The Warrior- Laila Nomon

2. Dark

When she next came to, Laila saw a transparent glass of what looked like red gooey juice that came straight from an alien café on her right set upon a bedside table with a straw protruding from it. She looked to her left, her eyes still blur, but was able to make out a silhouette of a tall, lean person sitting in a chair and blacked out again. This went on for another two times, the only difference being that when she opened her eyes, her vision was clearer now.

When, finally gathering what was left of her strength, she opened her eyes for a fourth time and sat upright, she looked around and saw that she was in what looked like a room of a mansion. She saw that the green gooey was still on the table but half empty. She looked around another time still and saw nothing new but that the green armchair was not occupied anymore. Her vision wasn't blur anymore and was back to providing the normal, clear appearance of her surroundings.

She felt very thirsty and drank the red juice in the cup since it was the only thing that was liquid in the room and grabbed the cup which felt strangely light, closed her eyes, and drained it to the dregs. She had thought that it would taste bad but it strangely tasted like kiwi juice and felt a rush of energy inside her.

She went to the door and yanked it open, praying to God that she was somewhere she knew. When she looked out, she knew God was quite busy today: she didn't have a clue to where she was.

There were two creaky old staircases to the room's left one of which led another few floors up and another, which led downstairs.

She thought it best to see the ground floor first, probably meet someone there and enquire where she was first, and then explore the rest of the house. She wondered whether this was all a dream and then, if this was all a reality, how her mother and Zoppy were doing after whatever it was that tried to kill her.

She started to descend the stairs and found herself in a beautiful sitting room. At one corner was a small hearth with a fire burning in it. Next to that was a coffee table with two same looking energy drinks -only green, not red- on it and two comfortable grandfather chairs each with a pillow. On the walls hung beautiful yet tragic tapestries depicting an ancient war. The next second, she almost fainted because of what happened in the hearth- two people came out of the fire, unscathed. She grabbed hold of the backrest one of the chairs to remain standing upright.

One of the them was a lady with dark brown hair wearing a parrot green pinstriped overcoat and a white shirt and blue jeans underneath  and it was her that approached Laila first. 'Hi, Laila.'

'Do I know you?' Laila asked in an unsteady voice.

'No, not yet. But we know who you are and we are one of you, too. You don't need to be scared. That storm near Norwood Hills was sent by Zadok and meant to kill you. Fedrick rescued you in time. You fainted right after. We brought you here to keep you safe. We just went to check in on your mom and she's okay. Oh, and my name is Lita and this is Fedrick.' She added gesturing towards the boy standing beside her.

'Hey,' Fedrick said, and gave a small smile. He was tall, wearing a green hoodie with and camel cargo pants and black sneakers.

'What day is it... today?' Laila questioned.

'Monday.' He answered quickly.

'Shoot, I missed the basketball tourn- never mind.' She turned back to Lita. 'First of all, I have no idea about the "we know you who you are and we are one of you, too" talk. And second, I need you to tell me this is all a dream and then take me back to my house. Also, before I forget, how-the-Mummy did you just walk out of that burning fire unscathed?'

'We meant that we know you have powers which the mortals don't know of or have. We have them too. Yet, you haven't used them or haven't tried them out. You'll learn to control them along the way once you try them out. And this isn't a dream, Fedrick just came and saved you from that storm near Norwood Hills. And if we take you back, Zadok will know since we suspect he's been keeping an eye on you and if he does, he'll send something even powerful to take on you this time.' And here, Lita chuckled, 'And that-' She said pointing to the fireplace, 'Is the entry into this place. It is just to provide warmth and security. Zadok and his cronies or any one of his games won't pass through there, at least not without setting themselves on fire.'

'You mean not even a scratch to you?'

'Nope.'

'And who is Zadok?' Laila asked as she ignored Fedrick struggling to keep his face straight and stifle a chuckle.

'Zadok was our ally.' Lita said with a sigh and a defeated shrug. 'We, the Warriors, and he, protected the mortals and kept them and our people from getting into contact with the Dark one but once, Zadok met the Dark One, and then he was never the same.

'The Dark One wanted to rule over all mortals and eradicate those who didn't agree to his dictatorship. He offered to give Zadok half the areas he conquered in return for his powers and allegiance. He agreed, blinded by greed. They thought the mortals weren't worthy of living in this world. They thought they could keep them on leashes. We tried to stop him- stop them from creating a Dark army but it was too late. He already had broken the law and mastered the Dark powers, almost as powerful as the Dark One. We tried to persuade him to stop and he turned against us. There was a war. And they were outnumbered. Yet, you must know: dark powers are much, much, much more powerful than ordinary, honest, and true powers. We fought for all it was worth and we lost a mighty good Warriors in that war, including one of our brave Leaders, and my husband, Liam.' Laila saw tears in Lita's eyes as she said the last part.

'But in the end, we were able to defeat Zadok's armies and put him in one of our most guarded dungeons in Alaska but the Dark One escaped to hiding, abandoning Zadok and his armies. We've kept Zadok captured until recently, when he escaped. Many of Warriors tried to stop him and a few got fatally injured and a few went missing.

'Yes, Zadok has Dark powers which we don't, but that day when we cremated our fallen Warriors, we lit this fire with hurt, pride, and grief of a thousand Warriors and it has been burning ever since. We believe the fallen Warriors and all those who helped us, continue to stay with us through it. And it works as a communicator to the Headquarters too, where a part of this fire has been kept.... We will be going there in a few days so you can be trained and meet the others,' with this, Lita turned her back on Laila to face the fire.

'You want me to believe this story tale? If all this was true, then how come mom didn't ever mention this?' At first Laila didn't understand but then her eyes widened. 'No way. Who are you really?,' at this Lita turned around, tears in her eyes but still barely managing a smile.

'No, no, no... This is confusing. If you are her. Then, who's Rosalie?'

A/N: OK, I'm uploading this one, too. I just had this ready and on my hands, lol. 1,300 words is quite a lot. I'll proof-read later. See ya!