Dragon Unleashed (Book 1 of the Dragon Mage Saga)

The Morning of Mysteries

Darla stood at the sink, staring at her alabaster reflection in the mirror.  She was still in a hypnotic trance from that peculiar dream. She had, of course, dreamed of dragons before several times-of their fiery eyes, dagger-like teeth, and monstrous scaly wings. But this dream was unusual. It was so vivid, so clear, ingrained in her memory. She still remembered the frosty white sky and the two oddly colored suns, the meadow that was a bit too green and the flowers that were a bit too sweet. Most of all, she remembered the dragon that had appeared out of thin air. She had seen that dragon before. It had visited her just hours before in the darkness of the night. It’s flashing inky black eyes, stark white whiskers, and chiseled bronze scales like perfectly carved marble haunted her like a ghost.

            Its words still rang in her head, clear as a song.

            “In due time, Darla Rose Hawthorne. In due time, your destiny will be revealed.”

            The beast’s voice was cold and menacing, yet deep and raspy at the same time.  And what was it about her destiny? She was nothing special-just an average teenage girl with a very troubled mind. The dragons weren’t real, just illusions, nothing more than figments of her imagination. At least, that’s what her endless line of therapists and doctors had said. She wanted to believe-that she had just created the dragons, that they weren’t really stalking her in shadows since she was five. But she knew deep down that these mesmerizing creatures weren’t made by her mind. They were as real as she was, and nothing could ever change that, no matter how hard she wanted it to.

            “Happy birthday, Darla!” an overly chipper voice exclaimed, making Darla’s head pound.

            She looked up groggily to see Nurse Julie heading into the room. Her bleach blonde hair curled in a puffy cloud around her heart-shaped face, which was plastered with a giant fake smile. With a sigh, Darla abandoned her reflection to flop back down onto her mattress, ready to greet the impossibly chipper nurse. When you’ve been in and out of as many mental institutions as Darla had, you began to recognize the different “types” of nurses.

            First there was the tough nurse, the older nurse, who spoke in a strong, commanding voice fitting of a drill sergeant. They were a tough shell to crack, always down to business, no fun and no play. They spoke to you as if you were a prisoner and they were a guard, always squinting down at you with eyes like a ferocious bird of prey.

            Next was the nice nurses, like Julie. Always perky and sweet, they fluttered around with their colorful floral print shirts and clunky rubber shoes. They talked down to you as if you were a toddler, each sentence laced with disgusting pet names.

            Julie placed a small, white box with a bright red bow placed gingerly on top of it. She was brimming with excitement, unlike the birthday girl.

            “A present? Really? From who?” Darla asked, confused. She never got presents anymore. After her parents and little brother faded from her life, Darla had no one. No friends, no extended family. No one cared about the poor psychotic little girl.

            “Um, some lady dropped it off, sweetheart. She said she was your grandmother. Don’t worry, we already had it checked out. Not going to spoil anything, but it’s very beautiful,” Julie cooed in her sickly sweet simper.

            Darla raised a pale blonde eyebrow. Grandmother? Her grandmother on her father’s side had perished years ago to a rare heart condition, and her other one had tried to convince her family to send her to a labor camp. Darla had a hard time believing that she would send a birthday present.

            Realizing that Julie wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon, Darla sighed and began to peel off the cherry red bow. She popped off the white lid of the small box to reveal the most frightening thing Darla had ever seen.

            It was a necklace, but no ordinary, run-of-the-mill fancy mall jewelry store necklace. This necklace consisted of a small, sparkling silver chain. At the bottom hung a charm, a charm so beautiful and mesmerizing it physically hurt your eyes to look at it for too long. It was too radiant, too striking, too utterly and completely extraordinary it couldn’t be crafted by the human hand. No, this was something fashioned by gods or angels. No mere mortal could create such magnificent beauty as this necklace resting before her.

            But to Darla, it scared her more than anything, any monster of sorts. For the charm was a dragon-a golden dragon with brilliant blue eyes. It’s shimmering golden wings were lifted as if it were about to fly out of the box. That dragon-it was the one who had visited her in her room and in her dreams. That dragon knew her. It wanted to tell her something, and it wouldn’t leave her alone until it could deliver its message. It would slowly take over every aspect of Darla’s life, or at least that was what she had gleaned so far.       

            Julie, after gaping at the necklace with wide blue eyes, eventually left to check on the other patients, leaving Darla alone with the golden dragon charm. She dragged her finger across its shiny, metallic wings. Who had send her this? She pulled off the shiny black cushion the necklace had rested on. On the bottom of the box was a note, scrawled in messy cursive handwriting. The words made Darla’s blood turn to ice.

            The dragon slayer has risen. The Darkness will devour our realm whole.  Death is imminent. Watch your back, Darla, because the worst is yet to come. The dragon is inside you, and it wants to prowl. Be afraid.