The Awakening (First in the Dynasty Cycle)

Chapter One

A seemingly empty room awaits the gentle, somber rays of dawn’s light on one quiet morning in May. The walls, each a deep shade of black, were speckled with the spattered colors of bright acrylic paints.Orangesmixed with reds and yellows covered one wall, only to be bisected with lines of blues and greens. The walls were also covered with several different paintings, most of which were of nature, fantasy scenes. Of course, there were a few cartoons, and comic strips. The desk, which was mostly a cluttered mess of loose strips of paper and a few pencils thrown about, had a large computer, an older model with one of the thick screens. Next to it was an old alarm clock, the red numbers portrayed angrily in the dark of the room.

*Bzzzzpbzzzzpbzzzzp*

Starla Smith blinked awake at the sound of her alarm clock, green eyes hazy and unfocused as she pushed her mess of black hair out of her face. Groaning, she reached over the edge of the bed, straining to find and hit her snooze button. Starla rolled off the side, hitting the floor with an ‘oomph’ of distaste as she remembered that earlier this week she’d moved her clock to the opposite side of the room. Crawling over to the desk, she bodily heaved herself up, slapping at the clock repetitively as she tried to silence it.

*BZZZZPBZZZZPBZZZZP!* If anything, the volume got louder, earning yet another groan from the girl.

Her eyes opened tiredly, clarity slowly draining into them as she felt her way across the smooth surface of the clock. Pushing down, she finally silenced the alarm by pounding her fist against the oval snooze button.

“Urrrrgggghhhhh…” She moaned sleepily, pushing herself up onto her feet and feeling around the wall for the light switch.

It didn’t do much to help illuminate the room, considering the fact that her light bulbs had been replaced with black lights, but it did light up all of the UV drawings she had created on the walls. The effect was instantaneous, as if her spattered black walls were instantly transformed into a colorful, neon forest. On the far wall, the one where her closet door was, there were no pictures hanging, nor was there any sort of furniture obstructing the view. That was because covering the entire wall was a mural of an ocean, with the waves lapping at a series of jagged boulders that jutted out of the water like fangs. Sitting on the largest rock, sprawled out and gathering the rays of sun, and the sea spray, was a large, regal green dragon. His beautiful white-gold eyes peered out at her, the pupils nothing more than black slits.

“Time to start the day…” Starla grumbled, fingertips brushing along the dragon’s neck as she made her way to the closet door.

Her closet light was the only one with an actual yellow bulb in it, because she needed the actual lighting to tell the difference between her sea of mostly black tops. However, today she didn’t feel like wearing black and instead grabbed one of her bright blue shirts, with the logo from the band Foreigner, along with the words Jukebox Hero exploding off of it, surrounded by bars of music and stars. Oh, how she loved her vintage rocker tees.

Her dresser drawer, where her jeans were was quite a bit more colorful than her closet, featuring numerous brightly colored skinny jeans, along with leggings and several mini-skirts. Selecting a pair of ripped up, acid washed denim jeans, she slid her slender legs into them, hopping around as she tried to tug them up her body. They were the kind of jeans that took a little while to develop a comfortable fit in. Her socks, plain white today, were instantly hidden by her pair of plain blue Converse, and Starla smiled, before grabbing her brush off the night stand.

It, like everything else in her room was decorated; only this time it was a series of silver and gold scrollwork markings. She dragged it through her hair, too tired to do anything else than let it hang in spiraling black coils down her back. Starla did, of course, have time to put on eyeliner and eyeshadow, making her sparkling green eyes look like cat eyes, before she grabbed her cargo bag and slung it over her shoulder. Last stop of the day was the bathroom, where she could brush her teeth, and wash her hands. She always did like to start the day with minty—