I Raised A Black Dragon

Someone was following her; Noah was sure of it. There were people who were lurking in the shadows, out of the view of the public. Even if they had a legitimate reason for being there, she was still suspicious of them. 

However, she was not in Elenora’s body now. She was Park Noah. Aside from Kyle and Muell, no one knew her face, her name, or her existence. She carried Muell who had been disguised since they left the hotel. She had even changed her clothes and was covered up in a robe. Who could be following her?

She looked around, carefully examining her surroundings. She stood in the middle of the exhibition, though no one could see her. She shuffled to one side to avoid people bumping into her, only to realize too late that because she couldn’t see her feet; she couldn’t see where she was walking.

She barely managed to stop herself from falling when she stumbled into an open paint can that someone was using to paint a mural on a blank wall. Frantically, she ducked down another alleyway to examine the damage. To her horror, she found that the blue paint she had bumped into had splashed on her shoes and the bottom of the trousers, revealing her location for all to see. 

Within seconds, five shadowy figures descended upon the alleyway. Two of them were on either end of the alleyway, blocking her escape. Two more were looking down at her from the rooftop, And the final person was slowly approaching her at an agonizingly slow pace. 

With no option to run, there was only one way she could escape. She held Muell tight in her arms. 

“Muell, I need you to do something for me.” She whispered to him, her eyes not leaving the man approaching her. “There’s a spell of teleportation, one from the ancient miracles. I need you to do it for me now.” 

Teleportation magic was one of the spells that remained elusive to her. No matter how hard she practiced, no matter how many times she studied Muell’s scribbles, she could never master it. If she had a teleportation scroll to hand, she would be able to find her own way out. But she did not, and thus she would have to rely on Muell.   

Muell nodded, preparing the teleportation spell. Instantly, brightly coloured runes appeared beneath Noah’s feet, illuminating her and causing the figures to shield their eyes. Pleased that they had temporarily been halted, Noah braced herself for the spell to properly take effect. 

“We should let Kyle know where we are,” Noah gestured to Muell.   

Muell snapped his fingers to summon the orb where all their belongings were kept, allowing Noah to reach in and find what she was looking for. She pulled out a bottle containing a small fairy asleep on a leaf. Gently tapping on the bottle, the fairy awoke and gently flew out the bottle. 

“Tell Kyle to follow us.” She said to the fairy, who nodded and transformed into a yellow butterfly. Watching as it flew back towards the city, she turned her attention back to the alley where she was. 

In a flash of light, Noah felt her feet leave the ground. She was free floating through nothingness, yet there was immense pressure on her body. Mercifully, the sensation only lasted a few more seconds before she was unceremoniously thrown onto the ground. Rubbing the back of her head, Noah sat up to find where she had landed. 

Gone was the alleyway with the art exhibition, deep within the city. Now she was somewhere completely different. Lining the cracked road were rows of run-down houses, many of which had ivy growing up the walls and covering the roofs. Weeds sprouted from between the cracks in the pavement.

The streetlights that were still operational appeared to be in dire need of new bulbs. And in the distance, standing out above the houses, were derelict factories. The first drops of rain fell from the sky as Noah picked herself up and dusted herself off, her invisibility spell now beginning to wear off.  

“Muell, any ideas where we are?” Noah asked, looking down at him. She felt a pang of annoyance when he shrugged, as he was the one who brought her there in the first place. However, she could not stay annoyed at him for too long, as he had just saved her life.