Bound With The Water Dragon

The Slip

As it turned out, not many budged. The only one to run her mouth was Gwyn and truth be told, Morgan wasn’t sure just how much of it was out of fun or just trying to prove a point as to who was more badass. 

“I’m still sold on this drying off quality,” Morgan said, grinning at the way the others shrugged him off. “Is it a gimmie spell or…”

“If you don’t know how to shake off, you don’t deserve your formal form,” Bryson snorted, then joined the others in his human form. 

Morgan frowned as he eyed both of the boys now. Grant was slightly shorter. He has jet black hair that matches his dark trench coat with the collar standing straight up at his neck. The thing seems to be a little too much for this place, despite their location of course. His pants are swallowed up by the jacket that flows with a unique crispness to the ground, completely throwing the rest of him into a timeless shadow. A hint of who he really is resides in his gaunt face. His eyes are as red as the devil’s dart around like fiery balls of lava. They’re hard to miss and even harder to dodge.  

Bryson on the other hand had lighter hair, nearly the same as Gwyn’s but it was more silver, nearly transparent on one side whereas the other was dark and shaved. His purple eyes were chilling, similar to Grant’s, who Morgan still couldn’t be sure were related or not. He wore a grey shirt, ripped jeans, a chain link belt, combat boots with a black leather jacket he left unzipped. 

As Morgan panned around, he wondered if Albion had a human form but the creature did not budge. Instead a slick liquid continued to move around his skin keeping him covered from head to fin. All in all, he did his best not to stare at any of them. Liia’s arm was still wrapped around Morgan’s which he greatly enjoyed. 

The question remained between them despite his desire not to ask if she had a form. After all of what Ejder told him. Morgan didn’t want to chance it. What if Ejder was wrong and she did remember being discarded. He couldn’t live with himself if he brought those memories back to the surface.

“Are you ever going to give it to me?” Bryson asked, purposely bumping into Gwyn. 

“Ha! Is that any way to ask for a treat?”

“It’s his only way,” Liia chimed in. 

“Well that’s too bad. It’s really good,” Gwyn teased. 

Bryson huffed and ran his fingers through his hair. 

“You can’t tell me you have something for me and then not give it,” Bryson began. 

“Just like you can’t tell me your momma raised two brats. You know how to say please and you’ll do it,” Gwyn tested Bryson. 

Liia held tighter to Morgan’s arm waiting for the fall out. 

“Bryson can go a little overboard…”

“Nah…” Morgan replied as if he wasn’t just at the receiving end of one of Bryson’s temper tantrums. 

Liia chuckled softly. 

“What does she normally pick up from there?” he asked instead. 

“Baked goods usually. Being part horse, it’s hard to eat what the ocean gives,” she pauses, watching the two bicker like an old married couple. “What do you want to bet it’s a loaf of bread?”

Morgan frowns at the concept. It would be hard to think that his human form would walk around eating a loaf of bread. Then again, that honestly wouldn’t even scratch the surface of weirdness that he’s encountered today. 

“Ah!” Bryson groaned as he pulled out a soggy waffle. 

Grant snickered about it, telling him to shake it off. 

“That’s not how it works!” Bryson flicked the remainder of the delicacy off of his hand with one disgusted whip. 

He almost wanted to offer Maine as a place to get grub but he didn’t know them. While Liia felt different, he was still very unsure of the rest. Albion was a being of little words, which Morgan wasn’t sure if he respected or should worry about. The other two had their quirks and who knew about Gwyn. It was still too early to invite them back for good food that close to home. 

“Does anyone know why we’re even here?” Gwyn shoved Bryson back, giving him a warning. “I will curse your tiny kelpie brain into prancing around like a rainbow sparkle unicorn if you don’t back up. It was an honest mistake, but I promise becoming a ballerina pony will not be.”

Morgan couldn’t stop his spreading smile. It gained him a warning from both boys and a returning smile from Gwyn who still held out for an answer. 

“I’m not certain,” Morgan began, gaining all eyes on him. “But I could have sworn I felt a connection beyond this planet.” Morgan leaked evidence of history within the timeline here and there to see who would bite. He wanted to know what the others knew and carefully approached the line between lies and truth as the guards of righteousness stood proud and strong before him. They both could take him out, he knew, but Morgan needed to know once and for all that Ejder wasn’t bluffing. 

“Whispers up there,” Morgan nodded towards the top of the glacier where Liia found him to begin with “said that otherworldly beings used to migrate through space…”

“What are you doing?!” Ejder growled loudly in his head. 

“It wasn’t clear but I heard things about how they’d rest here…” he added.

“Of course they do,” Gwyn interrupted. “Have you seen the size of leviathans? There is literally no way this planet can survive through a few of us, let alone an entire family.”

“What else do you know about it?” Morgan pressed. 

“Not much. Other than the fact that we’re all still here and not able to hit up our home worlds,” Gwyn began, “I really have nothing else. Do you?”

“Honestly. I just have the whispers I heard in that one room. I thought I was going insane…”

“Ah, so you’re a heavy-footer?” Albion asked, as he took a seat beside them. 

“A what?” Morgan countered.

“A human by nature. As in, you haven’t found your form or what you belong to.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that either,” Liia added quickly after. 

“No. There’s not. But it would help us understand his concern,” Albion concluded. 

“Yeah,” Morgan nodded. “Human with a side of weird shit.”

Even Grant snorted at that. 

“What else did you hear?” Albion asked, dismissively. 

“Something about a gateway that was created for it.”

As he explained the choppy message, Ejder promised he would end Morgan the moment he was set free from his body. 

“Grant? Bryson?” Gwyn asked for clarity on the story Morgan uncomfortably rehashed out.

“No abnormalities,” Grant began. 

“If that’s what you’re detecting,” Bryson added, “it’s a no, from me as well.”

It seemed to satisfy the group, including Liia and himself but even still Ejder raged on inside of his mind and body. It made movement jerky and even his thoughts jumbled up on him.  Their focus stayed on him though. They knew there was more to hear. One very painful, damning issue that Ejder happened to growl out in his mind and his mouth very clearly drained every word out to them. 

“HUMANS!” Edjer shouted, making Morgan gasp. 

He shouldn’t have done that. He promised he wouldn’t. What was making him? Morgan always thought of himself as strong minded. Even when the bullies at school would ruin him, he wouldn’t beg for assistance from the school or try to get them in trouble. It was a slip of legendary proportions. 

Regardless, there it was. 

“The inter-species changes are dangerous and adding more could corrupt the entire planet.”

“That was a whisper?” Bryson challenged.

“More like an enchantment,” Gwyn said, pushing towards him. “You don’t think an old spirit took him over, do you?”

“Hard to say,” Grant added quickly after. 

“You were up there,” Albion added. “Liia, did you hear any of this?”

Morgan turned to her then. His fate with the group lay in Liia’s response. His breath caught in his throat as Grant flanked him suspiciously. 

“It’s hard to say,” she said, releasing him from her hold. “It is absolutely horrifying up where he was though. I can almost assure you something awful went on up there.”

“So you’re for checking this out, I take it?” Albion asked. 

“Checking what out?” Morgan asked hesitantly. 

Albion frowned, his brow dipped far down his face when he did. 

“To the trench to find out if the legends are true, human…”