Kayla Faith Bannister

Wind whipped my face but I loved it. I looked down, unafraid of the height. The terrain of Second Eden zipped by underneath me. I glanced to my left where Mount Elijah, Second Eden's volcano sat.

Kaida beat her wings to stay in the air. Beside her, Griffin did the same. "Get ready," Kaida called. "We're landing."

I clutched the spine in front of me even tighter. Kaida folded her wings in and dropped to the ground. She spread them out before hitting the ground and landed smoothly on the soft turf. I slid off the dragon and scanned the area. Andrew joined me.

"Is this where Larry detected the anomaly?" Andrew asked.

I nodded. "But I don't see anything here that would cause an irregularity."

"A portal, perhaps?"

I shook my head. "I thought that all the portals leading out of Second Eden had been closed."

"Perhaps not all. Sapphira and Elam made quite a few portals when they ruled."

"True. I know there was one near Mount Elijah, or rather in it. But it's closed for sure."

"So what could have caused the disturbance?"

Touching my jaw, I spoke into the tooth transmitter that we had been given. It was one of Ashley's many inventions. "Larry, is this the correct place?"

A male voice entered, sounding slightly robotic. "Affirmative. And it seems that the anomaly is still present."

"Another anomaly? What is it?"

"Anomaly, noun, something that deviates from what-"

"I know what an anomaly is. What is the anomaly?" I asked, exasperated.

"The anomaly matches the frequency of a portal."

"A portal?"

Andrew drew his sword. "I sense danger!"

"Hold on, Larry. Andrew senses something." I drew my own sword and tapped my jaw twice, turning the transmitter off.

A flash of light threw my cousin and I off balance. When I opened my eyes, a rectangle of light hovered two feet above the grass and seven men dressed in black jumped through, pulling out guns once they had landed. Andrew and I ended up back-to-back as they circled us. Kaida and Griffin growled, preparing to blow fire on the men. One of the men aimed his gun at the dragons and fired. A glittering sphere rocketed out of the gun and hit Kaida's neck. She wavered before falling to the ground. Griffin leaped to defend her but the man fired at him as well. Another sparkling projectile hit his side and he fell, unconscious.

The man turned on us. Andrew and I raised our swords, ready to defend and attack. The same man that had shot our dragons fired at Andrew. The bullet hit his arm, sending him falling backwards. I glanced at where the bullet had gone in. No blood leaked out of the entry.

While I was distracted by my cousin, the man had fired at me. The bullet hit my neck and I collapsed. No blood spilled from the wound. Weakness zapped my body and dizziness overtook my senses. My body ached and my head spun. Candlestone bullets… I thought.

Andrew climbed to his feet beside me. Having the healing traits of his father made him immune to candlestones. I fought to keep my eyes open but couldn't and finally, I drifted into unconsciousness.

When I awoke, my muscles hurt. The dull pain of headache existed in the back of my skull. The ground beneath me was hard and grainy. I opened my eyes and saw a collapsed building to my right. I pushed myself off the ground and looked around. The sky was gray with no sun in sight. Was it nighttime? Possibly, depending on how long I was out.

Andrew was passed out beside me, breathing deeply. I nudged him and whispered, "Andrew, wake up."

He stirred and opened his eyes. "What happened?"

"I don't know. I can't remember." I looked up at the gray sky. Clouds covered the sky but through the gaps, I could still see the ashy atmosphere. A strong wind blew through the area, causing me to shiver despite the long-sleeves covering my arms.

Andrew sat up and brushed dirt off of his shirt. He stood up and pulled me to my feet. "We should try and figure out where we are. Maybe if we walk…"

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Can't you feel it? Something isn't right."

I looked around. The world felt cold, barren, and empty. "It doesn't feel like home." I whispered.

Andrew nodded. "I think we traveled through a portal."

"But to where? And how?"

"I don't know. I can't remember what happened. The last thing I remember was riding Griffin."

I nodded. "I remember flying with Kaida but I can't recall what happened after landing."

