Chapter 4
1722 Words
CHAPTER FOUR
I gaped at the pair as my mind tried to process all that he had just told me. “Black dragon? As in, real dragons?”
The priest lifted an eyebrow. “Do you not hail from one of those kingdoms? Or have you truly come from the heavens?”
I shook my head. “I’m not from any kingdom or the heavens. I’m just a girl from the Midwest.” I received a pair of blank expressions from my companions.
The good father shook his head. “I have not heard of this ‘Midwest’ before. Is it far away?”
“It’s in the middle of the US.” Again, the silent reply from the other two was confusing. “You know, the United States?”
Ros lifted an eyebrow. “There is nothing like those near the Five Kingdoms.”
A little bit of panic crept into my mind as I ran a hand through my hair. I stared wide-eyed at the floor. “Where the hell did that puddle drop me?”
The father grabbed onto that. “What puddle, pray tell?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I was being chased by these two murderers and was caught on a roof. I tried to jump to another roof but ended up catching the wall and just hanging there with this weird puddle below me. I,” I wrapped my hand around my bandaged arm and winced. “I couldn’t hold on to the other side and fell. That’s when I dropped out of the sky here and a guy with wings tried to catch me, but the second he grabbed my hand I had these… these-”
“Wings?” the priest suggested.
I nodded. “Yeah. Big bright wings burst out of my back. The guy was so surprised he let me go and I fell through that tree.”
Collins stroked his chin. “How very intriguing. I never expected to hear such a fantastical tale.”
My heart fell. “You don’t believe me?”
He dropped his hand and smiled at me. “Of course, I believe you. Your eyes show the light of truth in them. However,” His good humor faded as he furrowed his brow, “I would like to know more about the wings.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know anything more about them. That’s never happened before, otherwise I wouldn’t have fallen off that building.”
Ros lifted an eyebrow as he examined my clothes, or what remained of them. “You have an unusual fashion, even for a traveler.”
I looked down at myself. I wore a blouse and a pair of dress pants, both stained with blood and tree sap. “Everyone wears this when they go to the office.”
“Which office is that?” he inquired.
I lifted my eyes up to the pair and studied their expressions. There was no sign that they recognized my colloquial use of the word. “You know, the office. In a skyscraper.” That last word really brought up their eyebrows and my heart rate. “Come on, don’t fool around with me like this. I’ve had a hard enough time missing my bus and being chased by murderers.”
“‘Bus?’” the good father repeated.
A horrible realization began to dawn on me, and I climbed to my shaky feet. “I’m not in Kansas anymore, am I?” The blank looks were all the answers I needed.
I staggered backward as the full weight of my reality came crashing down on me. The father caught me, and Ros stepped forward, but I righted myself and shook my head. “This… this can’t be real.” I lifted my eyes and searched their faces. “This is a dream, right? I’m dreaming?”
The good father pursed his lips. “This is not a dream, and you are very much here.”
I stumbled over to the chair and grasped the back in both hands. My thoughts still spun as I stared blankly at the seat. “I’m… I’m in a different world? Or is this just a different time?” I whipped my head up and searched their faces. “When did the Roman Empire fall?”
Ros lifted an eyebrow. “I’m not familiar with that empire.”
I turned my attention to the good father. “What year is it?”
“The year twelve-hundred and sixty-two after the Council of the Sages when a calendar was established among the kingdoms.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Another world…”
“Then you are from the heavens?” Father Collins suggested.
A bitter laugh escaped me before I shook my head. “Far from it, but what I’d like to know is how I got here.”
Collins stroked his chin. “You told us you fell through a pool of water. Was there no concoction within the water to create this portal?”
I stared hard at the seat as I furrowed my brow. “I don’t remember-” My eyes widened as a thought struck me. “My blood! A drop fell into it before I fell, and that’s when the color changed!”
Ros examined me with a curious look. “Your blood allowed you to travel between worlds?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but that’s what happened.”
“Can you do other magic?” he wondered.
I snorted. “I can’t do any magic. There’s no magic in… in my world.” A lump grew in my throat that I tried hard to swallow. Tears welled up in my eyes. “Damn it… now what am I supposed to do?”
The good father set a hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. “You may rest your weary bones here for however long you desire, and perhaps we will be able to find a way to send you home.”
Ros lifted an eyebrow at the good father. “With the palace guards already on her trail?”
The good father frowned at him. “They do not have a proper description of her thus she may elude their grasp for a while yet.”
I blinked at the pair. “Palace guards? Why would they want me?”
Collins turned his smiling face to me. “It is not every day that a woman falls from the sky and wings burst out from her back.”
“But the guy from the ship had wings,” I pointed out as I looked between the pair. “Does that mean he’s like me? Or that I’m like him?”
The robed man stepped back and used a hand to gesture to me. “Can you produce those wings for us right now?”
I twisted my head around and tried to get a look at my back. “I don’t really know how…”
Ros watched me with his beautiful sea-green eyes, and I tried not to squirm under his attention. “Focus your mind on flying and the feel of the wind through your feathers. That should work.”
I nodded and closed my eyes. My thoughts wandered back to when I was falling, and the wings had made their sudden and grand appearance. There had been that tingling sensation of pain and happiness. That had to be how I called the wings forth. I just had to focus on that feeling.
I focused. And focused. And focused.
After a few moments I peeked open one eye and looked over my shoulder. My heart fell as I glimpsed nothing but my ripped shirt. “It’s not working…”
Collins patted my shoulder. “Perhaps another time. For now, you should rest, and I am sure you desire some new clothes.”
I looked down at myself and blushed. “If it isn’t too much trouble.”
He chuckled. “None at all. Let us venture to the linen closet and we will see what size will fit you.”
Ros pushed off from the wall and walked over to offer me a hand and a smile. “In that case, allow me to escort you.”
Father Collins frowned at him. “That is incredibly kind of you, your-”
“-absolutely generous with my time,” Ros finished as he kept his attention on me. “Shall we go, my lady?”
I sensed a tension between the two that I couldn’t understand. Ros’ unflinching hand awaited mine, and the good father didn’t argue the point further, so I set my hand in his.
The moment our skins touched a jolt of electricity shot through me. A strange blueish glow pulsed out of our connection and flowed over my body in waves as I felt a strange suffocating feeling envelope me. My vision, too, became blurry as though I was staring through a thin film.
I staggered forward as Ros slipped his arms under mine to catch me before I fell to the floor. The good father hurried forward to grasp my hand. “What is it, my child?” he asked me, and I let out a horrible gasp as my lungs seemed to take in no air.
Ros’ eyes widened and he stumbled back. His sudden departure made me lose my balance, but the good father caught me and lowered me to my knees on the floor. The world spun around me as Ros’ feet flew past my field of blurry vision.
“A bucket, quick!” I heard him shout.
I was set on the floor as a flurry of activity vibrated the stones beneath me. In a moment a bucket clattered to the floor beside me, and Ros’ strong arms slipped beneath mine. He yanked me to my knees and hung me over the bucket where I could see my pale reflection in deep water.
“Sorry about this, Kate.”
Ros shoved my head down. I gasped and took in much of the water. The pressure on my lungs was immediately lifted and I choked on the sudden relief. A shiver ran through my body, along with exhaustion, and I lost consciousness.
- Writer
