Everything was dark, and Victoria's body felt heavy and paralyzed. At least she wasn't spinning anymore; she hoped, anyway. Wait, was I spinning? Being nothing else she could do in this state, she lay there, waiting to wake from her obviously deep sleep. She lulled about in her semi-conscious state, contemplating where exactly she went down for her spontaneous nap. She was vaguely conscious of the pressure she felt against the side of her face, like she was laying with her head down. Oh gross. I'm sleeping with my face rolling in all that crap all over the desk. Shirt's probably ruined too. She tried a little harder to rouse herself from sleep, the thought of the nastiness she was likely covered in compelling her to wake.
She became more aware of the feeling of lying face-down. Not just her face on the desk, but as if her whole body was lying sprawled on the floor. Something tickled at her nose. Seriously? Why am I on the floor?! she thought, the tickling in her nostrils becoming more physical. I'm probably laying there, snoring like a walrus, and snorting dust bunnies like a professional junkie. Miss Lilly's probably standing right there laughing her wrinkly little butt off at me. Victoria's fingers and legs began to twitch as she forced herself to consciousness. The tickling in her nose spread over the front of her body and now felt more like...grass? Something buzzed in front of her face. Instinctively, she flailed upright, swatting blindly. Eyes still squeezed shut, her head began to throb and, in a flash of red, the memory of what was definitely not a dream came flooding back.
Victoria jolted awake and immediately covered her face, being nearly blinded by the bright light beaming down on her.
"OOW!" she growled, sitting up and burying the heels of her hands into her eye sockets. "Why is it so bright in here?! There is no way that Edison-era piece of junk can make this much light!" she shouted, tears of panic and frustration rose to trickle down her cheeks. She allowed herself a few minutes to collect herself, taking several deep breaths. She inhaled deeply through her nose...flowers? Eyes still concealed, she turned her head first to the left, then the right, listening for anything that could be heard.
Birds, wind whistling softly through tree branches, and..is that...water? These are not things I should be hearing. Victoria took one more long, deep breath before slowly pulling her hands down away from her face. Her eyes grew wide and her jaw fell slack.
"No way," she whispered, rising shakily to stand as she surveyed the landscape before her, caught between disbelief and awe.
The colors! The colors that painted everything she beheld were brighter, bolder, and more vivid than any she could ever remember; some so saturated they all but oozed with pigment. Such beautiful artistry she had only ever seen in her childhood storybooks. Remembering them now as her eyes gazed on in wonder, even those paled in comparison to what she bore witness to now. She stood at the edge of a dense tree line, and laid out before her was a wide, rolling meadow filled with tall grass and wildflowers that swayed gently in the cool breeze. Swallows sang and swooped through the air, and butterflies of so many different colors like she had never seen, even in books, wafted gently among the flora. The trees among which she stood grew like great wooded arms to wrap the grassy expanse in a gentle embrace that spread as far as she could see. The golden beams of sunlight that filtered through the trees above warmed her skin. Even on the clearest of days, she had never seen the sky such a rich, bold cerulean as the one that looked down on her now. Drinking in the spectacular sight, her eyes wept new tears at its sheer beauty.
Shaking herself from her dreamlike stupor, her mind began to reel. Okay what the hell is going on? Where am I? This has to be some messed up dream! Maybe I'm still sleeping? Unthinking, she reached up to pinch her arm, wincing when she felt the accompanying pain. This isn't real! There was no dragon! Dragons are not real! None of this can be real! I have to wake up!
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears as her knees buckled beneath her. Stumbling, she caught herself against a nearby tree as the picturesque scene before her became unfocused and began to spin, brilliant colors blurring together. Suddenly, the world seemed to tilt, and Victoria crumpled to the earth, the striking blue sky fading to black as unconsciousness claimed her once more.
* * *
Faint points of light danced in the darkness of Victoria's vision as the dull throbbing returned in her skull. She could hear an odd, distant warble of sound, almost like voices underwater, which quickly grew to into the unmistakable sound of someone speaking. Though she could not make out what the voice was saying, its source felt as if it was hovering over her, coming closer until it hung just above her face. The darkness slowly began to retreat, replaced with blinding white, and finally an emerging blue. But a dark, shadowy figure remained at the center of her field of vision. Blinking in brief panic, the shapeless blob diminished and the face of a young boy swam into focus. The towheaded child stared at her with wide blue eyes, as if he'd never seen anything like her. At her stirring, the boy, no more than eight or nine years old, jumped back with an audible gasp to stand frozen in front of another, equally shocked, smaller boy. For several seconds, the boys just stared, wide-eyed, like rabbits ready to flee a predator.
Fighting the pounding in her head and the queasiness that threatened in her belly, Victoria struggled to roll to her side and prop herself up on her elbow. Raising her head to the two boys, she tried to introduce herself. "Hi, I'm--" She realized she was speaking to no one as both children had bolted out into the meadow the moment she began to upright herself, each shouting "Papa" as they disappeared into the adjacent tree line.
