Ch. 10

"What do you mean?" I ask standing up.

He runs to the bedroom and wakes everyone up.

"We need to get everyone to the beach, a earthquake is coming."

"How do you know?" I ask, picking up the pups.

" The little creatures are on the move, I'll be right back, go straight there." He changes into a majestic creature.

I bow as he walks out the door.

Damien puts his hand on my shoulder. " We should get going."

"How far away is the beach?"

He shrugs. " We'll be following everyone else, I've never been there."

"Okay:"

We only take food and water and make our way to the town center.

Everyone is here whispering to each other, unaware of what's happening.

"Don't say anything," Comac whispers to me. "It'll make things worse."

He's right, and I don't want to do that.

Arkell appears before us all. "We are evacuating to the ocean for the next few moons. The ground is going to shake soon, we must be safe! Please follow us to our destination!" He leads the large crowd to the tree line.

We all move forward on a lightly used footpath. The scenery is beautiful, the smell of spring in the air."

Flowers sway in the gentle breeze. It's amazing how I used to be surrounded by gray buildings, now surrounded by the beauty of nature.

I large white tiger comes up to me in beast form. He bows. "King Arkell has requested your presence." I look at Damien and Comac.

"We'll take the pups, go ahead." Damien holds out his arms. He takes the girls.

I hand Nordan to Comac and kiss all 3 of them on their heads. "Okay, I'll be right back."

They both smile weakly

The tiger gestures for me to get on its back.

I climb on, and it sprints to the front of the herd of people.

Arkell is waiting for me as a Griffin. He nods his head, "Thank you."

I hop off and walk next to him. " Hello, your Majesty."

"I wanted to apologize for this morning. I hope you're not angry with me." His eyes filled with sorrow.

I shake my head. "Of course not, you have a kingdom to run and protect. I promise I'm not angry."

I can't tell if he smiled or not, but he seems happy.

"Tell me, have you seen the ocean before?"

"I've always wanted to see it. I hear it's beautiful at sunset." I've only seen the ocean in pictures, and those were beautiful alone.

"I want to show you something. Please, climb onto my back and hold on tight."

"Um, okay." I swallow hard and climb up.

With a single thrust of his wings, we take off.

I shut my eyes in fear.

After a moment or two, he shouts at me. "Open your eyes! We are here!"

When I open them I see the blue ocean. The waves move in and out, making foam. The sun shines on the dark blue water making it shimmer. It glitters as a sapphire would from a jeweler. We land on a cliff just above the water.

"This view is amazing!" The wind blows through my hair, keeping me cool in the heat. I watch a crowd form by the water a ways away.

Arkell sighs. "At least everyone is safe." He changes to human form and smiles.

Suddenly the ground shakes violently. I collapse onto the ground, unable to stand. I hear screams from the beach as the ground shakes.

"My babies!" I cry and reach out to them, even though I know I won't reach them.

"Don't move, it's not safe!" Arkell holds me tightly.

I pray the shaking stops soon.

A few minutes later.

The shaking finally stops and I feel my heart race.

Arkell looks around and releases me. "Looks like nothing fell out here."

I grasp at my chest, it feels like I can't breathe.

He grabs my shoulders. "Fae, look at me. You need to breathe, okay?"

I almost couldn't hear him over my racing thoughts.

He grabs my chin and looks into my eyes. "Breathe." He says softly.

We do slow deep breaths and I eventually calm down.

"Thank you," I say, slowly standing up. "I've never been in an earthquake before."

"It's alright. I'm glad we got through it together." He reaches his hand out.

As I reach out to him, the ground cracks beneath me.

The ground suddenly breaks, sending me plummeting to the ocean below.