At an unreasonable hour of sunless morning there was a rapid pounding at Ula’s front door. Ula in pajama’s ran from her room to the door flinging it open to see who it was causing all this racket. Ula stared finding her Aunt’s face to be the most baffling possibility. So baffling that she didn’t even think to slam the door in her face. Her Aunt pushed through the door, her hair was wild her eyes were blood shot and flickering out everywhere like enemies just might appear out of the walls.

  “What are you doing here?” Ula asked crossing her arms and watching her Aunt cautiously like she would a cagey Alley cat.

  “You.” She growled. “You know why I’m here.” She snapped baring her teeth. Ula raised her brows and shook her head.

  “No, I don’t. Get out.” Ula told her motioning toward the still open door. Her Aunt looked around again hunching like there was really something that was going to come out and get her from the walls.

  “You. Your father has he contacted you?” She asked her stepping toward her. Ula gaped.

  “No.” She answered. “If you don’t leave right now I’m calling the police.” Ula told her stepping to grab her phone.

  “You. You need to make them leave me alone. I came I found you. I don’t know why they’re so interested in you and your father but you need to handle them. Tell the to leave me alone.” She insisted sounding drawn out and franking out of her mind. Her smile was sharp as glass and she kept looking at the walls. Ula dial the number for the police and gave her address her apartment number and requested assistance. She was just about to hang up the phone when her Aunt grabbed her by her hair.

  Something she’d done a number of times in Ula’s life in order to show Ula just how little she was in control. Well Ula wasn’t some scared little kid anymore and had face far worse fights being on her own. Ula knocked the woman off of her easily.

  “They want you not me.” She Aunt screeched. “Tell them to go away.” She insisted.

  “Fine, invisible voices wherever you are go away and leave my Aunt alone.” Ula called out looking around waiting for the response her Aunt seemed to think would come. Her Aunt let out a high ear piercing battle cry before running at Ula. Ula shifted back reaching behind her for anything knowing that look in her Aunt’s eyes. And as her Aunt ran into her clawing and biting like a wild animal Ula hit her with whatever was in her hand.

  Ula continued to fight but her Aunt’s attacks were so erratic, desperate and terrified that Ula could quite shove her away and no matter how many times Ula hit this woman she didn’t stop clawing and biting, screaming nonsense. Ula felt her vision going in an out blinking as shadows bubbled out of the walls, surrounding them. She must be falling unconscious but… She felt so aware.

  The shadows surrounded them and though Ula fought she felt like she got smaller and smaller. Alone with a woman who hated her for reason she never truly bother to explain. And her developed, cultivated fighting fell away bouncing off of her like kid gloves. Her Aunt seemed once again large and terrifying.

  Everything but the two of them was dark. There was nothing else in the world but pain and fear.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  And yet those shadows became more and more defined creeping behind her Aunt’s head. Something tickled the back of her mind, creatures of shadow that plagued the world in The Paladin’s Oath creatures that hadn’t existed when he’d first voiced the stories but plagued the published version.

  The shadow opened a chasm of a mouth and lunged ripping her Aunt off of her.

  “No, please. I found her. She’s yours.” The shrill echoing screams begged. Ula closed her eyes. When she opened them she stared at a ceiling of a cave like area. She sat up and she was surrounded by blood. A woman laid motionless on the ground a few feet away. She looked like her Aunt but was dressed in clothing out of a fantasy novel. A shadow still attacked her. It was long and winding it’s tail trailing out of a opened barred cell door leading to open scaped fields.

  She looked at the shadow feeling as if she were in a dream. With that odd thought the image of the shadow pulled at her. She looked it over. Yes, it fit the vague description of her father’s books but she felt as thought she was watching a guise that silhouette breaks in a show.

  She looked out at the terrain again. Fields, but specifically fields that were roughly dug but expertly cultivate for the growth of giant crops. The strange yet simple interest of a simple burrowing dragon that instead of hoarding gold, knowledge, powerful things chose instead to hoard essential like foods, medicines anything their intricate communities mixed with animals and simple farmers, creatures that wouldn’t survive without the help of others. They shared shelter, resources asking for only help and kinship in return.

  They weren’t normally a violent dragon. They were usually passive, sociable creatures, that was until someone they saw as their own was threatened.

  Ula had loved the idea of a simple dragon that avoided conflict and appreciated the simple things in life. Her mother had glowed with little giggles when she told her what the name of the type of dragon was.

  “You’re a Sugar-Beet Dragon.” She voiced baffled. The shadow turned meeting her eyes. It shivered and contorted almost painful looking until the blurriness and shadow sharpened to a distinct shape, brightened into the bright pink like the root they were named after. It’s eyes became expressive aware.

  The creature stepped slowly toward her bumping her with it’s bloody snout. Then the Dragon nuzzled her and bumped her. She ran a hand over the dragon’s scales amazed, baffled. Then she stared frowning at a small child’s hand.

  “What in the world?” She breathed looking down at a small raggedly dressed form. The Sugar-Beet butted their head into her line of sight. Then lowered looking at her. It took her a moment to decipher the body language.

  “Do you want me to get on your back?” She asked them. The dragon nudged forward eyes sparkling. She stood shakily and carefully feeling the spines finding one strong enough to help her pull herself up while not getting stabbed by them. The Sugar-Beet waited until she settled then braced and took of in a shooting sprint.

  Sugar-Beet dragons were born without wings and couldn’t fly, but they were faster then most any creature being able to sprint across acres of field like it was nothing. It was intense she had to hunker down, but once she felt safe it was exhilarating.

  In a blink the sun disappeared, and they were in a dimly lit cave. When they slowed a few more shadows in the same not quiet shape flittered around. There were also animals and people that were shadowed as if they were being concealed for some reason. When the Sugar-Beet Dragon looked them all over they all showed some level of concern of discomfort before the regained their true forms. The dragons took on the beat colored scales, the animals either radiated with deep pink energy or their fur, scales feathers turned pink and finally the people had magic radiate from them and not all their hair but tinges of it filtered the same pink.

  They looked at themselves and each other baffled and communicating to figure out what was going on.

  Ula slid off the dragon and when she hit the ground her head swirled, her body ached and her stomach churned.

  She saw eyes take her in concerned and sharp. Ula gripped the dragon and felt the world leave her.