I ran until my lungs burned and her feet hurt. Which took a surprisingly long time. I wasn't sure if the extra stamina was thanks to the adrenaline or a perk of being a Vyron or... whatever I was.

I wasn't human. The thought burned through my mind and stung like poison.

When I finally slowed and stubbed along, I realized her cheeks were raw with tears. I should have expected as much. Still, I pressed on along. I had no idea where I was going. I wanted to go home.

I closed my eyes but kept walking, I hoped something in me would know the way home. It was a stupid idea, but what else was I supposed to do?

My foot collided with something small, hard and surprisingly light. I figured it was just a rock and kicked it along. I blindly tried to find it with my foot with each step like a strange game of kick the can. It made a kind of hollow sound as it rolled, making it pretty easy to track. Even the rocks are strange in the Core, I thought.

Finally, I tripped on something and did an awkward falling-roll onto the hard ground. I groaned and sat up, groggily opening my eyes.

I rolled lazily to see what she had tripped over and came face to face with a skull. My stomach lurched.

"Could this day get any worse?" I screamed, flopping onto my back. "Don't take that as an excuse to rain! Or... Uh... whatever it is that happens here!" She yelled, threatening the fog that hung above me.

"I guess I shouldn't complain," I said, looking at the skull. "At least I am having a better day than you."

I held my scaled hand up to my face, examining it. The scales were a dark, navy color but there was some sort of golden glow around the edges. "This... This is me. This is my hand." I said, trying to both convince myself and deny it.

I noticed the crimson splattering and what looked like scabs in the scales- in my scales. I knew they weren't scabs. They were someone else's blood. Someone else's life. Hot tears burned my eyes, I didn't want to admit to myself what I had done.

Nothing in my life had ever prepared me for this. How could they?

"Welp!" I rolled up, landing on my feet with a dusty thud! I was exhausted and desperately trying to avoid my own thoughts.

I didn't want to think anymore. I wanted to go home. Home with my friends. Home with my mom and dad. Home with my comfy bed and fluffy blankets. Home where I was normal. Home where I didn't have scales. I took in a deep breath, shoving even the positive thoughts away.

I paused for a moment, trying to think of something else to say. I felt like I should say something punny or badass. Something to make me feel like I was in control. "On the road again..." I took a step forward, feeling a bit more defeated. "Yeah, I got nothing." I rubbed my temple, a headache threatening the edges of my mind.

"Call me Hamlet but, Yorick, you are coming with me." She scooped up the odd skull. Granted, he couldn't give any answers, but at least I could trust him to not betray me. Unlike everyone else I had met lately.

"Yep, I'm definitely going crazy," I said as I examined the skull with drowsy eyes. It definitely wasn't human, but it also wasn't... not human? It had sharp teeth and something was just a bit off.

I jumped a bit, a soft, distant sound suddenly piercing the harsh silence that surrounded me. Water! I was too tired to run so I broke into an awkward and stumbly fast walk.

"A pond!" I said, eyes lighting up a bit. I was parched, but I had something else on her mind.

As soon as I reached the water's edge I shoved my hands in and rubbed them together vigorously. I had never seen blood in the water in real life, but I was relieved to see it wash away.

I let out a relieved sigh and brought a hand-cup of water to her mouth. I winced, still tasting iron. I then noticed my reflection in the water. The odd taste wasn't the harpy's blood, but my own. There was still a mostly dried trail of crimson coming from my mouth.

But I also noticed the scales covering my face. They were everywhere. I washed my tear and blood stained face then fell still.

I sat in silence before breaking into a quiet sob.

"Yorick, what am I gonna do?" I sniffed and rubbed my nose, realize that scales made for a very painful tissue. "I just want to go home. This place isn't for me. I miss mom and dad... I'm young, I'm not ready to fight alongside knights or ride in spaceships. I can't fight zombie dragon things or throw punches with a deranged queen. Heck, I can barely stomach scary movies! I just... I just... I wanna go home."

I looked up at the "sky" searching for an answer that wasn't there. I still didn't really understand how the sky worked here. But there was an encompassing fog that looked convincingly like clouds.

Tears streaming down my face yet again. I wondered how long it would take for me to run out of tears to cry.

I held my breath for a moment as I watched some fog clear. The running water she had heard was a waterfall, but what surprised her was where the waterfall was coming from. High above on a cliff, was a skull. A massive skull.

