Argent Eye III

11

I woke feeling a little perplexed about the strange dream I'd just had. I'd never had one like it before, and there was just something about it that tickled the back of my mind. Like I should know more than I did, and that it meant something.

I just didn't know what.

I guess I should ask Ronan- after all, dreams were his forté.

I got up, had some breakfast, and then went to meet Kate to do some work before our lecture.

"That does seem a little strange." She said after I told her about my dream. We were sitting in one of the booths in the library. "But pretty cool at the same time." She added.

I nodded. "I just feel like it means something, you know?"

"Have you googled it?" She asked. "Sometimes animals have weird dream meanings."

"No." I said. I was almost certain that Google, even in its abundance of both useful and useless information, wouldn't be able to help me with this. But, I decided to have a look anyway.

"Dragons in dreams can symbolise wealth, joy and good fortune, however may also be a sign of one's selfishness." I read. I then looked up at Kate. "I mean, I'm a student, so not very wealthy. I guess I'm pretty happy at the moment." I paused. "Have I been selfish recently?"

Kate laughed. "Not that I know of." She said. "Perhaps you need a more expert opinion on this one."

I nodded. "I was gonna ask Ronan later. If anyone knows about dreams, then it's him."

"What you taking about?"

Ryan popped his head up over the booth we were sitting in, before coming round and sitting with us.

"Millie's having weird dreams about dragons." Kate said.

"Dragons? That sounds sick." He said, getting his laptop out of his bag. "You guys done Irina's work?"

"Doing it now." I said, motioning to mine and Kate's open laptops on the table.

"Yikes, I thought I was the only one behind." He chuckled. "We have like two hours till her lecture."

Kate and I laughed nervously at Ryan's reminder, and so stopped all talks on dragons and dreams and cracked on with the task at hand.

_________

Irina was talking at the front of the classroom, and I was busy taking notes until a familiar scent hit my nose. At first, I couldn't quite pinpoint where I'd smelt it before- it was fresh, and cool.

But then I remembered my dream. It's what the smokey dragon smelled of. My eyes looked up from the piece of paper in front of me, my pen stopped writing and my ears ceased to pay any attention to Irina's lesson. I instinctively looked through the window on the door, at first seeing nothing but the empty corridor outside. But, then I had to narrow my eyes and blink- I was eighty percent sure that I could see some strange, blue-tinged smokey stuff there, moving like a ghost.

Was I imagining things? Of course, that would account for the other twenty percent.

I thought I was, but then the dragon's face appeared, its piercing blue eyes locking with mine. I couldn't tear my eyes away- I expected it to vanish every time I blinked, but it didn't. It just stared back, its nostrils smoking. Like before, however, it didn't seem threatening. I got the feeling that it was just watching me. Judging me, perhaps.

"Millie?"

I looked up, having been snapped out of my reverie by Irina who was looking at me expectantly. I then realised the entire class was. I looked back at the door, not really surprised that the dragon had gone, and then back at Irina.

"Sorry, what was that?" I asked, perhaps a little embarrassed. I kept the ice flowing through my blood to keep my cheeks from flushing.

"Do you know what comes next?" She asked, pointing to a diagram on the board.

"Uhh..." I began. Truth was, I seemed to have missed the beginning of the conversation, so I didn't know what was next. Lucky for me, someone at the back raised their hand and caught Irina's attention. I mentally sighed with relief. I hated being picked on at the best of times, let alone when I hadn't been listening. Irina seemed amused, though. She only picked on me because she saw I wasn't paying attention.

I looked at the door again, just to double check that the dragon was gone, and it was. I tried to concentrate on the rest of the lecture in case Irina should pick on me again, but it was difficult.

Were dragons suddenly a real thing?

I guess I'd have to find out.

___________

"I saw the dragon." I whispered to Kate when we walked out of the classroom- Ryan had gone home. "Like, from my dream. It was outside the classroom."

Kate frowned. "Seriously? You sure you weren't dreaming again?"

I shot Kate a look. "I mean, I'm like pretty sure."

"Is that why you stopped paying attention?"

Both Kate and I turned to see Irina standing behind us.

"Were you eavesdropping?" I asked her, slightly embarrassed about what she'd heard. I mean, I was talking about seeing dragons.

She shrugged.

"Do you know anything about dragons made of smoke?" I asked, thinking that I may as well get straight to the point.

Irina looked at me like she may have misheard the question. "Did you say dragons?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yup."

She thought a moment, then shook her head. "Can't say I do."

I pouted my lips.

"Are you saying that you saw a dragon?" Irina looked a little amused.

"I dreamt about one last night." I said. "And was pretty sure that I saw it outside the classroom."

Irina didn't look convinced. "A dragon?" She asked again.

"It's not, like, a dragon, as such." I said. "It's like this misty smokey stuff, that takes the form of a dragon."

She seemed intrigued by this, but still uncertain.

"You don't believe me, do you?" I asked.

"I don't not believe you." She said. "I've seen a lot of strange stuff in my time. I just don't know what it is."

I was glad she didn't think I was totally mad. Or maybe she did, but just wasn't admitting it.

"Ronan might know something." She added.

I nodded. "Yeah, I need to ask him." I said. "You coming to training tonight?"

"I can't tonight." She said. "But probably next time."

"Okay." I said. "Well, we'll probably see you again this week. I'll let you know if I see anymore dragons." I chuckled.

Irina smiled, and then we waved goodbye.

__________