Stories are a funny thing, aren't they?

You base your whole world view on them as children. Or, at least, I did.

Don't try to convince me you haven't, we've all tried hunting for fairies in the forest, or pretended to slay a dragon with a wooden sword, or even just lost ourselves in a book so completely we believed we were in that world, if only for a moment. As you grow up, people dampen these beliefs, telling you they're nothing more than fairytales, or old wives' tales to scare the insolent child into bed. They tell you to 'Grow up', and see the world in the same mundaneness as they saw.

But for me, there's always been that lingering feeling that something was beyond that veil we call the 'real world'. What if we just used a bit more of our imagination, what if we saw like children once more?

That was the same line of thinking that had me lost in the woods.

Okay, some may be surprised that the smart, mature, totally normal sixteen-year-old girl named Erythia might get lost in the forest chasing after a shadow, but those people are what I like to call boring.

I've always had a little too much imagination for my own good. While helping out with the children, or reading from the library, or really anywhere where there's adults to watch me, I try to be as mature as possible. Y'know, putting the clothes on the clothes rack, heating up water for the feral beasts known as small children, and helping fold the never-ending supply of laundry.

But as soon as I'm left to my own devices, I instantly drift off to daydream about those stories of dragons, unicorns, and impossibilities. More than once have I found myself sleepwalking, holding up a ladle and pot-lid like a sword and shield, and waking myself up with my own voice shouting, "Begone, foul beast!"

I was a very weird child.

It was one of those very same sleepwalking nights that I dreamed about a fire in the woods bordering our small village. And no, not just any old fire, one that could be started by an exceptionally dry forest, but a magical one.

How could I tell it was magical? What normal summer fire was bright blue? Or that was caused by a shooting star? On a full-moon?

Fine, maybe I'm a little superstitious, but that didn't stop someone as fearless (and most likely delirious) as me!

I silently slipped on my boots and a coat--more than a little surprised at how vivid this dream was--and set off into the woods in search of this elusive blue-flame. Thanks to the light cast by the moon, I only tripped on a few dozen roots, branches, and other obstacles. Not like that was going to stop me, either!

The exceptionally cold summer night didn't help matters either, but I was within a couple tree-lengths of the blue blaze by the time my teeth started chattering enough to concern me.

I had to squint against the glare from the flame, but I pressed on until my feet were at the edge of a crater about ten feet long, with flames licking the toe of my boots. I was a little more convinced that this was a dream when I felt no heat, but that didn't solve my chattering teeth, and left me severely disappointed that all I had been rewarded from my imagination was losing myself in the forest.

At least, until I knocked into the crater by a massive gust of wind.

I hit the ground with my shoulder, tearing through the coat and shredding my arm. I didn't feel the pain, however, because my attention was solely focused on the massive head that peered at me through the shadows cast by the moon.

When I say massive, I mean massive. Like, nostrils-as-tall-as-me massive. Its eyes were a sparkling light-blue, and its scales shifting from various shades of blue, purple, and black. I stared, dumbfounded, at this otherworldly-sized being when I saw a small shape slip off the side of its shoulder, landing nimbly on the ground without a single leaf crackling underneath them.

I only thought of pinching myself now, but the long, throbbing wound on my shoulder attested to the fact that I wasn't dreaming, at least, not in the real sense.

As the shape approached, I realized it wasn't another mystical being, but a rather normal-looking boy around my age, wearing a cloak that looked like it had been ripped off the night sky, adorned with small stars and wisps of moving clouds.

Only then did my body finally realized the extent of the wound on my shoulder, and went into lockdown.

Could also been known as: I passed out due to the sheer lunacy of what I just experienced.

POV: Rowen.

The day started off normal. I woke up with the sun, as all students are encouraged to do. Encouraged, perhaps, but not followed by the majority of students. Got dressed, checked the schedule for today, and went on a walk before my first class.

It all started going wrong when I was kidnapped by Gnomes.

Usually, these little people are very reclusive, hiding away when any Wizards, as they like to call us, approach. They usually spent their time landscaping the massive grounds of Valecanthe and tending to all the nature-driven beings. However, today they appeared to have gotten drunk off of Imaginative Fumes (whether real or not real, I am still unsure, but rumor has it as a very potent drug), and a group of the rowdiest ones decided to finally face their fears of Wizards.

By messing up my schedule.