I once saw an elephant's skeleton, it seemed huge at the time. Now, it seemed tiny. The skull could have eaten an elephant in one bite. The water ran through its sharp teeth and down the cliff.

"Dragons..." I whispered, my eyes getting big as I took a step back. Behind the skull was a boney pair of wings and a body. Flesh hung lazily from the cadaver, like some sort of rotting leather jacket.

As I stepped back I tripped yet again, right into something. My breath caught in my throat then sped up again.

I had fallen through a human ribcage.

I quickly jumped back up, but my head reeled and my stomach lurched. "I... I need to get out of here! I just, I just want to go home!" I collapsed to my knees, sharp rocks piercing my skin. My clawed hands scraped at the rocky ground, a grimace coming to my face.

I noticed how sharp and jagged the bones were and a dark thought crossed my mind. I could end this stupi-

<My dear, you can't go home.> An ominous voice barged to my mind, forcing a cold shiver down my spine. <We need you here.>

"Gore!" I gasped, memories of the fight flooding my mind all over again. Fear and adrenaline drove me back to my feet.

There was a fresh pang of guilt at what I had done but I pushed it off. What had happened to Mei? I was filled with regret, fearing the worst. If I hadn't left her...

I heard an odd rolling sound, like something blowing in the wind but, there wasn't any wind.

Deranged, worried and sleep-deprived I spun around, searching for the noise. "Yorick?" I said, taken aback as the skull rolled right past me with an unnatural new life. "Oh no..." I said, taking a few steps back until I came to the pond's edge. Water touching my heels.

"E tu Yorick?" An odd pang of betrayal ran through me as I watched an animated skeleton come together. Even a skull had betrayed me. Well, technically I was pretty sure it was Gore's doing, but it still definitely felt like a betrayal.

"Can I not have any friends in this... this... this..." I felt something inside me break. I couldn't tell if it was my heart, my patience, or a bone. Possibly all three. "...this godforsaken hell!" I growled, the skeleton still coming together before my eyes.

"I am so over this week! This day! This place! I have come to a new land, joined the committee- whatever that is! Seen magic, lost or been betrayed by anything that might be a friend, killed a woman, b-" I stopped as I heard myself say the last part. I still had not come to grips with the facts of what I had done. I didn't want to.

"Look, it has been a bad week! I just want to go home! So tell me where the nearest exit or portal or whatever is and I will be gone! Out of your hair!"

Dark laughter invaded my mind, making me wince. <My dear, this is your home. Look at yourself, you don't belong there anymore. Your home is here, with us. Help me win this war. Fight the queen with me. Dragons can rule the skies once more!> The skeleton lumbered forward, outstretching a boney hand.

"I'm not... I'm not like you. This isn't my home." I pulled away, but there was no belief in my words. Looking down at my reflection I knew he was right. What would mom and dad think?

I could see mom, panic in her eyes as she called 911. Reporting her daughter had caught some sort of scaled sickness. She would probably think it was the plague, everything was the plague with her.

<You don't have many options here, Adri. I'm trying to ask nicely. Come with me and we can finally answer your questions and you can let loose all that rage. We can destroy everyone who has betrayed you.>

"No!" I said, surprised by the confidence in my words. "No one has answered my questions, and no one is going to answer my questions. Especially not you!" I balled my fists, a calm rage running through me. It took me a moment to realize it wasn't rage, it was confidence.

"I will find my own answers! I don't know where I'll go, or what I'll do but I'm sick and tired of being kidnapped, nearly killed, betrayed, and taken advantage of. I will not fight your war!"

My skull echoed with an odd CRACK! POP! CRAAACCCKK! Somehow I knew what was happening this time.

"Leave me alone!" There was a loud SWOOSH! from behind me as my massive wings spread open. "I will not play your game!"

I rushed forward, sharp claws- my sharp claws- colliding with the skeleton's ribcage. It crumbled into a pile of bones. Clearly, Gore hadn't expected me to fight back or he would have build a stronger skeleton. "Sorry, not sorry Yorick. I would say I won't hold it against you but I totally will."

I let out a sigh and rubbed my head, adrenaline slowly slipping away as a headache took its place. "I need a nap."

I walked back to the pond, leaning over to take a drink. Instead, I collapsed into the water. Dark laughter filled the valley. Gore.

Something grabbed my heel and pulled me under.