"Let's move." His eyes widened suddenly. "Do you still have the ovulum?"

I felt for the straps of the bag, slid it off, and opened the bag, kneeling beside it. I pulled out the invisible ovulum, still singing its song. I hummed along with it and the song seemed to strengthen. I put it back in the bag before sliding my arms into the straps again. "We still have it. But, we need to make sure it remains safe. If it breaks…"

I didn't need to finish. Andrew knew that the ovulum needed to be protected. If it broke, there was no telling what would happen.

We began walking, heading in the direction of a mountain. Every time the wind blew, I shivered. Second Eden was a lot better than this place. We passed by tall brick buildings with a large gap in between two of them. Shadows covered the entire alleyway. When we passed by, Andrew stiffened. "Danger,"

Before I could ask him what he meant, a hand reached out from the shadows and yanked me in. My body slammed against one of the brick walls and the hold on my wrist tightened. "What do we have here?" a voice asked.

I looked around but I couldn't find who had spoken. It was too dark. "I don't know Tim, but she glows." A second voice responded. It belonged to the person holding my wrist.

"Glows?" a third voice chimed in.

A rough hand brushed by me cheek, causing the scales under my skin to tingle. "Whoa!" the man holding my wrist exclaimed. "Her glow got brighter."

"I can see that, Ben." The first voice answered.

My eyes slowly began to adjust to the darkness. I could make out three tall figures, all males, surrounding me. "What do you think she is?" the man in front of me asked.

"An alien?" the man to my right guessed. His voice was the third one I had heard.

The man to my left, whom I presumed was the leader, leaned in closer. "What do you have in the bag?"

My eyes widened and I gasped when I remembered that I still had the bag carrying the ovulum on my back. I prayed that it wasn't broken. One of the men, the man in front of me, pulled my sword out of its scabbard. "Hey!" I exclaimed.

"Who uses a sword nowadays?" he asked.

"I do!" I yelled, balling my fists. A new set of tingles ran down my spine and thoughts trickled into my ears.

I hope she has something valuable in the bag. The thoughts seemed to be coming from the leader.

Kayla? That was Andrew! Where are you?

"Andrew! Help!" I shouted. The leader covered my mouth with one of his rough hands. A muffled scream of surprise escaped between his fingers.

"Quiet!" he hissed.

The sound of a sword being drawn drew the attention of the three men in front of me. They turned around and I caught a glimpse of Andrew holding Excalibur, the three rubellite gems in its hilt sparkling.

The man on my right let out a low whistle. "Hey, kid, where'd you get the sword?"

Andrew clenched his jaw and summoned the sword's beam, causing the men to take a step back. Andrew swung it at them but stopped it above their heads.

"Release her at once." He ordered.

The men moved to the side and the one holding my sword handed it nervously over to me. I slid it into my scabbard and joined Andrew. He backed away with me following, all the while keeping the beam in position.

When we stepped out of the alley, he doused the beam and we resumed our walk. "Stop for a minute." I said and he stopped.

I pulled the bag off and opened it up. I slid my hands into the bag and withdrew the purity ovulum. I placed it in Andrew's hands and watched as it began to turn cloudy. The ovulum had remained intact, thank the Maker. I took the ovulum and watched it turn invisible yet again. Before I placed it back in the bag, my eyes widened as I stared at.

"Andrew! Look!" I exclaimed.

He knelt down next to me. "What am I looking at?"

"There are seven bubbles in the ovulum and they're all a different color. The blue one is larger than the others though and it keeps on inflating and deflating, almost like it's a beating heart."

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"I have no idea. Perhaps we will figure it out tomorrow."

He nodded and we began to prepare to rest for the night. I piled dry twigs on the ground and he breathed fire onto them. We sat close to each other to provide warmth. The tune of the purity ovulum continued to play though it was much weaker than before. I laid my head against Andrew's shoulder and allowed sleep to overtake my senses as I prayed for a dream.