TO OREAN

The doorbell rings earlier in the morning than is healthy for the ringer. Ydoc and Enelia stir. It rings again. They groan and open their eyes. It rings a third time.

"What time is it?" Enelia asks.

Ydoc rolls over to look at the clock. "Seven."

The doorbell rings.

"Who visits people at seven o'clock in the morning?"

"I'll get it." Ydoc gets out of bed, yawns and stretches and goes into the living room. He looks through the peephole.

Enelia calls out from the bedroom, "Who is it?"

"I have no idea."

"Tell them to go away."

Ydoc opens the door just wide enough to talk to Qiro and Hoscunamun.

He yawns. "What can I do for you?"

"We are looking for Ydoc and Enelia Smith," says Qiro.

"And you are?"

"I'm Qiro and this is my wife Hoscunamun. We have an urgent message for you."

"It couldn't wait a couple hours?"

Qiro shakes his head. "We almost couldn't wait this long."

"Alright, come in."

They come in. Ydoc invites them to sit.

"Is Enelia awake? We need to talk to her too," asks Hoscunamun.

"Just a sec." Ydoc goes to the bedroom. "They say they have something urgent to tell us."

Enelia rolls over. "The one day I get to sleep in." She sighs. "I'll be out in a minute."

Ydoc goes back out to the living room to Qiro and Hoscunamun.

"She'll be out in a minute. Can I get you anything?"

"No thank you," says Qiro.

Ydoc goes to the kitchen and gets a drink of water. Enelia comes out of the bedroom. Ydoc brings her an glass.

"Thank you. So, what brings you two to our door this morning?" she asks.

"Your dreams last night-" says Qiro

"What do you know about our dreams?" asks Enelia.

"They weren't dreams. They were information."

"Uh-huh. What are you selling?"

You dreamt about Orean, and the people there. You about the Elves and Ydoc about the Gnomes. I even added some information about King John and the Dwarves.

Ydoc raises an eyebrow. "You added?"

"I sent the information. Orean is another world, and you two are from that world."

"Enelia is the Elf Princess and Ydoc is the Gnome Prince," says Hoscunamun.

Ydoc and Enelia look at each other and laugh.

"Yeah, It's been entertaining, but if you don't mind we would like to get on with our morning," says Enelia.

Hoscunamun places her hand on the wall. It shimmers and a hole opens into a cavern where a couple of Dwarf women wait for them. Ydoc and Enelia back away.

"We don't have time to convince you. People are literally dying to meet you," says Hoscunamun.

Qiro shakes his head. "She's blunt, but she's right. Those dreams are real. They happened in a real world and you are part of it."

"The Gnomes are consumed with civil war. The only thing holding them together is the person who caused it."

"The once proud Elves are a broken people, afraid to even talk to each other."

"They need you."

"Then why are we here and not there?" asks Ydoc.

"Because this is a safe place. You needed to grow up," says Qiro.

"We didn't expect you to marry each other. But, whatever. Shall we go?" says Hoscunamun.

Enelia scoffs at her. "No. How do we know you're not a couple of psychopaths with a neat camera trick?

At this point one of the Dwarves enters their home from the hole. "Take a good look at me."

Enelia gasps. "Mother?"

"I am not your mother, but I took care of you when you were young. We need to go. Kari says Jarthan's men are close."

"We're not going anywhere," says Enelia.

"Yes, you are." Hoscunamun's eyes glow red. The cavern walls melt and flow into Ydoc and Enelia's home, covering their walls and front door, then solidifies into solid rock. "I assume you would rather not travel in your pajamas, so I will allow you the time to pack."

"That wasn't really necessary, Hoscunamun," says Qiro.

"It was that or arguing all day."

Ydoc and Enelia go into the bedroom.

"What do we do?" she asks.

"Do we have any choice?"

"I am not going with those people." She picks up her cell phone and dials 911. "No signal." She tosses it aside.

Ydoc pulls out a suitcase and starts packing.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't want to travel in my pajamas. Do you think she'll let us shower first? I doubt they have plumbing on Orean."

Enelia breaks down in tears. "How can you be so calm about it?"

"I'm not, but at least we're going together."

Enelia sighs. "Ask her if we can shower first. I think you're right about the plumbing."

