The book store was rather large for a town so small. The tall shelves almost reached the ceiling along the walls, while the shelves in the middle were only about five feet tall. Row upon row of books sat upon dusty shelves that seemed to serve no purpose at all. Some of them were so worn that they didn’t seem fit to even hold the volumes upon volumes of books they housed. Rellian couldn’t tell which books they had, or how many there though, but he didn’t care in the least. The only thing on his mind was hiding, and thanks to the tall shelves and the bell on the door, this place seemed as good as any other. Luckily it was unlocked.
He tried to control his breathing as he made his way to the back of the bookshelves, hoping to find a small space in between the wood and the wall. That would be the perfect place to hide. All he would have to do was slide some books to the side, and he could watch the entire shop without being seen.
Luck struck again, and the bookshelf that looked like it was pressed against the whitewashed back wall was pushed out just a little bit. Just enough space for Rellian to squeeze into… Thank God.
Silently, he slipped inside, his tail intertwining with his own leg. What the hell had just happened back there… Milo had charged by, and then those shapes in the fog… He had just run as quick as he could, his eyes locked straight ahead of him. By the time had turned to see if Nile was there beside him, his friend was already lost in the fog. Or he had already been caught… Rellian knew that nobody could ever keep up with him in a footrace, and for some reason he never had to try. But now that he was running for his life and there adrenaline pumping through him… He had no idea how far he had run or how fast he was going, he just knew that his feet just wouldn’t carry him fast enough. After what had felt like an eternity, he had stopped and tried for the nearest door, hoping to find a place to hide. The second door he tried opened, but the first was locked. That was understandable, seeing as there was nobody in any of the stores he had seen.
Nile probably didn’t make it as far as he did. Whoever was chasing them was obviously after Milo as well, but there had been somebody running right beside Milo, but he didn’t get a close glimpse of him. The speed at which that stranger had sped by with Milo in tow rivaled Rellian’s own… And that in and of itself frightened him. Nobody had been able to match his one hundred meter dash in high school… He had made it all the way to nationals without trying too hard. But that person looked like he was dragging Milo along behind him instead of Milo running from him. It just didn’t make any sense.
But now wasn’t the time to think of how Milo was doing, he had to work on his own survival. But then again, how did Rellian even know they were after him? He couldn’t be completely sure, but the way they chased them down like that… They had to be after something. It definitely wasn’t their parents, he was that sure, none of them could keep up with Rellian… None of them.
So this place really was some sort of a ghost town, except there were a few people roaming the streets and chasing everybody else down. Maybe this place was a gang’s hideout and they accidentally stumbled upon it. If that was the case, then he definitely had to fear for his life, and everybody else’s.
But now he had to set up his hiding place so it was the perfect vantage point. That meant moving a few dusty books out of the way so he could keep an eye on the doorway. So with a shaking gloved hand, he reached out and went to remove one of the blue books covered in a gray dusty powder. He was wearing gloves, so he didn’t expect to feel the book, and he pulled it back without a second thought. Trying to be quiet, he let go of the book since he didn’t exactly have enough room to bend down and set it down silently. His eyes followed it to the floor as it landed, but for some reason, the gray dust didn’t raise a small cloud around the book from the impact. Maybe it had been there so long the dust stuck to it. Or maybe-
Ding…
That was the bell, the bell that was on the door to sound that somebody was either entering or leaving. And there sure as hell wasn’t anybody leaving the store.
There, standing in the doorway, she stood. The living contradiction, the person that shouldn’t exist. He gaped openly, hoping that she didn’t see him hiding there behind the shelves.
She was like him, almost exactly like him, but she was… Different. Her skin was a light teal that reminded him of those clear waters off of the shore of a tropical island. But where the change in coloration on her chest and stomach should be there was none, her skin stayed the same reflective teal. Her snout, unlike Rellian’s, was moderately short, and was more pointed at the tip than anything else. Her ears were also different: they shot straight backwards from her head in a hornlike fashion, ending at what looked to be a sharp tip just above her blue-green hair. Rellian had never seen hair that color unless it was dyed, and hers… It looked oddly natural, almost matching her skin color. It fell in slight layers that were nearly unnoticeable, reaching down to her lower back just above her butt. Not that Rellian was staring there, he was just looking all around, trying to figure things out.
