Chapter Three: Explanation

We trudged through the snow and reached the doorstep of a small, quaint little cottage.  Reece opened the door and moved aside.

“After you.” he said, ducking his head down as he spoke.

I stepped through the doorway and warm air tickled my freezing arms.  I relaxed, wiggling my toes to shake the last bits of melting snow from between them.  I lifted my head and glanced around.   

I was struck by the strangeness of the place, the utter foreignness of the objects that surrounded me.  I heard a small hiss, and glanced down.

Sitting in the center of the wooden floor, with half-closed sleepy eyes, was a dragon.

I let out a scream, and leapt backwards.

“Blast it… Timber!”  Reece yelled.

“Oops.”  Hale said, doubling over with laughter.

“Demon-spawn!”  I shouted, reaching for the place where my scabbard used to be.  When I did not find it, I backed up against the wall.

“No!  It’s okay, he’s not going to hurt you!”  Reece said, rushing past me.

The dragon spread its small wings and let a stream of flames flow from its mouth.   

To my shock and horror, when Reece held his arm out, the beast jumped from the floor and landed right on his wrist.

“Deceiver!”  I cried.  “You have lured me here, unarmed, to a dragon’s den where you keep the hellspawn’s infants!”

“No, no!”  Reece said, holding his hands up and shaking his head.  “He’s not an infant.  He’s a minor dragon.  D-d-didn’t you have minor dragons six hundred years ago?   This is as big as they get.”

“The ancient dragons were never far from where the trivial lizards made their nests!  And you must be in league with the ancients!”  I shouted.

“Sophia, there are no ancient dragons!” Reece said.

I blinked, my rage forgotten.

“What?”  I said.

“There are no ancient dragons.  Not anymore.”  Reece said.  “They’re all gone.  Died out.  Extinct.”

Extinct.  The word echoed in my mind.  It was impossible.  They were forged of iron and fire, and what swords could cut down would never drive them to complete annihilation.  I had believed they would stand for all of time, as long as humanity drew breath, we would have them right there with us.  As long as Emrys ruled them.

And Emrys…

“But…”  I stammered.  “Emrys…”

“Who’s Emrys?” Hale asked, snorting.

“The dragon that killed her, you dolt!” Nirina snapped, whacking Hale on the side of the head.  “Do you read?”

“No.” Hale said, rubbing the back of his head and ducking his face down.

“And the beast with the eyes like twin suns in the dark?”  I asked.

Reece’s mouth twisted into a frown.

“The what now?” he said.

“The dragon on the pathway!” I said, pointing back towards the door.

“You mean the jalopy that almost ran you over?”  Nirina offered.

“So that is the name of this new dragon…”  I said, my hands curling into fists.   “The jalopy!”

Reece rubbed his forehead.  “No, that wasn’t a dragon, it was-!”

The dragon on Reece’s shoulder let out a screech that sounded like a cross between a chirp and a growl.  I covered my ears.  Reece winced.

“It speaks!” I cried.

“He’s… he’s just saying hello.”  Reece said, cringing as he spoke.  He stroked the dragon’s scales.  “I promise, he’s harmless.”

“Oh, no.”  Hale said, shaking his head. “He’s a raging weapon of death.”

“Shut up.” Nirina muttered.

Reece ignored them.

“Here!” he said, taking the dragon down from his shoulder.  “Look, he’s just a little guy.  You can even hold him if you want.”

“I do not…”  I started, but Reece had already put the dragon on my wrist.

I cringed.  His talons were sharp, but he sat on my arm looking up at me with his beady black eyes like an expectant child.  His scales glistened in the dim light, and I wondered what they would feel like.  Without thinking, I lifted my hand to touch his neck.

The dragon snapped at me with a puff of smoke streaming from between his sharp teeth.  I leaped back with a screech, throwing him from my arm and into the air.

“No!”  Reece cried as the dragon came to rest on his shoulder again.  “Bad Timber!  Very bad!”

I put my hands to my head.  Images flashed through my mind.  The horde of ancient dragons that attacked our village in the dead of night, illuminating the sky with their hellish breath.  The fields were ablaze.  My mother burning while screaming my name.  Emrys’s eyes glaring down at me in triumph as my body turned to ash.

“Beasts of the abyss!”  I cried out, my knees growing weak beneath me.   “All of them, beasts!  Monsters!  And all my family smoldering in their infernal smoke!  Curse them!”

A hand clasped down on my shoulder and the images stopped.  Daria pulled me around to face her and spoke in a low, soothing voice.

“It’s alright.”  she said.  “They’re not here.”

I breathed in and out, my heart pounding.  My knees were still weak beneath me and I started to slump.

“Here, why don’t you lay down for a minute?”  Daria said, pulling my arm over her shoulders.  She turned her head back and spoke in a stern tone.   “Reece, lock Timber in the bathroom.  Now.”

“Yes!”  Reece squeaked.  “I’m… I’m sorry.”

Daria opened the door, leading me into a small bedroom.  From behind me, I head Hale muttering to Reece.

