Twisted: Chapter three

Ling leaned down and gave Lyf a kiss on the forehead.  She smiled weakly and gently pet her daughter as she slept.  As soon as they arrived to the human’s hut outside of the city, she got to work making medicines.  She gave Lyf the first batch, cleaning her wounds and bandaging her up.  Then she tucked her into bed and did her own.  Now she was sitting contently by her bedside, watching her sleep. 

She still had no idea what was happening her.  She remembered flying.  She remembered being hit.  But then what?  Where was she?  And what happened to the city?

“I trust you’re feeling better?”  A kind older woman’s voice said. 

Ling looked over with a tiny smile and nodded, “yes.  Thank you.”

“My son tells me you claim to be the dragon elder of the East,” she said going over, sitting in a chair by the wall.  “I’ve never heard of such things.”

Ling’s smile melted away.  She thought maybe he was just crazy but for two of them to claim the same thing…  “Maybe not,” she said softly.  “But I speak the truth.  My name is Ling.  I’ve been a dragon elder for a long time now.  My daughter and I were performing blessings in the East when we were attacked.”  She explained shifting uncomfortably.  “I thought I’d found our way home but I fear I was wrong.”

“And why do you think that?”  The woman asked.

Ling frowned deeper, “because my home is not like this.  My home- our home- is a beautiful thriving city.  Humans live peacefully with one another and in the center is the tower of elders.  The dragon elders and myself live there and help humans from all over.  When we left a few days ago, everything was fine.  But this…  This city…  It’s not ours.  It can’t be.  It’s impossible.”

The woman frowned and stared at her for a while.  “You said you were attacked?  What did it?”

Ling shook her head, “I don’t know.  It came out of nowhere.  I didn’t sense it.  Didn’t see anything.  It just hit me and we fell.”  She recalled the accident again but this time there was a jolt of something new to the flashback.  “Actually,” she said softly, “I believe I recall a light.  A red light.  Right before we were hit.”

The woman’s frown only grew more concerned, “so you were hit by red light and then woke to find an unfamiliar world?”

Ling wasn’t sure if those were the words she would use but she slowly nodded anyway, “yes…  I suppose one could say that.”

The woman stared for a moment then let out a long sigh.  “I fear, perhaps, you were hit with a spell.”  She said standing up.

“A spell?”  Ling asked frowning.  “I don’t understand how you mean.”

The woman shook her head, “in my youth I was an apprentice to a wizard.  I was never any good at it so I retired within a few weeks,” she explained.  “But there was a spell I remembered reading about.  A spell that bended reality.”  Ling just stared in disbelief, which made the woman chuckle.  “I understand it sounds impossible.  Give me time to explain. 

“This spell I read about explained that a red flash of light would turn back time and alter things.  Now what exactly it altered varied.  But regardless, it would change things enough to change everything.  Like a ripple in a pond, all it takes is the tiniest of pebbles to create an affect.”

Ling was never big into spells.  She didn’t think something like that could exist.  “If what you’re saying is true,” she said softly, “someone cast a spell on me.  But why?  I never did anything to deserve that.”

“I do not know this answer,” the woman said.  “All I know is that if it is a spell, there is few things you can do to change it back.  Depending on the type of spell and who cast it, you may or may not return to your original world.”

Ling’s heart sank but she took everything the woman said with a grain of salt.  She straightened up, “I need to speak to my mate.”  She said sternly.  “He…  He can help me figure this out.  As I am right now, I can’t do this.  I don’t know this world and if anyone can find an answer, it would be him.”

The woman took a long breath in and out before nodding, “do you know your mate still exists in this world?”

“I don’t,” Ling said softly, “but our bond is stronger than magic.  I feel his presence still.  He is here.  Somewhere…”

“Then I will do what I can to help you,” the woman said with a weak smile.

Ling smiled back before raising an eyebrow, “why though?  What do you have to gain from this?”

The woman sighed and waved a hand, “have you looked around?  If there is a way of turning this great?  I would do anything…  While this spell may have only been aimed at you, the ripples have affected everything.  If I can give you a location or a loaf of bread to aid you on your journey, it is a small price to pay at the hope of turning things better.”

Ling smiled once more.  This woman was kind.  She would have to remember her when she went back.  “Then please.  I need to find him.  The dragon Elder of the West.  Browin.”