A Dream or Reality

She sat in the middle of the field and cried. She could hear the fighting in the distance. She heard wings flapping, and lay flat on the ground. The dragons did not have good eyesight. She had been trained to not breathe or move and they will fly right over you. The dragon passed on by. The noise of the battle seemed to be diminishing. She slowly made it back to the battleground. It was littered with dead humans. She saw one of the elders. He seemed to be making his way over to her. He was having trouble staying on his feet. She ran to meet him. The man once they finally reached each other shoved an ancient book of the elders into her hands. He also told her that everything would be fine if she followed the map. And then he physically collapsed. She mentally collapsed, more worried about food and shelter than a map drawn by the elders,

She made her way back to the camp they had slept in the night before. She searched for food. There were a few animals, which the humans used for transport. The dragons had not burned the shelters. She stuffed a bag with blankets weapons and food loaded it on one of the animals and headed for the forest. She just wanted to be where she could not be seen. She had some luck with her. She found a cave which was large enough for her and the animal. she leaned her head on the beast and put a blanket over both of them, All she really wanted to do was sleep and escape this reality. She knew the risk, but she sniffed the powder. It would give her a dream of fantasy, but if the dragons attacked it might bring her death. Once lost in the powder, your perception of reality is uncertain.

She was laughing as she swam. The lake was full of baby dragons. They splashed waves of water at her. She jumped off the rocks at the edge of the lake. She swam over to a wooden raft, and under the sensation of teh warm sun rays, she drifted off into sleep. Warmth, trust, peace.

Sunlight was creeping into the cave when she awoke. She was a little confused that she was not in the lake. She smiled to at least be alive, and to have had a good night's sleep. she heard movements outside the cave, She figured that it was just local animals. the noises moved away.

She ate her breakfast and reviewed the book. It had colonies of people and creatures which might help her. but she had no idea where she was on the map.

Her transport animal needed water. She prepared the animal to move to the next desination. She laughed under her breath, "What destination?"

She had just chosen to head in any direction. She almost cried with joy when she 4 or 5 hours later found a lake similar to the one she had been at in her dreams. And yes there were baby dragons. She wasn't sure if this was a side effect of the powder, but nobody attacked her as she led her animal to the lake. She saw grown dragons along the edge of the lake. Was she living in a dream, or did something in her dream become her reality? She wished she had paid more attention to those trainings.

She did not want to leave the lake. She wanted to permanently make this her reality. As the heat faded and the cool air blew in she began to think about where to go to sleep for the night she was totally disorientated.

A baby dragon approached her. He spoke her language. He asked her if she would like a real place to stay. It won't cost you anything. You just look lost. My dad said to ask you.

That night she slept in a real bed, after having taken a bath with homemade soap She did not take any more powder, She slept well with no dreams, just soaking in the comfort.

When she awoke, a huge dragon was sitting next to her. "Don't be scared. I am just trying to help you. Our fate is controlled by your fate. Those dragons that attacked you do not represent all of our kind. I am going to show you where you are on the map and what path to take. Most of us want to just coexist, but others are dancing in their position of control. You will stay here for three weeks to study and find two or three people to take on your voyage with you.

'