The Young Dragon

Qadira 's body was shaking uncontrollably. Never in her life did she ever think she would witness such cruelty. Qadira hugged herself and looked away to try and calm herself. At that moment, all she's feeling could almost be summarized in one word, terror.

After a few minutes, Qadira felt the presence of the people earlier had disappeared. When she calmed down a little, she carefully looked at the place again, and as she guessed, they were no longer there, as if they just vanished into thin air.

Qadira couldn't help but sigh in relief. Although her body isn't completely relaxed, the tension she felt, compared earlier, has dissipated a bit.

When she felt for sure it was already safe to go out from hiding in the bushes, she immediately went to where the people were earlier. Nothing is left at all, not the bodies, not the carriage and horses, not even the blood. All that was left was the bonfire that had already died. She guesses they don't have to bother getting rid of it.

The night was cold, and the silence of the woods was tranquil yet eerie at the same time. What now? Qadira thought to herself. She looked at her surroundings and all she could see was trees after trees.

Since the bonfire had died, the only source of light was the light reflected from the moon and a few fireflies that were in the area. She knew that staying there would be dangerous, but then so is leaving. Ghosts aside, she worries more about the fact that there could be wild animals in the area, and her sight is very limited. Besides, she doesn't know where she is now and where exactly to go.

She thought she could climb a tree to avoid predators on land, but what if there would be snakes in the trees, or other unknown creatures? Hah! Qadira couldn't help but sigh in frustration.

She looked at the moon that was in perfect circle shape and was bloody red in color. It was mesmerizing to look at, but its presence also made the ambiance more ominous. Although the feeling of hopelessness is something that was no longer unfamiliar to Qadira, the feeling she felt at that moment was particularly despairing.

In her head, she thought why did the situation suddenly turn into some sort of survival game. She hasn't particularly recovered from what happened earlier, and now she has to face yet another obstacle.

You know what? Let's just die, Qadira thought to herself. Frustrated, and was someone who is on the verge of losing her sanity. She looked around and saw a stone, the size of an adult's fist. "What's the point of struggling if I can just die, and all of this would just end" she murmured to herself and walked towards the stone and thought of bashing her head with it or something. At this point, she couldn't really think properly.

She grabbed the stone and examined it, perhaps examining which side would be more effective to use. She was already ready to do the deed but then the bustling sound in one of the bushes caught her attention. She immediately silenced herself and held the stone firmly in her hand. She focused her attention to where the sound was coming from.

Qadira was on high alert, and was all ready to either throw the stone or run for her life, depending on which one she will end up doing.

One of the bushes was shaking and after a few moments, a black cat came out of the bushes. She immediately felt relieved knowing it was just a cat and not some wolf, jaguar, or other predators. The cat stared at her and so did she. She thought it would just walk away and ignore her, but it didn't.

"Meow"

The cat meowed and started walking towards her. She wasn't sure if it was because she was a cat person, but the cat didn't make her feel uncomfortable nor feel threatened at all, especially in the world she's in where blindly trusting something or someone could prove lethal.

The cat continued to walk towards her, she wasn't sure what got into her but she instinctively crouched down and waited for the cat to approach her first. She extended her right hand and the cat stared at it and eventually rubbed itself onto her hand.

"Meow"

"Where did you come from?" Qadira asked the cat, although she knew it would not answer her.

"Meow"

"Can you understand me?" Qadira said in passing, and feeling silly about herself.

"Meow"

Qadira was caught off guard when the cat meowed as if really answering her. She thought it was probably just because she's too stressed and is losing her mind.

"Can you really understand me?" she tries to confirm.

"Meow"

"Alright, meow once if you don't and twice if you do" she told the cat. Although she wasn't particularly hoping for anything, it doesn't hurt to try. Afterall, she is supposed to be in a fantasy world.

"Meow"

Qadira waited for the cat to meow the second time, but it didn't. She looked at it, although disappointed, she wasn't exactly surprised. She closed her eyes and rubbed the temple of her nose. What did I even expect? She thought to herself

"Meow"

Qadira stopped rubbing her temple and immediately opened her eyes and looked at the cat when it meowed the second time. It was probably just a coincidence, but it made her happy nevertheless.

"If you really understand me, would it be okay if you could guide me somewhere safe?" She carefully asked the cat.

"Meow"

The cat rubbed itself on Qadira's hand before it started to walk away. It looked back and once again meowed to her, as if asking her to follow.

