The Other-worldly Protector

Chapter 5: Stranded

"Dragons?" Kiara repeated, confused. Her mind was racing and her heart was pounding. There's no such thing as dragons, yet she was watching them fly right before her eyes. "What in the world..." Kiara began, but realisation struck, "I'm not in my world anymore. Am I?" Kiara's breathing grew shallow as multiple thoughts stormed her mind.

"I'm in another world?! How? Why?!"  she thought frantically. "How on earth will I get home?" She began to panic. "Will I ever get home?" Her face turned pale. "I can't —I have to get home. I won't last here for two days!" Dread flowed through her veins. "Am I stuck here forever?" Kiara's knees buckled and she fell to the grass sobbing. 

"Please be a dream, please be a dream, please be a dream..." She slapped herself. No use. A pinch. She was still here. "No!" she wailed and pounded her fist onto the ground. She didn't want to believe it at first but she knew. She knew this was real. She felt herself collapsing like a tower of cards.

"I'll never... never see... my family or friends... ever again," she murmured between sobs. She sat there, facing the grass, sobs wracked her body as tears streamed down her face. She was drowning. The pain of having the life she knew getting ripped away from her so abruptly made her chest feel heavy like her lungs were filling with water. Tides of despair pulled her deeper and she was helpless with no hope to hold on to. She didn't know how long she sat like that, crumbling. time meant nothing. There was no hope. Gasping, she lifted her head. No hope?

"NO!" she told herself firmly. She took some deep breaths to steady herself. "No... I won't give up hope. Not now, not ever." She stood up on shaky legs, a look of determination in her eyes. 

"There has to be a way home and I will find it," she thought, "but until then, I have to stay strong. I must survive."

Kiara assessed her survival situation: she hadn't found a safe campsite;  she had no shelter for the night and rainy days; she had no food supplies in her bag, and she had only one bottle of water. Kiara scanned the terrain for possible sources of water. It wasn't hard to find one, as she immediately spotted a lake among the thicket of trees. It was a perfect source of water, food and a bath! Smiling, she began to trek toward the lake, leaving the clifftop behind. "At least I have my survival kit and spare clothes in my rucksack," Kiara thought merrily. Her instructor, Mr Belch, had told her that it was essential to keep a positive mindset in a survival situation.

An hour and a half had passed. Despite the cold, Kiara was sweating and her hair was wild and knotted as she walked through the forest. Since this forest had no trail, she had to focus to keep going the right way. She knew she was halfway there but, she walked at a slow pace. With every step she took, she felt a bit of energy ebb away. She wished she had caught up on her sleep, instead of looking for a stupid crystal that started this whole mess. Oh, what a mistake.

"GRRRRMMDDDDH!"

Kiara was jerked from her thoughts by a menacing rumble. She stopped in her tracks and was suddenly fully alert. A shadow passed over her and she heard the 'whoosh' of something gliding low above her. Fear struck, and Kiara scurried to the nearest tree and took cover, trembling slightly. "DRAGONS," she thought as she strained her ears. A second later, a groan sounded through the trees and Kiara shuddered. Then there was silence.

Kiara rummaged through her backpack and took out a blue Swiss army knife. Her uncle Terry, who was a retired soldier, had given it to her. She flicked open the largest blade. It wasn't much against a dragon, but it'd have to do as a last resort. Kiara hadn't considered how the presence of dragons would make it difficult to... well... survive. Now she knew what to do: since she was no match for a dragon she'd just have to stay clear of them and stay hidden. Shouldering her backpack, Kiara started walking again. Only this time she stuck to the shadows.

It'd been almost two hours since Kiara left the clifftop when she first heard the trickle of water. The sun was shining brightly as it climbed towards its peak. She followed the sound of water and soon found a clearing with the large shimmering lake. That's not all she found. There were two huge reptiles by the water. Kiara gasped and snapped back behind a tree. She gripped her knife tighter and breathed heavily. Slowly she peeked out from behind the tree and looked at the two dragons. One was bright orange and the other was purple and both were as still as stone. They sat far apart from each other and had their back to Kiara.

Kiara decided that she should walk to another part of the lake away from the dragons. Taking a deep breath, she stepped away from the tree. She clutched the knife in her trembling hands and quietly crept across the clearing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the purple dragon's ear twitch. She stopped and watched as the dragon's head turned to face her. Their eyes met. Kiara froze as her brown eyes stared into the dragon's large blue ones. To Kiara, those eyes seemed beautiful, kind and familiar. Then she remembered that those eyes were the eyes of her saviour. This was the dragon who had rescued her just a few hours ago. Kiara felt a wave of gratefulness and wondered if she could ever repay the favour.