Going Home

Chapter Five

Kaida groaned softly as she opened her eyes. She could only see black and purple around her, except for when she looked up, and then all she could see was the light gray of the cave ceiling, shadows dancing on it. She stood up, and rubbed the back of her head, finally noticing that it was extremely tender. When she looked at what was used for a pillow, she giggled softly at the fur covered rock.

Draco had tried his best, and Kaida was grateful, but it was not the best thing for a pillow, seeing as her head was now hurting, and rather stiff. She rubbed the back of her neck, as well as her head, and walked over to the front legs of the dragon that was curled around her. She slipped between them, and found herself next to Draco's head. He was snoring lightly and she couldn't fight back a smile. Kaida looked around, and noticed the fire dying down. She frowned, and walked over to it. There was no extra firewood there, and she guessed that she would just have to wait until Draco woke up to get the fire started again. She smiled softly, and turned around, only to be startled when Draco's large purple eyes were staring at her kindly. Draco stood and stretched, a low growl escaping his mouth as he yawned.

"Good morning, Draco," Kaida smiled.

"Indeed, Kaida," Draco responded. "Now... how are you feeling after the events of yesterday?"

In all reality, Kaida couldn't remember much from the day before, and she said as much. She could remember vague bits and pieces, such as Draco flying her somewhere, but other than that, her mind was all hazy when she tried to remember what had happened. However, she felt fine today, besides being ravenous. And her stomach did not hesitate to let Draco know that.

A loud grumble escaped from Kaida's stomach, causing Draco to laugh.

"Sounds like someone is hungry,'' he said, an amused smile on his face. "Why don't you come with me to go looking for food so we don't repeat the mistakes from yesterday?"

Kaida nodded, though she still couldn't remember much of what happened, and Draco refused to tell her. She was a little confused, and slightly nervous, but she wasn't going to press him for answers. He definitely seemed a lot more protective of her now, which she didn't mind, but it also made her much more curious about knowing what happened yesterday.

Kaida climbed onto Draco's back and held onto the large spine in front of her as Draco took off. He landed not far from the mountain, and she climbed off. Draco quickly used his magic to change into his humanoid form.

Draco spoke quietly. "After we get you some food, we must continue on our way to the Queen's palace, so you may defeat her as the prophecy foretold."

Kaida stopped immediately. "You still haven't told me what the prophecy says, or why my name was spoken in it."

Draco sighed. "As I said before, the prophecy was given a long long time ago. And no one believed Cassandra so no one had any reason to remember it. I can only remember what it spoke of, not what was actually spoken."

"Okay, so what does it speak of?" Kaida asked, her annoyance rising by the second. She wanted to know why it was her who had been chosen.

"I've already told you,'' Draco growled, becoming more and more dragon-like, and less human-like. "You were chosen to defeat Queen Cassiopeia!"

"But why? Why me? Why some insignificant human being who has no idea how or why she is here? All I did was read the back cover of a book, and then I was surrounded by brilliant white light that nearly blinded me! And then I found myself here! So why?! Why am I here?!" Kaida stopped walking and glared at Draco. He glared right back as he responded.

"I don't know!" Draco roared, his humanoid form completely gone, and his dragon form reappeared, though it seemed like he was sucking all the light out of the forest. Kaida's eyes widened in fear as Draco's eyes were no longer a friendly light byzantium but instead were a raging eggplant color that was nearly black. She took a step back, as smoke came from Draco's mouth. A wild look appeared in Draco's eyes, and Kaida's fear grew, nearly swallowing her whole.