PrinceyLeggles

For this chapter, I just have to say, it's a fantasy book. Science doesn't have to make sense.

Katya opened her eyes, expecting to see the familiar sight of her bedroom. But she had to remind herself that:

a. she was a dragon

b. her room was burned down

c. she was in a cell.

Katya sighed looking at Casimir's snoring body in the cell next to her. A dragon, a true dragon. Katya had basically given up looking for dragons (even though she had never truly started)  and she certainly never expected to find another one here, and talking of another world called Kyria. She got up and to her surprises, a new bowl of food was sitting for her. she got up her chains clinking together as she moved and bent her head over the food, sniffing the contents.

"You awake?" A groggy voice came from Casimir's direction. Casimir had stood up and was stretching his wings and legs. 

"Well, obviously I'm awake!" Katya snorted, she didn't feel too nice today. 

"No need to be so sassy," Casimir smirked, pausing his stretching to grin at her.

 Katya turned away, "I'm not" 

"Yeah, you are." 

Katya huffed tiring of the conversation already.  But she didn't have to suffer for long, Sir entered the corridor, obviously in a much worse mood than the other day,  "Right, dragon time for another questioning." He grunted as he opened her cell and threw a rope over her head. 

Katya winced as he unlocked her shackles, and dragged her out. Forcing her stiff legs to move, Katya could only last a few steps, "Stop-" she choked out. 

Sir turned in slow motion, as he was clearly in a bad mood, "Alright," he said in a cold voice, glaring at her, "you can stay here. We can stay here with your boyfriend," at the last word Casimir shot up. 

"WHAT?!" Casimir growled as he launched himself at his bars. at the same time, Katya leapt backward trying to wriggle out of the ropes, her right wing burning with pain as she struggled desperately. But Sir fought too he pulled on the ropes. but as a dragon Katya overpowered him, even in this weak state,  Sir yelled as she yanked the rope out of his hands.

Casimir Jumped on the bars to his cell, scratching them with his claws and making a terrible screeching nose,  "KATYA, run, get out" he was interrupted when the doors flew open. And a  girl ran in. A girl Katya knew. 

"FATHER" she yelled running over to Sir's form sprawled on the ground. 

"It is alright Chloe" Sir muttered sitting up. Katya looked closer at the girl, Chloe. yep, this was Chloe, the one from school. she knew Chloe's father was a science major but what were the chances? 

Chloe stared hatefully at dragon Katya as she did at human Katya. She helped Sir stand. "back in your cage, Beast." she snarled attempting to look mean and scary. Katya snorted at her pitiful attempt. Katya tauntingly stepped slowly closer to Chloe and Sir. Pretending to be about to bite them. "I said BACK IN YOUR CAGE!" Chloe yelled terror in her voice.

Katya smiled and spoke one word. Which crackled out of the translator. "No."

Chloe swelled up to her full height, which wasn't very tall, "what did you just say to me" she hissed.

"No. I said no."

"No one- NO ONE says no to me." 

"Well, I just did."

"You know, you remind me of someone- annoying. But she is dead or whatever" Chloe waved her hand as though it didn't matter "Her house burned down or something. I think her name was Kaykay Kaia, anyway something really weird."

Katya froze, with her mind flashing as fast as it was, she said something without meaning to: "It's Katya, idiot." 

This time it was Chloe's turn to freeze. "How-" but she never got to finish her sentence. She would never even say another word. at that very same moment, Casimir burst from his cell, driven by a desire to save Katya and to be free again. The metal bars he had broken flew through the air as he spread his wings. and one hit Chloe right in the head, splitting open her skull. 

Sir opened his eyes just in time to see his daughter's body fall to the ground and the blood pouring from her wound.

"LET'S GO!" Casimir yelled launching himself in the air

"I-I can't!" Katya yelled back

"Why not?" Casimir was getting desperate, time was running out

"Sprained wing!" Katya called

"alright," Casimir swooped down and scooped Katya up in his talons. He struggled to lift both of them in the air but once he did he flew to one of the huge high up windows and squeezed them both through it. 

Katya saw the land speed below her as she swayed dangerously from Casimir's claws. she could feel him straining to keep them both aloft. Casimir somehow managed to fly for about ten minutes then he landed and collapsed, panting on the ground.

"You alright?" Katya asked softly lifting him to his feet. 

"yeah, I think I will be alright, why did you have to break your wing again?" he wheezed

Katya rolled her eyes,  "Oh I didn't HAVE to I just wanted to make you struggle. Even before I knew you!" 

They both laughed quietly for a bit, just enjoying freedom, and having another dragon to be with. when Katya decided to break the laughter with a quiet question. "Can you tell me more about Kyria? Please?" 

Casimir was momentarily caught off guard, but he recovered quickly and managed to stutter, "Uh- Oh yeah of course I can" 

Katya nodded and leaned closer to him. she had only talked to Casimir for an hour or so but already she was starting to feel some sort of connection, although Katya wasn't quite sure what it was. Friendship? Maybe. But, she wouldn't know anyway. She had never had a friend.