Mostly, what species she was. With all of that, she almost looked like… No, that just wasn’t possible, not at all. There had to be some other explanation, but his eyes were locked on her. She was wearing strange clothing. That much was for sure. And in the middle of the summer no less? She was more confusing than anybody he’d ever met. She had on a bleached white shirt that buttoned up in the front, and had a collar that stayed down relaxed around her neck. There was some kind of necklace around her neck, a small silver chain that looped liberally off of her neck and ended in what seemed to be a tiny silver box. Where the shirt ended, which was halfway down to her knees, her pants, if they could be called that, hung loosely off of her hips. They were obviously a size or two too big, and barely managed to stay up on their own. Not only that, but they were definitely in disrepair, the bright purple fabric torn in random places making them seem even looser as the ends trailed down aimlessly behind her clawed feet. Her feet… They were clawed, three digits in the front and one in the back, that meant…
Holy hell. She was a dragon. A real life dragon, standing right in front of him, but she didn’t even know she was there. He had to get a picture, get something… He couldn’t believe his eyes. Either the fog was playing tricks with his eyes, or he was seeing a true paradox.
“Nobody here…” she said with a sigh, lowering her head in shame and letting a few strands of her hair fall in front of her slightly angled face. “C’mon”
With a motion of her clawed hand, one like Rellian’s, she waved and walked out the door and back into the blurring fog. The snake tried to wedge himself from behind a bookshelf, and eventually got out, looking to see if he could follow her shadow through the fog and maybe figure out where she was hiding. If she was really a dragon, then he would be famous, he could be the one who found the extinct race…
He gasped suddenly, seeing movement out of the corner of his eyes. There was somebody else in the shop, somebody else who was hiding…
With a strain of his eyes, he began to make out the shape. And his eyes widened a little bit. What kind of person was he, dressing up like that?
But he knew that whoever it was couldn’t be friendly, and seeing as the only other people he’d seen in this d**ned town were trying to chase him down, he wasn’t about to trust him.
But then the figure turned, the fear inducing gaze making Rellian freeze where he was. It was like his feet were planted to the ground. His mind was screaming wildly at his legs to get going, but his legs wouldn’t listen to a single word.
Run, dammit, run. Run. RUN!
His legs finally listened as the figure was halfway there.
More fake dust collected everywhere, just like every other store that had been open. Every place that wasn’t shut down or locked had this coat of paint with the tan speckles, and every item had the same thing. In this case, the shelves that were lined with CDs and old records were no different. And from Milo’s height, he couldn’t even see to reach the top shelf to see over and check for anybody.
It didn’t take a scholar to figure out nobody else was in this building, not Rellian or anybody else. With a silent sigh, he turned towards the door and began to become entranced in the endlessly repeating pattern of gray that waited just outside the door. They were out there, outside, waiting to find them. Waiting to kill them. Waiting for them to show themselves so there would be nobody to know. All Milo had to do was find somebody else, preferably Nile, and get a group together in the hotel so they could hide out together.
A shiver rolled down his spine, taking its time to make him feel as uncomfortable as possible. But he had to keep going. He had to persevere. Nile would be proud.
His legs carried him to the front door and he stopped just in front of the glass, hesitating for a second before placing his paws on the handle that was slick with condensation and pushing it open.
The thick air greeted him with its embrace. The small drops of water began to mat in his fur again like before, but this time he wasn’t sweating from fear and exhaustion. He had cooled down a little bit in that store, and now he had enough energy to probably make a run for the hotel. But he had to get her first before he made his way back to the safe haven. Her and Nile.
