Chaos Descending

Sweet Dreams

Chapter 1 — Sweet Dreams

I found myself startled awake by the searing pain of hell's own fire burning a hole in my right shoulder blade — an unpleasant reminder of my showdown with a fully shifted manticore. Not a brilliant decision on my part, by the way. In the end, only one of us was going to make it out of that battle alive. I preferred it to be me. Although how I ever thought I could destroy such a fantastical, fire-breathing beast in the first place and walk away completely unscathed was beyond me. Well, make that mostly unscathed.

Immortal or not, the fact that I managed to survive at all was an unexpected, yet pleasant surprise.

As far as I could tell my skin didn't seem to be affected by the flames I'd generated. I was immune to the fire I called at will. But that still didn't explain the damage to my wing and shoulder. Why wasn't I immune to the flames of a fire-breathing monster?

Shaking the last remaining cobwebs from my brutally battered brain, I attempted to sit up. And failed miserably. Every single muscle in my body screamed in protest at the slightest movement. More consequences from the abuse I'd given it when I decided to launch myself through the windshield of the Fury, no doubt. It was even a battle just to open my eyes. Yeah, a battle I was seriously losing. Swollen almost completely shut, my eyelids felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each. The best I could manage was to peer through two tiny slits. It wasn't nearly enough to see clearly, but at least it was something.

Eventually lifting my head, but barely, the slight attempt drew such pitiful sounds of agony from the back of my throat that I decided to give up. I wasn't going anywhere fast. That much was painfully obvious.

When I finished feeling sorry for myself, I couldn't help wondering what had happened to Thomas and Vycandor. Normally they didn't let me out of their sight and now they were nowhere to be found. It wasn't like them to be MIA. Not like them at all. Feelings of abandonment continued to torment me as I racked my brain to remember what happened.

And then it hit me.

I'd locked them in a prison cell I'd fashioned out of thick ice in Vycandor's palace of doom. The memory almost made me laugh. Almost, but not quite. Thankfully they were safe from harm. Like me, they weren't going anywhere fast. But that still didn't explain where I was. Not to mention how I'd gotten here. Clearly I hadn't walked here on my own. Wherever here was. The only thing I knew for certain was the fact that I was miserably trapped in my own body like a prisoner tangled in barbed wire. Every purposeful movement caused immense pain to slice through my body. In fact, even my throat felt like it was on fire. The aftereffects of repeatedly breathing in the mouth watering aroma of gigantinormous kitty-on-a-stick. Minus the stick, of course. I'm not a fan of exotic cuisine. I prefer my food without the meow, thank you very much.

With no other option for escape, I decided to cry out for help on the off chance that someone could hear me. But the effort took much more than was pretty.

Forced to lay here like broccoli to give my body time to heal so wasn't me. Like, at all. Period. Besides being impossibly impatient, I suck at the whole damsel in distress thing.

Stubborn to the very last drop, I used what little ounce of strength I could muster to concentrate on my surroundings. Maybe everything would start to  make sense if I knew where I was. Forcing my eyes to focus, I tried to get a feel for how long I'd been here. A large, octagonal bay window jutted out of the farthest wall. Even from this distance I could tell it was dark outside and raining. Which didn't help much. It had already been way past my bedtime when I'd played chicken with that overgrown cat.

The only light source in the room emanated from a large fireplace in the opposite corner that filled the entire space with a rosy glow. I couldn't help staring at the flames, mesmerized as they danced and weaved; the colors changing from bright blazing oranges to deep cobalt blues in the blink of an eye. Despite its close proximity to the king sized bed I found myself lying on, I felt chilled to the bone.