THE DRAGON HEALER [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER 3: A BAD OMEN

But her headache disagreed with her decision of not telling her parents about the severity of it.

That night, after dinner, she had a massive headache attack that caused her to drop a glass she was holding. The glass shattered on the floor while she fell on her knees on the floor with loud groan coming out from her mouth and her hands on her head. The headache was painful to the point that she could not breathe.

Dad and Mom rushed to her, kneeling and hugging her.

"Garlan, it is happening! Garlan! Our child ..." Mom was sobbing. Even in her fuzzy mind ravaged by headache, Alanna knew it was strange. Why did Mom call Dad Garlan? That is not his name! She panted and tried to sit up straight.

Dad was quiet but Alanna could see clear liquid streaming down his cheek.

"How long have you had this kind of headache, Alanna?" Dad whispered right next to her ear.

Alanna tried to breathe. Her headache subsided a bit. "A few months ... three ... or four ..." she gasped her answer.

Mom sobbed louder.

"Something bad is happening in Alathyr ... something with the dragons ..." Dad mumbled, though Alanna did catch the word dragons and she knew she had gone nuts from the headache.

"My nightmares ... and this headache ..." Mom's eyes widened in terror. "We have to go back, Garlan."

"Mom! Dad is not Garlan! Who is Garlan?" Alanna could not hold it anymore. "What are you guys talking about? Go back where?" her headache became less of her focus now as it had lightened after such a torturous storm. She managed to sit with her back leaning to the kitchen cabinet. Mom and Dad now also sat in front of her with a certain helpless look on their face. Both of them had damp cheeks and they trembled.

"Our time here may not be much longer, Alanna," Dad spoke with sorrow that stabbed Alanna deep in the heart.

"What do you guys mean? Mom, Dad, you guys are freaking me out. Seriously."

"The nightmares that your Mom has been having, and your headache are signs, Alanna. Signs that all is not alright in the place where we come from. Where you come from. That world is calling us, calling you back."

"I'm from here, from Oakridge. Where else ...?" Alanna struggled to close her mouth.

"Our kingdom, our homeland, Alanna. Your homeland ..." Dad stole a glance at Mom, and Mom nodded. Dad sighed,"Your homeland ... Alathyr."

There was an awkward few seconds of silence when Alanna massaged her forehead, rubbed her palms on her face in an effort to gather bits and pieces of her sanity, before speaking with a mix of wonder and confusion,"You guys are just being weird now. This is a prank, isn't it? What exactly do you mean I am from Alath ... Alathyr?" Alanna shook her head. "Seriously ... Alathyr ... where is that?! Stop it, both of you. You two are freaking me out now," she felt a certain annoyance, anger even, that here in her moment of being tormented by a headache, her parents decided it was a proper, fitting time to prank her.

Mom and Dad did not laugh nor did they break into one of those tadaaaaa gotcha! Moment. Their expression grew even more somber. They stole glance at each other, and nodded.

It was Dad who told her the whole story about who she was and what had happened. A story that definitely sounded too strange to be true, like something that Dad had plucked straight out of some fantasy novel.

The only thing that stayed the same about her was her name.

She was indeed Alanna.

But she was not the daughter of James and Diana Smith. She was not Alanna Smith.