Spark of a Flame Chapter One
Not So Ordinary
Light glowed in the distance from a fire that ravaged an old city. The blaze emitted a warm ambiance, an orange hue to the thick darkness around it. The night was quiet, yet every few minutes the air was pierced by an enormous screech, a hellish roar.
A dragon lay siege on the city. The fiery serpent clamored over the building tops, sending piles of rubble falling to the streets below– a formidable sight. Occasionally, the beast would leap from a roof and spread its massive sail-like wings, eager to ignite another part of the town.
Meanwhile, a hooded figure stood watching the scene from miles away. Though the dragon was larger than most ships, from the distance of the hooded onlooker the fiery serpent appeared no bigger than a garden lizard. Tears stained the cheeks of the figure beneath the hood. Around the stranger lay eight bodies, friends, scattered on the landscape.
“I’m so sorry,” whispered the voice of a woman from beneath the hood.
Her side was bleeding heavily. Her eyes longed to help, to assist those in the city, but as she took a step forward, she stumbled, clutching the wound on her side. There was simply nothing she could do.
With a surge of will power, she stood back up, pushing herself up from her knees. She began to limp away from the vacant scene before her, away from the unmoving figures on the ground. As she trudged along, her breathing became heavier. She did her best to ignore the occasional echoing screech from the distant dragon. Somehow, the serpent’s cry was more painful than her aching side.
The woman journeyed as far as she was able, doing her best to maneuver around rocks and uneven surfaces. What felt like hours passed, the heave in her stomach knotting tighter. Everything was her fault. She carried a weight on her shoulders far greater than she’d ever experienced.
She looked back. Surely, she was far enough.
With as much strength as she could muster, she stomped the ground with her foot. Immediately, she was consumed by bright purple flames that swirled around her, emitting many minuscule sparks, but within seconds the purple blaze, as well as the woman within them, were gone, leaving the rocky scene still and vacant.
All was dark. All was silent.
Suddenly and unexpectedly, the cold steely voice of a woman, a different woman, spoke.
“I was right about you…” said the voice.
“I was right about everything…”
In that moment, a boy shot up in his bed, his breathing heavy. He looked around his bedroom… all was ordinary.
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