The Angel of Elydria (The Dawn Mirror Chronicles Book 1) by A. R. Meyering Read Free Book Online

Wherever she was, there had to be someone sympathetic to her plight. She could borrow a cell phone to call her mother, or the police. Someone would help her reach safety.
    Professor Arlington’s footsteps scraped behind her as he tried to catch up and Penny quickened her pace. Bursting through the gate and onto the street, Penny staggered to a stop and gaped.
    The gables and towers spiraling up toward the sky looked as if they belonged in another time period. The people that bustled by on their busy ways wore frock coats, silken gowns and tall hats, gold-rimmed spectacles, goggles with lenses the color of wine bottles, frilled bonnets, stockings with boots, and all manner of strange clothing. Gas lamps lined the tightly-wound streets. Fair ladies sported feathered hats with tiny fake birds that almost looked and sounded alive. All around them the alluring scent of baking goods wafted, coming from a warm bakery with an ornate crafted crystal window. Further down the street, huge piles of alien, jewel-like fruits were stacked high, while a man with a bowler hat and wild mutton-chops shouted at the passing crowd in a language Penny couldn’t even begin to identify. Penny choked back a yelp as a small collection of fuzzy brown bird-like creatures with huge orange eyes hopped past in a little flock. A child in a lacey headdress and pinafore chased after the flock.
    “Miss Fairfax! Please wait!” Professor Arlington’s voice called from close behind her.
    Penny turned away and bumped into someone. She turned to apologize, and felt the blood drain out of her face as she looked into the eyes of a creature she had no name for. It had needle sharp teeth glittering under a snake-like nose and two round golden eyes that looked just like a toad’s. Though its face was monstrous, the creature stood upright and wore a smart suit. It spoke to her in a foreign tongue, using a polite but scolding tone.
    Penny did an instant about-face and shot past Professor Arlington, biting her tongue hard enough to stop from screaming aloud in hysteria. Through the narrow, crowded street she went, colliding with townsperson and signpost alike. The afternoon sun had stained the town an orange-red, adding to the surreal nature of what she was seeing.
    She hurtled around the corner of the street, anxious to put as much distance between herself and the creature she’d bumped into as possible. Weaving through a line of carts in an alleyway selling what she hoped were just a collection of bizarre souvenirs, she burst onto another main street covered in flags and iron archways. Penny stumbled back until she felt a wall behind her, and pressed herself up against it, gawking at what lay before her.
    Penny no longer needed convincing that this was a different world. Only a few feet away, an eight-foot-tall, black-scaled dragon wearing a cravat and a long coat purchased a fine cut of a meat from a bald butcher with a robust mustache. Penny stared shamelessly in its direction.
    Black scales. Huge talons, a pair of wings. That…that’s a dragon. I’m actually looking at a dragon right now, she thought as a whine escaped. Another one of the short, toad-like creatures played a flute in the center of the street, busking for spare change. Penny slid down the wall, transfixed and horrified all at once, when a voice beside her made her look up.
    A man and another creature that made Penny’s heart surge were addressing her with concern. The thing beside the gentleman had the head of a lion and the horns of a ram, though it wore an elegant cloak and monocle, stood upright and spoke politely to her, as if asking what the matter was. It reached a comforting paw in her direction, trying to help her up. The words were pure gibberish to Penny, and the sheer confusion, panic, and frustration of the moment brought tears to her eyes.
    No, she scolded herself, averting her eyes to stare at the cobblestones. Don’t cry. Don’t let this break you. I know there’s a…a cat