A sweet melodic voice met Arisa's ears. The tone was so angelic that it relaxed her, forcing her to keep her eyes shut and fall into a deep slumber.
"Don't sleep."
Arisa opened her eyes, gasping. As she breathed heavily, the first thing she saw was the night sky in between the space the dimly glowing trees allowed her to see. She shakily stood up, examining her surroundings.
"Zen?" she called, her heart skipping.
No response came to her calling as she examined her surroundings. Her gaze only met the many colorful trees illuminating the background with their weak light.
<What am I saying?>
She shook her head, telling herself that the deep voice she had heard was probably her imagination.
The melodic voice kept filling the silence as Arisa turned around to gaze at her surroundings more carefully.
<Where am I?>
Her armored boots squished against the moist soil as she walked, searching for an answer. Looking around, she wondered what kinds of creatures lived in this curious looking forest and how she ended up there. She remembered chatting with Kazuya before she fell asleep as she was too tired from the ongoing trip.
<Am I dreaming?>
She gazed at her hands, clenching and opening them.
<For a dream, it sure feels real.>
A heavy flap of wings made her heart leap a little. When a large shadow slowly covered the bright moonlight, strengthening the light of the colorful forest in the background, Arisa gazed up.
A gasp escaped her lips. Through the space in between the glowing vegetation, Arisa spotted part of the figure of a large creature. As the creature flew away, she realized that it was a dragon.
She stood there, her mouth agape. She'd never seen a dragon of that size before. She had heard that adult dragons were bigger compared to the young ones. But as she had seen King Reiji's dragon form before, she concluded that the dragon that flew by might be the largest dragon in existence.
The dragon completely disappeared from her view. Still staring at the sky, Arisa gulped. She remembered hearing stories around the streets of Aurora City. Stories that told legends of warriors fighting wild dragons. Although she was amazed and inspired by how they ended up surviving those battles, she couldn't imagine regular warriors or even herself, fight a creature of that size.
She sighed and decided to walk further into the forest, hoping to find out where she was.
Time passed as she explored the glowing forest that seemed as though it didn't have a way out. She rubbed her eyes, fighting not to sleep, thanks to the melodic voice filling the silence.
Another minute passed and as Arisa was losing hope to find a way out, her eyes widened upon seeing someone crossing paths with her. The person seemed to be a boy in his early teens; strands of green hair could be seen in his curly dark hair.
She tilted her head, noticing that the boy's dark hand was holding the surface of a creature that walked by his side. The creature looked like a beast that had its upper body covered with a mixture of various kinds of plants and wood. Its wild face and legs seemed to be made of sharp rocks and sand.
As Arisa slowly approached the boy and the beast, she felt small. By examining the creature, Arisa guessed that it could be more than two meters tall. Her heart raced as she noticed that the beast had set its golden eyes on her.
YOU ARE READING
The Challenge of the Masters
Fantasy♈ - Book II of the Astral Guardians Series - ♌ A princess who has the fate of the worlds in her hands. A prince who has to prove himself to his people. And mutual feelings that clash with their hearts. ♐♑♓ Arisa's dream has always been to live in a...
