At a certain point, Kai became convinced that the hallway would eventually loop back around to the lobby. The liminal space sandwiched Kai into an endless hallway. The plain white doors and red carpet enhanced the repetitive nature; any small deviations, stains, folds, holes, or scratches, would’ve stood out, but there were none. There wasn’t even a millimeter of deviation in the distance between the doors—Kai checked.

Kai had been mentally mapping each turn he took, but he began to doubt whether or not he could take the same route back. His arrival at the theater certainly wasn’t natural; there was no reason to believe the theater would be either.

Lost in thought, Kai suddenly felt himself bump into something.

“Oh sorry,” Kai said reflexively.

“No worries.”

A tall lean dragon hybrid with short black hair stood nearly a foot taller than Kai. Two dark crimson horns protruded out from the top of the man’s head; one was its full length, mostly straight with a slight curve at the end, while the other had been shattered at the base leaving only a small stump. His claws were filed down much in the same way Cili’s were.

Overtop a sleeveless white shirt the man wore a long black hooded poncho with roaring flames embroidered onto it that converged at his heart. The man’s moss green pants were riddled with loaded pockets, bulging at the seams, yet the placement of them avoided any major joints to prevent limiting mobility. His sandal straps were latticed around his foot, locking them in tight.

Around his neck hung a singular, pristine ivory white fang over a foot long. The necklace it hung from was fashioned out of dragon scales the color of which matched that of the man’s horns.

Clipped to the man’s belt were two identical repeating crossbows with a spyglass affixed to the top of each. Carvings adorned the exterior of both crossbows.

What confused Kai more than anything, however, was the color of the man’s scales. The man was a veritable kaleidoscope. Each scale was just a slightly different color than any scale adjacent to it, forming a gradient stretching across the entire spectrum of color.

“Sorry about that,” Kai said, rubbing his forehead. “Do you happen to know where the exit is? Actually, I think I also would like to know where the bathroom is. When I first asked I kinda didn’t need it, but now I kinda do. If you can only give one though, I definitely would prefer the exit. Where are we? Am I rambling? Probably. I’m just really happy to see another person. I’ve been walking for so long.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Osiris. What’s your name?” Osiris spoke slowly and calmly in stark contrast to Kai’s scatterbrained, unfiltered brain dump.

“That's probably a better way to start this interaction. Hi, I’m …” Kai paused for a moment. “Draxl.”

Osiris gave a disappointed look, and Kai immediately cracked. “I’m Kai.”

“Well, Kai, I do know where the exit is. Don't know about the bathroom. We can go find it if you need to.”

“I’ll just take the exit.”

“Okay, it’s not too far from here. Do you want me to walk with you, in case you get lost?” Osiris asked.

“That'd be awesome!”

“Alright, follow me.” Osiris immediately spun around in the direction Kai had come from and began walking.

“So you’re a dragon hybrid?” Kai asked.

“Yeah.”.

“You mind if I ask how much?” The highest percentage dragon hybrid Kai had ever met was Cili, but Osiris looked to be more dragon than she was.

Osiris’ scales were everywhere Cili’s were—the arms, face, and legs—but they extended past where Cili’s stopped. Looking at the edges of the poncho Kai could see the scales that began at the fingers and went up to the shoulder; the ones that began at the feet nearly went up to Osiris’ waist. There were even scales in places Cili had none, the most notable being at the sides of the neck up to the chin.

“About two-thirds to three-fourths,” Osiris said.

“Oh, so both your parents were dragon hybrids. Is that why your scales are different colors?”

“Oh, no, these are just tattoos. This is my real color.” Osiris held up the necklace of crimson scales.

“Did you get your tattoos at the Inkshot?” Kai asked.

“No,” Osiris said, confused by Kai’s amusement.

“Sorry, inside joke. Hey, so, I have this dragon hybrid friend, but she doesn’t have any horns. What’s up with that?”

“What’s up with that, huh,” Osiris said. “Pretty unashamed about asking questions. We just met, you know.”

“So?”

“Fair point. I’m pretty knowledgeable about this kinda stuff, so I appreciate the questions. As for your friend, dragon hybrids don’t evolve in the same way other hybrids do. In fact, nearly every hybrid has their own unique ways of accumulating power.

“ For dragon hybrids, we need to accomplish things, the same way a dragon builds its hoard. Your friend probably just hasn’t done enough to get her horns. I’m sure she’ll get there though.”

Kai pointed to the fang around Osiris’ neck. “Is that what that tooth is?”

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“Uh, yeah, it is.”

“Leviathan? No! Kraken?”

“Dragon, actually,” Osiris said. “Never been out to sea before. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m afraid of the ocean.”

“What?! Why?!” Kai exclaimed.

“I never learned how to swim,” Osiris admitted. “Dragon hybrids can naturally fly, and I learned how to when I was pretty young. Once you know how to fly you don’t really feel the need to learn how to swim.”

“It’s not that hard. It can be super relaxing too. You should try,” Kai said.

Osiris chuckled. “Maybe sometime. You're a pretty eclectic person. Curious too.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Kai asked.

