The Chronicles of Arcadia: Book 1: Chapter 2
Chapter 2: The Knight and The DragonLianne was walking with Lena, not saying a word while staring at her brown boots and dark blue jeans she wore. She was now wearing a black coat with a hoodie and a mahogany shirt with the same white tank-top underneath. Her mind couldn’t take off the fortune that she read last night, and today she was feeling nervous because the fortune said that an unexpected danger will come. The cards were never wrong, but she still couldn’t figure out what this danger was. And to top it off, she still couldn’t figure out about this so-called “knight” that the cards spoked about.So far, she could only guess that the unexpected danger could probably either be a small one or a bigger one, which she hoped wouldn’t be the latter, and that someone would probably protect her by acting that of her knight in shining armor. I mean, it’s not like an actual knight would come...would it? No, that’ll probably be ridiculous, there wouldn’t be an actual knight. Those only exist in medieval history. Not to mention people acting like knights in movies, or in medieval reenactments. However...this undeniable feeling she was getting was starting to bother her.“Alright,” Lena said as Lianne looked at her. “Tell me what’s bothering you?”“I…” Lianne sighed. “I just have something on my mind, that’s all.”“Oh, I see…” Lena nods as she goes in front of Lianne, stopping her from taking another step. “What did the cards say to you last night?”“I don’t know,” Lianne shrugged. “They didn’t make any sense.”She passed her while Lena grew an odd look and said as she followed Lianne, “‘Didn’t make any sense’, what do you mean by that?” She didn’t answer her as she only gave her a sigh. Lena places her arm on Lianne’s shoulder and tells her, “C’mon, you can tell me. Y’know you can’t let shit like this get the best of you.”Lianne gives out another sigh as she said, “I just don’t know what to tell you. I honestly don’t,” she reaches behind as she feels her backpack. “But you know the cards are never wrong. It’s just that...I feel like something is going to happen.”“Like what?” Lena asked, but the answer she got from Lianne was a shrug. “Li, I’ve known you since high school, you can tell me anything. So don’t bottle it up.”Lianne was going to tell her what she learned from the cards...but then she felt a shock in her head as she slightly grunted while clutching it with a single hand while they both stopped and Lena said to her, “What’s wrong?”She nods as the sudden pain stops and answers, “I...I don’t know.” When she opened her eyes...they became blurry...and her body started to move on its own as if it were in a trance.“Li?”Lena watched as she started to walk a little faster, prompting her to walk a little faster herself. “Li, what’s the matter?” She called out to her, but Lianne started to pick up the pace. “Li!” She watched as her friend took off in a run, making her run after Lianne while yelling, “Lianne wait!”Lena’s voice echoed throughout Lianne’s mind as she continued to run without knowing why. What’s wrong with me? She thought. Why am I acting this way?Her vision was starting to show her the necklace of her crystal monocle as it was swinging...then a flash of light came…She hears her own breathing as she was in some kind of forest while continuing to run...W-What is this place?She hears the sound of hoofbeats while a male voice echoes as it says, “You won’t get away, foul beast!”She looks to the left, but could barely make out somebody as the trees were in the way. However, she could see a horse that had cloth on its body, but could barely tell what it was, and as for the rider...she couldn’t tell who he looked like, but could definitely make out a cape that was flowing as he was galloping with his horse…She hears the sound of a roar...just as her vision flashed as she now heard the sound of a car honking as tires screeched while trying to stop. Lianne yelps, but is tackled out of harm’s way while she hears Lena shout “Lianne!” and the two girls land hard on the ground with a grunt. As Lianne groaned, Lena grabbed her arm and pulled her up, then grabs at her shoulders and said with a hard tone, “What the hell’s gotten into you, are you trying to get yourself killed!”Lianne didn’t know what to say to her. However...what was that she just saw? Was that it? She thought as she looked to where the car had already passed by. Was that the unexpected danger that was supposed to happen today? Her thoughts crossed at the Knight of Pentacles. No...No that’s not it. Her eyes widened as she saw the crystal monocle swing at her vision again.“Lianne, look at me!” Lianne looked at her friend while the vision of the swinging necklace continued. “What’s the matter with you?!”She couldn’t control what she was saying as she told Lena, “An unexpected danger will come…”Lena had a confused look. “What? What danger?”