Chapter 1
Finding Answers
I stretched my four legs and checked out my surroundings. I was in a small white room. The room was dimly lit with cushy white carpeting. I looked down beside me to find Razor, sleeping soundly. I knew people and creatures would die in the war. I just hadn't expected the sudden death of the Ferar Tree. Now, unless I could find another Ferar Tree still living, I would never know the name of the dimension I was in. I put my head on my paws and tried to keep myself from thinking of the dreadful death of the Ferar Tree. Instead of dwelling on the past, I thought of the present. I looked on the floor to my right and noticed an orange sitting there. I guessed that the dragons had noticed the orange, that the Chilidean had given me, when they had captured Razor and I. I guess they figured that's what wolves in the Sparkle eat. Unfortunately, I was faced, once again, with the orange predicament. I stared at the orange, trying to figure out how we would get it open. I stood and made sure I hadn't bumped Razor. He didn't appear to have been shaken, so I walked toward the orange. I circled it, looked at it closely, and sniffed it. There had to be a way inside. Suddenly, an idea sparked in my head. I bent down and put one of my chin long canine teeth to the orange. I sunk my tooth in and put my paws on the orange. Then, I dragged my tooth straight down the orange's middle. The halves sagged as I pulled my tooth out. I turned the orange over and repeated what I'd done to the other side. The separate halves plopped on the ground and seemed to beg me to eat them both. I would never have done that, because Razor was so amazingly hungry. I walked over to Razor and nudged him with my nose. He squinted and eye open and yawned when he saw me. I nudged him again, and he began to stand up. "Hey little fella, I got the orange open." He looked at me in surprise, then searched for the orange. "You can have half, I'll have the other half." Razor nodded his head excitedly and walked toward a half of the orange. "Can I have this one, Mom?" He asked me. "Sure," I said and walked to the other half. I licked the orange a few times and began to gnaw into it. I ate part of it and lapped up the rest. It would be better if I savored it. Razor had his head and front paws dipped in the orange. It wasn't very big, but he wasn't very big either. He clawed at the inside, trying to eat every morsel. I finished licking my orange and licked my paws. It had tasted very good. I definitely wasn't full, but at least I had something to swallow now. Razor finished up his orange and came over to the left wall to sit beside me. We sat, facing the door, and thought about things. I wondered what Razor was thinking about, but I didn't have the courage to ask. He finally stretched out on the floor and said,"So, how are we gonna get out of here?" I smiled and said,"There is no way out. At least, not that I can see." Razor stood up and frowned at me. "So we're just gonna stay here? We aren't even going to try to get out?!" I shook my head and looked toward the door. "I don't see a way out, Razor. Sure, we'll try every opportunity we get, but for now, try to get some sleep. We both need our rest." Razor seemed to accept the answer, but he seemed troubled as he closed his eyes and lay his head on his paws. I lay down beside him and tried to think up a plan. How could I get out if I was only a talking wolf? I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep. I dreamed of a way out as I napped.
A yip escaped my throat, and Razor woke up. He ran toward me, but I shook my head as they dragged me out the door. Razor stopped running and watched me leave him. I felt really bad for him as they closed the big door behind me. The dragons dragged me through the huge white building that my room was in. A big black dragon grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and carried me down the long hallway. I tried to breathe, knowing if I relaxed it might be easier. The way he was carrying me made it really hard to breathe. Another dragon opened a door, just before I was going to black out. The dragon carrying me grabbed my back legs and heaved me into the room. I hit the marble floor hard and dislocated my jaw. I yipped and grunted as I hit the floor. "I'll ask them to be nicer next time." I growled and licked the blood from my nose. I knew it was Clyte before my vision stopped spinning. Clyte smiled mockingly down at me and laughed. "Don't tell me you're giving up already. Well, one thing's for sure, that stubborn human girl would never give up," he said to me. I was surprised, but I tried not to show it. He didn't know I was Sarah. Well, not yet anyway. "That girl is way stronger than any human I've ever seen. I wonder if she's the ‘Slayer'?" Clyte mumbled to himself. He finally shook his head and looked down at me. I growled up at him, not wanting to hide my anger at being injured. I was also worried for Razor's safety. "So, I heard you can talk. Is that correct?" I jumped to my feet and growled,"A lot more than that, drrrragon." He laughed at me and said,"Well, I see that the others chose you correctly. The other talking wolves, that I just happened to catch an hour ago, all said they'd chosen you because you had spunk. I think there's another reason. They wouldn't tell me if they had any other reason, though." I glared at him and looked around the room. There were two marble pillars by the throne Clyte was sitting on and