Young Writers Society

Evaline almost wanted to laugh.

Great. This strange, messed-up world put her next to a loony woman.

Okay, sure. She'll bite.

"Right, like I'm supposed to just believe that there are other realms out there with humans looking and acting the same, and nature is the same, but the name of the world is not the same," she said. "If you want me to believe it so badly, you're going to have to prove it."

"I don't give a fuck if you believe it or not," Jerica answered tiredly. "And how are you expecting me to prove it? If I knew where the portal was, there's no chance in hell I'd be here right now. But I don't know what fucking realm we're in."

"I don't know!" Evaline said back, starting to yell. "How does an alien prove they're an alien when they look exactly like a human? You tell me."

"I don't know what a fucking alien is!" Jerica shouted back.

"You are!" Evaline yelled back, no longer holding back. She gritted her teeth and groaned loudly, tightly closing her eyes and feeling her headache ache even more.

Of all the things she thought would happen today, she did not expect to be yelling at someone that they're an alien.

"You're saying you're not from Earth -- an alien," she said, knowing this was the last shred of patience she had before she'd completely lose it. "So prove it."

"Alright, fine," Jerica snapped, continuing mockingly, "I'm an alien."

That did actually sound somewhat similar to 'Atraian' -- maybe Eve just didn't know how to pronounce it. But, then, none of the other countries in Beirania were from Earth, either.

"I still don't know what Earth is like, so how can I possibly prove I'm not from there?" she continued angrily. "Tell me how, Eve? What could I possibly do to make you pull your head out of your ass and start taking this situation seriously? Because your little 'alien' bit is going to get us both killed if you don't start helping me soon."

It took all of Evaline's willpower to not just get up, walk away, tell Jerica that she had clearly gone insane, and then permanently part ways. She was insufferable, and she couldn't imagine spending another day with her.

But -- as awful as it was -- Jerica was a hint. Evaline was not keen on staying in this environment for any longer than necessary, and it became obvious that supernatural-like forces were involved here that Evaline didn't quite understand. She still didn't believe her whole spiel, but obviously something was strange here. Maybe Jerica actually had something to contribute.

Evaline doubted it, though.

She blurted the next sentence before she completely lost the final shred of patience she had.

"Show me a memory. Any memory that'll prove it to me," she said quickly, eyes closed and lips pursed so that she wouldn't say anything more she'd come to regret.

Jerica stared at her for a long, long moment. She'd already forgotten that Eve claimed to be able to read memories. Maybe she was actually telling the truth? It was hard to say what the freaks on Earth could do. And, if she could actually get Eve to believe her, then maybe it was worth it to let her fuck with her brain, so they could stop arguing and actually get out of here.

"I..." Jerica sighed and rubbed her face, defeated. "How could I possibly show you my memories?"

Evaline sighed away the irritation and annoyance, gathering the nerve to put away all her feelings and be logical about this.

"Close your eyes and carefully think about a specific memory," she said quickly, wanting to get this over with. "Trust me just enough to let me look at it. I touch you, I see the memory, that's it. Got it?"

Jerica looked at her dubiously. She didn't trust her. Not even a little bit. Was she planning to try to snap her neck the instant her eyes were closed? Because she had another thing coming if she thought Jerica couldn't stop her. "I just...? Think about going to another realm? And then you'll believe me?"

"Yeah, sure," Evaline said, inching closer to her and not caring what she was going to see, or if Jerica was uncomfortable that she was getting closer despite not being fully clothed. Her patience was wearing very thin.

"You just have to trust me enough to let me look at the memory."

A part of her was expecting this to fail because she didn't think Jerica would, but again, she didn't care.

"Ready?"

"Alright, fine, whatever," Jerica sighed. Maybe death would be a gift at this point. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her forearms against them, then leaned her face forward, pressing her palm against her eyes. She tried to think of what memory would convince Eve that there were different realms.

Of course, she'd been to several at this point. But it seemed that Eve wasn't going to be able to differentiate between realms. So, she'd need to prove it with a portal. And they were always so quick -- not much to remember, aside from the unsettled feeling they left behind. The only one that really stood out --

Oh, gods.

She hoped that if Eve really could see her memories somehow, that she only saw what Jerica had seen, not all the fear that went along with it. But at this point, there was very little else she could think about. So she focused on that hell.

Aeron stealing her weapons after she killed the Scelinon that was kicking his ass -- and arguing with her that Derik had sent him. Aenyra showing up -- massive and red and terrifying in the way that dragons tended to be. The way she'd slammed Jerica into the ground and then flew off with her in her claws.

Jerica shook her head, clearing the thought. None of that was helpful.

They were flying through the cave. It was so dark in here. They'd gone too far in. Jerica's chest heaved for breath, sheer terror keeping her frozen in place. The only light was the cracks of lights glowing dimly between the scales on Aenyra's abdomen from the fire in her belly -- but Jerica could only feel the heat on her back, not see much of it.

Her heart raced faster than it ever had before.