Qadira stood up and immediately followed the cat. She wasn't sure if she could fully trust the cat, what if it was used to lure her into danger? But then again, she could either stay there or follow the cat, she wasn't exactly left with much choice.

The cat continued to walk while Qadira was following it. It would sometimes stop and look at her to make sure that she was really following.

They've been walking for a while now, and she felt like instead of getting out of the woods, it was as if she was led even deeper into it. However, it was already too late to turn back.

After more minutes of walking, the cat stopped in front of what seems like an entrance to the cave. The entrance was not too big but was not too small either, just enough for one person to be able to enter. It was very hidden and the outside of it is covered in moss and molds, if you look at it from afar, it would look like just a massive stone that was enveloped by nature.

Qadira looked at the cat to ask if she should enter, but it was no longer there. She looked around to confirm if the cat was really gone, and it really is. Qadira once again looked at the entrance of the cave. She thought it was the consequences of being stupid and followed a cat, which was basically a stranger, yet still she did. She hesitated at first, but eventually decided to enter and examine the place.

She imagined the inside would be very spacious with lots of secret pathways you would normally expect in a fantasy genre, but it wasn't. Its size is just what you would expect from the outside appearance of it. She walked deeper into the cave and what caught her attention was a massive black, stone-like egg, almost like the size of a pregnant woman's belly.

Qadira walked towards it to confirm if it was really an egg. If it was, she's in big trouble. It only means that she's inside someone's nest, and based on the size of the egg, the mother, whatever it is, is massive.

When Qadira was in front of it, it looked more like a stone that was shaped like an egg. Besides, she never saw an egg that was black in color, since where she came from, animal eggs were usually white or brownish.

Qadira extended her hand to touch the egg, but she immediately retracted it when she felt a strong spark of electricity and something poked her finger. When she looked at it, her finger was bleeding and some of it dropped on the egg.

Her heart beat faster and as she was looking at the egg trying to process what just happened, a small crack started to appear on the egg.

Qadira started to panic and almost all the cursed words she knew were uttered mentally multiple times. Between fight or flight, her body chose to freeze instead. She knew she had to get out of there before the mother came back, but her body just wouldn't listen.

After she came into a different world, it seems as though she always gets herself into trouble no matter how many times she tries to not get involved in anything.

Before the egg fully hatched, Qadira was able to gain back control to her body and immediately run away.

As she ran back to get out of the cave, the entrance to where she came from was nowhere to be seen. She was sure it was around that area, but the place was entirely closed off. She ran to the other side, but the exit was nowhere to be found, as if it was never there.

"Kyuu?"

Qadira immediately stopped when she heard a sound inside the cave. Since it was closed off, small noises are easily heard, and the sound typically echoes. She turned around to see where the voice came from.

What awaited her was a pair of blue eyes that seemed to illuminate amidst the darkness of the cave in the distance to where the egg came from.

"Kyuu?" it uttered.

The pair of blue eyes seems to be getting closer, and Qadira can't help but just freeze in there and was trying not to make a single sound, not even the sound of her breathing.

"Kyuu?" it muttered once again.

"Holy Hell!" Qadira was extremely startled and ended up cursing loudly when the being in front of her released a small fireball and it almost got her.

The fire lit up the place where it landed. A little bit closer and it would have landed on her face.

She wasn't sure what's up with the fire, but it didn't die. The fire instead, ended up providing some light inside the cave. She looked back to the creature who was responsible for the fire.

When she had a clear view of what it was, how she wished it was just an ordinary reptile hatchling, like a crocodile perhaps, not that she would like to see one in that situation. But she was sure as hell, the creature in front of her was a young dragon. Looking at it, it looks like the size of a newborn baby.

Its body was covered in thick scales and it had four legs. Its head had two horns, and multiple spikes on its head as well as its tail. Its body was black, aside from its stomach and chest which was all white with a straight stripe of dark blue. Aside from those, what's more apparent to its feature was its wings which made Qadira sure that it was indeed a dragon.

The young dragon started to walk towards Qadira. It will stumble from time to time but it immediately backs up and walks again. It even tried to fly, but just immediately fell down. Probably because it was still newly hatched so it doesn't have a full motor control yet.

Qadira just watched the young dragon as it approached her. Aside from the fact that her strength left her body for an unknown reason, she also has nowhere to escape to.

Looking at the young dragon swaying back and forth, she almost felt crazy about how she thought it was cute and harmless.

Thinking back, it seems as though the cat intentionally led her to the cave to be the young dragon's first meal. Although Qadira wanted to curse the cat, she also thought that it isn't so bad to die at the hands of a dragon either. If people ask her in the afterlife about how she died, how amazing would it be to say he was killed by a dragon, although still young, not that they would ever know.