"Graveyard full of dead people and you had to pick the one with a six-hundred year case of post-traumatic stress disorder." he said.

Daria let me rest on the bed for a minute.  I closed my eyes and just concentrated on breathing.  My pounding heart slowed.  The last shaking quivers of adrenaline drained from my limbs.  After a moment, I lifted my head.  Reece now sat in a chair right in front of me.  

“Feel better?” he asked, pursing his lips together.

“Yes.”  I said, turning to sit up again.  “Much.  I am sorry that I accused you of treachery.  You have already brought me back from the dead.  I should need no further proof of your good heart.”

Reece shook his head.  “No, I’m sorry.  I should know better than to leave my hellspawn lizard lying around.” 

In spite of myself, I smiled.  “He is your familiar then.”

Reece gave a sheepish shrug.  “Yeah, I got his egg for my fifth birthday.  I’ve had him ever since.  I’m really sorry, Sophia!  I should have realized having him around would cause problems.  But I swear, I promise, he’s mostly harmless.  He’s… he’s just like a dog.” He scratched his chin and thought for a moment.  “That bites... sometimes.  And spites fire… and…”

I shook my head.  “You are forgiven.  Just… leave him wherever he is.”

“So…”  Hale murmured from where he stood leaning on the dresser.  “Are you gonna tell her she’s essentially our midterm project, now?”

“I-!”  Reece started, his face turning white.  “Errr…”

“And we have to present her to our class in two days?” Hale added.

“Um..”  Reece stalled.

“Wait, just wait.”  Daria said, shaking her head with a sigh.  “Guys… I don’t think that’s the best idea anymore.”

“What now?”  Nirina said, her eyes growing wide.

"I mean…”  Daria started.   “She thought the jalopy was a dragon.  Watcher-forbid you let her near the microwave!  And our science classroom?  Worse than the microwave."

“Science?”  I questioned, turning back to Reece.  “You are a man of the sciences?  I thought you were a wizard.”

Reece’s face flushed.  "I'm... not a very great wizard, actually."

“Daria, I already told you… I’ve flunked if I can’t pass this project.” Nirina said, her lips quivering.  “If I flunk this class, I’ve lost my financial aid, and then I’m going back home where my tailfin is going to get one very patronizing, ‘I told you so!’ before being sent back down to Davey Jones’s middle of reaping nowhere.”

“I know, Niri.”  Daria said, “But think about her.  She’s not a specimen or a lab rat, she’s a human being!  And she’s in a strange world where she’s confused and traumatized, and I really think the last thing she needs is to be parading in front of a classroom full of… what did you call them?”

“Heartless blowfish.”  Nirina said with a huff, looking down at her feet.  “So you’re proposing we flunk because we want to be decent people?”  She bit her lip.  “Reaper, why do you have to be a good influence on me?”

“I do not understand.”  I said, sitting up straighter.  “You require me to be present at… some sort of presentation?”

“Yup.”  Hale said.  “You’re our guinea pig.”

Daria dropped her head into her hands.  I frowned.

“You wish to turn me into a rodent?”  I asked.

“No!”  Reece said, shooting a glare back at Hale.  “Our midterm science project was student-choice.  Since we’re all supernaturals, we decided to do an attempt at a unique form of resurrection.”

“His idea.”  Nirina quipped.

“It was my idea.”  Reece said, holding his shoulders a little higher.

“He has a very unhealthy fascination with the Netherworld.”  she added.

Reece cringed, but continued.  “In the supernatural world there are three main forms of resurrection.  Ambrosia, the genie’s spark of resurrection, and the Sunlight charm.   Both Ambrosia and the Genie’s spark require the ghost to already be in our world, instead of the Netherworld.  The Sunlight charm requires a body, preferably recently deceased, or reanimated, but if they were reanimated first then they usually come back… wrong.”

“Understatement of the year.”  Hale laughed.

“But I wanted to do more than resurrect a ghost, I wanted to resurrect a ghost that everyone else claimed couldn’t be resurrected, and not just resurrected, but given a new, young body.  So I came up with a resurrection plan.  We didn’t have your ghost, so we would need a way to get it out of the Netherworld.  The only way I knew how to do that was with a Philosopher’s Stone.  It’s not able to bind all spirits, and I think I know why… but I knew it would be able to reach yours.”

“You still haven’t told us who you stole the Philosopher’s Stone from, guppy.”  Nirina interrupted.

Reece shook his head with a smirk.  “Quintessa Lucian.  She’ll never miss it.  Next, I needed a way to bring you back to life, the genie’s spark.  Then, I needed a way to make you young again, which is why I had a life fruit and a death fish included in the ritual.  The best quality too.  Life fruit grown by a plantsim,” Reece nodded to Daria.  “And a deathfish caught by a mermaid.”  Reece added, nodding to Nirina.

“You would think a little glubber with death in his name would be all too eager to hop on a hook but nope.”  Nirina said, rolling her eyes.

“So we’ve already turned in all our notes and research to our professor, all that’s left is the presentation of our findings.”  Reece said, ducking his head down.

“And… that is what you require me for?”  I said.

