Trinity

7

The first thing Shepherd felt as he began to wake up was a soft bed of grass beneath his hands. Warm sunlight beat on his back as he stirred, shifting on the ground.

He felt terrible. His head pounded with his heartbeat, seeming to weigh a hundred pounds. A shrill ringing filled his ears, only exacerbating things. Rolling onto his back, he grunted in pain, trying to gather his thoughts. After beginning to open his eyes, he slowly shut them. The sunlight proved too strong, and was only making his headache worse.

He had never been so exhausted. More sleep sounded good. Besides, the grass was so soft. He rolled back over onto his stomach, yawning, and tried to nod off again.

Hearing his winter jacket shuffle as he turned, Shepherd realized something was wrong. Where was all the snow?

Oh my God, Shepherd thought. The bridge.

In an instant, he was on his feet. His heart beat violently as he quickly scanned his surroundings.

Shepherd stood alone in an enormous field, rippling with windswept grass.

To his left grew a colorful forest. Colossal trees bore exotic fruits on gnarled limbs. Some of the fruits had fallen, littering the ground.

To Shepherd's right, far across the field, rose an enormous structure, scraping the clouds. It was a castle with seven towers. Each of the seven points was a different color, sparkling in the sunlight.

There was no time to appreciate anything; only fear. He couldn't catch his breath. What was this place?

Something shuffled in the forest, causing Shepherd to jump.

Out of the foliage slithered an enormous snake with blood red eyes. It had large, crooked scales that shifted as it's body moved. Flicking it's tongue in and out, the creature lithely circled the mangled trees.

Shepherd watched in horror as the snake latched onto one of the nearby fruits with huge mandibles. Throwing it's head back, it swallowed the fruit whole, then continued lazily flicking its tongue.

Shepherd was frozen. He had heard in biology class that if you didn't move, snakes couldn't see you. Taking deep breaths, he tried to stop shaking and stand still.

After swallowing another fruit, the snake turned, its eyes landing on Shepherd. It stared at him for a moment, bewildered, and then began to move towards him.

Not good, Shepherd thought. Definitely not good.

He readied himself to take off, but before the snake got any further, something else emerged from the woods.

A young girl with glowing white skin skipped from the forest, munching on one of the odd looking berries. She looked to Shepherd with brilliant golden eyes and broke into a smile. As she ran towards him, she noticed the snake and furrowed her brow.

"Shoo!" she yelled, and slapped it on the head. "Leave him alone!"

The snake shrank back in confusion before hissing and slithering away. Shepherd watched in awe as the serpent leapt into the air, spreading leathery wings out from it's sides. The wings caught the wind, and the creature took off into the sky.

Releasing a shaky breath, Shepherd felt a wave a nausea coming over him.

"Hey, sleepyhead," the girl giggled. "How do you feel?"

In response, Shepherd bent over and vomited onto the grass.

"Ew," said the girl, curling her lip.

Head spinning, Shepherd sat back onto the ground and tried to still his shaking again.

"Who are you?" Shepherd whispered. His throat was raw and his head still pounded.