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Victoria barely had time to scramble a few feet away as the rising tide of nausea burst forth, reawakening the painful beating between her ears. With her stomach empty of its contents, she crawled weakly to the nearest tree and propped herself against it, trying to will away the incessant throbbing in her temples. Eyes closed to the world around her, she made a quick assessment of her situation.
"Okay, those kids were definitely real," she spoke aloud to herself, remembering the blue-eyed boy who, just moments ago, had been only inches from her face. "If they were real, then they're parents are real. Which means there's a real adult who knows where the hell I am and how I can get home."
Absently, she looked up. Though the sky above was still bright and alive, the sun no longer held the same position in it as when she first awakened. The dancing shadows of the trees had begun to stretch out into the meadow.
"Oh my god, my parents are probably freaking out right now," she said, covering her face with her hands.
She guessed it to be around six o'clock, which meant she would have been discovered missing an hour ago. She wasn't known for pulling stunts like taking off without telling anyone, and most definitely not without her cell phone. She knew her mother was probably beside herself; she had a nervous habit of expecting the worst in most situations. With her purse and phone still on the desk in the creepy old basement, it probably looked like someone just walked in, snagged her up, and disappeared without a trace. The thought sent a pang of sadness through her chest, and she hung her head as hot tears squeezed from her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Mom," she cried softly to herself.
Just then, the sound of pounding hooves, snapping brush, and someone shouting broke the silence. Victoria looked up, searching for the source of the sounds as they grew louder, closer. Movement in the trees drew her attention, and she turned her head just as two men mounted on horseback burst from the forest's edge. The larger man at the fore turned back as if consulting his companion before his eyes connected with hers and, turning his horse, came straight toward her.
The men rode up, slowing their pace to stop about fifteen feet away. With the closer vantage point, Victoria was able to observe that the second man appeared to be a boy not much older than herself, and peering out from behind him was the familiar face of a blue-eyed young boy. The young man was attired in, what looked like to Victoria, Renaissance-style peasant clothes; a light animal hide vest over a plain white shirt, dark britches, and worn brown leather boots. The young boy was similarly dressed, except that he was barefoot.
Her eyes darted between the two men, coming to settle on the older one. A tall, sturdy man in his mid to late forties, he had dark, shoulder length hair tied back behind his shoulders, streaked with silver, as was his full but trimmed beard. Pale blue eyes watched from his tanned and weather-beaten face; he had the look of someone who had spent most of their life outdoors. He was dressed in a dark green tunic over black britches, and black leather boots. A faded black cloak hung from his shoulders, and a sword dangled from the belt at his waist.
He dismounted and took several cautious steps in her direction, closing the distance between them. As he came closer, she felt a rise of panic. Her body stiffened, eyes grew wide, and her nostrils flared as her breaths became short and quick. The man, seeing her response, stopped short and slowly held up both hands as he opened his mouth to speak.
"Easy now. We mean you no harm, girl."
While it was comforting to hear that he didn't intend to hurt her, Victoria was not exactly willing to explicitly trust the word of a complete stranger. She continued to stare, unmoving except for the rapid rise and fall of her chest.
The man's expression softened a bit. "My name is Jasper de Perrin. These are my sons, Soren and Mayhew." He turned to motion to the young man and the small boy who was perched behind him. "Mayhew and my youngest found you here. Do you have a name, child?" he asked her with seemingly genuine curiosity, and what might have been concern.
Victoria hesitated for several seconds, not sure if she should answer. "V-Vic-Victoria," she finally stammered, still shaking and breathing irregularly.
A quick, fatherly smile creased the corners of Jasper's eyes. "Well then, Miss Victoria, tell me, what is that you've got there?" he said, pointing at Victoria's chest.
"What I--" Her question was cut short as she followed Jasper's line of sight.
There had been so much for her brain to process from the moment she arrived that she hadn't noticed that the golden dragon claw pendant lay draped around her neck, exuding a dull red glow from the stone at its center. Without hesitation, she quickly yanked the thick chain over her head, thrusting it out at the man.
"Here! If it's yours, take it! I swear to god I found it, I didn't steal it! I don't want it, I just want to go home!" she shouted, voice quivering. The chain tinkled sweetly in her trembling grasp.
Eyeing the sparkling treasure for a moment, the man stepped around her outstretched arm and came to crouch in front of her. Not so close as to cause her more distress, but close enough that she could see the question in the blue eyes that searched her own.
"Have you any idea what this is, lass?" he asked, pointing to the pendant dangling from the chain she still held. There was no malice in his question, only a sort of muted surprise.
"What?" she replied dumbly, not understanding what he meant.
The man's gaze shifted from the strangely attired young woman's face to the glowing gem she held, considering both. He watched as the red aura began to dissipate until it no longer shone with light.
In what was only the breadth of a few seconds, time seemed to stand still, as if the universe had flipped a coin and all of creation held its breath to see the outcome. The man rose as a decisive look flashed in his cornflower eyes before he turned to the younger man, giving him a brisk nod.
"Find Astrid."
* * *