In one breath

Chapter 2~New home

"You're a what?" I stammer. Lawr holds his gaze, his eyes almost hypnotic. He shrugs, not able to find the right words.

"Yes... we're dragons," Cordarth comes to his rescue.

My mind is racing. This is insane. Maybe they are just a bunch of hippies who've been taking a little bit too much of the good stuff. Despite the insanity of their claims, something compells me to believe them.

"But.. why do you look like a human?" I ask. Finally Lawr breaks his gaze and looks over to his brother.

"I'll take it from here, you just tell the others," Lawr murmurs to his brother. Cordarth hesitates for a moment, his eyes flicking back and forth between his brother and I. He pauses, then nods and disappears into the bushes.

Lawr drifts past me and heads for a pathway that's been carved through the trees. He turns and gestures for me to follow. I don't know why I do what I do. There is no logic behind it but I do it anyway. I follow Lawr. We take a straight path through the closely bunched trees, occasionally swerving here and there. Where were we going? Lawr stays silent for a while. I need answers. Now. As I open my mouth to speak, Lawr touches a hand on my shoulder.

"You'll get answers soon enough." He locks eyes with my again , his eyes curious but unmoving.

We come to a small clearing in the trees, forming a circle of flat ground surrounded by forest. There is more light here, as there aren't so many bunched up trees blocking it. Lawr moves ahead of me and sits down, sighing. He gestures to the ground, informing me to sit there. His black wavy hair falls elegantly in front of his face, hiding any emotion. I pause, then warily sit down.

"What's your name?" He asks almost instantly.

"Leah," I answer.

Lawr pauses. "Tell me about yourself."

"Why don't you explain this whole drago-"

"It will come in good time. Who are you?" he interrupts.

"Well, I'm Leah, and I'm kind of lost. I was meant to go on an exchange flight to France, but I backed out, and on the way back, I uh...got lost." I explain, somewhat embarrassed.

Lawr thinks for a moment.

In the silence I decide to give him a proper look. He is actually quite handsome, his hair is perfectly styled, his skin is smooth and perfect, he is a bit short, but so was I, so he was my height roughly. He wore a loose, red faded shirt and some black jeans. I couldn't help biting my lip. He was amazing. Too bad he's a so called different species.

"What about your parents?" he finally asks. Do I dare tell him about my parents? He lifts his head and looks into my eyes once again. Something about him compels me to do so.

"I live with my mum. My dad... died when I was 10," I answer.

"How?" he asks without even showing any sympathy.

"I, uh... we don't even know. It was late at night and he was.. mauled by something on a walk he went on to clear his head. We never found out what it was."

Lawr raised his eyebrows, but then instantly caught himself and lowered them.

"I'm sorry," he says half heartedly after a few seconds. Silence.

"Ok, I've done my deed. Tell me about this whole dragon thing," I push.

Lawr carefully consideres his words. "We are dragon shapeshifters." he finally explains. "We don't expose ourselves to humans, but you... you have Ohen."

"Again with the 'Ohen'," I say. "What is it?"

Lawr continues. "Ohen is an ancient ability told in our... what would you call it, folklore? Nobody really believes it but we all know about it."