Evelyn Frost And The Forgotten Realm

Evelyn Frost, woke to a beautiful glow from the early morning sun, stretching across the wet leaves belonging to Kapok trees surrounding the bungalow she resided in with her mother, father, and little sister named Pari. She stretched her arms and rubbed the visit from the sand man right out of her blue-gray eyes. She felt a chill go up her spine and wrapped her arms around herself. Did Mom turn the temperature of the bungalow down to 60, rather than 70 degrees? She thinks to herself, as she glances around.

It didn’t take her long to notice, her navy tank top was lying on the ground. She must’ve taken it off in her sleep last night. She grabbed her tank-top from the floor, before catching the time on her clock sitting on her side-table. The time is 5:30 AM.

She pushed the light quilt her mother made off her, and swung her sock feet over the edge of the hammock she laid within. She gazed out the long narrow windows, only to see the jungle was covered in snow. Snow? That’s not possible, frost only happens in climate areas that are prone to cold weather, such as the mountains but inside the jungle of Siliguri, India? This makes no sense and it is unusual.

She ought to check this out, maybe explore the forest. Find the answer to the mystery of what happened. She would have to do it quietly, and carefully if she’s going to sneak out of the house, in order to explore the woods alone across the old bridge.

After adjusting her tank-top, she snatched her hiking boots across from her, near the wall next to her wardrobe. She slipped them over her frog socks, tying them tightly. Then she darted past her desk and pulled out a flashlight from the top drawer, while putting on her jacket, before swinging her backpack sitting on her chair, over her right shoulder.

I will only be gone for two hours, I’ll be back in time for breakfast, Evelyn thinks to herself. She turned the knob of her bedroom door, and looked down the hall listening to the snores coming from the master bedroom. She began to creep through the corridor. She breathed a sigh of relief, until a huge SQUEAK! Ripped under her foot, throughout the hallway as she was strolling on by the nursery.

She glanced down to see Peri’s rubber duck on the floor. She rolled her eyes, picked it up, and tossed it through their bathroom, and then continued on towards the laundry and kitchen where the backdoor led out to the veranda. The family porch is where they can keep cool during hot days, if the air-conditioner installed within the bungalow wasn’t working.

She shivered, as she stepped through the back door trying to ignore the freezing air, greeting her as she made her way towards the bridge. She crossed their backyard, ignoring the tailor-birds, scurrying across searching for food alongside a curious mongoose darting between shrubs, and then pausing near the bungalow’s wall beneath their orange tree.

The mongoose sniffed the cold air, then hurried back into the brush, not bothering with the frozen oranges hanging above high in the branches.

Evelyn glanced up at the trees of the garden. She noticed the orange and bananas frozen in ice. She ignored the gurgling sound inside her stomach. She decided the fruit would be too cold and hard to eat.

Once she made it across the bridge, she could hear a crack of branches echoing ahead as she came face to face with the narrow dirt-path covered in cold, chrunky-slush. She got a good gaze at the trees swaying with the wind, as a red squirrel hopped from one branch onto another. But there are no tree frogs on site. Another snap came from the path, making her peer through more shrubs, tall grass, and other unnamed foliage she didn’t recognize as she adventured more deeply. There was something moving through, causing the plants to shake. Maybe not one, but three, and then five in a group were running on all fours, as their howls cried through the forest.

“Wolves?” Evelyn whispered as a guess.

“You got that right, Evelyn,” a deep male voice spoke from behind.

Evelyn quickly glanced over her right shoulder, as a dark-skinned man appeared.

He wore an explorer’s hat rather low, close to his forehead, his boots were caked from the muddy trail. A rifle was strapped across his back, though she hardly witnessed him using it. He kept on pushing through the branches, with the machete knife he held in his right hand.

“Raj,” Evelyn said, “What are you doing out here?”

“I would’ve asked you the same thing,” Raj said as he continued cutting giant ferns and tall grass out of his way, “You are very fortunate that I have found you. You don’t want to meet a hungry pack alone.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes. Wolves eating human children? That’s in fairytales, not fully accurate.

“What brings you out so early in the morning?” asked Raj.

“The weather sir, it’s a mystery,” Evelyn stated, “I mean look at the snow around the jungle.”

