Burning Sky

Chapter 8

Sora stared into the depths of the dragon's black eyes. Her first thought was that they expressed a strange sadness, like the dragon was mourning for something lost, but that flickered away, and then she recognized something far deeper: wisdom with a dash of arrogance.

Finally, she realized what she saw in the dragon's eyes. Power.

Her mind whirled with a tangle of emotion, disbelief, wonder and sheer terror. Her knees wobbled from fright, and she feared they would give out. Sora quickly diverted her eyes from the beast, desperately searching for Drake, only to discover he was nowhere to be found. A crazy thought passed through her mind when she locked her eyes on the dragon once more.

He seemed at peace, like he was not going to open his huge mouth and swallow her whole. She hoped her instincts were correct as the dragon drew his long, lean neck away from her and closer to its chest. Sora sensed that it was waiting for something, waiting for her.

She paused to calm her chaotic thoughts and gather her courage. It is now or never, she thought. She shakily started creeping backwards, not daring to take her eyes off the dragon. The beast, at first, watched her closely, seemingly stunned, but when the gap between them began to lengthen, it took a step toward her. Sora didn't hesitate, she whirled around and ran as if her life depended upon it.

Sora dashed through the trees, grateful for their cover. As she ran, her conflicted mind screamed at her that an actual dragon was pursuing her, while another part of her told her it wasn't possible.

Then another petrifying thought hit her. Dragons can breathe fire. What if the monster running after her burned down what was left of the forest just to find her. Sora forced herself to run even faster. Terrified at any moment flames would be licking at her heels.

It turned out the dragon was more eco-friendly than she thought, as no flames shot through the forest.

***

After what felt like an eternity, Sora reached the safe confines of her home. She burst inside and shakily fastened both locks on the door before collapsing on the wooden floor. Her knees had done great while running for dear life, but she wasn't surprised when they finally gave out. Panting, she dropped her face in her palms and began shaking her head, wishing that she could somehow shake the memories away.

What just happened? How can this be real? Did I just see a dragon?

Nearly an hour passed before Sora managed to pull her exhausted body off the floor and drag herself to her room. She flopped on her bed, without bothering to take off her dirty clothes. Fatigue overwhelmed her, and she fell into a deep sleep. Her last thought being: I am pretty good in a crisis.

The next morning, Sora awoke to a completely terrifying truth.

"Drake is a dragon," she said aloud trying to wrap her  head around it. "Is this for real?" She kept repeating those two phrases the whole morning during her walk with Kiba and then again on her way to school. Every move she made felt stiff and mechanical, while her mind was completely occupied with memories of the previous night.

When she arrived at her classroom, she was happy to see that Drake wasn't in his seat. Relieved, she sank into her desk and pulled out her textbook. A few minutes dragged by and everyone was in their normal places, except for Drake who hadn't shown up, yet.

The class began, but Sora was completely engrossed upon unraveling the events of the previous night in her tired mind. Even though she hadn't seen Drake actually transform into the dragon, it was hard to deny the obvious. He was the dragon. During her sixteen short years, being the horror movie fan she was, Sora had prepared herself for vampires, werewolves, even the prospect of a zombie apocalypse, but dragons were in a whole other league of their own. Seeing the huge red dragon roaring in the middle of the woods was the most terrifying thing she had ever experienced.