Wings of Fire: The Kingdom of the Sea | ✔️

~ The Kingdom of the Sea: Chapter 4 ~

Orca released Hare's face and placed her claws on her throat.

"I ought to kill you right now," she snarled. "You have no purpose being here. I don't know who summoned you here, but they're going to get my claws down their throat. You're lucky I'm feeling kind and won't make you watch before I kill you."

Hare tried desperately to twist around and fight back, but Orca was stronger and clearly more skilled.

I need to go home. Think about home, you idiot!

Hare squeezed her eyes shut and imagined the place where she and her friends were sleeping. She imagined her friends pressed closer to her, she imagined the comfort she felt as she slept beside them.

"You toad!" Orca suddenly screeched. "If you ever return, I'll tear your guts out and keep you alive while I do it!"

Then the cold was gone. Hare opened her eyes. She wasn't home, but she knew this place. The sun beat down on her scales and there was sand below her talons.

A SandWing stood before her, Hare assumed it was the same SandWing from before. They were about the same height, but that was all Hare had to go off of. She hadn't gotten a good look at the dragon from before. They had yellow-brown scales and obsidian black eyes. Their tail barb was dark and their face was narrow.

She expected the place to disappear right away like it had before, but it remained.

"Hello?" Hare squeaked after a few moments.

"You're quite small," the dragon said. Hare swallowed. "Where am I? Who are you?"

"You're in a place that's far better than where you were," the SandWing said. "Welcome to the Place of the Found."

"Did you summon me here?" Hare asked.

The SandWing flicked her tail. "Isn't that obvious?"

Hare looked down at her talons. "I- I don't know."

The mysterious dragon sighed. "Yes, I summoned you here," she said.

"Why?" Hare asked. "Why am I being brought here? Why am I being summoned there? What do these places want with me?"

The SandWing chuckled. "My dear Hare, the Place of Lost Souls wants nothing to do with you."

Hare's eyes widened. "It doesn't? Then why have I gone there twice? Am I accidentally bringing myself there?"

"No, that's not possible," the SandWing said. "You can only go to these places if you're brought there by someone. You can't bring yourself there."

"Then who's bringing me to the Place of Lost Souls?" Hare asked. It took everything to keep her voice from a whine. "I don't know anybody there. I didn't even know it existed until Scarlet kidnapped my friends!"

The mystery dragon sat down and curled her barbed tail over her talons. "You aren't the brightest. I'm almost disappointed."

"I know nothing about these places or anyone in them! What makes you think I'd know about this whole summoning system?" Hare snapped.

The mystery dragon scoffed. "It was me, Hare."

"What? How? Aren't you here? How could you bring me there?"

"Dragons in the Place of the Found can summon dragons anywhere they want," the dragon explained. "I could bring you here, to the Place of Lost Souls, or even the place in between, the Place of the Unknown. It's one of the many rewards of being a good dragon in your life."

"So I'm assuming dragons in the Place of Lost Souls can't do that?" Hare said.

The SandWing snorted. "Obviously not. Do you have any idea how much harm that would bring? They can only summon dragons to their own place. I've never thought that was the smartest idea, but the Elders know best I suppose."

"Elders?"

"The founders of these places." The mystery dragon stretched her claws and examined them. "They created the rules. They rest in a place higher above us; the Home of the Elders. They're thousands and thousands of years old. They're older than the oldest dragon on Pyrrhia. They're quite wise, or so everyone says. I myself question their cleverness and abilities, but there's nothing I can do."

"I suppose it's good for you to have questions instead of being a blind follower," Hare said.

The SandWing laughed. "You sound like my daughter."

"Who's your daughter?" Hare asked.

The mystery dragon leaned closer to Hare. "Like you said, it's good to have questions."

"So I don't even get to know who you are?"

The mystery dragon smiled. "Not yet."

Hare did her best to ignore the bubbling annoyance forming inside her belly. "Can I at least know why you're doing this? Why are you bringing me here?"

"Another benefit of being here is being able to see everything," Mystery said. "I know what's to come."

"What's that got to do with me?" Hare demanded.

Mystery raised her head. "You need to know what you'll have to face."

"What do you mean?" Hare asked.

Mystery didn't answer. She stood up and shook sand from her scales. She turned away and flicked her tail. "It's time for you to go home."

"Wait!" Hare cried. "I need-"

Hare wasn't allowed to finish her sentence. She jerked awake and was back in the cave where she and her friends were staying. Hare huffed angrily and buried her nose under her talon.

"Stupid dead dragons."