Kingdoms Falling

Chapter 19

The forest was glowing.

No, correction, the sun was glowing and the light was making it look like the trees were shining. The forest wasn't capable of glowing. It was just trees. And trees didn't produce light of any kind. Even he knew that.

The woods were exciting for a two-year old. They presented a kind of adventure that could not be found in the sea kingdom, and a challenge that a brilliant scientist like him couldn't turn down. That's how he had ended up there, exploring the golden forest, all alone. And the funny thing was, he didn't remember ever leaving his room, and he definitely didn't remember swimming anywhere. Not that he could. Not yet. But, Gale had promised. One day he would be able to. One day, he would see the world.

Then this was a dream. It had to be. Nothing else made sense. But never had his dreams felt so real. Was this what Gale had called "dream-jumping"? Was he somehow in someone else's dream?

Please don't let it be Lionfish's, he pleaded to the unseen force guiding his steps as he crept further and further into the trees. Then, he decided that it couldn't be his angry brother's. There was far too much happiness and love. Not nearly enough blood and gore. 

The cheerful chirping birds were a dead giveaway. 

He didn't know who's dream he'd accidently wandered into, or how to get back out. Gale hadn't taught him that. So, he did the only thing he could. He kept walking. 

The trees grew thicker the further he trekked, and he couldn't help but shiver slightly as the sunlight began to fade away to be replaced with thick green leaves nearly the same color as his scales. He found himself traveling faster and faster, and his small wings unfurled themselves almost as though they knew something that he did not.

After a while, he emerged into a small clearing with a bubbling creek. Letting out a sigh, he crawled along a cluster of rocks toward the water, settling beside it to rest and wait the night out. He stared at the crystal surface, watching it gurgle and splash, and thought of his family. Why did they  always laugh at him? Was there something wrong with him? What was it? It was because of the way he talked, wasn't it? He'd tried to stop stuttering, he really had. But it was so much more difficult than that, and the jeering just continued no matter what.

He leaned forward to look at his reflection, finding the scrawny blue-eyed figure staring miserably back at him. He wrung his talons, tears welling up in his unfocused gaze. Another thing the other hatchlings of his realm laughed at. The nameless hatchling couldn't see. He couldn't fight back. He would only curl up in a corner like a blob. An odd, strange-looking, hyperactive, spineless, far too inquisitive blob.

Gale had also promised to fix that.

He was still waiting.

He sighed again, dipping a talon into the water as he began to drift off and flipped his tail carelessly onto the rocks.

And that was when he heard the whimper.

At first, he thought it was a wild cat of some kind. Wild cats could eat baby dragons. His head shot up immediately, and he scrambled to his paws with a splash, ducking up against the rocks and peering through a peephole.

He expected to see a furry monster with sharp teeth and glowing red eyes ready to devour him and steal his soul.