“My destiny will intertwine with a brave and trustworthy knight…”“What are you saying,” Lena shook Lianne slightly. “You're not making any sense!”“I will soon be separated…” Lena’s eyes widened when Lianne said that. “...and will go on an adventure unlike no other.”“What do you mean by that? Is that what the cards said?” Lena noticed that her friends’ eyes looked like it was in a state of trance. It started to scare her as she never saw her friend act like this before. “Are you even seeing me?” She didn’t get an answer from her as Lena shook her again. “Answer me, damn it!”The necklace flashed as she saw the sky move while it resumed swinging at her vision, as if she was flying through the air, but then…“Something’s coming, I can sense it.”“What? What’s coming?”The sky moved faster...there was the sound of that familiar roar...then the necklace flashed again as she saw Lena again and pointed at the sky shouting, “There!”Lena looked to where Lianne was pointing as she gasped when she saw something within the sky ripple and distort. There was a roar for not only the two girls to hear, but for all who was seeing the distorted ripple to hear. Then...something came out…It flew through the air on leathered black wings as its entire body was also black, and it looked like to them some mutant lizard with wings. “Oh my God!” Lena said with complete disbelief. “Is that what I think it is?”It still became impossible, even for the two girls or anyone else who caught sight of the flying creature, but here it was before their very eyes…It was a dragon...an actual dragon! How could something like this be real? I mean, dragons only existed through legends, even that through fairy-tales, there was no such thing as dragons. But the proof of the existence of that dragon still hadn’t left them. However, there was still the question that remained...Where the hell did it come from?As the dragon continued to fly while its head was looking left and right, it’s red eyes gazing at the mysterious surroundings of the new world it was in. It had no idea where it was...but it could care less. So with its head raised while its throat was snoring...it roared as it spewed out a fireball. The fireball soared straight at the college rooftop, exploding as its sound caused the people to scream and flee in a massive panic as they darted here and there. The two girls gasped while Lianne covered her mouth with two hands as they both watched as the dragon started circling around the campus. “Alright, I’m calling the fire department,” Lena said as she dug through the pocket of her blue jeans to get her cell phone. “Then I’m calling the police! No, better yet, we need the army so they can-”“He’s coming.”Lena looked at her friend. “What?”Lianne had already had her arms down as she was back in her trance-like state. “He’s coming...I can sense it.”As the necklace of her crystal monocle swung at her vision, Lena asked, “Who’s coming?” Her vision was showing her the same forest, but instead of her running...the forest was moving fast while familiar hoofbeats were heard...then the necklace flashed.“There!” She sharply turned around as another distorted ripple appeared. But before she could point at it, a whinny of a horse was heard as it reared up while it appeared, making the two girls yelp as both of them went down on the ground.“Whoa, Stormwind, whoa!” came a male voice as he was trying to calm down his horse. “Easy my friend, easy!”Lianne recognized that voice from her vision. Both of the girls gasped as their jaws dropped in both disbelief and shock at what both of them were seeing…It was a knight, but the rider who was gently petting the horse’s neck with his gauntlet...wasn’t even human. There was a muzzle that was exposed from the helm that had two triangles that was protecting it’s acute ears. The rider...was a lion. He had a red mane, much redder than that of Lianne’s red hair, golden yellow eyes, and wore armor that was on his arms and legs, a grey tunic was fastened with a leather belt that had an empty sword sheath and a symbol of a white five-pointed star with triangles going all the way around in-between the star was etched on the tunic, underneath that tunic was a chain-mail shirt and a grey hooded cloak was fastened with a white jewel with a golden ring around it. In his right hand he held a sword with the grip of it being brown, the pommel on the bottom held a grey jewel, near the blade at the cross-guard were two spikes that were diagonally pointing up while opposite to both sides, and the blade was silver at the edges while at the middle was grey.The horse, Stormwind, as the lion-knight had called him, was draped in a caparison with the same grey color as the lion-knight while Lianne noticed the muzzle of the horse was white. Stormwind also had armor that was on his face and went down to his neck, and near the saddle where the lion-knight sat, armor also sat on his hind quarters.