Lucidity

Chapter One: Unlikely Heroes

Anwyn carefully inched towards the second tree stump, trying not to fall off the thin rope she was balancing on. The rope twisted and turned beneath her loafers, yet somehow she remained standing, arms outstretched to aid her. If she slipped, it would only be onto small fall into a pile of leaves that was approximately 30 cm away but she was determined to stay upright. This test of balance would not beat her!

Out of the blue, Nokia began barking like mad, hopping up and down for seemingly no reason. Caught off guard by the commotion, Anwyn's foot slipped and before she knew it, the rope had twisted and she'd hit the floor. A few leaves were catapulted into the air and slowly tumbled back onto the ground aside from one, the only one which Nokia had managed to successfully catch between his two front paws.

Upon sitting up, Anwyn reprimanded the giant fluff ball, "Nokia! Look what you did!" In response, the dog tilted his head to the side, looking both confused and upset. "You made me fall off!", the pale girl explained and Nokia shifted into a lying down position, looking up at Anwyn as if he were begging for forgiveness.

Anwyn's frown melted into a guilty smile and she ruffled Nokia's fur. "It's alright, cloud dog, let's go home," she said, inventing a new nickname as an apology. She could never stay upset with Nokia for long.

So they began to walk, Nokia often running forward in an attempt to catch a leaf or chasing a butterfly. Anwyn assumed that that had been the cause of the commotion earlier or maybe a glimpse of a certain kind of bird. Maybe a squirrel, it's tail a beautiful stream of autumn colours. What about a fairy, small and petite, with glowing eyes and a bag full of pixie dust. Anwyn's mind jumped from possibility to possibility, not really lingering on any. It was a wide world out there, filled with wonders, and Anwyn wished to experience them all, or rather, dream of them all. Quite often, fantasizing about the craziest adventures was better than living through them. There was neither a limit to Anwyn's fantasies nor was there any real danger.

Now already thinking of mermaids, Anwyn unlocked the front door to the cottage that served as her home, pushing the door as far as she could. Nokia stormed in, Anwyn took her time, enjoying the feel of the wooden planks under her now bare feet. Even if Olivia would reprimand her afterwards, next time she just had to go barefoot in the woods for a while.

Nokia reappeared in the hallway, a look of disappointment on his face. "No one else home, huh?", Anwyn mumbled and headed upstairs, Nokia eagerly trotting behind her. To be honest, Anwyn already knew no one else would be home. They were at a dinner that Anwyn had excused herself from, claiming to be ill. The other family consisted of wet blankets, realists and eager followers of politics. Anwyn had no place there. She would much rather be in the woods or alone at home with her dog.

Anwyn lay back on her bed, making space for Nokia in spite of the fact that she wasn't meant to let animals on the furniture. She buried her face in the dog's fur and closed her eyes. This was where she wanted to be.

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"Yaz!"

It was a beautiful day, or rather, dawn, so Yaz had been reading outside, though upon hearing that she looked up from her novel, searching for the source of the voice. It didn't take long, as the person in question was opposite her. His name was Arham and he was one of her three brothers.

Immediately Yaz's face lit up, a grin appearing. She adored Arham, he was probably the brother she was closest too. He'd taught her how to read, how to dance, how to tell shifters from Parvi, how to tell what dragons people were descended from. Admittedly her other brothers had taught her many important things too, but large or small age gaps had in part left them less close.

"Arham! Why didn't you say you were coming? Should I get Mother? She'd be delighted to see you. Hadiya too, she was only recently complaining about Mother and I being boring!", she added with a chuckle, her eyes drifting to the window of Hadiya's room. It was early, just after dawn, and Yaz was sure her younger sister would still be sleeping. It was questionable whether Yaz should even be awake herself, she had work later, but she only had fifteen pages of her book left and couldn't go another day without finishing it.