“Not at all. Just reminds me of someone else.”

“Is that someone else cool?”

“The coolest.”

Throughout the walk, Kai had been constantly updating his mental map of the area. Suddenly, he realized that they were about to return to the lobby.

“Where’d you come from?” Osiris asked.

“A barn. Is that too vague?”

“No, that works.” Osiris approached one of the four paintings that adorned the walls. The painting depicted a group of druids gathered in a circle, in the middle of an empty clearing surrounded by the woods. A bolt of lightning struck grounded itself in the center of the circle. Radiating out the point of impact a field of flowers bloomed amidst the barren field.

“Do you mind if I ask a question?”

“Sure.”

“What’s with the locket?” Osiris asked. “It’s on pretty tight.”

“Oh, I actually did that on purpose, so it wouldn’t fall off.” Kai popped open the locket and took out the folded-up piece of paper. He unfurled the paper and held it up so Osiris could see. “It’s just a message my parents left me. Not really sure what it means though.”

“Huh. That’s odd. Hope you figure out what it means.”

“Me too.”

Osiris took the painting of the druids off the wall. Behind it was an infusion carved into the wall in the shape of a spider’s web that radiated a faint white light. “Should be good to go. Just touch the sigil and you should be right back where you came from.”

Kai approached the sigil and gently placed his hand on it. A white light slowly enveloped his body, till only his shining silhouette was visible. “Thanks Osiris.”

“No problem.”

The white light collapsed in on itself, and shrunk into nothingness. Kai was gone.

“There you are.” A woman with pale white skin stepped out from one of the hallways.

“Sup Vivyan,” Osiris said, placing the painting back on the wall.

“Who was that?” Vivyan asked.

“Just somebody I ran into. Looked lost. Probably stumbled in here by accident.”

“Pretty bad luck to find this place by mistake. Though I guess he was lucky to run into you, so it all balances out.”

“Seemed like a good kid. Reminded a lot of my sister,” Osiris said, staring blankly at the ground, his mind clearly elsewhere.

“Oh, how is Cili?”

“No clue. Ever since what happened with Halvor, the doctor hasn’t let me check in on her.” Osiris’ voice was laced with anger towards his circumstances, but gentle enough to display his acceptance of them.

“Right, well, we were somewhat responsible,” Vivyan said.

“Oh, that reminds me. The kid did have one interesting thing on him. A set of paper with coordinates on it.” Osiris held up his left hand. “Managed to snatch the loc—” His eyes slowly glanced over at his hand.

“Are you supposed to be holding something?” Vivyan asked.

“Shit!” Osiris shouted. “One second too late. Looks like it went with him.”

“Do you remember them?”

“No.”

“Your senses are sharp, but gods, your memory is awful. You think it’s worth going after him?” Vivyan asked.

“Nah, let the kid be,” Osiris said, with a sigh. “He didn’t seem to know what they meant. Even if he did, he’s harmless. I did a quick scan of him while we were walking. The kid doesn't have any essence. He’s not a threat.”

“Let’s keep a lookout in the future,” Vivyan said. “Anyway, moving on, Gideon sent me to find you. Orders came in. They’ve got our target.”

“What is it this time?”

“A philosopher’s stone.”

----------------------------------------

The instant Kai reappeared, just outside the barn door, he felt someone grab him from behind and cover his mouth. Kai instinctively tried to scream and thrash to get out.

“Wait! Wait! Wait! It’s us. It’s Ace and Halvor. You need to be very quiet, okay? Do you understand?”

“Mhmm.” Kai nodded his head..

Halvor let go of Kai.

“Couldn’t think of a better way to do that?” Kai asked.

“Didn’t want you screaming something the moment you came out,” Ace said. “Also, you kinda just appeared. We were expecting you to walk out the door.”

“So what is going on?” Kai asked.

“Salutations, good sir!” A voice called out from the other side of the barn.

“Who is that?” Kai asked.

“That’s the representative from the Armistice Order that Cally warned us about,” Ace said. “He’s here.”

“Okay, that’s bad. Let’s leave. Right now,” Kai said

“Agreed.”

“Wait, Kai, where's your locket?” Halvor asked.

Kai instantly grasped at his collar but felt nothing. His hand scrambled around his neck without feeling anything. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he muttered under his breath. “It must’ve gone somewhere else when I teleported. Why, though? Why?!”

“Calm down, calm down,” Ace said. “Do you remember the numbers?”

“Yeah, they’re written down in my notebook.”

“Okay, so we can come back another time, right?” Ace asked calmly.

“I guess I have all the necessary information.”

“Alright, so we’ll come back tomorrow with everyone and search the area. Does that sound good?”

Kai slowly nodded his head. “That’d be good.”

“I know it means a lot to you. I appreciate you letting us leave it behind, for now,” Ace said.

“I don’t want to hurry anyone, but we should go while Brixton is keeping the representative busy,” Halvor siad.

“You good Kai?” Ace asked.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“Okay, let’s go, and when you’re ready, tell us everything you found out,” Ace said.

“I will. Thanks, Ace.”