Armageddon

Chapter 1: The Awakening

Still ignoring her older self, Silver smiled and swooped the little giggling girl in his arms, and she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek; Selena could hide her blushing. "Teacher, I learned how to make fire."

"That's wonderful, my dear—you'll make a great apprentice yet." His grin grew. "Now, please, don't be afraid. You will wake up. Please, wake up."

Baffled and undone, Selena felt out of touch with reality as she continued to wonder what he meant. A flash of light blinded her vision, and she now stood on the cliff overlooking the North Sea, this time with Thor. As thrilled as she was to see her dragon again, Selena couldn't help but think, None of this makes any sense. How did I get from Rune Citadel to here?

Her head swiveled, body quivering from not remembering how she moved from one place to the other, but she was relieved to see Thor was the same as always: he was already the size of a large ship, and she guessed he weighed close to twenty tons by now. His magnificent bone mask decorated with sharp horns gave him the image of wearing a crown, fitting for the King of Dragons. Her eyes caught the glimmer from his tear-drop-shaped ruby scales, sparkling from the gentle evening light, and she couldn't help but adore Thor's rainbow glitter refracting across the ground and his golden chest plate. Regardless of his intimidating and almost regal-like appearance, he was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful dragons she had ever seen.

Selena reached out to pat his thick tree-trunk-sized neck, half expecting him to be an illusion, but her face lit up when she touched his shiny gemstone hide. Is it truly you?

Snaking his head down to hers, Thor's massive honey amber eyes, like two gold ore moons, locked with her brilliant emeralds. My dear.

She was so happy to hear his voice again and couldn't control her eyes stinging with tears as she opened her arms to embrace him. I was so afraid that I wasn't going to see you again. What happened? Are you all right?

I-I don't know, but I was so afraid I had lost you.

She buried her face into his shoulder, not caring that his sharp armored scales poked and scraped against her face. I was too, but it was so strange. Just a moment ago, I was in Rune Citadel with Silver as he talked about my new hand. He kept expressing his fear that I wouldn't wake up. She paused when she came to the horrible conclusion that it was only a hallucination. My mind is playing tricks on me.

Thor took a while to acknowledge her distress, his eyes unblinking. That is strange.

Are you not going to argue with me?

Why should I? If you think you're hallucinating Silver, I believe you may be right.

Why aren't you asking me more about this? You always argue and question me if it doesn't make sense. Her eyes filled with tears when he didn't reply; she imagined him too.

Thor reared his head back and swept his tail across the ground, creating a small surge of dust and rock, and unfurled his massive wings with orange and red membranes dabbed in more glorified oval specs of purple and yellow dotting the edges. The evening sunlight lanced through his wings like stained glass windows in a cathedral.

Please, will you wake up? As her face shimmered in tears, Thor immediately jolted up from his spot and reared up, putting all his weight on his haunches while his head thrashed around to search for her. Where did you go?

I'm right here. Please, you can't be a hallucination, too. Can't you see me?

He ignored her. Where are you? Come back and wake up.