He flips me off half-heartedly and sits up. We take turns using the jugs of water we filled yesterday from one of the campground taps to wash up. I splash some on my face, then scrub at my teeth with my finger. Classy. Then it’s a breakfast of peanut butter smeared on bread, an apple, and the holy grail, a can of cold brew.
I crack it open and drink half in one go and then pass the rest to Jules with a wink. He reaches over and rumples my hair with a faint smile before taking it and draining the rest of it. I’m worried about him. His usual tight control has started frayingat the edges. Julian Stillwell thrives on control and getting his own way, so living through what I think might be the start of the apocalypse has thrown him more than what he's letting on. My best friend has always been a guiding force for me. Over the last few days, though, I’ve caught a lost look in his eyes that scares me almost as much as what’s happening. We need to get home for him just as much as for Luna.
Outside the yurt, the campground is quiet except for the annoyed wildlife still chattering in the back of my mind. It’s one of those campgrounds that don’t have an attendant and you just put cash in a lock box near the front entrance. We’re the only ones here. Pretty sure there’s not a lot of families doing vacation camps right now. Morning mist curls through the trees. The cracked moon hangs like a goddamn nightmare over the horizon. It looks bigger today, swollen and angry, like it’s leaning too close, dragging the sky down with it.
I stare at it, a knot tightening in my gut. What’s it going to do next? More floods? Quakes? Super storms? The world is breaking, and there’s no manual for this shit.
We load up our bikes, double-check the fuel cans, then roll down the dirt road and back on the highway toward Cranbrook. Based on what we can see from the road, the town looks like it’s been through hell. A few of the buildings are scorched shells and smoke is curling up from a pile of still-smoldering timber. I don’t see anyone around as we head towards what’s left of a gas station.
Broken glass crunches under our tires as we pull in by a row of pumps that are still standing. When we check the first one, I almost can’t believe it when I see that the display for the pump is turned on. I cross my fingers and mouth a silent prayer that we’ll be able to get some gas. Both bikes are close to empty and we’ve already used what was in our spare fuel cans.
I scan the rest of the lot and then the storefront. It looks deserted but I feel like someone is watching us. Or maybe it’s more fucking animals being nosy. Hair stands up on my arms as I head into the convenience store first. The door isn’t locked and creaks open slowly when I cautiously push it open, but the place is empty. There’s no cashier behind the counter and the place smells like melted plastic and old coffee.
"Hello!" I yell out, just in case. I really don't want to get shot today. "If there is anyone here, we just need gas. We can pay. We aren't trying to steal anything."
I wait for a few seconds. No answer.
"OK, I'm just going to turn the pump on," I yell again into the empty store.
I walk behind the counter, find the switch, and flick it on to enable the pump. Julian sets some cash down on the counter while I try not to shake at the overwhelming wave of fear that hits me for some reason. The air feels thick with danger. I can’t see what’s causing it, but I can tell Jules is feeling it too.
Worried about whatever it is we’re feeling but can’t see, we move faster. We fill the bikes and the cans as fast as we can. The tension just keeps getting thicker and thicker until I can barely breathe through it, and then it breaks. A scream cuts the air. Then another. Then a sound that doesn’t belong in this world.
A bone-rattling roar that splits the sky like thunder. Deep and otherworldly, something primal that grabs your spine and yanks, and then the sound of wings, massive ones, fills the air. My head fills with the roar until I clutch at my head and roar right back. The silence is immediate until a faint thought echoes in my mind.
“Where? Where? Where is this?”
Julian grabs my arm as we both duck down. “Did you hear that?” He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“Pretty sure most of the province just heard that roar!”
I shake my head. “No, not that. Not the roar. The words. Did you hear those words?”
He’s shaking his head. Another roar has us staring down the main street to where it sounds like it came from to see a car sail through the air over a building like a toy tossed by a pissed-off kid. It crashes into a parked truck and explodes in a fireball at the end of the block. That sends us both flat to the pavement and my brain is screaming with those same words over and over, now so much louder.
“Where, where, where!”
I don’t understand and I don’t know the answer, but I know we need to get the fuck away from here. I start to push myself up from the ground when the sound of flapping wings fills the air again and then I’m falling right back down in stunned disbelief. Rising up from behind some buildings is the most beautiful and terrifying thing I have ever seen in my life.
Jules clutches my arm in a death grip as he whispers in horrified awe, “Is… is that a… dragon? Is that a fucking dragon?”
I can’t tear my eyes from the glorious beast as it rises higher and higher in the air. It’s massive with blue and green shimmering scales and eyes that look like swirling opals. It has bony ridges running down its back and a wingspan that has to be at least thirty feet across, maybe more. That huge head turns and I swear it locks onto me and meets my gaze.
“Where, where is this?”
The words roar through my brain and I know it’s the beast asking now. I’m paralyzed for a few seconds, not knowing what to do or say. This shouldn’t be possible. This beast shouldn’t be here! And that makes me think about how magic shouldn’t be here either. None of this belongs in my world. But then survival grips me by the throat, and I push back at it in my head. It's the only thing that makes sense now that nothing really makessense. I think the words harder than I’ve ever thought anything before and hope it works.
“A new world! Go! Go to the mountains. Fly! Fly away from the sun!”
I don’t know if it would understand what west is, but the sun has just risen in the east, so hopefully that will make sense to this mythical creature. The mountains are in the opposite direction of where we need to go, so sending it that way will keep us safer as well as get it out of this town and away from the poor people who are probably being hurt or killed by it.
Those jewel-like eyes blink in my direction, once, twice. I’m terrified it’s going to come try and talk more to me when a car alarm starts blaring from somewhere deeper in town and its huge head jerks in that direction. With a flap of its wings, it flies that way, so I drag Julian up.
"Go!" I shout, slamming my helmet on.
We don’t wait to find out what it’s doing back there. I don’t even want to know. We jump on the bikes and tear out of the lot in the opposite direction. Trees blur past as my heart pounds. The wind roars in my ears and the moon leers down from above like it’s laughing at this chaos. I just want to get home and pretend none of this is real. I want to get to Luna.
I want to make sure she’s safe and that she’s not having to deal with all of this by herself. I pour on the speed, vowing that nothing in this fucked up new world is going to keep us from her. Please. Just hold on a little longer. I’m coming.