two by the back door. Everything was white except for the red on the white chair that draped down to the floor. I looked back at Clyte. He looked right at me and seemed to be suspicious of who I really was. I whimpered and lay on the floor, moaning because of my jaw. I also had to do a good acting job of being a wimp, otherwise he'd get suspicious and start thinking I was Sarah. I didn't want him knowing that just yet. Clyte chuckled softly to himself and smiled. "So, who's the little wolf with you?" I picked my head up off the ground and favored my jaw as I said,"That's my little boy." Clyte's smile grew even bigger as he said,"Do you care much about him?" I didn't have to pretend anything this time. I was mad, and I was going to show it. "Of course! You would too, if you had a heart that wasn't made of stone!" He laughed at me and calmly answered,"He would probably like me, if he got to know me." "No! Don't take my baby, I beg of you!" I had to act like his mother, but I really didn't want Razor to go. Clyte laughed and shrugged me off. He called for his guards and told them to take me back to my white room. Then he told them to bring him the little wolf. I cried the whole way back to my room, but only because I had to maintain the weak mother appearance. In truth, I already had a plan to get out. The dragons dragged me back and let me go when we were in the room. I leaped up and grabbed a dragon's wrist with my teeth. It swung me into a wall, knocking me from its arm. I got right back up, though every bone in my body hurt, and kept fighting. Razor cowered in a corner, keeping away from the big dragons. I jumped and bit a tail. I jumped back and swiped at a leg. I was no match for the two huge guards. I began to get weaker and knew the situation was hopeless unless I could change. I was knocked against a wall close to Razor. I closed my eyes as I thudded against the wall and slid to the floor. I opened my eyes to see Razor crying. He whimpered louder as the dragons approached. I looked at him with sympathy, knowing I could not save him. I closed my eyes and thought about how much easier it would be to beat them in my unicorn form. Suddenly, I rose up off the floor. Still crying, I felt powerful wings hit the walls and a horn shwoop out of my forehead. I looked over and saw the dragons back up a step. They both got over their amazement quickly and dove for me. I jumped over them and stomped on their backs. Razor jumped up and down, cheering me on. I quickly bent down and let Razor climb on my back. "Hold on, Razor!" I told him. He dug his claws into my skin and bit my mane. I winced, but I would have been in more pain had I not changed to a unicorn. I ran out of the room with a bouncing Razor on my back. We ran through the building looking for a way out. I skidded to a halt when I rounded a corner. About ten dragons were marching through the hall, and when they saw us, they began running. I turned around and ran for my life. I made a quick right and took a left. The dragons were close behind me as I ran into a dead end. Well, it wasn't completely dead. There was a wooden door at the end of the hall. I skidded on the marble floor and slammed into it. Just my luck, I'd slammed through the door and into Clyte's throne room! He jumped off his chair as I skidded across the floor. I slid to the steps to his chair and slammed into them with a ‘thud' that echoed through the room. The dragons scampered in, trying to shove their way and be the first one to capture me. I shook my head and looked around. A door to my left. A door to my right. I watched Clyte run to the door on my left. He stood in front of it and spread his arms, showing me that I wasn't supposed to go in there. I turned left and ran straight at him. Clyte stood there, hoping I'd give out and turn. I was five feet away when I tried to turn. My hooves scrabbled on the slippery marble. I began to slide toward Clyte and the door! I whinnied and crashed into him. We banged the door down with the power of my slide hitting Clyte. He skidded out of the way in the next room as Razor and I kept sliding. I looked ahead of me and saw another door. "Oh no! Hold on, Razor!" Razor's claws dug deep into my sides. I could feel him shaking as we skidded toward the door. I pulled my head back as far as I could and turned it to the side. I braced myself for impact. We hit that door hard. Unfortunately, we didn't have a slippery floor on the other side of the door. We were outside! I slid, slammed into the door, appeared outside, and did a few somersaults in the dirt from the speed of my slide. I stood to my shaky hooves and spread my wings. The dragons ran up to me and reached out, just as I leaped into the air. Razor's tears were wet on my back, and I began to cry too. We were going to make it! I flew high, trying to get away from the awful white building. When I looked back, all I could see was the big white building. The dragons hadn't lifted into the sky yet. I swooped low to the ground and landed softly. Razor picked his head up and laughed. "We're ok! Look, Sarah, we're alright!" I smiled and tried to catch my breath. "No time to celebrate, Razor. We still have to find a way out of the Sparkle and make sure we aren't being followed. We'll have to find food and watch out for danger. And without the Ferar Tree, I don't know what we'll do for food." Razor sighed deeply and said,"Well, at least we're out of that place. Thank you, Sarah. Now I know you're the