It’s not English. It’s not any language I’ve ever heard. Not even close. A series of clicks and mewls and long, drawn out vowels…
… and yet I can understand it, clear as day.
“She’s awake!”
Somehow, this is starting to feel too realistic to be a dream. Frozen in place, I can do nothing but wait as the strange woman approaches me.
She’s stunning up close. Her skin is the softest shade of blue, and her long, wavy hair is a deep mauve. Her eyes are almost feline and when she blinks, I notice her long, purple lashes.
“Welcome to Aurum,” she says.
“What?” I feel like I’m speaking English, but there’s something inside my head that twists my tongue and makes gobbledygook come out instead.
Am I really speaking her freaking language right now?
How?
“Aurum,” she repeats, as if this is just a normal day, and dazed, confused women appear in her home all the time.
“What’s that?”
“Ulfaria.”
Maybe we’re not speaking the same language after all.
“Lenah,” another voice says, and I realize I’m surrounded by the women now. They’re all peering at me with a combination of awe and curiosity. “She is not from here. She does not know the names of our kingdoms and planet. She will be confused, as the mage said.”
All that, I understood. Not that it lessened my gigantic freakout one bit. Kingdoms? Planet? Confused is a damn understatement.
“Huh,” Lenah—I presume—says. She leans a little closer to me. “What is your name?”
Whatismy name?
The low-key anxiety I’d been experiencing up until this moment becomes a full-body shiver of panic as I realize I’m struggling to answer this most basic question. Not only do I not know where I am or how I got here, apparently I don’t knowwhoI am, either.
“Omega,” another girl supplies helpfully.
I shake my head. It’s definitely not that.
“Omega,” Lenah agrees. “Once the serum has started to work. They said it would take a little while.”
Serum?
Deciding I’ve had enough, I pinch the inside of my wrist so hard, it makes me gasp.
As one, the women all lean back and gasp too.
Aaand I’m still here. Not dreaming, then.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I clear my throat, wondering what to say. I have so many questions.Take me to your leaderwould probably be pushing it, but there’s actually a tiny part of me that’s wondering whether I’m not just not at home, I’m not actually on Earth right now.
But that’s just insane. Not feasible. Not realistic. Not possible.
Kim! The name comes to me in a flash, and I recognize it as mine. Thank god. It’s a start. I clear my throat.
“My name is Kim. Could somebody please,” I begin slowly, “explain to me where I am, and why I’m here. This is Earth, right? We’re still on Earth?” May as well get the big one out of the way first.