Of course, they intended, and believed they were executing, in the capture and possible murder of their leader. I am not, however, the leader of my species, but a half-asleep, really-just-wants-to-get-to-class boy of sixteen known as Rowen. And no matter how many times I pleaded, or tried gently plucking them off my legs, they wouldn't listen to me. Maybe it was Imaginative Fumes, in which case I'll need to document this event more thoroughly, but I digress.

Now some might wonder why I didn't just fling them off magically and take off running. Not only would that be a severe violation of many laws put in place in the mistreatment of other species, but Gnomes are incredibly vicious when they want to be, as I found out. When I tried to detach them from me, they bit through my trousers and into my skin. I only started to panic when I remembered their bite had an incredibly powerful venom. Not venom in the normal sense, however. When exposed to plants, it instantly heals any ailments and occasionally making them sentient.

When exposed to animals, it has a habit of knocking us unconscious. Sometimes for life.

I barely had time to run through these facts before everything grew dark and I vaguely felt myself hit the hardpacked dirt.

When I awoke, my head ached like a unicorn had tried to crunch it like a watermelon (don't ask me how I came to know the sensation). I looked around, my gaze bleary, and realized I wasn't accompanied by the Gnomes anymore. Well, they were out of sight. Knowing our little knowledge of Gnomes, I didn't trust their disappearance. I sat up, hit my head on a hard, scaled object, and promptly fell back down, my head pounding with renewed vengeance.

A snort of hot air followed my attempt, and a large shadow shifted above me. A deep, echoing voice sounded in my head, shaking my entire body with a rumbling growl.

Is the little Magician's apprentice awake yet?

I was about to retort that I was anything but little, when a different, higher-pitched voice cut me off.

I wouldn't recommend arguing with a prince, Young One. It is a tried and tested hypothesis that has ended in many a death among your kind.

I gulped. So, it was not only a dragon, but the dragon. Thyraevor, one of the few dragons allowed onto Academy ground, mostly because we can't deny them without starting a war. The other dragon I wasn't sure about, but possibly another noble.

Her name is--

Sylphaera, and you do not need to introduce me, Thorn!

A small argument happened--thankfully--outside of my mind, with lots of low-pitched hissing, growling, and snarling, before I was spoken to again.

Excuse us for that. I am called Sylphaera, as I have said before, but you may call me Syl and him Thorn.

Ah, got it. I was cornered by a Prince of the Volcano, and a nymph-dragon. My still-pounding head didn't have the capacity to care too much about dragon politics, or their proprieties, so I went straight to the point.

"Wait. Why am I here? Where are the Gnomes? And why are there two great big sky-hounds talking to me?" Great. Very tactful, Rowen. I wondered vaguely if they would roast me first or skewer me on a kabab. Instead, I heard a sniggering coming from Syl, who was quickly silenced.

We sensed you needed aid, and we needed a Magician.

Why would dragons need a Magician? And why would they choose an apprentice of all people? My head started swimming again, and I nearly vomited onto the forest floor. If my chances of survival were low before, they would have been nonexistent then. Thankfully, I sensed a powerful wave of magic, and my stomach regained control. For now.

Our magic cannot do the tasks we wish to accomplish. We hope one well-versed in all types of magic may succeed where we have... failed. Said Syl, with some hesitation.

"But why an apprentice?" I asked, cocking my head in confusion.

You were the easiest to find, and one who is relatively anonymous.

Translation: I was easy to kidnap, and no one would miss me. That would not be something I would have put on an application for a job, but it got me one with two quite literally fiery-tempered beings. I just hoped they had good pay.

You accept? Wonderful.

Before I could protest that statement, Th snatched me up in her jaws and flung me onto her back. I landed with a groan, and barely had time to grab onto the frills adorning her neck before she shot off into the air will so much force that I felt my soul leave my body for a moment. I hoped it was a figure of speech, but in this realm you truly never know.

We flew for an incalculable time, mostly because I was so focused on survival, I wasn't sure of minutes or millennia had passed before I realized it was growing dark. As I pointed out this fact, they dove down towards the ground with more speed than when they took off. In my panic, I scrambled to grab ahold of anything, either with mind or body. My hands were met with more frills, which were not going to save me from slamming into the ground at this speed.

My mind, however, was met with the very fabric of this realm. Very helpful when about to die, I might add. I clawed at it, and managed to tear a hole large enough, and for long enough, that the two dragons flew straight through.

And landed in the middle of an extremely small forest. In front of us, a small crater marked my use of time and space, with a small shape resting inside. I took a moment to regain my composure, then hopped down from Syl's back and approached the crater to investigate the shape.