Dragon Unleashed (Book 1 of the Dragon Mage Saga)

An Eruption of Emotion

A blazing rage had been building up slowly inside Darla, starting from the first visits by the dragons. The dragons affected her in many ways, painting her a different emotion each time she saw them in the midnight glow in her room, their unblinking stare piercing into her like a sharpened sword. They made her frustrated, at her family, at the world, at the universe-why was it doing this to her? Out of all the billions of people, why did she have to be the one with the insane dragon visions? Most of all, it made her afraid. Many people often forgot how scary dragons could be.

            But beneath it all was rage-a burning hot anger at the earth for cursing her, for blaspheming her, for caging her in a mental hospital. She was done with these stupid dragons crawling into her room and into her dreams, stalking her. She was done with their silly little games and fancy jewelry and mysterious notes. And she was done playing around. The minute she saw that golden dragon with the azure eyes she couldn’t hold it in anymore. Darla refused to continue to be treated like this. If the dragons had a message, they would tell her now. So her feelings bubbled out of her, and her fist shot out and struck poor Charles’s face.

            “What the hell!” Charles exclaimed, gripping his nose. Bright red blood streamed down his pale skin like a waterfall.

            “The golden dragon!” Darla roared, standing up. She was aware of all the nervous eyes on her. “I’m done with you dragons! Tell me what you want!”

            “I…I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Charles uttered feebly, inching back against the wall. He gripped his swelling nose.

            “Liar!” Darla screamed, angrily kicking the wall. That was an idiotic move on her part. Shoes were banned at Cherry Creek, so the pain that ricocheted off her thinly layered foot was extreme.

            Darla was grabbed from behind by a man who she figured was the security guard. “Calm down, Darla. Violence does not solve your problems.”

            “He…he knows about the dragons! They’re after me, they sent me a necklace and wrote me a note! Let me go!” Darla screamed, biting down harshly on the security guard’s arm. Salty blood erupted into her mouth as her teeth sank into the tender skin.

            The security guard yet out a howl of pain, releasing his tight grip on Darla. She wiggled free and turned to face Charles, who was still cowering in the corner.

            Or at least, she thought he had been cowering.

            Once she looked him in the eye, she could see that he was smiling-yes, indeed, he was smiling. It was a real smile that sent tiny little crinkles around his wide green eyes. He even dared to let out a chuckle, right in front of Darla. She stared him down. If looks could kill, he would have already been in his grave, rotting and decaying until nothing was left but dirt and grit.

            “Ah, Darla-you’re just like I thought you’d be,” he murmured, flicking his raven-black hair out of his face.

            How dare he mock her! He had answers-about the mysterious dragons, the necklace, her identity. And yet he chose to tease her and treat her as a fool! She would not abide this any longer. Darla was not a weak, fragile little girl with a mind that liked to play tricks, as many psychologists had suggested. No, it was more than that. The universe was hiding something rom Darla, and it was about time she found out.

            She leaped out to lunge at Charles when someone shoved her to the ground. She looked up to see the crystal blue eyes of Nurse Julie. Instead of her cheery grin, her face was stone cold. As fast as lightning, she jabbed a large syringe into Darla’s arm. The pain was of a dozen bullets plunging into her body, intense and ferocious. She yelped out, but her voice only made a feeble croaking.

            The last thing she saw before the darkness took over was Charles, with that awful little smile still lingering on his face. And in that brief second, she could have sworn that the sea blue eyes of his dragon tattoo winked at her.