Slayer." I turned my head to look at him and asked,"Why do you call me the ‘Slayer'?" Razor laughed and said,"Because you are one! You're here to slay those nasty dragons and save the unicorns! I just know you're the Slayer!" I breathed deeply and said,"Well, I'm glad you think that, Razor. It's nice to have a friend that's confident you're going to save the world." I laughed hoarsely and looked at Razor's brown eyes. He smiled up at me, believing I was the Slayer. I looked away. I knew that I would disappoint him. I wasn't the Slayer. I couldn't be.....could I? I shook the thoughts away and looked toward the sky. "Doesn't look like we've been followed. Let's go. Hold on tight." I felt him hold on tighter, so I jumped into the air. I spread my wings as far as they would go and flapped my way up high. About fifty feet from the ground, I spread my wings as far as they would go again and soared like and eagle. I closed my eyes and drifted on the mighty winds. When I opened my eyes, I saw a most depressing sight. We were approaching the skeleton of a Ferar Tree. I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. I wasn't ready to face reality yet. I didn't want the orange Ferar Tree to be gone. I didn't want to believe that it was really dead. I opened my eyes again and looked down at the tree. Slowly, cautiously I made my way down to the ground. I stooped down so Razor could slide off and rest. He gulped and whispered,"Not another one." I tried to breathe deeply, but my breath got caught in my throat and choked me. I turned human and looked at the tree. No, it wasn't the orange Ferar Tree. This one was different. I walked closer and noticed the black wooden remains of the Chilidean. The Ferar Trees were so special to me. I didn't understand why the dragons would kill them off. I felt a slight rumble in the ground. I looked at the tree and noticed the bark shifting slightly. I opened my eyes wide and ran to it. "Hey, are you alive?" I asked it. I felt a vibration in the ground as the wood continued shifting. *I am.* It said. I smiled and walked up to it. I hugged the tree gently. I watched the wood shift a little slower now, as if the tree were relaxing. *I used to be red. My Chilidean carried meat in their beaks. Now they're nothing more than charred remnants. I know I will be just like them soon. I will be just like every other Ferar Tree. I am the last. And soon, there will be no more.* I moved away from the tree and sat down in front of it. "Will you survive? You can't die! You're the last tree. And I'm here all by myself. How do I get home?!" The tree seemed to think about that for a moment. *There is a special place about a day from here to the East. You must fly a mile past a beautiful river. Past that river, you will see a sparkle. This point is also called the Sparkle. Ask the unicorn there to open the door so you can go back to your original dimension. Good luck.* The tree seemed to grow weaker every second. "Wait! What is the name of this dimension?!" I asked it. The tree's bark twisted and I heard it's voice through everything. It had the same pride the previous Ferar Tree had had. *The name of this dimension is................* The tree stopped. I stood up and shook my hands above my head. "What?! What is it called?" The tree didn't answer. I looked closer and no longer saw the wood shifting. The bark had turned even blacker. The last of the Ferar Trees was dead! I covered my face with my hands and tried to keep from crying. I couldn't bear the thought of losing my beloved Ferar Trees. "There has to be a way of saving them!" I whispered fiercely. I began to silently weep for my Ferar Trees. They had been my friends. Now they were extinct. They would never share their food, love, or memories with anyone. And I still didn't know the name of this dimension! I felt a soft paw on my leg. I was sitting Indian style with my hands to my face while I was crying. "Oh Razor!" I scooped him up and held him next to my face. His soft fur was comforting. I noticed how heavy he'd gotten. I smiled and looked into this eyes. He pawed my nose and said,"Hi." I laughed and held him tight. "Man, you're getting big," I commented after pulling him away from me. He smiled and said,"I guess I am." I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. I needed to stay watchful for dragons and find food for Razor and I. I still had a lot to do. There wasn't enough time to mourn for my trees. I set Razor on the ground and combed his fur with my fingers. "How did you change back, Sarah?" Asked Razor. I looked down at myself and shrugged. Wiping my tears, I began to explain. "I guess I had it in me all along. I don't know why I couldn't change before. Maybe I was too exhausted or hungry. I'm not quite sure. I still don't have it all figured out yet, but I think it had something to do with wanting so badly to save you. When I saw you crying, I closed my eyes and thought about how easy it would be to change to a unicorn and whip those dragons' butts. Then I just changed. I don't quite know how, but that's alright. We're both safe and that's all that matters right now. Well, except for the fact that I'm hungry." Razor laughed and said,"Me too!" I sighed and picked him up. "No matter what, we're gonna stick together. Just you and me, Razor! Just you and me." He wiggled in my arms, so I put him on the ground. We began the long trek to the Sparkle in this dimension.
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