Tatiana - Imperial Ruler Of Dragon's

Chapter 9

An hour into the plane ride and I felt the lure of sleep overcome me, I have no idea what I should feel as I find myself once again dreaming of a foggy forest, a kaleidoscope of fireflies fluttering about, and just ahead is the sight of the enormous oak tree from my former dream.

Only, I note certain differences between that dream and this one, for one there are no statues or humans or anyone kneeling before the tree. Despite the fog blocking any view of the sky above, the rumblings of thunder and lightning can be heard which makes me wonder if there’s going to be a downpour, the tall stone pillars seem to now have a white, glowing line powering a barrier flowing in waves between the huge stones like large ripples on water.

My eyes move to the elevated stone to the side of the obelisks and frown at the incomprehensible words carved on the hard rock, wishing I could at least know what they mean.

And as that thought crosses my mind, not less than a second later a golden light illuminates the stone as the alien words rapidly rearrange themselves until they’re comprehensible in English.

This is the Sacred El, home of the wandering spirits of Oren, barrier into the realm of Lïætan. All life who trespass into the barrier shall pay the price and hereby forfeit their soul, becoming lost for all eternity.

As soon as I read those words, I took a wide step back from the barrier, eyeing it wearily. I wonder what the hell I’m doing back here when I become aware of another presence in the forest, I can’t be sure but it feels like I’m being watched. The goosebumps on my skin and apprehension growing in my gut warning me that I might be spot on.

Peeking over my shoulder, I tried to see through the darkness and fog but couldn’t. Pulling taut, when soft, musical notes begin to float in the air and break the silence.

I wrap my arms around my body, a feeling of unease making me tremble. The tune grew louder and more haunting as seconds rolled by. The air around me suddenly shifted, as if there stood a presence directly behind my back, and I fought everything within me not to turn around. Petrified over what I might find.

When a cool sensation slightly grazed my shoulder, I’m sucked out of my dream by the hard jeering of my body.

~*~*~*~

“Tatty… Tatiana!” Katrina howled my name in irritation, her nudging getting stronger as she forces me back to consciousness. “Tatiana, wake the hell up!”

I open my eyes with a sharp intake of breath, looking around me in a daze. Another nudge made me blink sleep away, fluttering my lashes in confusion as I notice how Katrina loomed over me with her hair widely whipping around her face, and the sound of strong wind filling my ears.

One glance over her shoulder and my confusion clear away for shock, eyes large when I observe the door of the plane has been unlatched by someone, and Katrina’s friends are all gathered around it. Sitting up straight, I ask in bafflement. “What the f**k are they doing?”

“Come on, we have to get going.” She yells over the sound of the wind, reaching out for me.

Though I had no understanding of what’s transpiring, I knew not to stand from this chair.

“f**k no, not until you tell me what the hell, they’re—Oh my God!” I rise to my feet with a scream of alarm, jaw hanging low as I stare at the empty spot once filled by Troy, Katrina’s psychotic boyfriend who just jumped off the f*****g plane.

Without even wearing a parachute.

“Relax Tatty, he’s going to be fine.” She shrugs, bizarrely unaffected, as she took advantage of my distraction to grab one of my hands.

When she starts pulling me forward, I dig in my heels and struggled. Her inhumane strength working well in her favour. “Are you insane, he just jumped off a f*****g plane thousands of feet in the air?”

“There’s, a portal down below.” She groaned in annoyance, dragging me forward with all her strength.

“A what now?” I stop struggling long enough for her to drag me the rest of the way to the door where the others still stood.

Up above are dark clouds, swirling around in warning of an oncoming storm. As if the weather can read my mind, thunder and lightning flash past the clouds like a whip, rainfall pelting down hard on the plane in heavy drops. The wind picks up speed and soon enough, a tornado forms a couple of paces ahead of us, pretty much-making everyone clings onto something so we don’t get dragged. With the rain slapping our faces, obscuring our vision, and wetting our clothes, I wonder why the hell we’re still standing so close to f*****g danger.

I don’t know whose more insane, my cousin or Gavin? Despite the sudden storm and tornado, he threw an exciting wink over his shoulder before jumping off the plane. I watch him descend with a scream of horror, terrified as the wind took his body straight into the tornado and whirled him around like a rag doll.

When it became clear everyone is expected to jump off the plane as Candy and Kimmy took positions as well in front of the doors, I strived to fight Katrina off and run back to safety. And as expected, I failed.

She drags my unwilling body closer to the edge of the door, making me cling to the side in fear. My hands grab onto a metal handle just so the wind won’t take me. I shake my head when Katrina motions for me to look down, my heart palpitating into what I fear may be a heart attack. Rolling her eyes, she forces my head down until my petrified gaze is staring at nothing but a large gaping hole in the middle of the f*****g ocean.

The water moves around in waves in tune with the tornado swirling in the middle, a tornado which rests upon a large gaping hole emitting some kind of light in the middle. I’m suddenly reminded of a scene in the movie, Sea of Monsters. Percy, his friend Annabel, and his brother the Cyclone were riding a safety raft in the middle of the ocean until suddenly a sea monster appears beneath them. And the water swirls around in a circle and leads them round erected shark-like fins until they ride straight into the sea monster’s gaping mouth.