“Yes.  That’s it.”  Reece said.

I lay back down and was quiet for a moment, lost in my thoughts.  Hale let out a sigh and slumped against the dresser.  Daria leaned forward and put her chin in her hand.

"Sophia…”  Reece said, breaking the silence.   “What's the Netherworld like?"

I heard Nirina let out a small groan.  I lifted my head from the pillow and thought.

"Like... a maze of shadows.” I said, putting my jumbled thoughts and memories into words.  “A twisted dark maze where anything you hear, see, or feel is just a fog."

"Like a nightmare.  Sometimes I thought I could find the way out, back to life."  

"But it was hopeless.  So I let the void consume me."

Reece stared at me, biting his lip.

"That sounds... awful." he said.

"It was." I said, laying my head back down on the pillow.

"Did you see other souls there?" he asked.

I shook my head, closing my eyes.  "Hundreds.  Thousands.  And none.  All at the same time.  It was disorienting."

Reece nodded his head.

“Dreamscape…” he muttered.

“What?” I asked.

“It’s like a dreamscape.”  he said, louder this time.   “It’s a theory of mine on the Netherworld.  It’s got layers and the transition between them is seamless like a- errr…” he stopped when he saw the blank look on my face.   “Never mind.  I’ll try to explain it later.”

I lifted myself up into a sitting position and turned towards him.

"Please Reece…”  I started.  “I need to know.  What happened to Emrys?"

Reece blinked, glancing back at Hale.  He bit his lip and scratched his head.

"Emrys?  Uhh, well... Geez, I don't know.” he said, shrugging his shoulders.  “Something must have killed him.  There are no ancient dragons anymore, haven't been any for centuries…”

I slumped back on the bed.  I could feel tears brimming at the corners of my eyes.

“He's probably long gone.”  Reece finished.  He stopped, looking towards me.   “Sophia?  What's the matter?"

I took a shuddering breath in.

"I sacrificed every waking moment of every day in order to slay that beast.” I started, my voice shaking.  “Even unto death.  Now I awake, and the war I fought is long over.  Emrys is gone.  How am I to live again, when my purpose has vanished into thin air?  Perhaps even that purpose was a lie.  Perhaps the prophetess of the valley was a thief and her fortunes no more than illusions in a crystal ball..."

I turned over, burying my face in the pillow to mask my tears.  Reece leaned forward, shaking his head.

"Hey, no!” he said, touching my shoulder.  “Don't talk like that!  You’re still a hero.  I grew up with stories about you.”  A childish spark lit up his turquois eyes, and he held up one hand with fingers spread wide.  “Sophia Carol, the famous heroine of Dragon Valley!  There's a statue of you in town square."

"I doubt it is a good likeness." I muttered.

Reece stared down at me.  A bright red blush crept into his cheeks, and he turned away.

"Well, no... it isn't, actually.” he muttered.

He snuck a glance back at me as I wiped the brims of my eyes.  His mouth was open, his eyes still lit up with that spark as he stared.

“Wow.” he murmured at last.  “I can't believe I brought you back."

"Neither can I."  Nirina chimed.

“And I am grateful.”  I said, rising from the bed to sit on the edge.  “Thank you.”

Reece ducked his head down again.  “Ah… it was nothing.”

“He says.”  Nirina huffed.  “He didn’t have to fight the glubber.”

“If my presence at your university is what you require of me…”  I said.  “I will consider it my obligation, as I am indebted to you.”

“No…”  Daria said, standing to her feet.  “You don’t have to…”

“I insist.”  I said.

Nirina pressed her hands together and looked up at the ceiling.

“Thank you, Watcher.   I will never do anything bad ever again!”  she sighed.

“Well… you’re going to need some real clothes.”  Daria said, darting over to the wardrobe by the far wall.  “You can’t come to our class wearing a nightgown.”

I glanced down at my attire as I stood to my feet, and studied Nirina’s out of the corner of my eye.

“I hope not all ladies are expected to wear a manner of dress such as hers.”  I murmured.

“No, no…”  Daria said, shaking her head with a laugh while Nirina made a face.  “Reece… please tell me your sister left some of her clothes here.”

“On the left.”  Reece said, gesturing with his head.

Daria opened a drawer and then began pulling articles of clothing from it.  She glanced back behind her and then turned around with a cross frown on her face.

“Do you mind?” she said.  “Sophia needs to change.”

Reece blushed, and jumped up from his chair to head to the door.

“I was gonna stand here and watch.” Hale said, smirking.

Nirina gave him a shove as she walked by.

“Come on, perv.” she snapped.

Daria helped me into the strange clothing.  The fabric was softer than the common fabrics of my era, but it still felt odd against my skin.  When Daria declared me dressed, she opened the door back out into the kitchen.

“Ta da!”  Daria said, smiling.

Reece’s mouth dropped open as he turned his chair.  

“Does my new attire suit your era?”  I asked.

“Yeah… you look great.” he said, smiling.

“Sexy.”  Hale added.

Nirina smirked.  “You’ll knock all the heartless blowfish dead.”