Megumi’s front half burst through the glowing gateway.

“I’m home! What do you … ehhhh?”

A dimly lit, cave-like space greeted her.

The rocky, naturally shaped ceiling suggested a place deep underground. Gently flickering light emanated from finely crafted bronze sconces. The little lamps were mounted halfway down the tan walls, forming an unevenly spaced ring around the room, just above eye level.

The fires danced to a cool, damp wind that blew across the area. After the warm, musty stillness of her ‘bedroom’, the breeze was a fresh, welcome surprise. The air also carried a delicious hint of roast vegetables and the faint plucking of stringed music.

Megumi’s jaw dropped.

“Where am I?”

Not her apartment, apparently.

(the rosewood audience chamber of soaring shadows temple)

“Say what now?”

Megumi shook her head as she filed away the unexpected ‘memory’.

Below the ring of lamps, the room was filled with ornate furnishings in a luxurious, vaguely Chinese style. The artwork and furniture would fit into any executive office or mansion.

Save for certain bizarre details.                  

Except for one exquisite wooden bench and matching low table at the far right of the room, everything else was tiny. Doll-house tiny. Every glittering statue and vase, every darkly lacquered table and stool, even the black, velvety carpets laid between them. All straight out of a miniaturist’s wildest dreams.

Megumi fancifully imagined the room rearranged into tiers, perfect for display.

“It’s like that field trip back in middle school … hmm?”

She’d noticed the thirty-or-so black-robed figures bowing prostrate around her. The lumpy, squirrel-sized … things … formed a trio of wide, evenly spaced arcs.

A sense of dread prickled up her spine.

“Hey, no swarm of angry wish-granting dolls. I forbid it.”

“EEP!”

Megumi jerked back, startled at the squeaking from just below her.

“What’s this?”

One look and all her concerns disappeared.

“Oh, why aren’t you just the cutest little thing!”

The richly embroidered crimson sleeve covering her left hand and arm was almost touching a small wooden platform. And tied to that platform …

“A bird? No, a dragon!”

Megumi could barely contain her excitement.

“Oh, I must still be dreaming. This is too good to be true!”

The cat-sized creature’s limp wings and hunched neck sported a mangy cloak of steely gray feathers dappled with black. But her long, delicate snout was clearly covered in pale gray scales. Her huge, watery orange eyes were slit by wide vertical pupils. And sturdy little teeth lined her gaping, trembling jaw.

“And such an adorable little outfit!”

A smushed, black velvety cap listed slightly left atop the little dragon’s head. Her once fancy jacket covered her arms and body in pale, brocaded fabric that now bristled with frayed threads and grime. A dingy black tail skirt lay between the dark blue legs of loose trousers. The girl’s skinny, gray feet were bare, her tiny talons long untrimmed.

“You little cutie! You look straight out of Go, Go Monster Trainer. I can’t wait to tell Rumi …”

With the initial euphoria ebbing, Megumi finally noticed,

“Wait, your wings and outfit look awful. And is that blood? Oh, we can’t have that. Hmm …”

Megumi held up a sleeved hand and recited a basic Trainer ability.

“< HEAL! >”

A haze of black motes sparkled briefly about the disheveled little dragon.

“Hmm, not very effective. Let’s up the power and stack some skills.”

Megumi closed her eyes as she fondly recalled game time with friends and family.

“< ENHANCED HEAL!>, < ENHANCED RESTORE! >, < SUPERIOR REPAIR! >”

Megumi opened her eyes to gaze proudly upon her handiwork.

“There, much better!”

The little dragon’s wings were held high and fully restored with feathers. Her scaly face was now a much healthier shade and cleansed of blood and grime. Her outfit positively glowed.

“Hmm, you still look ready to cry. And what’s with these ropes …”

The instant Megumi tugged at the closest knot, her sleeve pulled back.

“My hand …”

No more pale, smooth fingers with nails sporting fashionable, wine-red polish. Her hand was pitch black and covered with scales. Although still slender and graceful, it was chafed and dry, tipped with gnarled talons that badly needed a manicure.

A dragon’s hand.

Her hand.

Megumi flinched, and her peripheral vision filled with an unfurling banner of raven wings.

Her wings.

“My Lady, please don’t!”   “You can’t release that one!”   “She’s been sentenced to death!”

Several tiny, black-robed individuals had risen to their feet. Their lowered hoods revealed lumpy green faces topped by a wild variety of flowers, vines, and plant growth.

The little dragon had reached her limit.

“WAAAAAAAAA!”

The pitiful cry tore at Megumi’s heart as the plant folk’s agitated chattering grated her ears.

“Her clan renounced your divinity!”   “They denied your return!”   “They all must die!”

The rising cacophony finally pushed Megumi into frustrated action.

“< SILENCE! > “

The instant, absolute stillness jarred even Megumi’s senses.

This is ridicu- … wait, I’ve silenced everything.

The black-robed plant people had collapsed, fully prostrate and trembling. The little dragon clutching Megumi’s sleeve was bawling in disturbingly complete silence.

In the corridor exiting the far end of the room, a smallish shadow lurked.

Someone’s there. And you’re judging me, aren’t you?

Megumi ran through several attempts at undoing the magic.

Dispel. No? End magic? Flow break? Remove enchantment? 

(dismiss)

“< DISMISS? > Ah, there we go.”

Megumi ignored the shadow, refusing to be distracted by it.

She was also getting stiff, sprawling halfway through the doorway. A twitching tail, multiple pieces of armor strapped over her silken outfit, and two sets of limbs both wanting to be her ‘arms’ didn’t help.

Megumi pulled herself fully into the room, settled her wings against her back, and stood. The once cavernous space suddenly felt small and restrictive. Sitting in a kneeling position near the platform reduced the claustrophobic feeling.

With its purpose fulfilled, the glowing portal vanished.

No going back, apparently.

“Now, where were we?”