Solomon woke up with a headache, and the feeling that something inside of him was broken. On top of that, he couldn’t remember were he was. He sat up, despite the pain, and looked around. Well, he was in a hole. That was a thing. Why was he in a hole again?

“Pain off,” Skyler muttered as the pain disappeared from his head. He sighed. He looked around to gather his surroundings. They were in a dark hole, tree roots and moss surrounding them, there was a tunnel up ahead but it was dark. The air was musty and damp. Solomon was about 3 feet ahead of him and sitting up. “You okay Sol?” He asked, jumping up and walking to the other boy, stepping over large roots to get to him.

Solomon peered at Skyler as he heard him speak up, slightly confused as to what Skyler was doing here. And then it hit him. They had been strolling in the forest when a sinkhole opened and they both fell through. One of them obviously fell a bit more gracefully than the other, Solomon noted. “I’m fine.” Solomon told him, waving it off like he didn’t probably have a broken rib. He stood up shakily, taking in a breath of air so he wouldn’t hiss at the pain of doing so. He was not gonna get help from on the ground after all. “We should try to find a way out, report this to the school.” Solomon told him, pointing towards the tunnel and potential exit.

“Liar,” Skyler said briskly.”You are not fine. Something’s wrong with your body. Have you broken anything?” Without asking, Skyler advanced on Solomon.His hair turned the shade of brown for he was concerned. He patted him down and heard the slight hiss of pain when He reached his ribs.

Solomon quickly slapped Skylers away, backing up from his reach before he could continue his prodding. “I am fine.” Solomon Skyler venomously. “I might have a broken rib. But even if I did, what are you going to do about it? You are not a biokineticist.” Solomon told him matter of factly. “We need to get out of here so I can get checked out by a professional and so that we can get this hole reported before anyone else falls.”. Solomon headed for the tunnel without waiting for Skylers reply.

Skyler followed feeling guilty. “Sorry Solomon, I’m just worried about you.” They followed the tunnel without saying a word for about 5 minutes. “Hey!” he said aloud, startling himself in how loud he was. “I see a light!” he starts running towards the light trying not to trip on any roots

Solomon ran after Skyler, just as eager to get out but still cautious. “Hey, Skyler wait up! There could be something bad up ahead!”. He slowed down as he approached the light, going blind momentarily since he was used to the dark. After he recovered, he gaped at the scene before him. What he was seeing was one, large, purple eye peering at him from some black mass. The mass, he realized that they were scales, slowly rose up. The head of this...thing peered at Solomon, and Skyler who was standing next to him, almost sizing them up and deciding that they were something gross.

Skyler kept staring at the eye and leaned towards Solomon. “You’re seeing what I’m seeing right?”

“...No.” Solomon told him, trying his best to sound casual and likely failing. Of course he was seeing this thing! What else would he be gawking at!? The “thing” flared its nostrils in annoyance, as if it heard his thoughts and decided that it didn’t like being called a “thing”. Solomon backed up a step, slowly, not wanting to be any closer than he had to if this thing started to rage.

Not wanting to be rude, Skyler stepped up. “Hello! My names Skyler, what’s yours” He didn’t expect the creature to respond. But soon a booming female voice entered his head, making him clutch his head in pain. “How dare you be so informal with me,” it said. “Bow to Akila, Queen of Dragons!”