Chapter 2

Laura groaned and sat up. She rubbed her eyes, blinked a few times, and looked around.

“Um...well this isn’t what I expected,” she said in confusion. She flailed a hand out and smacked Dakota in the side. He grunted, but shuffled closer to her. “I don’t know exactly what I expected, but this is not it!” She hid her face in Dakota’s fur and took a couple deep breaths. “This has got to be a dream. It has to be.” She sat upright once more and looked at her surroundings again. There were green fields as far as she could see and in the horizon, the green seemed to merge seamlessly with the blue sky. Off to the east were some green hills and if Laura squinted she could make out some faraway mountains. To the west was just more green. There weren’t even any hills to break up the flatness of the view.

“It’s a great dream though,” she said as she stood. Laura stretched out her back and legs. Dakota whined as he stretched. She scratched his head and said, “Let’s go. Maybe we can find something familiar, although I've never seen a place like this on Earth. Either that or I wake up first.” She turned in a circle. “Now, which way?” she muttered to herself.

Dakota barked loudly and Laura turned to see him bounding off towards the west. Laura shrugged. “Well, you do have a better nose.” She started after him, pausing when he suddenly sniffed the air, turned in a circle four times and took a sharp turn left.

She watched her dog in disbelief as he seemed to know exactly where he was going. “All right. This might not be the strangest thing to happen to me all week, but it is up there.”

****

Laura followed Dakota for what felt like hours, no matter what path or turns he took. She laughed when he went chasing after some kind of butterfly. She had smiled as he ran down a small incline into a stream. She frowned when he got back onto a straight line, which involved going through a small bog. “At least one of us knows where they’re going,” she mumbled as she trudged through the bog. Dakota jumped over any holes, while Laura had to skirt around them carefully or risk falling in. “I’m not dressed for this kind of walk. And I’m so tired from all this walking. It should be easy, but I am dreaming, so maybe that’s it.”

Dakota barked from the other side of the bog and Laura made her way to him. Finally, they were out of the bog. Dakota ran towards a small hill. Laura followed once more. She sucked in a breath as she got to the top. It was a beautiful sight. The green hills turned into farmland, with a forest near the far edge.

“Well, wherever we are, it is scenic, that’s for sure.” Laura turned back towards where they had come from and tilted her head a little bit. She quinted off into the distance. “It kind of looks like the place in Grandma’s stories.” She shrugged and turned back towards the farmland. “Aha! I can see a house in the distance! Let’s go, Dakota.”

Her dog took off running with a sharp bark. Laura laughed and ran after him. As they got closer, Laura studied the house more. It looked like something out of the Medieval era. The house was small and had a thatched roof. She glanced around the rest of the farm, keeping a tight grip on Dakota’s collar. To the side of the house was a bigger area that was fenced off into smaller areas. It had animals that kind of looked like cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens. Laura saw smoke coming from the chimney of the house, so she figured someone must be home. She let go of Dakota, who trotted off to the house.

Laura let out a shaky sigh as she started to approach the house. Up until this point, she had been hoping it was all a dream. However, she doubted that she could dream up the smell of smoke and the sounds of the animals. Also, the animals didn’t quite look like any farm animal she had seen before. She closed her eyes and rubbed her hand over her face.

She broke out of her reverie by the sound of barking and growling. Laura looked up and saw four massive wolves surrounding Dakota, who was just sitting in front of the farm door, panting. The wolves looked like they were ready to attack. Laura ran towards Dakota, she stumbled over herself in her haste, but was able to slide next to him, holding on to him tightly.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Stop!” she screamed. Laura knew the animals wouldn’t listen to her or even understand her, but she hoped that the owner would come stop their animals.

The wolves came closer, still growling and hackles raised. Right before they were about to pounce, a sharp whistle pierced the air. The wolves' ears perked, as did Dakota’s. There was another whistle and the wolves stopped moving. They immediately laid down on their bellies, heads between their paws. Their tails began wagging a little. Dakota wiggled, trying to go sniff them, but Laura kept a tight grip on him.

“Thank you!” she exclaimed happily. She stood up and looked towards the house. There was a shadowy figure in the doorway. Laura wasn’t sure if it was a man or a woman, until the figure stepped outside.

It was a man, probably not much older than Laura. He was taller than Laura, but not by too much. He had deep black hair and a full black beard. She could see he was muscled by the lack of his shirt. She brought her eyes back to his face and nearly took a step back. He looked terrifying as he scowled at her. What surprised Laura the most though, were his eyes. They seemed to shift from green to brown to gray from one second to the next.

“What are you doing on my property?” the man asked, his voice not as rough as Laura had expected it to be.

“My dog,” Laura began.

However, before she could explain, the man cut her off with, “Your hair.” His eyes were wide with shock.

“Yes?” Laura asked cautiously, touching her head. She wasn’t sure why he was mentioning her hair of all things.

“It’s red.”

“I hadn’t noticed at all,” she stated dryly.

The man glared at her and said, “You can’t be here.”

“I don’t know where ‘here’ is?”

“How did you get here?” the man frowned.

“A box.”

“What?” He looked at Laura as if she were insane, and at this point Laura thought she might be.

“My grandma gave me a box with a quote in it and here I am. I thought this was all a dream until I came across your house.” Laura paused before asking again, “Where am I?”

“Roa, Mirelamas, 2nd of Samhna, The Bloodstained Time,” the man said rotely.

“Uh, right. Okay. Um, that’s not actually helpful.”

The man stared at her for a long time. Laura shifted uncomfortably. Dakota, who had given up trying to go towards the wolves, whined low in his throat and leaned against her leg.

“Edina is your grandmother,” the man finally said.

“Uh, yes. How did you know?”

“You have the same hair.”

“What?”

The man didn’t answer, instead he replied, “I’m Conor. You had better come in before the guards ride by.”

“Why?”

“Having red hair isn’t safe anymore. Now hurry, you and your…dog.” Conor whistled again and the four wolves stood. Then they began herding Laura and Dakota inside. Conor followed and shut the door behind him. “I’m sure you have questions,” he said. He waved a hand towards a small table. “Sit.”

Laura sat in the only chair available. Dakota left her side and went to play with the wolves. Laura chuckled slightly. “Yeah, I do. How do you know my grandma?”

“I don’t personally, but she’s famous. Everyone knows who she is. She came here before, during The Expanding Time.”

“What?” Laura said flatly.

Conor nodded and moved towards what Laura thought was a kitchen type area. “She saved all of Roa from the Archking.”

Laura blinked a few times. Then she held out a hand. “Just slow down. Wait.”

Conor stopped talking and went about his business. Laura put her head between her knees and took some deep breaths. Dakota came over, gave her a little lick, and then went back to his new friends. Laura let out a weak laugh and sat up. She stared at Conor’s back and said, “Tell me everything.”