Rizu

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My eyes shot open. I struggled for breath, but all I could take into my lungs was water.

I writhed, trying to reach the surface of the water. The seaweed wrapped around my ankles and prevented me from swimming to the top. It seemed as if they were pulling me down.

Black spots swam at the edges of my vision. Slowly, everything was getting darker.

The shadows swallowed me whole.

Andy

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The green dragon burst out laughing.

"Goodness, dear! We already knew that!" it said. It flicked its tail with humor. "We are some of the wisest creatures in the world, Andy."

"I believe we need not worry about that right now, Shara. There is a human in distress nearby," the serpent said calmly. "In fact, she lies beneath the surface of this very pool."

"What?!" I yelled. Without even thinking, I dove into the water.

The water wrapped itself around me as I swam to the bottom, where a figure floated, unmoving. Their ankles were tangled in the seaweed growing from the floor and towards the surface, reaching for any little bit of light that it can get.

I saw that it was a woman. Her blue hair drifted upwards and floated around her face. She was so familiar to me.

If I wasn't holding my breath, I would've gasped.

Katelyn.

As quickly as I could, I swam down, untied the seaweed from her ankles, grabbed her by the waist and swam upwards.

When we hit the surface of the water, I gasped for air and swam to the water's edge. I pushed Katelyn onto the bank and climbed out, my hair dripping into my eyes.

Katelyn spluttered and vomited up water. Her eyes shot open and she gasped.

"Gah! What the heck?!" she said. She was breathing heavily and blinking rapidly.

"Are you alright?" I asked. She went rigid.

She sat up.

Her blue eyes locked with mine.

I remembered who I was.

"Oh! Uh, Katelyn, I..." I trailed off as she looked at me quizzically.

"I'm not Katelyn," she said, confused. "My name is Lizzie."

My unease melted into relief.

"Thank God!" I exclaimed. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

She stared at me blankly.

"It's me, Andy," I explained.

Her face lit up.

"Oh!" she said, hugged me quickly then looked around. "Where exactly are we?"

She noticed the giant dragons and yelped in surprise. The flame dragon chuckled.

"Do not worry, my dear," it said. "We will not hurt you or Andy."

Lizzie backed away nervously. "Who are you?"

"My name is Fiara," the flame dragon purred gently. "And you are Lizzie, correct?"

Lizzie nodded. She seemed to be adjusting to the creatures.

The serpent snorted. "You both are Foolish Mortals. How do you not know where you are?!"

Lizzie put her hands up defensively. "Like you said, I am just a human!" she said. "I'm not a dragon."

Shara nodded respectfully. "She is wise," she commented. "And also kind, don't you think?"

The serpent rolled its eyes. "No human is wise. They destroy the world around them and use the remains for their own personal gain."

I turned to face Lizzie. "According to them, we are in Ru'aun," I said.

Her eyes widened. "As in Jess's MCD series?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

The serpent growled and shouted, "YOU FOOLISH MORTALS!"