Page 6 of Stolen By Dragons
Besides, no one else was asking anything.
Elowen dismissed my question with a wave of her hand. "All will be explained in due time. For now, let's continue with your orientation. Follow me.”
Wonderful. Dismissed just like that, way to make me feel like a damn teenager again at school. I bit my cheek, keeping from voicing my frustration as the group hesitantly moved after her.
As we followed Elowen down another winding corridor, a broad-shouldered man with shaggy brown hair fell into step beside me.
"Hey," he said quietly. “It’s nice to see someone willing to ask questions. The rest of are probably too stunned by their power,” he admitted.
“Their power?” I murmured with a frown.
“Right, humans aren’t good at sensing those things. Anyway, I’m Christopher. And, uh, I'm a werewolf."
I nearly tripped over my own feet. "I'm sorry, what? But werewolves are supposed to be myths."
He chuckled softly. "So are dragons, and yet here we are."
"Touché," I muttered, then added with a wry smile, "I'm Aria. Apparently the token human of the group."
So werewolves were real. I’ll be damned. So everything else Elowen had mentioned was real too then? Fantastic.
Christopher nodded. "Yeah, I figured. Out of this batch, you're the only full human."
"How can you tell?" I asked, suddenly self-conscious. "Do I smell different or something?" All the books and movies I’d seen and read had spoken of their great sense of smell.
"Actually, yeah," he said, then quickly added as he noticed my concerned expression, "Don't worry, it's not bad. My sense of smell is just really keen. Best of all shifters, actually. You just smell human, and slightly sweet, I’m assuming that’s your perfume.”
“Right…” I mumbled. My perfume and a drenching of anxiety induced sweat from the flight here. I couldn’t help but give myself a sniff, causing Christopher to chuckle. I didn’t smell too bad, nothing a shower wouldn’t solve.
So much for this all being a dream. This was far too real, and it was daunting. At least I had one somewhat human person to talk with. How did his shifting work? Wait, he’d said of all shifters?
"Shifters?" I began to ask, but Elowen's voice cut through our conversation.
"This is your communal area," she announced as we entered a massive, comfortably furnished room.
I took a moment to absorb my surroundings. The space was circular, with a high, domed ceiling that seemed to shimmer with a soft, ambient light. Plush sofas and armchairs were arranged in cozy clusters around the room, interspersed with bookshelves filled with volumes I couldn't quite make out from here. A large fireplace dominated one wall, its flames dancing in hues of blue and purple.
What caught my attention most, though, were the hallways. Five corridors branched off from the main room, each marked with a symbol above its entrance. I squinted, trying to make out what they represented.
The first bore a simple silhouette of a human figure. Next to it, a wolf symbol that, as I watched, magically morphed into what looked like a large cat - maybe a tiger? The sight made me blink hard, wondering if I was imagining things. The third entrance was adorned with a whimsical, curling leaf, while the fourth showed a bat with outstretched wings.
My mind immediately jumped to vampires. Could they really turn into bats? I made a mental note to ask Christopher later, curiosity battling with the surreality of even considering such a question.
The fifth corridor, I noticed, was marked with an apple tree. As I pondered its significance, Elowen's voice cut through my thoughts.
"Your individual quarters branch off from here. Each species has its own designated hall," she explained, gesturing to the corridors. "Humans, Shifters and Werewolves, Fae, and Vampires." She paused, her eyes landing on me. "You may choose your own rooms within your designated halls. Each room has its own adjoining bathroom for your convenience."
I swallowed hard, suddenly very aware of how alone I was in this group. At least Christopher had approached me.
"Now, let me show you to the main dining hall," Elowen said, already moving towards the apple tree corridor.
As we walked, Elowen continued, "Meal times will be posted in your rooms, along with clocks. Your phones and other devices from Earth won't work here. Consider your lives back home... on hold for now."
A murmur of concern rippled through the group as my stomach dropped. On hold? What the fuck?
Sure, I was still shell-shocked about this whole new world, but saying my life was on hold back home? What the hell did she mean by that?
"But what about our families? Our jobs?" Someone spoke up over the growing unease in our group.