The Dragon's Heart

Chapter One

Link to the second draft is here: http://www.wattpad.com/story/7270506-the-dragon%27s-heart

*First Draft* No editing done to this. 

This fantasy novel is about a main character who finds himself in a new world living side by side with Earth. However, it couldn't be more different from its partner.

Jack is then taken in by a community of fierce gnomes who have recently been ravaged by a conflict with their old friends, the dragons. To make matters worse, the stars are also disappearing quickly as the two worlds start to merge. 

It is up to Jack to solve the mystery and to see if he can stop the two immensely different societies from colliding. On top of that, he is also attempting to patch up old relationships and, above all else, find Ma. The whole of humanity is banking on Jack but what do you do when your enemy is... yourself?

                                                                               

                                                                       ***

This isn't part of the story but I thought I should mention that, in this sequence, Jack is 8 years old so this bit is meant to sound childish. Sorry, but some people were confused. 

Today, Ma told me I'm a superhero.  

Well, she said I'd be one someday, but it's basically the same thing.  

If I'm honest, she didn't even mention the word "superhero". 

I am lying in bed, staring at the neon stars glued to my ceiling. My curtains are slightly too small and so the moonlight dribbles in through the gap in the middle. The blue shadows light up my room. It's an awesome scene and I feel like I am swimming, lost in a new world with the stars peeking through the top of the ocean. I love the ocean. 

Little dude, I know you're going to go far. Someday, you're gonna go out there in your red cape and you - my awkward, but amazing - son will change the world.  

I think about what my Ma told me. I don't feel special but Ma has never lied to me before. I wonder what it is that I am going to do which will change the world. Perhaps one of my inventions will make it big. I am an inventor, you know. I invent cool things like a catapult that shoots sweets into my mouth. Sweets are yummy.  

But what if that doesn't happen? What if I'm not Superman but I'm Lex Luthor, the baddie? What if I change the world but in a bad way? I don't like to think about things like this. It makes me feel bad. I don't want to be like Lex Luthor. He has a shiny head.  

I don't want to think about bald heads anymore so I try to fall asleep. I can't, because today, Ma told me I'm a superhero.  

Seven Years Later 

Jack woke up with cold fingers. Even the sun hadn't bothered turning up that day. That was some night, he thought to himself. The final dying embers of yesterday evening returned to him. He was so close, so very close, and he knew it. This time, nothing would distract him. He scanned the room for some sign of life on his father's side. Not even a whimper. Moving quickly, Jack swung his legs over the side of the bed and slipped on his shoes. He didn't bother to change. Today was the day. It had to be. 

Downstairs, the light was even bleaker. Wallpaper was pealing at its edges and one of the banisters was broken - snapped clean in half. Its counterpart lay on the floor, discarded and unwanted. Books were everywhere, diagrams of maps visible inside; they were no use now, not since Ma went.  

Jack made his way out the front door. It made little sound as he gently let it fall back and none of the boards creaked as he crept along them. He had trodden this path many times before. Hopefully, for the last time.  

The forest loomed up before him in all its glory. Different shades of green, everywhere. The trees seemed to mock him as he made his way towards the centre, the only place left untouched by his vigilant search.  

Jack came upon a clearing. This was it. Making his way towards the stump in the centre, he tried to cleanse his mind. The Hum was all he wanted to hear. We will meet again. Just follow what you always have. The Hum was all he needed to hear.  

A rustle in the leaves behind him. It was only the wind.  

The Hum surrounded Jack, its tendrils filling him with hope and ambition. It was surging through his very existence. The Hum had been there since the start, since Jack first listened carefully to the world around him. It was the music of the universe, the engine of the stars, and the song of life. It was everywhere, everything. You only had to find the key to hear it. 

Jack suddenly felt a cold breeze blowing onto his face. His eyes were wound shut but a brilliant burst of light forced them open. All around him, the dry leaves were being whisked up into the air, forming an earthy hurricane around him. Everything was disappearing. The trees were gone, the sky was just a distant memory and no sound could be heard over the wind now twisting around Jack with the force of a hundred men. Hardly able to believe his eyes, Jack rose to his feet, stumbling backwards as he tripped on the stump. 

Then everything disappeared. In an instant, the explosion of light was gone and Jack rubbed his eyes, struggling to regain his eyesight. What was going on? Had he finally done it?  

The Hum was still ringing in his ears- fainter this time, but clearly audible. However, it was not the sound of the Hum that made Jack freeze. Neither was it the raspy voice of someone behind him saying, "Halt, who goes there?" No, rather it was the unmistakeable tip of a knife, digging into the small of his back, the cold metal slowly piercing his skin.