“It’s you,” Lianne said.The lion-knight looked at her, as if he heard her while Lianne saw the Knight of Pentacles card from her mind, but in actuality...the lion-knight was looking at both women as he said to them, “Can either of you tell me where I am, and where’s the dragon?”He got his answer when another roar from the dragon came and saw it breath fire at a strange building while seeing many humans darting left and right, trying to get away from this monster. The lion-knight's eyes looked around, seeing a very unusual new world he was in. He didn't know how he got here. The only thing he knew was that he was chasing this dragon, and next thing he knew, he and his steed Stormwind were on some unusual pathway that mysteriously appeared out of nowhere and led them here. He couldn’t figure out how it happened, but right now he didn’t have time to ponder. Now was the time for action. Looking back at the two ladies, he tells them, “Get to safety you two, and don’t worry about the beast.” He looked back at the dragon as he narrowed his eyes. “I’ll take care of it. Yah!” He kicks the reins on his horse as Stormwind gallops forward to where the dragon was, leaving the two women behind.Lianne watched the lion-knight leave while Lena remained shocked at what she saw as said, “Holy shit! That was a lion-man!” She stood back up and added, “But I guess we should do what he says and let’s get the hell out of here.”She helped her friend stand up as she took off in a run with Lianne about to follow her. However, when Lianne took that single step...she saw the vision of her crystal monocle swinging...then a flash came…She saw the dragon’s foot about to stomp on the lion-knight, but he swings his sword and makes a deep gash, causing the dragon to roar in pain. When he quickly got back up, he had his sword raised while the middle part of the blade glowed grey as he was about to bring it down. However...the dragon’s tail swiftly came at him from the right, it spikes ready to pierce him. The lion-knight didn’t have enough time to dodge as he only saw the spiky part of the dragon’s tail...Then Lianne saw blood splatter across her vision…“Li!” Lena yelled as Lianne blinked her eyes back to reality while seeing her friend waving her to follow. “Come on, let’s get out of here!”Lianne turned her attention back at the college campus. “He’s not gonna make it.” She muttered while her friend went to her and grabbed her shoulders and made her look at her as she told her, “Didn’t you hear what I said? I said we have to go.”She shoved her friend away and made a run back to the campus while saying, “He’s gonna die, I have to help him!”“Li!” Lena went after her as she had no idea what the hell was the matter with her friend. “Lianne, come back!”---As Lianne was trying to find the lion-knight throughout the destroyed campus, she heard a roar as she was getting close. Standing next to a pillar, she watched as the lion-knight and dragon were duking it out.The lion-knight’s steed Stormwind jumps over the dragon’s tail, then its rider swings its sword, causing the middle part of the blade to glow grey, much to Lianne’s shock while she continued to watch as a slash of wind hits the dragon, causing it to roar in pain as there was a cut wound that bleed from its shoulder. In retaliation, it swiped its foot at the knight and steed, causing Stormwind to whinny as both the horse and rider landed hard on the ground. Stormwind managed to get up and gallop away while the lion-knight grunted then opened his eyes, only to see the dragon’s foot about to stomp him, but he swung his sword and made a deep gash, causing the dragon to roar in pain. When he quickly got back up, he had his sword raised while the middle part of the blade glowed grey again as he was about to bring it down.However, when Lianne saw that tail with the spikes on it, she quickly cupped her hands and yelled, “Watch out! On your right!”His acute ears heard that warning from her as he sees that spiked tail. He knew that he couldn’t dodge it in time, so instead he used his sword to guard it. However, despite managing to save himself from getting impaled from all those spikes, only a small spike managed to get him at the side. He grunts slightly while he was pushed back and slid on the ground, placing his hand on the wound as he was lucky it didn’t go through completely on his chain-mail, but that didn’t stop the small gash he had as he was bleeding there.Seeing that he made it out of that one alive made Lianne breathe a sigh of relief, but she yelped as she was forcibly turned to face Lena as she said to her, “What the hell do you think you doing?!”While she was continuing to scold Lianne by telling her “It’s dangerous to even be out here!”, the dragon turned to face the two girls. However...it’s