story(unamed)--chap 3

Chap. 3
Every second seemed like minutes. Serenity badly wished that this was a dream—a dream where everything seemed real, but it wasn’t. Serenity wasn’t sure what had just happened. Jason was frantic, creatures like those in her dreams were pointing their spears at her, and she jumped into an unknown hole that led who knew where.
Finally, the world stopped spinning and Serenity landed on wet sparkling grass. She looked around and only saw green: green trees and green grass. She turned around and glanced at Jason, who was sitting under a shaded spot thinking. Serenity became mad as soon as she saw him.
“Where am I? Who are you really? Why did you bring me here?” Serenity demanded as she marched toward Jason, who didn’t even glance her way.
Serenity stopped in front of Jason and fumed in silence. Finally, he looked up. “Yes?”
Now Serenity was furious. “I asked: Where am I? Who are you? And why did you take me here?”
“I can’t answer that.” Jason responded calmly.
“Jason!”
“What I mean by that is that someone else has to explain that, and if I try to explain, that person is going to kill me.”
“I don’t care! I want answers now!”
Jason sighed, ran his fingers through his hair, and soothed. “If I answer some of your questions, will you please calm down? Okay?”
Serenity decided it was as good as she was going to get. “Fine.”
“Well, first off, we are in Alercaria. Here is called Albyra, where I live for now. See that castle—” Jason pointed up in the horizon where a magnificent castle stood—“inside that castle lives someone named Isabella who is really supposed to explain everything to you, but, since you’re so impatient, I guess she and I will have to explain. I can’t tell you anymore, or else Isabella gets mad.”
“I guess that’s good enough for me…for now.”
Jason studied her a few moments and then spoke. “We need to get to that castle before nightfall…or else things will get ugly.”
“How? That castle looks about three miles away. If you want to get us there by nightfall, I really don’t think we’ll be able to make it. Not unless you can poof us there, like you just did five minutes ago.”
“Don’t you worry about a thing. Do you trust me?”
Serenity hesitated before she answered; the memory of what just occurred was still fresh in Serenity’s mind. “Maybe.”
“That’s good enough for me.” Then Jason looked up into the sky and studied it.
Serenity sighed and decided that Jason wasn’t going to budge. Suddenly, there was the sound of wings, big and heavy wings, beating rhythmically in the sky. Serenity looked up and saw a black dot. Soon after, an enormous black dragon landed in front of Serenity. She heard the word Ilea in her head before she screamed out of terror and fainted.
* * * *
When Serenity awoke, she was lying on the back of the black dragon, and sitting in front of her was Jason. Jason was paying no attention to her; he was sitting near the dragon’s head, stroking it, and murmuring something. Serenity cleared her throat and Jason’s head whipped around.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes, I think.”
“Good.”
“Is this how we’re getting to the castle?” asked Serenity.
“Yep, this is my dragon, Shinku. He didn’t mean to give you a scare.”
Serenity was staring at Jason, thinking of how to respond. “Well, I like dragons, it’s just I never knew they were real. I thought they were a myth, but, seeing Shinku, I guess I’ve been proved wrong.”
Jason chuckled and turned around again to stroke Shinku.
“Did you name him yourself?” Serenity wondered out loud.
“Sure did. Like the name?”
“Yes, but, no offense, I prefer a female dragon that’s emerald green and has the name…”Serenity thought for a while, then continued, “…Esmera or something like that.”
“That’s interesting…very interesting” murmured Jason.
“What’s interesting?”
“Huh? Oh, nothing.”
Serenity thought that Jason wasn’t telling her something, but before she had the chance to say something, Shinku landed in front of the castle.
The sun had already set, and the shadows were beginning to creep out of the trees when Serenity tried climbing down. Serenity thought she heard a scratching or howling noise, but decided it was her imagination.
Jason helped Serenity down and then told Shinku to fly ahead and meet up with them later.
They barely stepped three steps—trying to get out of the shadows—before a booming voice startled them. Suddenly, an army of men surrounded them and was threatening to shoot them with arrows if they even dared to move one inch.