𝕯𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖓𝔂'𝖘 𝖕𝖑𝖆𝔂; Riven

*6*

I woke up to the sound of a crying baby girl. I tried to call out to her, but couldn't form any words. The only thing that escaped my trembling lips were my screams of agony. I felt hot tears stream down the sides of my puffy cheeks and heard the cries echo through the large room. My hands were whipping out to grab something, anything, to help me escape this bed, but my body refused my commands, legs too weak to carry me. I screamed loader, the baby still crying from somewhere along this dark room. The door slammed open and an illuminating young woman stepped into the darkness. Her skin glowed in a golden sparkle, brightening the room enough for me to spot the baby in a bed just beside mine. We looked at each other, our eyes fogged by the heavy tears that fell onto the now wet mattresses. The baby girl had large, blue eyes and soft, red hair curling on the top of her head. Her presence gave me a calming feeling, both our screams suddenly quieting down. The baby smiled at me, her chubby cheeks bright red and glittering by the earlier shred tears.

The golden woman seemed to flow through the air, elegantly towards us. As she leaned down over our heads, I saw fear in her golden eyes. The woman embraced both of us in her delicate arms, and carried us out of the room. She hurried through endless corridors, walls lined with large paintings and ancient sculptures.

A hair-raising, screeching voice called out to us, 'You can't run forever, Daphne.' followed by a wicked laugh that made me and the baby start our howling once again. The corrupt laughs got louder by the second, getting dangerously close to catch up to us. As the voices neared, shadows seemed to dance around the edges of the corridors, the brightly lit place getting unsettlingly darker, a chill running through my tired body.

We came to a halt, just before a large opening at the end of the corridor, the wall swirling in all tones of gold and crimson. "I love you so much," the woman said, kissing us both on the top of our foreheads. Her lips felt warm and comforting in the midst of the cold darkness that moved closer around us.

"There is no escape." I heard a vicious womanly voice say. I saw darkness slowly consume the brightly lit, golden skinned woman that still held me tight, just before she threw us straight into the bright hole. I was falling into a swirling pit of nothingness, my head getting dizzy. Despite my screams for help, no answer came. The last thing I saw was the panicking face of the blue eyed baby, falling dangerously at my side.

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I woke up alone in the darkness. My body was sticky with hot sweat and I felt my lungs burn by the loud scream that escaped me in horror. My eyes were sticky with tears and I felt the unfamiliarity of the room. The door was thrown open and lights came on with a click, revealing Ofelia, Alfea's school nurse.

"Good to see you awake again." She said smiling, as she stepped closer to my bed. "How are you feeling? You gave us quite the scare."

"What?" I asked, looking around confused as to how I ended up here.

The dragon,

The fight,

The blue fire...

Everything came back to me, remembering how I had passed out in a cold cave up the mountain last night.

"Where are the others? How did I end up back here?"

"They are all fine, resting up in their rooms as we speak. You are a very lucky girl to be alive right now. But I'll spare you the lecture, I'm sure Ms. Faragonda will have enough to say as it is. How is your head? Can you stand?" She asked, summoning a cup with hot liquid, that she urged me to take.

"Other than a nightmare's scare and hunger, I feel fine and refreshed." I answered her in honesty, sipping that awful drink she forced on me. "Am I allowed to see the others now, nurse Ofelia?"