Her breathing got even shallower as she saw a huge, glimmering blue spot ahead of them, quickly approaching. Aenyra's powerful wings propelled them towards it, the air still battering Jerica's face from where she was caught in the dragon's claws. She managed to get her right arm free, but it didn't help her.

Her left arm was pinned to her body by a talon -- the others wrapped around her torso and legs, tight enough that they were probably also contributing to her trouble breathing. She was trembling now. She put her right arm against Aenyra's talon, trying to pull herself free, but it was painfully apparent she wasn't going anywhere until Aenyra decided to put her down.

Her chest was so tight, fear coursing through every last inch of her body.

"PUT ME DOWN!" she shouted, but her voice was trembly and weak. She doubted Aenyra could even hear her -- and was quite certain, without a shadow of a doubt, that she didn't care even if she could hear.

Jerica barely blinked back tears, breathing too fast, too shallow. She tried to pry Aenyra's claw off her, but all it did was make the points dig into her side as she shifted.

"Stop it," Jerica begged. "Let me go!"

The portal was just in front of them now. It glimmered in an opaque blue, glimpses of the next world visible beyond it -- a huge red boulder, some red sand, a volcano. Jerica gasped, throwing her right arm as best as she could to protect her face as they crashed straight into the portal.

She closed her eyes, expecting the worst, but she didn't feel anything.

When she opened her eyes again they were in the fire realm. Jerica had almost forgotten it existed. The world was red -- entire mountains made out of red rocks, the path made of reddish sand, riverbed a red clay with clear water floating by. It was insufferably hot here. But they were only there for maybe a minute, before another portal approached in the side of one of the mountains.

"GODSDAMNIT PUT ME DOWN!" Jerica screeched. She didn't know where she was, but she certainly didn't want to go to another realm.

Aenyra didn't put her down.

Jerica continued to pant for air, struggling in her talons, as they floated through another portal. This one was more normal. Hills, trees, peaceful streams. Aenyra dropped her. Jerica yelped and fell swiftly towards the ground, a fresh surge of terror pulsing through her. She landed heavily and rolled a few meters down the hill, entire body aching and trembling as she panted for air.

"GODSDAMN YOU BOTH!" she shouted, clumsily getting to her feet before she staggered to the side and toppled over again. She opened her eyes and blinked hard as Aenyra landed and Aeron got off her back and jauntily strode towards Jerica, smirking.

"Being a little melodramatic, aren't we?" he asked smugly.

When Evaline leaned forward and touched Jerica's shin, she immediately saw a hazy memory that looked like a partially-fail at first. Either Jerica didn't trust her, or she was having trouble trying to think of a specific memory. She was about to pull away and announce this, but suddenly the clear picture came to her head, and she was reliving a specific moment as Jerica like she had gone back in time in her body.

Because, in an odd way, this was going back in time since she was feeling's Jerica's emotions and hearing her thoughts, like she was Jerica. Like she was living in bed head, replaying the moment like she was actually there.

She couldn't think her own thoughts. Just Jerica's.

And when the memory was over, Evaline let go and immediately felt pain. All over, aching throughout her body as the dragon dug its talons and squeezed the life out of her. And then she felt the familiar feeling of terror that was repressed by anger. She was so scared of the new worlds and of the dragon, but she didn't want others to know it. She'd rather be angry at them and the world. She was always treated this way. Why was she still shocked? Why did she let it affect her this much?

At least, that was what Jerica thought. That wasn't Evaline. Why did she always let other people's memories affect her this much?

It was so hard to pretend she didn't feel anything, and although Jerica didn't get to relive the moment too, she knew that she was also reliving the same emotions.

She just needed a moment to get through this. It was so hard to focus on the blue shimmering portal... as proof.... other worlds...

"Why... how...." she began, hands balled into fists on her knees as she tightly closed her eyes and focused on her unsteady breathing. "Dragon..." She laughed nervously.

She had no idea what she was saying in the heat of the moment.

Jerica took a deep breath when she felt Eve’s hand pull away. That must have been enough proof for her. Jerica kept her eyes closed and focused on her breathing. That had been such a terrible few moments of her life. Sure, she’d eventually made friends with both of them — Aeron faster than Aenyra, but she came around eventually.

Jerica opened her eyes when Eve started talking to herself. She looked even more shaken up than Jerica felt — though whether or was because she had been able to see Jerica’s fear, or this was just her own fear at learning about dragons and portals, she wasn’t sure. She didn’t plan to ask.

“Yeah... they’re really pissy when you first meet them.” Jerica smirked mirthlessly. “But some of them aren’t so bad once you get to know them.”

Evaline didn't respond right away. She was too busy shaking away the emotions, trying to return back to the empty slate of her mind. She just needed a minute or two...

Dragons.

They were real wherever the hell Jerica was from. Was she really not spouting nonsense? All of it—everything she had been saying—it was real? Portals, and realms, and dragons...

"The portals," she said still with her eyes closed as she focused on shooing the emotions away. It was fading now. "They're the... other... realms?"