The ground rumbled beneath me, shaking me from sleep. I blearily pulled myself up. This was the third time it had happened in the last… however long this had been. Even with the hourglass, I found keeping time to be tedious at best, and useless at worst.

    The earth spoke again, quickly clearing up my grogginess. I stepped outside and carefully looked around. I didn’t need to fear getting lost anymore, but I was still worried about ending up somewhere dangerous. With one hand on the hut’s door, I scanned back and forth.

    “Where are you? What are you?” Another quake rocked the ground, sending me stumbling into the dirt. Even before I righted myself I realized what had happened, and glancing up from the ground confirmed it: I wasn’t at home anymore. The trees in front of me were unfamiliar.

    And then the ground split open, and a triangular head pushed its way out. That I had seen before, and I was hoping to never see it again. It eyed me, and then the dragon of the Rootways attacked.

    “ZEEEEEPHNOSSSS!” Fire roared from deep in its throat, accompanied by the stench of burnt flesh. The blast of heat hit me first, knocking me once more off my feet. I rolled onto my side just in time for the pillar of flame to miss by inches. I jumped up and began to run. As I did I closed my eyes and tried to think of home. If I could just leave it behind…

    I opened my eyes and narrowly avoided a 3 foot thick tree trunk hurled over my head, clipping one of my horns. The impact scattered my senses and I stumbled to my knees again. Behind me I could hear the monster beginning to follow me. I ducked around a mossy rock just in time to avoid another conflagration. Why couldn’t I forestwalk? What was different right now? The serpentine neck curled around my cover and I began to climb.

“Leaf and vine,

Help me climb!”

Shaky ash-covered ivy popped out of the trunk and I grabbed onto it, hauling myself up just in time to dodge a life-ending strike. Even as I climbed I could tell my shoddy craftsmanship wouldn’t hold up for long, and I could already feel the vines detaching from the tree. I was determined not to look down, and so I missed the six foot claw that slammed into the bottom of the tree, hurling me into the air. I couldn’t focus! I couldn’t think!

    “You’ll pay for her death! I’ll roast you alive!”

    What does that even mean!

As I was hurtling through the air, time seemed to slow down. Below me I saw a blazing furnace, enameled teeth taking the place of bars. I windmilled my hands out, trying to grab onto something to pull myself to safety. Ash from the fast disintegrating plant plumed from my hand, and the dragon sneezed, shutting its eyes. At that moment, I knew what I had to do.

“Away from here,

where I fear!

Find a place

Where I’ll be safe!”

I squeezed my eyes shut and tucked my legs to my chest. Seconds later, the expected impact came, and I rolled to a stop. Groaning, I tentatively opened my eyes. In the distance, I caught a familiar purple glow that made my breath freeze in my chest.

    “Is that the Salamander?” The question was out even as I thought it. I started walking towards the light. It grew stronger, and I began to make out the tell-tale flicker of a long night’s campfire. The spark in my chest reached out to it, yearning once more to merge with its creator. “You! Why did you leave me?!”

    At that moment, all of the questions I still had from my first night came roaring back to the forefront of my mind. Thoughts of the fight were replaced by questions I’d been asking myself ever since I’d been reclaimed by the Dark Forest, and I sprinted over the underbrush, eyes locked on the Campgrounds. I bounded over rocks, splashed through streams and ducked under branches, all with one goal: Reach my maker, and ask it “Why?” Branches dragged through my fur, thorns scraped across my skin, and my eyes were beginning to burn but none of that mattered. I’d been lost in the Forest for who knows how long with a pile of useless knowledge and it was ALL IT’S FAULT!

    And then tremors started once more. A tree shifted, falling across my field of view for just a moment, and a familiar sound rippled from below me. “No!” I ducked around the obstacle, but I already knew my target was no longer there.

    And I found myself back at home. For a moment I just stared at the entrance to my house, with the now glassless window. Finally, I sucked in a breath and looked around. The ground had been torn up around me, and I could see scorch marks around the holes. Apparently the dragon had been here after I disappeared again. As if in confirmation, the ground cracked around me and that dreaded head rose from the ground.

    “How are you following me?!”

    I didn’t actually expect an answer, but to my surprise the dragon gave one. “I know your story better than you and that’s why you need to die - just like she did!”

    I ducked inside the hollow within the tree roots, narrowly avoiding the beast’s scything claws. “Who’s she?” I shouted back out at it. 

    “MY MATE! You killed her and ATE her!” It crunched down on the hut’s tiny door, shattering the remaining frame

Oh. Well, that conversation wasn’t going to work. What could I do? I wasn’t prepared for this, and clearly it knew that. I tried to ignore the sound of tearing wood as I searched for anything I could use. My eyes fell on the shriveled moonflower I’d frequently used as a light source. It was covered in a toxin that put anything it touched to sleep. Could that work?

    The dragon’s claws finally tore open the tunnel, and I could see the orange flare of dragonflame. In a snap decision, I chucked the dried flower, stem and all, into its open mouth. It coughed and spluttered, its fire immediately going out.

    “ZEPHNOS! What have you done to me!” It spat, and I was mortified to see the remains of the flower as it made its way to the ground. But it gave me an idea. One flower wasn’t enough. What if I had more?

    “A pinkish night,

    A poisoned light,

    Bring about your sleep,

Within the soil,

    Flames do toil,

    And send you to the deep.

A word’s power

    Can topples towers,

    And you are just the same.

    With this spell,

    I command you dwell,

    The Rootways lay their claim.”

The effect was immediate and spectacular. With each word the forest around me flared to life, and the night was beat back by the soft pink luminescence of hundreds of moonflowers blooming from the ground. The ground surged around them, carrying them up around the sputtering dragon and plunging down on his wings. It screamed in muted horror as the poison from so many flowers pushed into the freshly made wounds, immediately growing lethargic. But my spell still held the forest in its grip, and even I was dumbfounded to see its second effect take place. From the hole the dragon was still half out of, roots of all sizes wrapped around the creature and dragged it back under. It tried to resist, but even as I watched I could see its fires were dimming as the moonflower toxin took its toll. With one last gnashing of teeth, the dragon was yanked back underground, and the hole in front of my home shut with a loud belch.

    It was a solid minute before I remembered that I needed to breathe. I’d won. Somehow, I was still alive, and more importantly, I’d won. I opened my hands, noticing the blood coming from my palm where I’d been clenching my fists so tightly. “I… I won! I actually did it! I beat you! TAKE THAT YOU SCALED BAT!” I punched into the destroyed bark of the tree, cackling to myself as the pain was killed by the adrenaline high that was still going strong. “If I can win against a 30 foot fire-breathing overgrown lizard, I can do anything! If I want, I can even return to the Campgrounds!” I was still laughing as the moonflower’s toxin finally seeped into my bloodstream, driving me to the ground. I giggled again, lucidity fleeing my mind. “Zephnos? Fine then. I’ll take the name you gave me.”