He wasn’t about to call out for them though, he had some more common sense than that. Anybody could hear him throughout the entire town, and everybody would know exactly where he was. And if somebody was close by, he was more than out of luck, he was screwed. But he had to find somebody before he headed back, so he wouldn’t end up alone again… Being alone in this d**ned fog was worse than anything he had ever imagined. He already had problems with his claustrophobia at home, but this was beyond his unfounded fear. Well, it was founded somewhere, it had a definite base, but- No, he refused to think about that. He would just pretend like it never happened, like everybody else did, and it would just slide away into forgotten memories of the good days long ago.
He slowly began to make his way down the edge of the street, keeping close to the shops. She had carried him along all of this way since he couldn’t run near fast enough to get away from them, and for that, he owed her his life. If he had not found her there… He wouldn’t even be around to think.
She had been hanging there, chained against the wall. The dragoness. There were syringes all over the ground filled with some kind of chemical. The room had been bare, stark, Spartan, empty. She was unconscious, but when the light hit her eyes she woke up, and… He had found the keys in the register of the store and unchained her. Then alarms, running, shouting, knives darting past. She grabbed him and took off, but she had tripped along the way and he had rolled out of sight. They were separated.
He was truly alone again. There was nobody around him to comfort him in the fog, and the only people who might find him out in the streets were likely to kill him. He had to do this though, get back to the hotel so he could tell everybody. He could make it.
With a sigh, he plodded further down the road, hoping to catch sight of at least one person before he made it back into safety. If he made it back alone he would never forgive himself.
There, somewhere a ways off, he heard a footstep followed by a slight scratch. He froze where he was, not daring to move, not even daring to breathe. If he made even the slightest sound, whoever was there might notice him and give chase. But if he stayed still enough.
Slowly, the shadow began to shift, maybe turning to go somewhere? But then it grew larger and larger until Milo could swear it was right next to him.
“You’re…” the voice came, cutting through the fog like a finely sharpened razor blade. It was rather melodious in and of itself, but just the way she talked… He knew it was her without even having to look.
The dragoness stepped out into Milo’s range of vision, and with a slight swish of her hips, her tail followed close behind in the movement that seemed to keep Milo’s attention. Her face was a bit downcast and she had slight bags under her eyes form lack of sleep or something else. Milo wasn’t too sure about anything having to do with her, but all he knew was that she had saved his life. There was no way he could have outrun them…
“I…” Milo started, but was instantly cut off when the dragoness held out a sharply clawed hand in front of her to motion him to stop. Slowly, the hand dropped, and she looked at him, slightly down since she was at least a half a foot taller. Sure, she topped out at an enormous five foot five, but she was still tall compared to Milo. Then again, who didn’t?
“Don’t thank me” she grumbled softly, her still melodious voice cracking from years of misuse. “You save me and I get you into a near death situation… Now that’s being grateful”
“But I’m still alive thanks to you” Milo determinedly stated, staying where he was and putting his small paws on his hips. His tail swished a few times.
“Whatever…” the dragoness sighed, turning her eyes into the fog. She almost seemed like she was in some kind of trance, since her eyes weren’t focusing on anything.
The uncomfortable silence floated around, as thick as the fog that surrounded them on all sides. It was about as easy to get rid of as well. Eventually, Milo racked up the courage to say something. That something wasn’t philosophical and insightful, or even an assurance to her. It was just a simple “Wh… What’s your name?”
She turned slowly towards him, her eyes seeming to take in every bit of the fog around her, like it was telling her some kind of secret. But when her eyes locked on his, the coyote winced and drew back a little bit. Her stare was disconcerting.
“Don’t know” she replied curtly, as if being nameless was normal.
Milo could only stare at her in disbelief, wondering how she even managed to keep up any kind of hope when she didn’t even have a name. But then again, why didn’t she have a name? When she was born, was she just left on the street and never picked up? But then why would she be chained to a wall, and- No, this wasn’t the time to think about answerless questions like that. Now was the time to find everybody else and get the hell out of this shrouded ghost town.
“I’ll give you a name when we get back” Milo said, almost sounding confident for the first time in his life. Here was the adventure, here was the excitement, and he was second guessing himself every moment. He needed to be the hero, the protagonist; he needed to be the strong and stoic character that everybody looked up to. This was his time to shine.