“I’ve seen snow in other locations, as an explorer this isn’t ordinary,” Raj said as he glanced around the forest while tugging a long sleeve of his shirt. He could see the entire forest covered with untouched white frost, while he leaned up against another kapok tree, placing a hand against the bark. “When I was little, my grandfather, and father told me all about a winter that would come without warning to his very jungle.”

“Still sounds like a fairytale,” Evelyn said with a smile.

Raj shook his head, “No, he didn’t pull my leg when he told me.”

The jungle grows silent as the wind stops. There were no birds singing, crickets chirping, frogs croaking, and monkeys not jumping or climbing. A corner of stone sticks out of the frozen ground, most people would have walked right past it.

Evelyn didn’t, she just approached the stone and kneels, brushing away the snow. Ancient symbols spiral across the surface, at first she thought it was some old pocket watch. As she removed more of the snow and mud, it revealed to be an ancient-blue cased compass without giving any directions to go north, south, east, or west. No numbers, or letters, for something which had been around for centuries. Her curiosity overcame her caution, as she can observe someone carved them symbols, way before anyone lived around here today.

Raj removed his hat. “I’ve searched this jungle for twenty years. I’ve never seen that before.”

Evelyn pressed the latch. Click. The lid opened. The needle inside began spinning wildly. Round and around it turned, faster, and faster, until she laughed despite herself. I think you’re broken, she thought. The needle slowed, passing the mountains, the trees, and the waterfall underneath the rising sun. It then stopped, and pointed directly at her. She frowned, that’s impossible. She stepped sideways, the needle followed. She stepped back, and it followed her again. The compass was not pointing north. It was pointing at her.

A cool golden-white light suddenly poured from its face, washing across the clearing. The snowflakes paused in the air, then came a whispering voice.

“You have to find us, Evelyn.”

She stopped breathing, slowly she turned in a circle, no one was there other than Raj, trees, vines, mud, and the compass glowing warmly in her hands.

Another branch snapped as she turned facing a shadow gap within the trees, and shrubs behind her and Raj. She could view two brilliantly-enormous blue eyes stared at her, unblinking and watching her every move.

The forest trembled, as the blue-eyes belonging to a massive body stepped forward, creating snow to fall from the leaves, and tall grass to bend beneath this creature’s weight. A long red snout appeared, then scarlet scales, as ivory horns swept back from its noble head, and two vast wings folded behind it, stretching wider than the tallest kapok trees. A dragon. Not the typical ones you see in a fairytale story, or in her father’s old history journals. A real dragon.

Evelyn couldn’t move.

The dragon lowered its head slightly, studying her with calm, intelligent eyes.

“A dragon,” Evelyn whispered, the words barely escaping her lips.

The dragon continued to watch them, with his enormous sapphire-eyes showing no anger. Evelyn swallowed hard, every history journal she’s ever had read and described dragons as creatures who are legends which are very powerful, magnificent, and extinct. Yet to her surprise, this one stood before her a few yards away.

Its scarlet scales shimmered like polished rubies beneath the morning sun while tiny snowflakes melted against its warm hide before hissing into thin wisps of steam. The compass in Evelyn’s hands began to vibrate, as a soft golden pulse spread across the dragon’s face.

The dragon lowered its head again, another few inches, not looking at Raj or the rifle, instead it looked directly at the compass. Then it slowly reached forward, touched the ancient artifact with one sharp tip of one ivory claw, causing the object to glow brighter, as the ancient symbols raced around its edge, lighting one after another until the entire clearing shimmered beneath its warm golden light.

Raj stumbled backward, “I don’t believe this…”

The dragon released a low, rumbling sound. It wasn’t a growl, it sounded almost relieved.

“At last,” Raj’s eyes widened, “You heard that too?”

Evelyn nodded without taking her eyes off the dragon.

The creature carefully stepped aside, behind it, hidden beneath a couple of thick vines, and centuries of moss, stood the weathered remains of a stone archway neither of them noticed before. Snow covered every curved surface, as golden symbols, identically close to those on the compass, spiraled around it.

Evelyn’s heart leaped, “this wasn’t there.”

Raj shook his head, “No…” he stared at the forgotten ruins in disagreement, “it has always been here.”

He looked at the glowing compass, “It’s simply choosing to reveal itself.”

Evelyn hurried forward, and as she did the compass clicked again, causing the golden light it expelled to rise into the air similar to a firefly.

One by one, it connected its glowing lines not only above within the archway, but revealed an opening into a very dark tunnel, which it began to light up the torches, as if it were leading it way towards another area.