My sea monster appears to be Katrina, but I’m not going to be led by a tornado into the gaping hole in the middle of the ocean.

Candy and Kimmy signal to Katrina that they’re going down and she gives them a nod of approval before they do. Still clinging onto the plane, I watch them go and shake my head. They must all be crazy and suicidal.

Tapping my shoulder, Katrina motions that it’s our turn and I vehemently shake my head. She clutches onto my shoulder and tries to pull me away from the door but I don’t let go, clinging for dear life. “Tatiana, let go!” She grunts, her face flushed with anger.

But I simply stare at my cousin over my shoulder, telling her without saying the words. “She can go f**k herself."

Her face sets into a determined look, mischief clouding her eyes, and in that second I feel truly petrified of my cousin. Much to my dread, she starts to mutter words beneath her breath and her eyes glow in incandescent heat until they seem like amethyst, illuminated gemstone.

With the movement of her fingers, a magical tendril appears in the air, and the white, whip-like rope moved in my direction. Before I could react, it latches onto me and wraps itself tightly around my upper body. The other end hanging in the hands of Katrina.

She jerks the whip forward without much effort and I go flying into her waiting arms, a look passes between the two of us for a few seconds, hers filled with apologies and mine with cold fear, before she throws the both of us off the plane and we go sailing into the air.

I’m pretty sure I screamed all the way down, either that or the wind filling my ears sounded very much like my screams. We were dragged around with the motions of the tornado until we reached a descent into the gaping hole, blinding lights making me clench my eyes closed.

The lights don’t last long however, and rather than being overwhelmed by the feeling of water surrounding me, I continue to feel air whip around me. My eyes fly open at the last minute as we free fall. And my breath was knocked out of me, my head hitting the ground so hard my vision blurred and there was a loud ringing in my ears.

I roll onto my side in pain, tears clouding my vision as I grasped the back of my head. My body feels like it’s just been bulldozed by a train, and I’m pretty sure I have a broken rib or two, but the pain making my very bones quiver don’t last for more than a minute.

Looking up, I see Gavin looming over me with a smile and his glowing hands on my body. Letting out a breath of relief I try to say thank you but he simply shakes his head. He helps me to my feet and I look up, expecting to see a swirling hole. Instead, my gazes see nothing but a thick, pink fog framing what should have been clouds and a clear blue sky.

Looking around, I’m surprised to see Gavin, Katrina, and I standing on what appears to be an elevated, metal platform built in the middle of a large clearing with high railings. Craved in the middle of the platform is a pentagram with six-pointed lines connected in the shape of a star, and wrapped by a circle. Each end of a point is directed at a stair, which leads down to various sections of paved roads steering in various directions into the surrounding trees.

The fog above only seems to grow thicker in redness by the minute, creating nothing but darkness and shadows, making what should have been peaceful nature appear menacing.

“It seems the others landed at another portal point.” Gavin’s sudden announcement made me turn to see him holding up some kind of metal, plate-shaped device in the air. I take a step closer to check it out and see a digital, holographic green map projected on the surface, with three red dots slowly blinking in and out of focus.

“Do you know what portal point?” Katrina asks, her gaze narrowed at she stares into the forest as if searching for something or someone.

“No,” He sighs, looking her way. “But I’m sure whichever portal point they landed in, they’ll be fine. Right now, we need to worry about ourselves. Of all the places we could have been sent, why did it have to be the Fae’s.”

“I don’t understand. What the hell is going on right now, where are we?” I ask Katrina and receive zero response.

Gavin, at least acknowledged there was another presence among them by throwing a soft smile my way. Katrina on the other hand only takes her eyes off the forest long enough to say over her shoulder. “Alright, come on. We have to get moving before we get caught here.”

“Uhm, excuse me, I asked a freaking question!”

Turning my way, she lets out an annoyed sigh and takes a step towards me. “I’ll explain to you later, but right now we have to go.” She makes a move to grab my hand but I immediately pull away, taking a step back.

“No, I want an explanation right now. What the hell were you guys talking about and where are the rest of your psychotic friends?” I ask. “I don’t understand how we suddenly got here from the ocean and-”

Grabbing my shoulders, she forces me to maintain eye contact with hers. “We got here through a portal. I know you have a lot of questions, but right now we don’t have time to answer them. So, can we please get a move on?”

“But-”

Grabbing my shoulders as well, Gavin turns me to face him with a pleading look. “Tatiana, I know you're confused, but we can’t continue to stand here. It’s getting darker and soon enough dangerous creatures will start to rise from the shadows. When that time comes, I’ll appreciate it if we weren’t standing here like easy prey.”

“I’m not moving until she answers my questions, I’m tired of being constantly confused and told one thing, only for another to happen.”

Letting out a growl, Katrina pushes Gavin aside and steps forward. Glaring at me. “Will you listen for once in your f*****g life, I don’t have time to deal-”

Her words are cut short by several vibrations of deep growls in the air, all of which sounded just as menacing as the creatures slowly crawling out one after the other from the shadows.