Elizabeth Williamson Copyright © 2010

Kidnapped!

Andrew Chandler © Copyright  2010

Brandon exited the restroom stall and walked to the sink. There wasn’t any knobs or handles so he waved his hand under the nozzle and water washed over his hands. He reached out and squirted some soup from a dispenser into an outstretched palm. As he rubbed his hands together he heard the creak of the restroom door and turned his head to see the new comer.

A tall burly figure stalked through the door wearing holey jeans, chains, and a hoodie with no sleeves (the hood was pulled over his head in such a way that it clouded his face from sight); the other feature Brandon noticed was that the man had a tattoo of a black dragon snaked up his arm… or no just a muscle twitch, but what really caught Brandon's attention was the fact that he had brass knuckles in both hands.

Brandon turned his head and tired not to think of the man. He finished rinsing his hands and reached for a paper towel.

“Hey kid,” said a gruff voice, “got a light.” Brandon slowly turned around and stared into the darkness that enveloped the man's face. A cigarette stuck out of the dark.

“I'm... afraid not,” Brandon said, a little nervous.

The figure sighed.

The man pulled back his hood. A mass of scars, burns, and two crimson eyes.

“Yeah...well try your breath dragon!”

A fist. A glint of brass.

Then blackness.

Brandon yawned and blinked, “Hey were am I?” A rush of pain, discomfort, and realization hit him with the force of a sledgehammer. Brandon tried to feel his face for broken skin or blood, but his hands were handcuffed together behind him. He tried shifting his weight, a sharp jab to the side made him stop.

“No funny business 'k kid, I've got me a heater, so none o' that mystic magic stuff.”

Brandon slowly turned his head and looked at the man with the gun. The man was right he did have a gun, two guns in fact, and so did the man siting beside him; they sneered at him, Brandon gave a weak smile. And turned to the girl siting next to him who had a steering wheel in her grasp and shifting the stick. Well girl was too young a word, Brandon thought teenage female worked better.

“Uh...?” Brandon started but there was another jab of the gun and the man behind him almost screamed, “No Talking!” The driver turned, her expression menacing, and went back to her driving.

Time slowly passed as it does on the freeway until they exited. Brandon stared at the exit sign and tried to memorize the numbers. Who knew when the next time would be when he saw a phone.

The road jostled them as they drove, the wheels would sometimes get stuck in pot holes and it would take a few seconds before they drove free. The large clumps of trees were now dotted along the flat landscape. The large clumps seem to merge together the farther they went down the road, until just one huge forest rolled past, hiding the road from the sun. They came to a stop at what looked like the outskirts of a a small town; it (the town) like the road was canopied with trees, blotting out the sky completely. All-of-a-sudden a massive blue-green fire ball shot into the air and exploded on under side of the canopy; leaving no apparent harm to the tree branches.

“I figured something like that, eh?” said the other man who hadn’t spoken yet.

“Yeah, you felt it too?” the driver spoke for the first time, her voice was as slick and smooth as oil.

“Of course I did,” he retorted, and mumbled something incoherent.

“Who's stay 'n with the lizard,” said the man who yelled a lot, there was a hiss and a “'K, you do it then.” The three captors bolted out of the car and streaked toward the flashing lights.

This left Brandon a little confused, but he thought he might as well take advantage of the situation; he morphed his mouth to have the capability to breath fire; and skin into scales, tough, thick, blue, but most importently fire proof. But he was still half human.

“You shouldn’t,” a voice like wind made Brandon stiffen.

A shadow moved around his feet. Something padded up his left leg.

It blinked. Brandon jumped hitting his head on the ceiling and crashed down painfully twisting his arms and legs. He’d only just then realized that his legs were cuffed too.

There was a soft chuckle.

“Who's there?” Brandon said not too sternly.

“The questing isn't whom, but what,” said the soft voice “What is a specie of small dragon called Sermothens, known for their toxic poison, powerful enough to kill dragons.”

“Is that a threat?”Brandon squeaked.

“In a way, yes,” the voice became more conversational then threatening.

Kidnapped!

Andrew Chandler © Copyright  2010

August 23, 2010

TOPIC: KIDNAPPED

someone is kidnapped. who is it? who did it? why?

-Andrew Chandler