𝔏𝔢𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔗𝔢𝔯𝔯𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔩 ✓

Chapter 2: A Whole New World

*In the last chapter I said Holden's eyes were gray, when in fact they are brown. I also wonder how many of you realized that Kylian had heterochromia or saw my magikarp reference in the Prologue :P*

Rubbing at her eyes, Lilith blinked a few times before her vision cleared up. She was speechless. The scenery around them was incredible!

Grass and plants of all colors decorated the ground while fireflies circled the vine-twisted trees. It was in the dead of the night and all was quiet besides the occasional croak of a toad or noise of a cricket.

"Where are we?" Holden asked, the grass crunching under his sneakers as he stepped right next to her.

The stars were shining and the full moon shined so bright that he could clearly see her face when Holden turned toward his friend.

"Your eyes," he whispered, taking his rough hand and touching the red circles that had appeared from the irritation at her eyes. Lilith's gray eyes bore into his own brown ones, before stepping away and trying to find Kylian.

"Kylian?" she called, stepping towards the cave. Barely noticing his brown hair, she found her twin brother hunched over what appeared to be a gigantic nest.

"I wonder what kind of animal lived in that," Holden commented. Lilith jumped a little, never noticing that he had followed her.

"Whatever it was, it's not here anymore," Kylian sighed, standing up. He looked around wearily, and then back at the cave.

There wasn't a sign that a bright light had ever come out of the cave and entranced Kylian into following it. Instead, the cave seemed to lead to a never-ending black abyss that Lilith wouldn't even dare to walk through.

"Hey guys! Do you hear that?" Lilith asked. As all three became silent, they heard a faint voice coming from outside of the cave.

Kylian tried to keep as quiet as he could, stepping out and peering at the clearing. Right in front of them appeared a teenage boy with golden maple blonde hair and sky blue eyes. He was bent over and rummaging through plants among the flowers and grasses.

Holden took one step to see and ended up stepping on a stick that had fallen on the ground. He gasped as the boy snapped his head to the cave.

"What was that?" a soft but masculine voice said out loud. Kylian saw him step towards their hiding spot and he crept back among the shadows. However, Lilith had a different idea.

"Who are you?" she boldly asked, stepping out of the cave and staring him down. He widened his eyes and stepped back, about to run.

"Wait don't go!" she pleaded, changing her tone from intimidating to desperate as quick as lightning.

"I don't know where I am. Please help me," she added. The boy seemed to lean forward and contemplate her words, but darted away before he could even respond.

"Dammit. You scared him away," Holden voiced, coming out of the cave. "He might have been our only chance to figure out where we are."

Lilith looked taken back at his scolding. Holden never raised his voice at her, and now when he did she felt guilty for her intimidating words.

"Don't be so harsh on her," Kylian argued. "She was just acting under stressed circumstances. Any of us would have questioned him like that too."

"Sorry," he murmured. Lilith nodded at his apology, but still felt a little embarassed. Holden looked at her tinted cheeks and couldn't help but feel sorry, yet still thought her embarassed face was kind of cute.

She caught his eye and rolled her eyes when she saw Holden smiling, yet it became contagious and she too grinned. Kylian gave a little smile. He knew that there might not be any way to figure out where in the world they were, but Kylian felt warm knowing his sister and friend would be with him despite whatever happened.

"I'm sorry for running off," a familiar voice said. They all turned their heads to see the same boy standing in front of them.

"You all seem trustworthy, so I can help you," he told them, much more confidently. "My name's Elliot, the town's healer's son."

"Your town has a healer?" Lilith asked. "Like a doctor?"

"I'm not sure what that is, but if they are the ones who heal the sick, then yes. This place by the cave has many herbs that grow in abundance. I collect any I can find each week."

"Don't you have to wait for the plants to grow again to harvest them?" Holden asked.

"What do you mean?" Elliot asked. "They grow back every week."

"Anyways," Kylian said, gearing the topic towards something important. "My name is Kylian and these are Lilith and Holden. You said there's a town?"

"Yes. Not too far away from here. Just take a walk through the woods and you can see Nagrom. It's the only place where living people live in this world."

"And what exactly is this world?"

"You're definitely not around here," Elliot murmured.

"No. We came through this cave from our world, the modern country of United States of America," Lilith explained.

He scratched his head in confusion, but didn't question it.

"I suppose there's always a possibility of other worlds," Elliot wondered.

"Well this world is nicknamed Terradel, professionally called Terra del Drac, Land of the Dragon."