Chapter Two

Mira sat against the wall of the cave, occasionally letting out a sigh of frustration or defeat. A few hours had passed since she woke up and Chris had left the cave to do who knows what, leaving her alone with Ryder. Thankfully, Ryder had decided to leave Mira to her lonesome, allowing her plenty of time to ponder her situation. She did her best not to think about the white, heavy appendages that hung from her head and the little fluffy ball of fur that stuck out from the bottom of her back. She tried to keep her focus on the main problem she was experiencing; how did she get here? She snuck a glance at Ryder, who was peacefully throwing a rock up and down in his hand. Maybe he could help her, she thought. She decided to forget her uncertainty and just go for it.

"Um, Ryder?"

He perked up, hearing her voice. "What is it, bunny?"

"I was wondering if you could answer some of my questions."

He smiled sincerely at her. "Of course. Ask away."

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about your world," she asked, nervously fiddling with her fingers.

"Oh, sure. Is there anything you want to know in particular?"

"I don't know, maybe just the history of this world. But I would like to know if there is any sort of magic that resides here."

"I can tell you all about that. I don't know about the other kingdoms, but at least here in Eraythiel, the people study magic as one of their main subjects," Ryder said as a sudden spurt of orange flame flew out from his open palm. Mira started, wide-eyed with awe.

"That's amazing!" she exclaimed, face full of childish excitement.

He smiled proudly. "I suppose it is."

"But you don't know if other kingdoms have magic?"

"No, I don't, but if you asked Chris, he might be able to tell you. He's much more informed about the world of Iralan than I am."

Mira looked confused. "Iralan?"

"Oh, sorry. Iralan is what we call this world."

"So, there is Iralan, which is what you call the world, and then there's Eraythiel, which is a kingdom in this world."

Ryder nodded. "Correct. But Eraythiel isn't the only kingdom in Iralan. There are four major kingdoms, Eraythiel, Freicyla, Gleacia, and Vogan. Each hold their own species of people, ruled by their own king or queen."

"Eraythiel, Freicyla, Gleacia, and Vogan..." Mira muttered to herself, committing the kingdoms' names to memory.

"The elves rule over Freicyla, werewolves have Vogan, sorcerers control Eraythiel, and Gleacia is dominated by dragons," he spoke. "Heed my warning, don't go near the werewolves. Ferocious things, they are. You'd think the dragons to be the most vicious, but no, werewolves are absolute beasts."

Mira chuckled nervously. "I'll keep that in mind. Is there anything more you can tell me? Like, who are the rulers of the kingdoms? Are the kingdoms allied?"

"Sure thing. Freicyla is ruled by King Erlan and Queen Zentha. They're around sixty years of age and pretty laid back from what I've seen of them, which is pretty rare to find among their people. Most of them are pretty strict and follow the rules to a T," Ryder made a dramatic expression of disgust as he continued. "Now onto the werewolves. Their ruler is an old widower, King Faolan. His late wife, Queen Opaline, died a few years ago after giving birth to the crown prince, Ulfang."

Mira felt pity for the old king. "How sad."

Ryder shook his head. "Don't feel bad for that tyrant. His rule has brought death to thousands of his subjects. As I said before, the werewolves are the ones to be wary of. Anyway, now we move onto the dragons. The king of the dragons is the youngest to take the throne in all its years of existence. There's a lot of speculation about how this nineteen year old boy took over the throne after his parents, former King Muruzo and late Queen Melsa, suddenly died."

Mira tilted her head. "So people think the new king killed his parents to take the throne?"

"Yes, that is what most people believe," he nodded. "But we have no proof of the murder so the current king, King Kirsha, has been able to keep the throne."

Mira nodded in understanding. "So, what about Eraythiel? Who rules the sorcerers?"

Ryder's expressions suddenly darkened. "Well...several days ago, a new ruler took over the throne after killing the former rulers, King Traveus and Queen Minerva."

"Then who rules the kingdom?"

"After chasing his brother from the castle, Prince-no, King Malaki took over as the new king," Ryder paused for a second, closing his eyes. After a moment, he opened them, revealing his stunning azure orbs. "As for alliances, the elves are allied with the werewolves, and the sorcerers joined together with the dragons. It is beyond me as to why the graceful and refined elves would ally themselves with the barbaric and crude werewolves."

Mira put a finger to her lips as she processed all of this new information. So yes, there was magic in this world of Iralan. Could this magic be what brought her to this world? If so, why? Why was she brought here? Whatever the reasons were, she hadn't a clue, but she did know that she was given a second chance at life and she was going to make the most of it. She wasn't going to allow herself to lead a miserable life like the one she had back on Earth. With determination in her eyes, she prepared herself to ask Ryder one final question when suddenly, a severely injured Chris came barreling into the cave.

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