Chapter 07

It was one of the most curious sensations that possessed Adryk now. The feeling of totally and utterly weightless as his body seemed to hang in the air like the astronauts in space. The teen's head swiveled around frantically as he searched for anything even remotely recognizable growing more concerned with each passing second.

Nothing.

There was nothing, nothing but a boundless white which looked to stretch outward for an unknowable distance in all directions.

"What's happening?" Adryk spoke voice thick with anxiety "Where am I?"

The white backdrop was so pure it was nearly blinding to look at forcing Adryk to squint in his attempts to peer to through this void. To the floating teen it was as though he was in a world devoid of anything but the emptiness of the space he now found himself.

It felt as though an eternity had passed before it came to an end.

His gut lurched violently as Adryk was overtaken by a familiar feeling. It was the feeling of hurtling downwards at an unbelievable speed just like he had when falling through the storm during his arrival to world of Vikings. His heart raced, adrenaline surged in his veins causing time to appear to slow down even further. While his panicked eyes scoured the emptiness he happened upon something.

This something appeared to be moving equally as fast to meet him.

Instantly he knew what it was. It was the ground rushing up to meet him. Squeezing his eyes shut, gritting his teeth Adryk raised his arms up to shield his face as if it would offer any protection from the bone shattering impact. An impact that no doubt would mean an end to him.

And yet the crash and pain never came.

In its place he felt a gentle pressure cover the front of his body while the exposed flesh of his arms told him that whatever the surface that pressed against was hard, smooth and cold to the touch. At a snail's pace he opened his eyes moving his arms out of the way.

Glancing about he found himself lying upon a stone tiled floor. The tiles appeared to be made from marble or granite, the stone itself was predominately white with little specks that looked like someone had spilled a pepper shaker. The white was a sharp contrast to the jagged streaks of black that ran through some of the tiles like bolts of lightning.

Shakily Adryk got to his feet none too sure about the surface under the soles of his feet.

Cupping his hands around his mouth, the teen shouted at the top of his lungs "Hello!" Adryk then paused to listen for any kind of response but there was none, not even a distant echo. "Is anybody out there? Can anybody hear me?" again, he waited.

Again, nothing. Not a sound.

By all counts Adryk should have found himself terrified, but strangely he was not. Instead, he felt a odd sense of calm and peace settling over him.

Tentatively he began to move. His head was on a constant swivel looking from one side to another as he surveyed the extents of the area. The stone flooring continued outward for a number of meters before just coming to an abrupt end. If not for the black speckles he might have walked straight over the edge without knowing it. Just above the edge there looked to be sets of frameless stain glass windows that hung suspended in the empty air.

Between two of the windows a path made of weathered grey stepping stones floated outwards acrossed the sea of emptiness leading to a destination that lay beyond sight.

Striding carefully to the edge Adryk leaned forwards peering down into the white void below then to the path. Each stone looked old perhaps bordering on ancient with a slight gap between them. Another survey of the area and it seemed that this floating pathway may have been the only avenue of escape from here was. But the teen was not so foolish as to take that first step upon those craggy stones, for the fear that the path might lead to a place even more bizarre and frightening than this one.

While he stood gazing into the surrounding void he noted a change in what could be called the sky beyond his granite island.

The air seemed to fill with electrical feeling that caused his hair to stand on end and his skin to tingle. Suddenly the white canvas was dotted with what looked like ebony stars. Bands of light, so bright that even the eyes of a god could not look into them for long, burned into the ivory tapestry. The lights danced acrossed the sky rearranging themselves to form luminescent runes for a brief moment before disappearing entirely.

The runes were both eerie and magnificent, wonderful and terrible as Adryk gazed on struggling to read over the runes trying to decipher what, if anything, they said. Unfortunately, try as he might the teen could not make out a single word.

It was then as the teen was preoccupied that the endless stillness came to an abrupt end.

The impulsive commotion caused the teen to whip around searching for the source of the terrible noise. There he watched as the stones of the floating path first cracked then began to crumble like some great force was crushing them. The innumerable pieces were lost from view as they fell, cascading into the vast void below.

Wary of the stones beneath his very feet might be next Adryk slowly started to back away. His feet shuffled along afraid that any harsh movement may cause their collapse. Gradually the teen's pace quickened until it turned into a flat out fun for safety.

With no outstanding features with which to gauge his progress he may as well have been running in place.

Finally he slowed feeling he had managed to put enough distance between himself, the edge of the granite tiles, and the crumbling stone stairs which had become just a quiet rumble. Coming to a stop he hunched over resting his hands on his knees as he panted in effort to catch his breath.

Calming down he was close to getting his breathing under control when another sound shattered the silence.

Standing up straight the young man spun around trying to locate the source. Adryk could hear the reverberating sound of heavy footfalls on the stone growing in volume with each step. It was strange whereas before no sound carried an echo but these did almost as if they were bouncing off some unseen walls.

Squinting a human like shape became visible against the white background. The figure was striding towards him at a languid pace, but it was enough to cause the cape it wore to flare out behind it.

An uneasy tension gripped Adryk, though part of him told him to run he stood his ground ready to face whatever was coming. After all with where he now found himself what good would that do, where would go? Perhaps whomever this was knew where he was, how he got there, or even how he might get back.

But then another thought struck him like an icy wind sending a chill down his spine. Maybe this person was the reason he was in this place and they might be coming to do something rather unpleasant. This thought caused the teen to swallow the lump in his throat hard, and as his mind now wished his body to run unfortunately his legs refused to work.

