Flames [Slow Updates]

Chapter Three

"Samantha?" The voice was soft, trying not to scare me, but it scraped against my ears. "Samantha. You shouldn't be here. It's dangerous..."

 "Where?" Panic rose inside me, as if I actually was in danger. But that was silly. I was in my bed, safe and sound. Any minute now, the alarm would ring, and I'd have to wake up go to school. I twisted my head, taking in the entire cavern tinted in green. My head nearly bashed against the ceiling of rough rock, but I managed to swing my long, lithe neck down at the last minute and instead ended up looking at a huge, scaly, green reptilian foot. Or to be more accurate, my huge scaly green reptilian foot. Curious, I flexed the foot once, before returning to the task at hand. "Where am I?"

I heard a shuffling at the far side of the cavern, bathed in shadow. Then the source of the shuffling came forward.

Opening my mouth wide, I screamed. At least, I tried to scream. It came out as an angry roar that nearly scared me, and I was the one doing the roaring.

It was a dragon.

It was huge, almost thrice the size of me. The little light that managed to get into the cavern glinted off it's ruby red scales. It's gold eyes stared at me."Samantha, you aren't supposed to be here."

My tail swished nervously against the ground. "Who are you? Where am I?"

The dragon didn't reply. It's long, sinuous neck twisted around, glancing back over it's wings. "Samantha, you have go." Without waiting for a reply, it raked it's own tail against the ground, sweeping under me and knocking me off my feet. I stretched out my mangled torn wings and flapped them hard, desperately trying to lift myself off the ground, but failed. Instead, I fell towards the ground...

...And sat up in my bed. Sweat poured down my face and back, making me feel sticky all over. My hands gripped at the bedspread like vices. I took a deep breathe and tried to calm myself down. "Just a nightmare. It was just a nightmare."

"What was just a nightmare?" A half-familiar voice came from the door. It was bored and exhasted, giving me the impression that the person wouldn't be here if they had a choice. I turned to face a girl with dark, curly hair and an impish smile leaning against the door frame. She was wearing a long, forest green dress, a simple one like something they'd wear in the 1900s, which didn't match her posture or her words at all. Faint feather patterns traced up the side of her face. Something jolted at the back of my mind, telling me I knew this girl. I shrugged it off and smiled at her. "Do I know you?" She asked. "I think I do. I'm Eva. I'm a Frostfire."

I couldn't think of what to say. What was my name? I settled for what the dragon called me, adding on a few words instinctively. "I am Princess Samantha. What is the purpose of you coming here?"

"Her Majesty, Queen Lafiah, requests your presence in the dining hall. Immediately." I nodded and got up. I was wearing another dress exactly like Eva's, except it was gold and made of a shimmery material. I had no memory of putting on. Eva gestured for me to follow her, so I did, padding barefoot through a labyrinth of corridors, my feet unconsciously moving in the direction we were supposed to go, even when Eva wasn't showing me the way. Soon, we arrived in front of a huge door. Without pausing to knock, I pushed it open and walked in.

There wasn't much in the dining hall. A long table, chairs lined along it, a variety of dishes covering the white tablecloth. The people though, I could go on and on about. It took me a moment to realize that almost all the people at the table were men. And not the nice variety. These men were the drunk, leering kind you saw regularly outside taverns. Only one woman sat at the table.

"You are late," she said in a steely voice. She was wrapped in furs and wore a crown on her head. The hem of her burgundy dress touched the floor. She moved away from the arm of one leering man, removed the hand of another from her leg, and stood. 'Murderess' a small voice whispered inside my head.