Looking startled, the dragoness thingyed her head to the side, her hair cascading down the way she tilted her head. She looked lost, and the glint in her eye showed that there was still some kind of personality left in there. Maybe she wasn’t the kind of hollow shell he suspected her to be. Maybe she had a few feelings that he just couldn’t understand. Maybe seemed to be his favorite word at the moment.
“Regardless, come on!” he shouted, and began to walk off, but stopped, remembering that he had no idea where he was. Some hero he was, he couldn’t even find his way in a town the size of his high school.
“Where do you think you’re going?” came the dragoness’s voice from behind him, and he turned slowly around, lowering his head in shame. He can’t be the hero. It’s impossible.
“Back to the hotel… Hopefully everybody’s back there”
“The… Hotel?” she asked curiously, thingying her head to the other side. “We passed that a while ago, and if I remember correctly… It’s that way” She pointed with a sharp finger down the street in some direction.
How the hell had she remembered where they were? They had run and… Well, they hadn’t taken too many turns, only one, and that was near the beginning. But he was going to have to trust her, since he had no other information to go on. Not even a map. He instantly regretted coming up with this stupid game.
Without another word spoken, Milo glanced over and saw the dragon’s tail swishing away into the fog and he instantly scampered to run after it. If he got separated from her, he knew he wouldn’t last too long out here. Maybe his claustrophobia would kick in, and maybe he would just collapse in the middle of the street, or maybe the people would find again, and- No more maybes, he had to be definite.
Their footsteps seemed to go on into infinity, never ending and never dying out. Milo tried to walk as quietly as possible, but his sneakers seemed to crunch on loose rocks with every step he took. The dragoness didn’t seem to make any kind of noise at all though, she just walked through gravel silently with bare feet, not even minding that rocks were probably stabbing her with every step.
The walking gave Milo time to think, and with time to think, came a realization. If everybody was still waiting for him to come back with something, they would probably be unaware of whatever had happened and they could just stay in the hotel and wait until it was time to go before they stepped outside. Whoever was outside in the fog couldn’t hide on a clear day like the one that they had arrived on. That was it, they would wait it out, wait for the fog to lift, and drive out of there safely. And on top of that, he was positive he had just won their competition. Nobody could beat finding an extinct species alive. That was more interesting than any kind of souvenir they could get their paws on.
After a few minutes of uneventful and silent walking, he recognized the hotel parking lot. There were the cars, all of them still there where they were, and he sighed with relief. Everything was going to be okay. Nothing would go wrong now, everything was fine. Everything was finally-
“M-Milo!” came a shrill voice from out of the fog. It was high pitched, almost unrecognizable. Maybe it was one of them, maybe they knew his name, and maybe-
The figure came dashing towards them through the parking lot, and Milo started to run, but stopped short, the gravel skidding behind him. That… That was Rellian?
Milo couldn’t believe it, that emasculated voice came from the carefree snake that he had known for years. Sure enough, his figure finally came into view, and he was practically stumbling over himself with panic. His tail was flying wildly behind him with a wide arc like a ribbon that gymnasts used. But in an instant he stopped and leapt backwards, his knees bent. He looked like he was about to get into a fight with Milo, or- Oh no, he didn’t recognize her.
“Milo, get away!” he shouted, his voice still cracking every once in a while from wild panic that seemed to encase every inch of his being. Milo was getting scared just looking at him. “She’s one of them!”
Milo could only stare at Rellian, barely able to believe that he was the real deal. His eyes were barely normal, the black of his eyes was reduced to an almost infinitesimal spec. Milo could still see that his pupils were still the usual slits, but they were so thin that he could barely tell they were even there across the broad expanse of hazel. And his hair seemed an even spikier mess than before, some strands laying across his snout and dangling lifelessly down. His ebony hair almost looked like it had been splashed with water a few times, the way it hung down and clung to his head and ears, draping everywhere. Milo didn’t think his hair was that long.
