The Dragon Hunter- and the Lost Soul -

Chapter 6

"They've stolen it! The Angol Parma!" a voice said, their tone filled with worry and terror.

Others chimed in as the echo of fear spread across the dark room. She could only make out the largeness of their forms as almost everything else but their eyes were invisible. She couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. A book? What was so important about a book? And why was everyone so concerned about it?

As her thoughts ran wild, a hush fell over the room as though they had all come to realise some terrible truth.

"The Spell," a few whispered, too afraid to speak any louder in case they brought some unspeakable curse upon themselves. "He has the Spell."

Another sense of alarm went around. She knew from the stories she had read, that where there was magic, horror and pure evil would follow.

"We know only too well what he wants," the first voice said. "There is no escape for us anymore. There is no way to convince him that the outcomes of this decision will only result in destruction and chaos." The most awkward and attentive silence fell over the room once more as all were listening to the life-impacting words of this one speaker. "Our time has come. The peace will vanish and our existence will soon be forgotten. We only have one choice left. A sacrifice must be made in order for the justice of history and the future to be fulfilled." He stopped, and then suddenly, she noticed he had made eye contact with her. As he continued to stare, the others turned to face her, the multitude of glowing eyes focused solely on her. Somehow... she felt that she was involved specifically in this sacrifice.

"The youngest among us must take the role. A soul capable of traveling beyond the reaches of this time period. One fast enough to escape the clutches of damnation and destruction. Then, and only then will our race have a final chance or returning... when the time is right."

All eyes were on her. Every single one. No one breathed. No one moved. She was so confused and utterly lost. She had no idea what was supposed to happen. She didn't even know where she was.

Suddenly, the forms in the room grew dark and lifeless as a red colour took over their glowing eyes of blues, greens, purples and oranges. in a mix of emotions, the voices in the room rose to speak. All at once; the same phrase:

"The fate of our race shall lie in your power. Do not fail us... Lucia"

Gasping for breath Amanda tore the covers from her bed, rising in an instant from her pillow. Her forehead was hot as she desperately rose a hand to wipe the sweat from her temples. Her chest rose and fell as she heaved giant, shaky breaths into her lungs. The dream was almost real... too real.

She began to take deeper, more steady breaths, relieved she was now awake. But that was until she realised, through all the confusion, that her alarm was going off.

As she turned her head to look at her clock, she was horrified to see the time clearly say 12:00am. The alarm sound had ceased and she was left sitting on her bed in fear. Not again! she thought, frightened at how things were panning out. She quickly forced herself out from under the remainder of her covers, sliding her legs over the side of her bed. This couldn't be happening. She knew it wasn't just a malfunction in her alarm clock... something else was going on.

She put her slippers on and frantically walked out of the room to get some water. Hopefully, a drink would fully wake her up so she could relieve herself of the fears only to put her back to sleep again.

In the kitchen, Amanda poured herself some water. Not moments later, she must've chugged through at least three glasses, additionally splashing some of it on her face just to make sure she was awake. Taking a few more deep breaths and walking away from the bench, she was startled suddenly as the lights in the house began to flicker. She instantly stopped moving, her eyes wide as they darted about the house.

Then silence.

The lights stopped flickering and the house returned to darkness. Amanda slowly let out her breath. Just an energy surge she told herself. Just a surge. Nothing to worry about. But as she began to walk once more, it started all over again.

Not only did the lights flicker, but she could make out figures of her family members standing in the bursts of light, only to vanish when the lights shortly turned off again. It continued until there were more consistent bursts of light and the figures remained in the room. Amanda screamed, getting down on the ground and curling into a ball, too scared to see it anymore. She brought her hands up over her head, crying in fear as the chaos continued.

Seconds later, she heard a familiar voice call out her name.

"Amanda dear! What's the matter?!"

She tightened her arms around herself, refusing to move.

"Amanda! What on earth- Say something!"

It was her mother. Amanda felt the touch of another pair of hands, but rather to pull her own away and save her from the tight grasp she held.

Her mother lifted her chin and stared into her bloodshot eyes. Amanda's face was wet with terrified tears and her breath returned to being rasped and shaky. She looked past her mother into the fully-lit room.

"Amanda?" Her mother said again in concern, following her eyes. "What's going on?"

"I-I don't know," she said seemingly breathless. She paused and returned her gaze to her mother. "What happened?" She asked in a gasped whisper.

Her mother frowned. "I'm not entirely sure. You were walking out of the kitchen when you suddenly screamed and fell to the ground. Did you sprain an ankle or something?"

Amanda didn't know what to say. Her mother had seen her walk out of the kitchen? How was that possible if she had been all alone? Did it have something to do with the figures she'd seen during the flickering lights? She made a quick decision to keep it to herself as it was clear she was the only one experiencing it. Besides, the last thing she needed was for her parents to send her to some random counselor after they concluded her story made zero sense, and she had some sort of mental issue.

She shook her head in response to her mother's question, moving to stand. "I'm alright," she heaved. "I just slipped and got startled."

Her brother and father stood only a few feet away, fully dressed suggesting they had been awake for the last hour or so. They seemed unsure if they should be assisting or leaving it to her mother.

Her father gave her a concerned expression, almost as though he didn't believe her.

"I'm fine," she insisted looking at each of them. She wiped away her tears and gave a weak smile. "Honestly." But clearly; everything was far from 'fine'.

She walked past her mother and trotted up the stairs to her bedroom, somewhat desperate to check her alarm clock. There was no logical conclusion as to the events of the last 15 minutes (as that was how long she'd been gone from her room). So if her clock didn't say something like 12:15, she would know she was in serious trouble.

As she burst into her room, the instant flash of morning sun coming through her window made her realise: it wasn't anywhere near 12am. Something weird was going on. Something seriously weird.

It was frightening to think she was the only one aware of what was happening. With no one to tell and no one who would understand, this odd and mysterious new life she was living was lonelier than she'd ever wished for.