Stone Serpent

Shadow Realm

Desmond smirked at Carmen and Ky before rubbing his hands together. He spoke quietly at first before getting louder. The grass and trees swayed in the rising wind as he spoke, dust encompassing them all in a cocoon.

"What the-" Carmen started but felt Ky put his hand over her mouth and shook his head, looking over at Desmond before back at her.

She nodded, understanding that, at that moment, she needed to be quiet.

"Iter," Desmond yelled and grabbed both Carmen and Ky's wrists.

Carmen watched in amazement as the world around her seemed to melt away, everything outside the dirt cocoon morphing and blurring out of vision.

The cocoon subsided, leaving a small circle of dirt on the ground. Carmen looked around and scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, "uhm, we're still here. Still in the clearing?"

Ky doubled down in laughter, looking at Carmen's confused look. She looked at him incredulously.

"Why are you laughing?"

"You thought our world was different from yours? Did you think we would be transported into a realm of complete darkness with volcanoes and towering mountains all around us?"

"Yes?" Carmen asked, looking at Desmond who looked bored.

"That's funny," Ky laughed again, looking at Desmond before quieting down.

"I'm surprised that you think we would live in such a place like that," Desmond noted, crossing his arms.

His face was stiff, hiding all emotions as he stared at Carmen. Most people knew that the Shadow Realm was similar to the mortal world- the only main difference was the types of beings walking around. While the mortal world was mundane and ordinary, the shadow realm was full of secrets and mystery.

"Most people know the stories," Desmond started before walking away from Ky and Carmen into the forest surrounding the clearing, "our realm and yours are interconnected. Our world is stitched into yours and sometimes, if you're unlucky, you'll end up here in the treacherous seas where the sirens will sing you into a lullaby. Nice beings, but very hungry."

Carmen gaped at him, looking at Ky to see if Desmond was telling the truth.

Ky rolled his eyes, "he's telling the truth, but it's not that bad. That's only happened a couple times in the last thousand years. We're pretty good at keeping mortals on their side."

Carmen nodded, not believing anything they said. She followed quietly behind Desmond and Ky, trying to figure out if this was just a bad dream that she would wake up from soon.

"You'll see where your house is in the mortal world, there is a desert in ours. We have some areas the same, but the landscape often shifts so what you see today won't be the same as what you see tomorrow," Desmond clarified, pushing a tree branch out of the way.

The forest ended abruptly and Carmen could see a desert laid out in front of her. The green turned into harsh yellow sand. The humid air of the forest turned into dry air of the desert and Carmen coughed.

Everything changed from the forest. It was like walking outside from a humid mall.

"Strange," was all Carmen could squeak out as she looked around.

The desert was littered with cacti. The cacti grew short in spiral formations with their thorns in a brilliant gold colour. The cacti swayed back and forth.

"How are they moving?" Carmen asked.

"They're dancing," Ky corrected, pointing towards a group of cacti that were beginning to uncurl. They stood tall, their thorns shining in the setting sun.