When the young dragon reached Qadira. It immediately sat in front of her as if mimicking Qadira who was sitting. It looked at her and so did Qadira to the dragon. The dragon tilted its head and its left hand tried to reach Qadira.

"Kyuu?" it uttered as if asking her about something. Although, she wasn't really sure what it was talking about.

"Kyuu?" Qadira mimicked the dragon, and it almost feels like she could see the young dragon's expression lit up.

"Kyuu!"

"Kyuu!"

"Kyuu!"

The young dragon repeatedly uttered enthusiastically. It jumped and circled multiple times. The young dragon went even closer to her and jumped in her lap. Qadira froze up and wasn't really able to do anything and just let the young dragon do whatever it wanted. She looked at the dragon and it was comfortably sleeping on her lap. Ha..Ha..Ha.. Qadira mentally laughs nervously, what the heck is going on?

_____

Qadira opened her eyes and saw the dragon was no longer sleeping in her lap. She also noticed that the entrance that disappeared was once again there.

She immediately got up and went outside. She must have slept for quite a while since it was already bright outside. She heard a bustling sound and saw the young dragon emerge from it.

Before she could react, the young dragon immediately ran towards where she was and then stopped in front of her. She noticed that it was holding a small dead snake in its mouth and then dropped it in front of her as if offering it.

"Kyuu!" it said. Qadira was puzzled about what the young dragon was doing and she ended up just staring at the young dragon . When the young dragon noticed that Qadira wasn't doing anything to the snake. The young dragon muzzled the snake towards her to move it closer and then looked at her.

"Kyuu!"

Qadira looked at the snake and then the young dragon. "What should I do with it?" Qadira asked. The young dragon tilted its head as if trying to understand what she's talking about.

The young dragon looked at the snake and smelled it. She looked at Qadira and then the snake. While looking at Qadira, the young dragon nibbled half of the snake's body and then spit out half of it.

Qadira couldn't help but feel grossed out but she was trying to hide it. The young dragon picked up half of the snake's body and laid it again in front of her.

"Kyuu" it said, and looked at her as if asking her to do the same thing it did earlier, eat it. Qadira felt awkward and nervous at the same time.

Qadira exchanged her look to the young dragon and the half body of the snake while being careful not to do anything that might rub the young dragon the wrong way. "I don't eat snakes," Qadira said to the young dragon, trying her best to smile and be approachable as she can.

The young dragon tilted its head while Qadira just remained still and was observing what the young dragon would do. After a few moments of nothing happening and both of them just staring at each other, the young dragon turned its back to her and walked away towards the forest.

Qadira sighed in relief when she saw the young dragon slowly disappear in her sight. She looked at her surroundings and saw that she really was deep into the forest. With that, she thought that she had to figure out how she could get out of there as soon as possible.

GROWL…

Qadira's stomach grumbled and instinctively touched it. She looked at the snake's half body that the young dragon left, but immediately shrugged off the idea of even attempting to eat it.

"First, let's find food to eat," she said to herself. She looked at where the young dragon went and decided to go the separate way so she would not stumble into it again.

Qadira just walked where her feet would lead her. There were lots of trees and plants but she hasn't found a single edible one yet. She also noticed how quiet her surroundings were, not even a hint of wild animals in the area.

After a few minutes of endless walking, she heard subtle noises of what seemed to be from birds somewhere. She decided to follow it just in case and saw that there was a tree with a considerable amount of birds nesting and feeding on its fruits.

Looking at the tree and its fruits, she had no idea what kind of fruit it was. It was shaped like an apple except its color was intense purple and some were even close to black. Still, looking at how the birds were eating it, she figured it would be safe to eat it as well.

She went closer to the tree and some of the birds flew away. Having lived in the provincial part of the Philippines most of her life, she has no problem climbing on the tree, but with how she's dressed it would be difficult to do so, that's why she's thankful that the tree wasn't too tall and its fruit were just out of reach.

She looked at the tree and somehow it looked both creepy and magical with a little strand of stem hanging on it. "Tabi-tabi, po" she said out of courtesy to whatever was residing in the tree, just in case there was any. It was something taught by her ancestors as to not accidentally offend any unknown and mythical creatures of the place.

Qadira picked one fruit and ate it. The fruit tastes familiar yet isn't at the same time. Its texture was that of an apple, yet it tastes like a mango, peach, and tamarind combined. It was strange but still tasted good.