Casimir breathed in deeply for a dramatic effect "The Story Of Kyria. Dragons once roamed this land freely, the humans sacrificed to them, and they honored them. Until 10 centuries ago- Humans decided they were done honoring the dragons and started hunting them down, killing them, then selling things as their scales for money." Casimir paused for breath and Katya shuddered. "The dragons quickly realized what was happening. Either they were to go or to become extinct. But where would they go? 5 of the most powerful dragons of that age got together and opened a portal to another world.  All the dragons traveled to that world, except you, anyway, once the dragons had made a home in that world they named it Kyria, after the dragon who discovered the other world."

Katya was awed by the new story, "Dragons have magic?" she asked without thinking. But- as soon as the words came out of her mouth she internally hit herself Of course we have magic! She chided herself. We're dragons! 

Casimir looked at her strangely as he seemed to be thinking the same thing as her, "Of course." He lifted a claw. and spun it in a circle. a small sphere of water appeared and hovered above Casimir's outstretched talon. 

Katya mirrored the motion Casimir had made and a teeny drop of water fell to the ground like rain. "How did you do it? TEACH ME." she pleaded.

Casimir laughed, "wow, okay, fine. Here" He took her talon in his and lifted them in the same motion he had made before. "The movement is only part. The magic part. The rest is some sort of science or something. Think about all the water around you combining into a sphere, that's what we are doing. Pulling all the water molecules together." 

Katya nodded, even though she didn't know if that was how science worked, and imagined all the water in the air around the coming together, just like Casimir had said. A large sphere of water appeared in the air but fell quickly to the ground. Casimir laughed again "Concentrate, that's what you need to practice, right?"

Katya smiled, "Right." she practiced the motion again, this time the sphere (although much smaller) appeared and hovered for a fraction of a second and then fell to the ground with a splash. 

Casimir's stomach growled loudly and he blushed as Katya started laughing. "What I'm hungry!" he complained, suddenly flopping to the ground as if he was dying. 

"Right, I don't suppose you could summon food like you did water?" she asked knowing that there was only the slightest chance.

"No, and we didn't summon the water, we just pulled together water molecules to form a large sphere, that's basic magic anyway, moving things. Summoning is much more complex." Casimir said. 

Katya sighed "How 'bout I gather some berries and you hunt. Meet back at this spot in a few minutes?" 

Casimir nodded and took off. Katya started traveling through the trees in search of a bush with berries, longingly thinking about soaring through the air- not that it was possible with her broken wing. 

"-killed my poor daughter,"

"-Sorry-"

"you should've-"

Katya heard snatches of a human conversation coming from somewhat through the trees, but they weren't just any voices they were the voices of her mother and- Sir? Katya froze as she heard the next word her MOTHER spoke:

"It's alright dear I always loved our daughter."

Katya froze. All of her senses seemed to freeze too as Katya felt a chill down her spine. Daughter? Did she mean me or Chloe?  she knew it couldn't mean both of them since her mother had only said daughter, maybe it was Chloe- after all, she was the one Kayta had killed. And the one whose father had been Sir. Also, that could be why her mother had treated her like a slave because in her eyes Katya was one. But, Katya felt she might be jumping to too many conclusions. She'd just have to wait and see. 

Katya sank to the ground half of her not even caring that the voices were coming closer, one half wanted to stay and listen even though she would probably get caught again. The other half wanted to run, get back to Casimir, her first and only... friend. Katya had never thought that word would ever apply to her and it felt strange in her mind. Luckily the thought of having only one friend and abandoning him won over the other half of Katya. 

She shakily stood up. and started wobbling back the way she came, trying to block the conversation out of her overworked head. Her heartbeats were louder than the voices- everything was starting to blur.. the voices stopped, and she heard footsteps quickly approaching. Katya just kept walking, but her inner dragon could sense something, danger, so she walked a bit brisker.  she suddenly got the chilling feeling that she was slowly being enclosed in a cage. she felt tiny like things twice her size was towing over her she kept powering on, but nothing happened. Her feet were moving but she wasn't going forward. She beat her wings but nothing happened. Her right wing wasn't even broken anymore. She kept flapping and suddenly the haze lifted and Katya was launched into the air. She soared in the sky over to the spot Casimir was waiting. Katya crashed beside him, vertigo quickly fading as soon as it had come. 

"Your wing!" He exclaimed and rushed over to her as she landed.

"I don't know what happened, but It felt like the world broke as much as my wing." Katya shuddered, the thought of it made her feel sick, "But I have something-"

Casimir interrupted her "Great Job! You did healing Magic! the side effects are, feeling like you're in a strange dream, unconsciousness, and no side effects if you are a practiced healer!" 

"How can 'no side effects be a side effect? Anyway- I-" Katya started, pausing to catch her breath, "I found Sir."

"Sir?" Casimir looked confused. "who is Sir?"

Katya groaned, she didn't really feel like doing much, "I forgot I never told you, Sir is what I call the man from the lab"

Casimir nodded but still looked confused "alright... anyway what about him?"

