filled with glowing diamonds and emeralds casting light down upon glittering stones that I assumed were the eggs that Dakota told me about. The eggs were down a slight sloped hill, which I promptly climbed down. The first thing I noticed when I got down the hill was that it was warmer down here than at the top of the hill and the second thing I noticed was a constant deep pulsing noise like a very large heart beating. A shifting like rocks crumbling and falling to the ground broke the constant pulse as well as a voice. Who dares to disturb the sleep of the great and almighty Tytharius? "I didn't mean to wake you Tytharius, but I was hoping to have one of those eggs without getting killed." I said as I turned around to see a very large dragon looking at me from across the cavern. You wish to have one of my eggs, but for what purpose would you use it for? Riches? Revenge? To build an army? "Actually I was going to use your egg to help cure the world of my father's evils, and I guess while doing so I would be getting revenge, riches, and an army, so I guess its your choice to trust me or not." I said. I believe your intentions to be true, so, in turn, you have won my trust. But just know I will always be watching from here and kill you if you stray from your current intentions. Oh, and don't forget about your girlfriend, I know you meant to say two eggs. Find the one that heats to your touch and that is your dragon. Sarah has arrived. When I turned to see where he was looking, Sarah was laying there asleep."Sarah? How'd you get here?" I asked myself more than anyone else. I brought her here. "And how exactly are you speaking without moving your mouth?" I asked. Dragons speak through mind-to-mind contact. "Oh ok. Sarah? Come on, let's go. Find the egg that heats up beneath your touch." I said, soothingly, as I shook her awake. "Wha?" Sarah asked, confused, "Where are we? Why aren't we in our house?" Sarah asked. "I came here to get an egg that will help us rid the world of Leon's evils." I answered. Yes, and I have found that you two are worthy of having my children as companions for this journey. Just find the egg that heats beneath your touch and that is the partner that will aid you always. "Okay, seems easy enough." Sarah said. I brushed my hand across many of the eggs and when a black egg heated up beneath my hand I saw an image of what it would be like, much later. I jumped back, and realized the egg was gone. I forgot to mention, once you find your partner it automatically goes to the gem of your abilities. Which is the gem on your belt, James. "How will I be able to see the dragon now?" I asked. Well, first you must wait for it to hatch. Once it hatches it will ask you for a name and its name is how you summon it. "Oh I see, thank you, great one, I will take great care of your child." I said.