eyes glowed for only a moment as it saw Lianne. The lion-knight seemed to notice that small glow, but at first he thought it must’ve been the sunlight that made that glow from its eyes or probably his mind playing tricks on him, but he knew his instincts told him otherwise as his senses weren’t being fooled. Looking at the dragon’s direction, he saw those two girls again as he yelled, “Get out of here!”The dragon roars with Lena saying, “Oh shit!” She grabbed her friend and made a run for it...just as the dragon was going after them with the lion-knight saying, “Your fight is with me, dragon!” The lion-knight charged at it, but the dragon’s tail knocked him away, without impaling him with one of it’s spikes as the lion-knight’s wind was knocked out of him and was sent sailing to the ground.Back with the two ladies, they were running for their lives as the dragon was behind them. Lena took only a look as she yelled, “Oh my God!” Time seemed to slow down for Lianne as her mind flashed back at the fortune she wanted to know from last night...and remembered the upright The Tower and The Fool cards. Her fortune did say that she would be separated and will go on an adventure...just not what she expected. So with that in her mind, and not wanting to see her friend get hurt, she shoves her friend aside while saying “Lena!” just as the dragon reaches for her and knocks her down. Then, keeping a tight grip on her, it flapped its wings and took to the air while Lianne yelped slightly.When Lena saw her friend get taken by that creature, she shouts, “HELP! SOMEBODY HELP! MR FRIEND’S BEEN TAKEN!”“Don’t worry!” Came a familiar voice as Lena hears hoofbeats. “I’ll save her!”Lena watched as the lion-knight galloped after the dragon that took Lianne.---In the air, the dragon was carrying Lianne within its paws. Lianne never felt so scared in her life as she was looking at how high up she was. But then...she sensed something. Looking ahead, she sees another distorted ripple as the dragon went through, but the moment it went through...the sky moved fast. She watched as the sky moved faster and faster as the dragon kept moving forward...until light flashed for a moment and faded as they were back at the sky. However, Lianne had a funny feeling that she wasn’t home anymore…Well, she was right as she looked down and saw a forest below her. But the question remained...Where was she exactly?Then...there came a sound of a boom as the dragon felt another deep gash, this time at the side as it let go of Lianne. She screamed while she was plummeting down and down towards the forest below, but when she went past the tree tops and was getting closer to the ground...someone’s arms caught her while saying, “Gotcha!” Then something lands hard on the ground, making her yelp slightly as her foot hits someone’s head, causing them both to fall off while they heard a whinny of a horse as they both rolled and grunt, then came to a stop as Lianne was on someone’s chest. As they both groaned, Lianne’s eyes widened when she saw the lion-knight again. What became even more surprising was that he was below her and she was on top of him.What she didn’t know was that the lion-knight somehow managed to return back to the forest from where it all started. And when he saw that dragon, he used his sword as he made a slash of wind and the attack made contact on the dragon. As he saw the girl falling, he commanded his steed to gallop faster until he saw a rockway, which he used Stormwind to run and jump until he caught her in his arms. The rest you’ve already seen.Despite the odd outcome, the lion-knight said to her, “Umm...you can get off my chest now.”Lianne didn’t have to be told twice as she crawled away from him. She was still surprised, but not because he was a knight...but because of his appearance. “Are you alright?” He asked her. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to answer him or not, but a roar was heard over the distance. Looking back at the lion-knight, he looks at her and tells her, “Stay here.” She watched as he went back to Stormwind, who was waiting for his rider as he climbed on his back. Looking back at her, he then tells her while drawing his sword, “I’ll come back for you soon. This won’t take long...I hope. Yah!” He kicks the reins on his horse as Stormwind gallops to where the dragon was, leaving Lianne behind.She didn’t know what the hell was going on, but she wasn’t going to stay here as she got up quickly and said, “Screw that!” Then, she took off in a run, hoping not to see that lion-knight again. She didn’t give a damn about the fortune saying she was intertwined with him. There was no way in hell she would be with...Well, that thing!However, as she continued to run wherever she was going. The bigger question remained… Where was she in this strange world?
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