"He was with my-" Katya stopped suddenly remembering that Casimir still didn't know that Katya wasn't a real dragon, and something made her not want to tell the truth. 

"Your what?" Casimir looked genuinely interested in the story and Katya didn't know how she could not tell him but not make it sound weird.

"Uhh... never mind. it's not that important I forget, really," Katya tried not to sound suspicious, but she had never been a good liar. At all. 

"Umm, okay but you sure? It sounded pretty important at first," Casimir stared at her as if she was mentally ill or something. She glanced at the ground subconsciously. I should stop lying... she told herself, He'll find out eventually. But- does he need to find out? Her mind was indecisive as always. It just made her irritated. 

With her next words, Katya tried to sound as confident as possible. Yet she still thought she was failing, "I'm sure. what's for dinner." Casimir reluctantly let Katya change the subject but he still looked extremely puzzled. 

He picked up a deer carcass from beside him and put it between them. "I got this, what do you think?"

"I-its great." Katya's throat was suddenly very dry. She nodded to Casimir to start cleaning the carcasses. Then, she turned to a nearby tree. And started carving.

Carving.

It was the only thing Katya missed about her old life. The satisfying texture of the wood as she ran her fingers along the intricate lines of her freshly made carving. Then, of course, taking out all her paints she had just barely afforded with the money she earned from the job she used to have at the bookstore. Painting every character and giving them names, personality traits, and a story. A story that she wished she had, 

"Done!" Casimir called to her back.

"right" Katya whispered so Casimir could barely hear her. but she kept carving. Katya wasn't even sure what she was carving she just kept scratching deep marks into the tree.

"Katya, come eat!" Casimir pleaded, "I know whatever happened wasn't just 'unimportant'. I'm not making you say what it was. I just want you to come here." Katya reluctantly came over to Casimir and bent her head over her food, trying her best to avoid Casimir's worried eyes. They had only known each other for a little bit- and had barely like actually shared in any adventures. but it was nice to be close to someone who didn't resent her existence. 

Katya didn't speak for the rest of the day. In the hour it turned dark Katya curled up in a corner far away from Casimir and pretended to sleep, but was kept awake by the words she had heard. She constantly tried to pull herself away and scolded herself for thinking about so much. but her mind kept straying back. Who cares? Not me. I don't care about my mother anymore- she's NOT my mother! she repeatedly went over this one argument as she tried to convince herself. 

Katya opened her eyes it was pitch black and she could hear Casimir's snoring soft and steady breathing, Good, he is asleep,  she thought slowly standing up. She walked silently to the jagged edge of the cliff and stared into the dark depths below the edge. She listed to the eerie silence as if something that wasn't meant to be quiet was, but everything was quiet... Katya listed hard and she realized she could no longer hear Casimir. Had he woken up or-. Her question was answered when a drop of something wet fell on her tail. She moved her tail in front of her.  and looked where the water had fallen, but illuminated by the moonlight she saw the liquid wasn't water it was- blood. 

Katya turned around with horror and saw Casimir lying on the ground blood pouring from a wound on his back. Her mother was kneeling over him, holding a knife. But right behind Katya was Sir, also holding a knife and ready to strike. Sir swore when he saw Katya turn around and he brought down the knife.

But to their surprise, Katya moved quicker than she ever thought she could and darted behind Sir. She lashed out her tail, causing Sir's legs to fall beneath him and he fell on his face- just barely avoiding falling on his knife. He lifted his face out of the mud and snarled. Sir picked himself off the ground, his clothes dripping with mud. he lunged at Katya with the knife, and she beat her wings desperately trying her best to get in the air. She made it high enough just in time to only get a cut on her back leg. 

Sir yelled to her mother and she stood up and threw something at Sir. He caught it and aimed it at Katya and she didn't need to see it to guess what it was. Sir fired off the gun with a defining crack and Katya tried to doge but pain exploded up her chest and she fell to the ground, where everything turned dark. 

Katya woke, she was still lying on the ground where she had fought with sir the night before. But right now the sun was high in the sky and the only other living thing was- Casimir! Katya had just seen how bad Casimir was he was drenched in blood, and covered in deep cuts and bullet marks. Hadn't the night before Casimir had only a big cut on his back? Why would Sir and her mother hurt him, even more, when he was probably dead? But there wasn't much time to dwell on that fact, Katya needed to help him. 

She waved her talons in a circle trying to pull the water molecules together like she had practiced the other day. A few drops of water hovered for a few seconds and then fell to the ground. Katya tried again, more desperate afraid that she would lose her only friend, the only other dragon. Again she tried, this time a sphere appeared and fell, but as it was falling Katya used its momentum to push it over to Casimir's body and it splattered on his face. she tried again trying to get more water this time she tried to get a whole gallon of water. Katya channeled all her energy into helping Casimir, but instead of summoning water, Casimir's wounds started to fade, but before Katya could truly see what was happening she swayed on the spot and fell. 

PrinceyLeggles

I'm posting two chapters today 'cause I'm not sure if I can post one tomorrow 'cause of my horse show. But if I do make it, y'all get an extra chapter!