“No!” the dragoness suddenly shouted, taking a step between Rellian and Milo. “I saved him…”
Rellian seemed to not like hearing this and took a slow step forward, the gravel crunching beneath his tough-soled boots. Slowly, his head tilted to the side, almost a bit further than Milo thought possible. Something was wrong with Rellian; that much was for sure. Either he was scared out of his mind or he had already lost it. “It’s true…” the small coyote managed to squeak out as he stared at the intimidating reptile in front of him. Rellian… Rellian had never scared him like this. Maybe it was just the strain of everything-
“Milo…” Rellian said, blinking a few times before turning his head towards the coyote. Milo couldn’t help but wince away in fright. “You saved her?”
Tucking his tail gently between his legs, the coyote turned his gaze to the ground and began to draw invisible pictures and patterns in the gravel with his sneakers. As much as he hated it, Milo was inherently bashful of anything he did right, and his parents always scolded him for eschewing form personal gratitude. “Yeah…” he said, hoping Rellian was just playing a joke, that he wasn’t scared. That he was going to be there and save the day, and make everything better. “I did… She was chained up in a hidden room, and when I eventually got the key and get her down, they staretd chasing us, and-“
He was cut off by a sigh of relief from Rellian. But what surprised Milo even more was that the snake suddenly ran up to Milo and, instead of laughing at him and saying it was a bunch of crap, wrapped his arms tightly around the small coyote and lifted him up into the air. Milo felt his feet leave the ground and instantly began kicking them, but wrapped his arms back around Rellian. He was warm, he was real… finally, he didn’t have to be by himself in this hellish town anymore. With a sigh of relief, Milo closed his eyes and let his tail fly around wildly behind him like a kite on a windy day. He was going to be safe.
“Thank God…” Rellian breathed under his breath, his clawed fingers running up and down Milo’s back gently. Finally, warmth, safety… He just wanted to break down right then and there, but he wouldn’t do that in front of Rellian. He had been scared out of his wits, and put on a fully prepared façade that even a comic book hero would be jealous of. But best of all… He had made it out alive. Finally…
“C’mon, let’s go” Rellian said softly, his gaze turning slowly to her, and his brow furrowed. Milo was resting his muzzle on Rellian’s shoulder, so he didn’t notice it. He was sure everybody was going to get along now, everything was going to be fine. Nile probably came back to the hotel already… The taller coyote could do anything, he was almost like an older brother to Milo.
After letting him go, Rellian began to make his way up the gravel parking lot towards what Milo thought was the front door. Of course, with all of the damend fog, it was impossible to see anything, so Milo followed blindly without saying a word. At least Rellian was okay, Milo had been worried about his sanity ever since he had heard his voice, but then again, he would have freaked out seeing a total stranger with one of his friends after almost being killed. On second thought, Milo was rather proud of himself for keeping such a level head throughout all of this.
“Wait…” Rellian said, and instantly stopped where he was, turning around and crunching more gravel beneath his boots. “Isn’t… Isn’t Nile with you?”
Milo blinked a few times, but then shook his head remorsefully. “I… I think he’s safe inside” he murmured under his breath, as if trying to convince himself that what he was passing off as the truth really was the truth and not just a hopeful lie.
The snake seemed completely and utterly shattered by this news, and instantly hung his head in shame. “Dammit!” he shouted, loud enough for everybody around to hear, probably even inside the Dancing Raven. With a flick of his reptilian tail and a flinch, he pivoted on his foot and darted headlong towards the inn door that was beginning to fade into view.
Before Milo could even utter a word, the snake had opened it and slammed it shut. Slowly, Milo turned around to see what the dragoness was thinking, but when he looked, she was gone. Like she had vanished into thin air…
But before Milo could say anything to himself, the door burst open with a thud and the snake came charging outside with a panicked look on his face. Milo couldn’t even get a word in before Rellian charged past silently on the gravel. Even in boots, that reptile sure was graceful. But enough random thinking, if Rellian wanted to get lost… It was his own fault. He had to get back in the hotel and warn everybody.