Qadira picked another fruit again and ate it until she felt full. She rested for a few minutes and before she decided to go again, she tore a part of her dress and stacked it up with some fruits she could eat later. It's a good thing it tore easily and the dress had multiple layers so she isn't completely naked after tearing the outside layer of it.

When Qadira tied the cloth so the fruits wouldn't fall off and it would be easy to carry it, a piece of paper fell off. Qadira remembered that the crown prince had given her a piece of paper before she departed the kingdom. It must have slipped in her mind after all that has happened to her.

She picked it up and there was a name and address written on it.

Exanesceria

Primelae Street, 60XX, Amanthia Kingdom

Qadira had no idea who it was that was written in the paper nor where the address was. Still, she decided to memorize it and ate the paper just in case someone would see it.

After that, Qadira departed and continued to walk hoping she would be able to exit the forest. She would from time to time rest and continue her journey again.

After walking for hours, the sun had slowly begun to set. A few more minutes and it would be night time already, and she still had no idea how and where to exit the forest.

Qadira decided to find a place to rest and stay for the night and thankfully found a cave near the area. It wasn't too spacious but was enough for a temporary shelter. She gathered a bunch of dry and fresh leaves to make a bed so her back wouldn't hurt.

She also gathered a dry trunk of small trees, a flat stone, and dry grass to make a tinder nest. She was thinking of attempting to make a fire so she could stay warm at night. She's never done it before but she's seen video tutorials of it. It isn't 100% would work but she could at least try.

When she went back to the cave, it was already dark so she immediately started working. She positioned first the small trunks of trees and few dry leaves to prepare for when the tinder nest lit up and the fire would just be easy to transfer.

She laid out the flat stone with a little hole on it, a tree trunk small enough to fit the hole and the tinder nest. She touched the trunk in both palms of her hand and rotated it back and forth to create a friction which would hopely ignite a fire. She did it a couple of times, but there was no sign of fire at all.

Qadira decided to put down the trunk and sit in front of it. She has been doing it for half an hour, but nothing happened and the act just tired her. Just looking at her miserable attempt, it was safe to assume that she isn't cut out for any survival situation at all. It was already a miracle she even survived this far after all the near life and death she experienced for the last days.

After relaxing Qadira's arms, she got up and went to where the fruit she bought with her were. She grabbed one and leaned to the wall of the cave and silently ate.

Outside of the cave is pitch black, it was almost impossible to see anything. The breeze was cold, but thankfully wasn't cold enough to freeze her to death.

She just quietly ate and tried to relax her mind. Perhaps it's because after a few days, she was finally able to have a moment of peace, the worries and thoughts she had about the situation back home had finally flooded her.

She wondered how many days had passed on earth since she entered another world. What about her body? What happened to it? Did it disappear? Or was it just where she fainted? What about her mother? Is she alright? She must be worrying about her if she just disappeared suddenly.

Qadira leaned back and rested her head on the wall. She closed her eyes and rested one of her arms on the ground that was holding the finished fruit while the other was resting on top of one of her knees.

Qadira, at that moment, felt so lost and worn out. Although she doesn't exactly have a good and healthy relationship with her mother, it wasn't exactly a bad and abusive one either.

Many people may not understand it and may even call her ungrateful and selfish. It is true that she loves her mother dearly, yet she also hates her at the same time. Perhaps it was because she's one of the reasons why she was struggling mentally and emotionally.

Still, she also knew they were people who were just both in pain and were trying to cope and heal in their own ways. Unfortunately, none of them properly dealt with it nor knew how to, so they ended up just hurting each other.

So much had happened and changed in their family. Although they were poor and encountered a lot of personal and financial problems, they used to be a happy family.

After everything that happened, she would often wonder when everything went wrong. Overtime, their home started to form cracks, until two of its foundations eventually collapsed, leaving a remnant too difficult and fragile to fix and build a home again.

All those years, it would be a lie to say she was able to hold it well and get her shit together. A lot of times, thoughts of ending her own life would plagued her in silence and render her broken and numb.

She hopes that by ending it all, her pain, her grief, and her burdens, none of those things will ever matter by then. Despite this, she never really attempted to do it, not even once. Perhaps because she knew there wouldn't be such a thing as an 'attempt' to her.

Aside from the guilt of leaving her mother alone, deep in her heart, she knew that she still hoped that everything would be fine and would work out somehow. After all, as she always says to herself, "nothing is truly the end, until it's the end".

TO BE CONTINUED...