The mysterious figure came to a stop not taking another step.

Without warning a incredible animalistic roar cut through the tension. Out of the far right corner of his eye a glimpse of movement caused Adryk to refocus his attention. A new much larger figure was approaching and it was clearly not human at all. It strode on four legs, its head held aloft by a serpentine neck and looking close the teen could make out what looked like a pair horns atop its head. Looking under its body a long tail could be seen trailing along the ground occasionally swaying from side to side with each step.

However, the most fascinating and incredible feature was that of the large set of wings the creature held outstretched from its body.

As Adryk's mind absorbed these features and assemble them an image took shape in his head, an image of something rather familiar. "It can't be…" he tried to tear his eyes from the forthcoming beast as if to deny its existence, "a Dragon."

Then as if someone had just flipped a switch, in the blink of an eye the bulky shadowy form simply vanished!

Blinking rapidly he performed a double take making sure he had seen right. When it proved true he turned to first figure only to that it too was nowhere to be seen. His breathing picked up pace as the second burst of adrenaline surged into his system. Muscled tensed readying to run, pupils dilated trying to take in every detail and his ears strained to detect even the slightest of sounds.

As his anxiety grew he felt it, a jet of hot air brushing against the back of his neck. The teen froze instantly as his breath caught in his chest, mustering the courage started to slowly turn.

The two beings stood motionless with no more than four feet separating them. The creature however was shrouded in a thick hazy cloud the color of damp ash which kept its body hidden from Adryk's sight leaving only a vague outline. Only the beast's blazing eyes were clearly visible through the fog. Gazing into its eyes the teen was reminded of the times he had looked at his own in a mirror, as great blue slitted eyes stared out of the haze back into his own.

However, there was a clear difference between them.

The beast's eyes were not cold and seemingly lifeless like his own. No, its eyes were a fierce and majestic azure blue that blazed with a force which seemed to be barely contained. To mystified teen it was like staring into the heart of a raging maelstrom. Like a primal force of nature that radiated a power that would scorch anything in their path.

Time had for him had ceased to exist long ago. Under the intense and piercing gaze Adryk was frozen, unable to move even if he had wanted to. The longer the creature's remained focused on him the more he got the feeling they were looking at more than just his appearance. They almost gave the impression that perhaps they were gazing into the very core of his being as if eyeing his soul.

It was a feeling that left him awestruck.

Then inexplicably he felt another presence behind. A large hand clamped down tightly on his shoulder pulling hard in effort to turn him around.

"Welcome..."

-xxx-

In an instant the teen's eyes flew open as he bolted upright on the bedroll.

His chest heaved with each rapid breath while his heart thundered at a frantic pace. Reaching up he gripped his forehead feeling the cold sweat that dripped from his pores causing his clothes to cling to his body. Blue eyes wildly scanned the room for anything that might have changed since going to sleep. Gradually his breathing slowed returning to normal with a exasperated sigh.

As he looked around the room he couldn't deny the small part of him that had been hoping this whole thing was a dream and he would awaken back in his bed. But the teen wasn't so lucky as he sat on the Viking sleeping bag.

With another sigh Adryk ran his hand through his hair to rub at the back of his neck wiping away any sweat in the process. A quick glance to the fire pit showed it still burned though not as brightly as it once had been causing the room to take a darker more ominous look to it.

"Just a dream," Adryk murmured with a sigh of relief. Lifting his right hand he noticed the slight tremble it possessed, and then sluggishly he glanced to his left shoulder. Reaching up his hand lightly touched the place where the figure from the dream had seized him, "But it felt so real."

Throwing back the covers freeing his left the blonde teen heaved himself upwards to stand. Striding forwards he moved to the small stack of wood by the door to grab a few pieces from the top and place them on the pyre. The flames were slow to spread to the new fuel source but eventually they returned the room to brighter warmer look.

Turning Adryk moved to the table at the back of the room.

Grabbing a mug from a shelf he lifted the pitcher pouring the liquid contents into the glass. Setting the pitcher back down he quickly gulped down the refreshing fluid. The cool water helped to put him at ease releasing the pent up tension in his muscles.

Lifting his gaze he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the polished metal of a shield on the wall. At the sight of his own eyes the memory of the dream dragon's eyes flashed in his head "I think I need some air."

Putting the mug on the table he turned hastily making his way to the door. Doing his best to keep things quiet he opened the door about halfway allowing him to peer outside.

It was still obviously night, the midnight blue sky was clear of clouds giving a clear view of the stars and the full moon. The silvery moonlight did a fair job of illuminating the village and the surrounding area.

As a cool breeze wafted softly over him, he closed his eyes taking a deep breath.

Adryk repeated the process several more times. Taking a deep breath, holding it for a moment before releasing it feeling his heart slow further as his relaxation deepened.

Opening his eyes again the teen examined the village noticing the lights of the sentry's torches as they went about their patrols. Taking one last deep breath he stepped back closing the door as quietly as he could before returning to the bedroll.

Pulling the cover back over his legs he laid back.

As he lied there he did his best to recall the dream that had woken him only minutes ago. His mind was particularly focused to the two figures he had encountered. Doing his best Adryk tried to summon up all the details he could but the harder he tried to remember the hazier the images became. His frustration grew at the elusive answers to the teen he might as well been trying to catch smoke with his bare hands.

With a frustrated sigh he gave deciding instead to sleep on the matter. Little by little, his thinking grew duller as he drifted off back to sleep.